We have written several times about the Bean Blossom Foundation, and their work to preserve the Bill Monroe Music Park in Indiana. This is the park previously owned by Mr. Monroe, and the site of the festival he hosted there from 1967 until his death in 1996. That festival continues at the park to this day as the Bill Monroe Memorial Bluegrass Festival, which is also the home of Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Hall of Fame & Country Star Museum.
Jim Peva, longtime Friend of Bill, and author of Bean Blossom: Its People and Its Music (a photographic history of the town and the festival), posted a number of his classic Monroe photos on the Bean Blossom site. They include some wonderful shots of Bill on stage from the 1960s forward, and some lovely intimate photos that only a family friend could capture.
Here are a few of the images from Peva’s collection:
See all of the photos online – and don’t forget to make a donation to the Bean Blossom Foundation if you are able.
