Photojournalist Phil Zimmerman has released a book of his photos taken during the early days of the bluegrass festival era. Bluegrass Time: A Musician’s Photographs of the Early Days of Bluegrass Festivals contains 95 photos taken between 1972 and 1984 in a 64 page book.
The perspective of the book focuses on the time when a new generation of musicians were taking bluegrass in new directions while many of the early pioneers were still active – and performing on the same festivals.
Phil has kindly agreed to allow us to display several images from the book.
In addition to these, he includes photos of first generation heroes Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Lester Flatt, Don Reno, Curly Ray Cline, Kenny Baker, Tex Logan, the Lilly Brothers, Don Stover, Buddy Spicher, Paul Warren, and Joe Stuart.Representing the new blood are shots of the Country Gentlemen, J. D. Crowe and the New South, Sam Bush and New Grass Revival, Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Doyle Lawson, Tony Trischka, Marty Stuart, Bela Fleck, Emmylou Harris, Frank Wakefield, Del McCoury, Peter Rowan, Bill Keith, Vassar Clements, and Butch Robins.
Bluegrass Time includes a foreword by Rhonda Vincent, an introduction by bluegrass historian Fred Bartenstein, and extensive captions about the performers featured in the book. It is available in softcover for $25 from Phil’s web site, where you can also see several more images from the book.
The publication of the book coincides with the opening of a year-long exhibition of full size original prints at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, KY. There are 52 prints in this solo exhibition, all of which Mr. Zimmerman has donated to the museum’s permanent collection.
