From October 1, 2010 through to the end of September 2011, we will, each day, celebrate the life of Bill Monroe by sharing information about him and those people who are associated with his life and music career. This information will include births and deaths; recording sessions; single, LP and CD release dates; and other interesting tidbits. Richard F. Thompson is responsible for the research and compilation of this information. We invite readers to share any tidbits, photos or memories you would like us to include.
As I haven’t been able to identify any events occurring on this date down through the years, this is a good opportunity to post a two part video of Bill Monroe being interviewed by country music star Bobby Bare.
But before we get to that, here’s Bill Monroe talking about bluegrass music as he knew it to be.
So what is bluegrass anyway? According to Bill…
“Bluegrass is a pure music. You follow the melody right, and you don’t put in no hot know-it-all fiddle that don’t belong in there. If you’re just trying to show off, that ain’t going to get it; it sure won’t get it with me. It’s the same thing with the mandolin. I play enough notes on the mandolin to take care of Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, but I also play the rhythm and help keep the time straightened out…”
Part 1
Part 2
