• Rhythm & Roots

    The Southern Arts Federation (SAF), a non-profit arts organization based in Atlanta, is currently presenting it's first ever touring exhibit in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The exhibit is dedicated to the music and musicians of

  • Big doings planned for Monroe centennial

    The 100th anniversary of the birth of Bill Monroe is still four years away, but long term strategic planning is already underway to commemorate the occasion. This morning's (6/25) edition of the Owensboro, KY Messenger-Inquirer has a story about this

  • Tater Tate benefit show and fund

    Here's a chance for bluegrass lovers everywhere to "give back" to a man who has contributed mightily to the development of our music. Clarence "Tater" Tate, who spent many years on stage as a member of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, is

  • Vintage bluegrass posters

    Here's a fun site with images of vintage music show posters. It's run by Mitch Diamond, who calls himself The Kardboard Kid. Mitch has been collecting these posters and hand bills since 1970, and has amassed a substantial number

  • Jethro, Red – and Bill

    Our friends at The Bluegrass Ireland Blog found a terrific video on YouTube that is sure to be a treat for bluegrass mandolin fans. It features Jethro Burns performing a talking blues tribute to the greats of the mandolin, with able

  • Classic Mandolin Solos from Mel Bay

    Mel Bay has released Classic Bluegrass Solos for Mandolin, a collection of 22 transcriptions by Todd Collins. The thrust of this collection is the mandolin playing of Bill Monroe. The book contains a mix of kickoffs, turnarounds and solos from some

  • Neil Rosenberg on The Music of Bill Monroe

    Continuing with a Bill Monroe/Neil Rosenberg theme... I recently had occasion to correspond with Neil about his upcoming book, The Music Of Bill Monroe, written with the late Charles Wolfe, and due for a 2007 release by the University of Illinois

  • More Monroe

    Earlier this week I posted about the new Bear Family box set of Bill Monroe material. In an effort to clarify which Monroe albums are represented in the set, Richard Thompson did a little independent research. Richard correctly concluded that tracks