My Bluegrass Story Archives

My Bluegrass Story nominated for an Emmy

My Bluegrass Story, the RFD television program produced in Owensboro, KY by the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum and the Tanner+West agency, has been nominated for an Emmy Award. The nomination is in the Arts and Popular Culture Program category.

Each episode of My Bluegrass Story, running 26 minutes in length, involves a mix of interviews and low key performances from top bluegrass artists. Guests during this debut season included Del McCoury, Rhonda Vincent, Doyle Lawson, Russell Moore, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Joe Mullins, Becky Buller, Dan Tyminski, Joe Mullins, and Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley. They are filmed at the Hall of Fame, using the video facilities installed during the recent building of their new space in Owensboro.

Tanner+West has received seven regional Emmy Awards for their advertising and design efforts, and principal Jason Tanner says that he and all the folks involved in this production, are looking forward to attending the national awards this summer.

“I’m really proud of the fact that this is truly an Owensboro production. The award show will be held in Los Angeles in June, and we plan to represent Owensboro and bluegrass music in Hollywood.”

Owensboro folks involved in the production of My Bluegrass Story include:

Chris Joslin – executive producer
Mike Simpson – executive producer
Jason Tanner – executive director, producer
David Grinnell – director of photography, producer, editor
Jared Tanner – audio director, audio editor
Dave Docimo – episode director
Eric Bivens – stage lighting director
Daniel Benedict – assistant editor
David Mackey – grip
Erin Rouse and Carly Smith – Hall of Fame staff contributors
Natalie Tanner and Jill Mackey – craft services

Joslin, who is Executive Director of the Bluegrass Museum Hall of Fame & Museum, says that the theme of this show fits in perfectly with the idea behind the Museum.

“We are storytellers, and this show is an opportunity to tell the story of each bluegrass artist and to learn more about their creative process, influences, challenges, and career highlights.”

If you aren’t an RFD TV subscriber, all 13 episodes from season one can be viewed on YouTube.

Congratulations to My Bluegrass Story, and best of luck during the Emmy Awards ceremony on June 17, which will be broadcast online.

My Bluegrass Story debuts tonight on RFD-TV

My Bluegrass Story, a television program produced by The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum, debuts tonight, January 21, on RFD-TV.

The weekly show airs for the first time at 8:00 p.m. (EST), rebroadcasting at midnight each Friday evening on RFD-TV, available on many cable, satellite, and streaming TV networks. Rhonda Vincent is the guest on tonight’s episode, and she is seen touring the Museum in Owensboro, KY, talking about important milestones in her career, and in an intimate solo performance at the Museum’s Woodward Theater.

Other artists scheduled to appear during this first season include Del McCoury, Doyle Lawson, Dan Tyminski, Tammy Rogers of The Steeldrivers, Darin and Brooke Aldridge, Russell Moore, Becky Buller, Joe Mullins, Noah Wall of The Barefoot Movement, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, and Tony Kamel. All will follow the same pattern, putting together a visit with each performer, where they talk about their path to success, with a low key musical segment to boot.

Chris Joslin, Executive Director of the Hall of Fame, doesn’t hide his exhilaration for finally seeing the program air.

“The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum is excited about the premiere of a weekly, 30-minute television show that is all about bluegrass music. We are storytellers, and this show is an opportunity to tell the story of each bluegrass artist, and to learn more about their creative process, influences, challenges, and career highlights. Additionally, each episode is packed with great performances by each artist. My Bluegrass Story provides viewers a taste of what they will experience when they visit the Hall of Fame in person, both the exhibits, and the music behind the exhibits.”

You can get a feel for the vibe in this brief video trailer.

Be sure to check out My Bluegrass Story, airing on RFD-TV this next 12 weeks. Everyone in bluegrass will be talking about it, and hopefully a lot of new viewers as well who hadn’t discovered it before.

Bluegrass Hall of Fame launches My Bluegrass Story on RFD-TV

The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum is a wonderful resource for lovers of the music, and for those wanting to learn more about the history and development of the style. Located in Owensboro, KY, it serves as a contemporary museum of all things bluegrass, as well as the home of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame where the plaques created for each inductee are displayed, a number creeping up towards 75 historic figures.

Sadly, many lovers and students of bluegrass are either unaware of its existence, or unfamiliar with how much is offered at the newly constructed facility build for this purpose in Owensboro. Making sure more people know about the Hall and the benefits of membership is a high priority for Executive Director, Chris Joslin, who has been on the job since 2015. They host concerts and shows, plus the big annual ROMP festival in Owensboro for this very purpose.

But it seems that they may have finally hit on something that can expand their footprint and make more people aware of the Museum and the Hall of Fame all across the US.

Starting later this year, they will produce and host a television program to air on RFD-TV called My Bluegrass Story. Each episode will present a mini-biography of popular bluegrass artists, where they tell their own story of finding a love for the music and developing into a professional performing artist. Episodes have already been shot with icons like Doyle Lawson and Del McCoury, along with current artists Dan Tyminski, Rhonda Vincent, Tammy Rogers, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Russell Moore, Becky Buller, and Joe Mullins. They have also prepared editions of My Bluegrass Story with a number of artists on the edge of bluegrass, like Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, Tony Kamel, and Noah Wall of Barefoot Movement.

Joslin says that they have very high hopes for this endeavor.

“A nationally distributed television show is part our vision to make the Hall of Fame a premier destination for bluegrass music, and to help Owensboro, Kentucky live out its reputation as the Bluegrass Music Capital of the World. During the pandemic we launched Bluegrass Unlimited magazine with subscribers in all 50 states and 17 countries and filmed the television show that will reach even more fans of this music. Although the pandemic slowed some aspects of our operations, it also created the bandwidth to press the accelerator on several projects that will enable us to attract even more visitors from outside the region.

The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum is in the storytelling business, and we do this with exhibits, programming, the Hall of Fame’s video oral history archive, and Bluegrass Unlimited magazine. My Bluegrass Story is simply another tool we will use to highlight the journey of these incredible bluegrass artists. Since live music energizes everything that we do, television is a great medium for tying the stories together creatively with live performances. In addition, I felt it was important to feature a broad spectrum of artists in season one because bluegrass music is very diverse today. My Bluegrass Story reflects that diversity.”

RFD-TV is a specialty cable channel that broadcasts 24/7 with a mix of shows that celebrate the rural lifestyle including farming and ranching, and traditional country music programming. It is available on many cable and satellite networks, as well as for online streaming and on demand viewing. The network is available now in more than 52 million homes.

My Bluegrass Story will be produced at the Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro under the direction of Jason Tanner of Tanner + West. He says that his goal is to bring out more than the standard details in each episode.

“The artists seemed to appreciate getting to the heart of their story through the interview process. Part of my job was to dig deeper into the artists background stories, childhood memories and influences, the meaning behind certain songs, and the other insights that most people have never heard before.”

Look for further details about air times for My Bluegrass Story on RFD-TV later this year.