The Bill Monroe Centennial Celebration The coming week’s celebration will feature three days of performances by all active members of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, in addition to exhibits, a musical and the world premiere of a film titled "'POWERFUL': Bill Monroe Remembered."
The two-hour documentary has been a major undertaking said Museum's \Executive Director Gabrielle Gray. Assembled in part from the IBMM's extensive Video Oral History Project, it shines a light on the lives of the scores of sidemen who came and went over the years from Monroe's Blue Grass Boys.
In addition to exploring their reasons for moving on — money, a grueling touring schedule and military service, among others — the film also offers an intriguing window into Monroe's creative vision.
Gray said she doesn't want to spoil the initial screening but divulged that its contents could go a long way toward settling a lingering debate among the genre's enthusiasts She is also hopeful the film eventually find it’s way to a national audience.
"I'm a daily witness to the ongoing discussion of what is bluegrass and what is not," Gray explained. "That discussion is always going on, and it's been going on since I can remember. What came through for me in this film is that this discussion is pretty much settled."
The Bill Monroe Centennial Celebration follows the ROMP Roots and Branches Bluegrass Festival, which took place in June. That event featured performances by Emmylou Harris and Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers and saw its attendance more than quadruple.
"ROMP was about celebrating the past and the future of bluegrass music," said Danny Clark, the museum's marketing director. "This festival is really about celebrating the people who founded the music. It's really geared toward the historical end of it."
The Centennial Celebration musical lineup includes all members of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame who remain active performers. Such luminaries include pioneering banjo players Ralph Stanley and Earl Scruggs, the latter a former member of Monroe's Blue Grass Boys; bandleader J.D. Crowe, also a distinguished banjoist; 90-year-old Curly Seckler, a noted tenor whose career in music began in 1935; and Bobby Osborne, a Kentucky native and mandolin player. All were pioneers in the evolution of bluegrass.
Gray said this year's reunion — what the museum formally calls a Pioneers of Bluegrass Gathering — has been an annual event since 2008. It can be an emotional time for everyone involved, she said, as many of the genre's creators and innovators renew their ties to each other and the music that binds them.
"They're all hugging each other," Gray said. "There are people who are so happy to see each other that they cry. And then they all pull out their instruments and start playing. It's incredible. It's just unreal to be in the presence of so many people who have been so influential in shaping and creating one of our nation's original music genres."
For a complete event schedule or to order tickets, visit www.bluegrassmuseum.org or call 270-926-7891
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