International Bluegrass Museum
Owensboro
A sign at the entrance of the International Bluegrass Museum proclaims “Bluegrass — Music of Community.”
“The genre is known for the ability of musicians to come together and play like a band,” said Beck Glenn, marketing coordinator for Visit Owensboro and a former director of the museum.
That is emphasized as you enter the exhibits gallery of the museum, where four lifelike figures are shown jamming outside a camper playing the traditional bluegrass instruments of fiddle, guitar, mandolin and bass fiddle.
The museum hosts a live jam session the first Thursday of each month. “It takes place throughout the building,” said Glenn. The museum will arrange for bluegrass musicians on other days for groups.
High lonesome bluegrass is a distinctive American music that was refined and popularized by Kentucky native Bill Monroe, who is honored in a special section of the museum. “He is the only musician in three halls of fame: bluegrass, country and rock and roll,” said Glenn.
The museum also houses the International Bluegrass Music Association’s hall of fame.
Its collection includes memorabilia of performance attire; early recordings; and instruments, among them Pete Seeger’s banjo and the fiddle of Monroe’s Uncle Pen, whom he immortalized in a classic bluegrass standard.
Ground was to be broken this fall on Owensboro’s riverfront park for a major new building for the museum, which is now housed in the RiverPark Center. Scheduled to open in 2017, the new museum will be much larger and more interactive and will include a 500-seat concert hall and an outdoor concert area for 2,000.
“Its centerpiece will be video oral histories the museum has collected over the years,” said Glenn.
www.bluegrassmuseum.org
Renfro Valley Entertainment Center and the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame
Mount Vernon
In 1939, John Lair returned to his native Renfro Valley after working on country music radio shows in Chicago and Cincinnati and started his own, the Renfro Valley Barn Dance, which was broadcast nationally by CBS.
More than 75 years later, the Barn Dance is still going strong Saturday nights in the renovated original barn theater, along with other shows Thursdays and Fridays from March to November.
A newer theater barn next door hosts headliner concerts with performers such as Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, John Conlee, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt and Charley Pride.
“You can hear just about anything here: bluegrass, gospel, classic and new country, even some ’50s and ’60s music,” said Renfro Valley spokeswoman Cindy Armstrong.
“It’s all about the music. There is a lot of history here. It highlights what Kentucky is about. You can stop and take a breath and relax. It’s always a relaxing atmosphere where music is in the air.”
Adjacent to the Renfro Valley complex, Lair’s former horse stable is home to the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, which showcases the state’s rich musical heritage.
Large replica show posters honor the 55 members of the hall of fame, among them country stars Lynn and Dwight Yoakam, Rosemary Clooney, Boots Randolph, Lionel Hampton and Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary.
The museum’s exhibits, in addition to honoring the inductees with the usual artifacts such as costumes, instruments and personal items, trace the history of music in Kentucky from the earliest English and Scottish settlers through the brush arbor movement of the early 19th century with its shape notes to early radio performers.
Mountain Arts Center
Prestonsburg
When planners designed the stone-fronted Mountain Arts Center (MAC) nearly 20 years ago, they put in a larger-than-normal stage for school programs. The large stage, which allows room for more video equipment, has had an unexpected benefit.
“The stage is large for a 1,000-seat venue. It has led to many artists filming their videos here,” said executive director Keith Caudill. “We have had more than 50 concert videos. The late Percy Sledge had his concert here in Prestonsburg, Kentucky.”
The MAC is much more than a venue for recording videos. Its regular lineup of shows offer groups a variety of weekend entertainment options.
On Saturday nights during the summer and the Christmas holidays, the Kentucky Opry has shows “that rival anything you will see in Branson or Pigeon Forge,” said Caudill. “They are good family shows, and all the performers are from the region. We are in the heart of the Country Music Highway.”
A surprising hit has been Friday night’s Front Porch Picking. “We started it for fun, but it has become a big success,” said Caudill. “We will have 800 for a show. It is free, open mic and acoustic, and we encourage people from the audience to perform.”
The MAC attracts its share of big names for concerts, whether filming or not, such as Tritt, Charlie Daniels, Lynn, Patty Loveless and strong MAC supporter Yoakam.
Caudill said the intimate feel of the theater and its good acoustics also make it popular with up-and-coming country stars, such as Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley and Justin Moore, who performed there when they were starting out.
