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News from the International Bluegrass Music Museum:

Owensboro Kentucky – city officials recently announced changes for the downtown and riverfront redevelopment project that will feature a huge convention centre, entertainment arena, outdoor amphitheatre, new hotel complex, parks, gardens, fountains, new restaurants and in all likelihood, an International Bluegrass Music Center that would triple the current museum’s existing space.

The plan proposes moving the International Bluegrass Music Museum from its present location to the old State Building on 2nd and Frederica, which would place it squarely at the center of the two main arteries in town and triple its current size.  This would make bluegrass music the centerpiece of the entire city of Owensboro, with great benefit to the Museum and its amazing collection of artifacts.

This is a developing story, so stay tuned for more information about how you can help.

Are you ready to come help us move? We may have a party and invite you all to come form a LONG line of people all the way across 4 city blocks, passing boxes from one person to the next, with bluegrass bands in the streets keeping us perked and ready. We’re going to really be working on a building, getting it ready for you to come visit.

Bendigo bluegrass presenter Geoff Morris reports that this coming Tuesday, 8th June, on his Wall-To-Wall Bluegrass show, aired twice a week on worldwidebluegrass.com, that he will be playing a special interview he recorded recently with International Bluegrass Museum Executive Director Gabrielle Grey.

This is a delightful talk with the passionate Executive Director of the Bluegrass Museum in Owensborough, Kentucky and focuses chiefly on what will undoubtedly be four astonishing and memorable days from June 23rd to the 27th in and around the Museum .

The River Of Music Party (ROMP) will commence with two full days focussing on a large number of people who played at one time or another with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys, all of which, (stories, experiences and performances) will be filmed. These two days also will feature plaque installations  to the Bluegrass Hall Of Fame, a Bluegrass Pioneers Recognition ceremony and Legends concert - Geoff Morris.

This special interview will go to air in the first hour of Geoff’s Tuesday program on 8th June. For Australian audiences that’s between eleven a.m. and midday Eastern Australian Standard Time. FOr US audiences it’s 9:00pm to 10:00pm on Monday 7th June, eastern Daylight Saving Time.

Wall-To-Wall Bluegrass, which recently celebrated its 300th show, airs twice a week: Tuesdays from 11:00am. to 2:00pm and Saturday mornings between 8:00am and 11:00am, both Eastern Australian Standard Time.

The worldwide bluegrass community will celebrate the Centennial of Bill Monroe, The Father of Bluegrass Music, in 2010 and 2011. Events will be held internationally, as bluegrass has a following in dozens of nations with a total fan base in the tens of millions. There will be films made and concerts, special exhibits and events taking place, many centered in this region, especially in this museum and at the Bill Monroe Homeplace in nearby Rosine, KY.

The Monroe Centennial Exhibit – The Project

As a means of organically celebrating art-with-art, we are inviting visual artists to create a special Monroe Centennial Exhibit that will remain on display in this museum from 23rd Jun 2010 through to 11th Sep 2012. This equates to one year before and after the 100^th anniversary of Monroe’s birthday on 13th Sep 2011. Each artist will create a painting based on an original Monroe song. The exhibit will include song lyrics on a plaque beside each painting. Recordings of Bill Monroe playing these songs will emanate throughout the Exhibit.
The resulting art will be professionally photographed, and DVDs of the exhibit will be made available to bluegrass festivals and events. (Their uses could be many, esp. as an onstage slide show behind musicians performing at festivals.)

Sale of the Artwork

All the works will be for sale after the exhibit is dismounted. It is planned that artists will receive 60% of the proceeds from the sale and the museum will retain 40%.

Project Director

The museum is partnering with Rex Robinson, a well-known Kentucky artist who has a native’s in-depth knowledge of Monroe as a folk legend. He will work with artists as necessary to get their works ready for display, and he will help curate the exhibit.  Robinson is a Monroe enthusiast and has mounted several exhibits inspired by Monroe and bluegrass music.

Judging

Robinson will work with a panel of jurors, making certain that Monroe’s ethos is present in the artistic renderings of his songs. He will select a panel of jurors, provide them with criteria, and lead the selection process. He will help museum staff and volunteers hang the exhibit in the most artistic way.

International Publicity

The museum will send press releases to the 169 bluegrass associations around the world for inclusion in their newsletters. We will promote the exhibit in our newsletter, on our website, and on the museum’s radio station, RBI: Radio Bluegrass International.  Just prior to the Exhibit Opening on 23rd June at ROMP, we will send a press release to our extensive media group and our email blast list of members and bluegrass fans.

Benefits to Artists

Artists working on the project will benefit from being included in a prestigious international exhibit. Bill Monroe was a consummate artist who painted with lyrics. If selected, the artwork will be on display in a major cultural institution – The International Bluegrass Music Museum – as well as on stages throughout the nation and hopefully in many other countries during the Monroe Centennial. In this way, the art will be viewed by millions who are predisposed to view it favorably. The art work will be included in the overall sale of the exhibit created during this project, with a standard commission being paid to the artists.

For more information visit the International Bluegrass Music Museum, Email Gabrielle Gray or call Rex Robinson at 270-729-4147.

Prescription Bluegrass is now available worldwide

Prescription Bluegrass can now be heard every Wednesday beginning at 12 Noon Central Time on RBI, Radio Bluegrass International, a service of the International Bluegrass Museum in Owensboro, KY. This one-hour weekly radio program has been serving bluegrass fans in Northern Arizona for over four years.

Folks who suffer from bluegrass fever need a regular dose of Prescription Bluegrass and now the entire world can get this special treatment – program host, Brian McNeal.

To receive this valuable free treatment, just log on to www.BluegrassMuseum.org and launch the radio player. Treatment is available on RBI every Wednesday at noon USA Central Time.

The mandolin headstock veneer defaced by Bill Monroe nearly half a century ago sold at auction Dec. 3 for $37,500. Christie’s auction house in New York City had previously estimated that it would sell for between $5,000 and $7,000.

Gabrielle Gray, executive director of the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky, was the last bidder to drop out before the piece of bluegrass history was sold. “People at Christie’s were shocked at the price,” she said. “But it’s folklore. It’s one of a kind. It came from the most famous mandolin in the world. It’s at the heart and soul of bluegrass music. It could have sold for $100,000.”

Read the full article in the Victorian Advocate

The International Bluegrass Music Museum is starting an official Bluegrass Museum Ambassadors Program, and are inviting participation from associations across the world  to participate.

They are seeking associations to appoint or elect a person who is willing and enthusiastic about being an Ambassador from their association to the International Bluegrass Music Museum. This Museum Ambassador will work with the Bluegrass Museum on special projects, report news and information for their newsletter, report Museum news back to their association for members and newsletters, encourage Museum membership and donations, encourage donation of bluegrass artifacts to the Museum, and attend a yearly meeting of Ambassadors at ROMP in Owensboro each year. ROMP takes place the 4th weekend of June.

Ambassadors will receive a complimentary IBMM membership, a VIP ROMP pass (which includes VIP access to all events, backstage privileges, meals with Artists/Pioneers), and an Ambassadors t-shirt. The museum will arrange low-cost lodging for the ambassador’s stay at ROMP, getting them in on their artists’ rates. To designate an official Museum Ambassador and send IBMM the following information.

Association name:
Ambassador:
Mailing address:
Phone number:
E-mail address:
T-shirt size: S M L XL 2XL

Please mail this information to the address below or by e-mail to Gabrielle Gray

International Bluegrass Music Museum
Attn: Bluegrass Ambassadors
207 East Second Street
Owensboro, KY 42303

International Bluegrass Music Museum announces:

Mike Compton has been reappointed as director of his 4th annual Monroe-Style Mandolin Camp to be held from 11th to 13th September 2009,  in Owensboro, Kentucky.

In hosting this camp the International Bluegrass Music Museum aims is to preserve the unique, historic performance art of Bill Monroe, The Father of Bluegrass, by teaching his style of mandolin playing and songwriting to a new generation of players. There is non better qualified than Mike Compton who demonstrated that fact on his recent Australian tour. Indeed there are many wo say COmpton knows more about Monroe’s mandolin style than Mr Monroe himself.

At the Monroe-Style Mandolin Camp, students will spend three days with 6 of the finest mandolin players and 50 of the coolest mandolin students you’ll find on Planet Earth. With registration for each camp capped at 50, the camps’ intimate environment allows for ample opportunities to receive personal, hands-on instruction from each of these legends of Monroe-Style mandolin.

Full details on the International Bluegrass Music Museum’s Website

The International Bluegrass Music Museum is proud to announce Radio Bluegrass International has returned to a free service. Enjoy Bluegrass Music and programming around the clock thanks to the generous support of the Marilyn & William T. Young Charitable Foundation.

Check out the International Bluegrass Museum Website
Posted by Mike Lawing for the Australian Bluegrass Blog