Bill Monroe

There's a blue moon tonight, which reminds me of Bill Monroe. 

As a teenager, I saw Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys at Armadillo World Headquarters.  I enjoyed the show, but it didn't blow me away at the time.  It was just another fun night out with the gang.

When I was 38, I decided I didn't want to turn 40 without ever having learned to play a musical instrument and picked banjo.  I had never been a big bluegrass buff, but had a friend years before who played banjo and I always loved the way it sounded.

I bought a 300 dollar banjo and signed up for lessons at South Austin Music.  I didn't want to become a great musician, just be able to play O Susanna on the back porch if I felt like it.  After six months of lessons, I could play a few songs (pretty slowly), but I was never disciplined enough to practice my rolls so my playing was just what I aimed for...light picking on the back porch kind of thing.

Around that time I learned of this cool place in Maryland called Common Ground on the Hill that holds a week-long music and arts summer camp for adults.  Fun!  I signed up for the banjo classes and booked my plane tickets.  

My teacher was Bill Keith.  Yes, THE Bill Keith!   Can you believe that?!  There were only seven or eight of us in class and I was by a million miles the least learned, but I could have cared less.  Just to sit and hear Bill Keith tell stories of being on the road with Bill Monroe in the 60s.... To listen to Bill Keith and all the other fantastic camp musicians/instructors hold jam sessions until 2 to 4 a.m. every night... 

Bill Keith told us about Bill Monroe's makeshift softball team, and the old station wagon they toured in, and Bill Monroe's unfailing dapper dress.  But the main thing I really GOT for the first time was how dramatically Bill Monroe changed country music forver.

He said that before Bill Monroe, country music had been one of two things:  light and sweet (lots of doofy skits) or gospel-centered. 

Bill Monroe revolutionized country music in inventing bluegrass.  He introduced hard-drivng, fast, hardcore, country music on steroids...with the most incredible playing you ever heard in dapper suits.  No cute overalls and straw hats for Bill Monroe.

Bill Keith told us it was the punk rock of its day.  Shocking initially, but soon spread like wildfire.  This new bluegrass sound infused the industry with new blood that elevated country music to heights it had never seen. 

I returned home and bought Bill Monroe's boxed set and listened with fresh ears.  Kentucky Mandolin, Roanoke, Lonesome Road Blues, Pike County Breakdown...

Ahhhh, happiness....

So tonight, under the blue moon, I'll think of Bill Monroe and how grateful I am to have come to appreciate bluegrass (better late than never).

Here's a little clip.  It starts slow, but wait for it!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffhqOy_A8KM