A Friendship Blossoms
 In 1961, I was
in charge of arranging a yearly banquet given in connection with
my work. I was aware of Bill Monroe and his music as a Grand
Ole Opry listener since childhood, but I would not have considered
myself a "bluegrass fan" at that time. I thought Bill
and the Blue Grass Boys would be a good choice for entertainment
at the banquet, and I was aware of the fact that Bill Monroe
often played shows at the Brown County Jamboree Barn in Bean
Blossom, IN, just 42 miles from where I lived, but I had never
attended a show there. One Sunday I drove to Bean Blossom and
met Birch Monroe, who managed the Jamboree at that time. Birch
was putting up signs advertising a fiddle contest to be held
at the Barn the next week. He told me when Bill was next scheduled
to play the Jamboree, so I made it a point to be there so I could
talk to him about playing for the banquet. I had my wife and
3 small daughters with me. None of us had ever attended a live
music performance before. When Bill and the Blue Grass Boys took
the stage and played "Watermelon hanging on the Vine",
the hair stood up on the back of my neck! Something about that
music and the high-pitched fiddle activated a genetic memory
deep within my DNA! I was hooked!
I talked with Bill after the show and we
agreed he would play the Wednesday-night banquet, (which happened
to be on his 50th birthday), for $250, with an extra $50 to bring
a comedian/impersonator (Rusty Adams).
Following that initial exposure to live bluegrass
music, my family and I seldom missed a Bill Monroe show in the
Jamboree Barn, and when the outdoor festivals came along, we
attended them all, (including the 32nd annual, last month). Bill
watched my 3 daughters grow up on the front row of the Jamboree
Barn and we developed a close friendship with he and Birch and
James. My wife and I attended both Birch's and Bill's funerals
at the little white church in Rosine, but only now are we coming
to realize how very privileged we were to be friends of these
true pioneers of America's music. And to me, Bean Blossom is
the "mecca" of bluegrass music, and it always will
be.
To view a few photographs that I took back
in those early days, and an interview, see Jim Moss's website
at http://www.mossware.com/music.html.
Jim Peva
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