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Uncle Pen
James Pendleton Vandiver (1869–1932) was a Kentucky fiddler, born there shortly after the American Civil War. He was the uncle to bluegrass musician Bill Monroe, who immortalized him in a song, " Uncle Pen".Dawidoff, Nicholas, ''In the Country of Country'' (1997) p. 87 Monroe used to hear his uncle playing fiddle on the hilltop where he lived, while Monroe put away his mules at night. He later said that Vandiver was "the fellow that I learned how to play from." Vandiver played fiddle at local square dances and social events, and his nephew backed him up, playing mandolin. Monroe's parents had both died by the time he was 16, and he lived part of the time with his Uncle Pen, in his two-room hilltop house in Rosine, Kentucky. Vandiver had been crippled earlier, and he made some money with his music. Bill Monroe's biographer, Richard D. Smith writes, "Pen gave Bill more: a repertoire of tunes that sank into Bill's aurally trained memory and a sense of rhythm that seeped into his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Butler County, Kentucky
Butler County is a county located in the US state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 12,371. Its county seat is Morgantown. The county was formed in 1810, becoming Kentucky's 53rd county. Butler County is included in the Bowling Green, Kentucky, Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Numerous archaeological sites are located along the Green River in Butler County. A 1932 survey found nine sites, many of which were a group of shell mounds, including the Carlston Annis and DeWeese Shell Mounds. The area now known as Butler County was first settled by the families of Richard C. Dellium and James Forgy, who founded a town called Berry's Lick. The first industry was salt-making. On January 18, 1810, the Kentucky General Assembly created Butler County from portions of Logan and Ohio counties. The new county was named for Major General Richard Butler, who died at the Battle of the Wabash in 1791. In June of that year, the Kentucky Governor commissioned a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the style of the music played may determine specific construction differences between fiddles and classical violins. For example, fiddles may optionally be set up with a bridge with a flatter arch to reduce the range of bow-arm motion needed for techniques such as the double shuffle, a form of bariolage involving rapid alternation between pairs of adjacent strings. To produce a "brighter" tone than the deep tones of gut or synthetic core strings, fiddlers often use steel strings. The fiddle is part of many traditional (folk) styles, which are typically aural traditions—taught " by ear" rather than via written music. Fiddling is the act of playing the fiddle, and fiddlers are musicians that play it. Among musical styles, fiddling tends to p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old-time Music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination of fiddle and plucked string instruments, most often the banjo, guitar, and mandolin. The genre is considered a precursor to modern country music. History Reflecting the cultures that settled North America, the roots of old-time music are in the traditional musics of the British Isles and Europe. African influences are notably found in instruments such as the banjo. In some regions French and German sources are also prominent. While many dance tunes and ballads can be traced to European sources, many others are of North American origin. The term "old-time" Old-time music represents perhaps the oldest form of North American traditional music other than Native American music, and thus the term "old-time" is an appropriate one. Fiddlin' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Square Dance
A square dance is a dance for four couples, or eight dancers in total, arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances contain elements from numerous traditional dances and were first documented in 16th-century England, but they were also quite common in France and throughout Europe. Early square dances, particularly English country dances and French quadrilles, traveled to North America with the European settlers and developed significantly there. In some countries and regions, through preservation and repetition, square dances have attained the status of a folk dance. Square dancing is strongly associated with the United States, in part due to its association with the romanticized image of the American cowboy in the 20th century, and 31 states have designated it as their official state dance. The main North American types of square dances include traditional square dance and modern western square dance, which is widely known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiddler
A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the style of the music played may determine specific construction differences between fiddles and classical violins. For example, fiddles may optionally be set up with a Violin construction and mechanics#Bridge, bridge with a flatter arch to reduce the range of bow-arm motion needed for techniques such as the double shuffle, a form of bariolage involving rapid alternation between pairs of adjacent strings. To produce a "brighter" tone than the deep tones of gut or synthetic core strings, fiddlers often use steel strings. The fiddle is part of many traditional (Folk music, folk) styles, which are typically aural traditions—taught "Playing by ear, by ear" rather than via written music. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states that had seceded. The central cause of the war was the dispute over whether slavery would be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so, which was widely believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction. Decades of political controversy over slavery were brought to a head by the victory in the 1860 U.S. presidential election of Abraham Lincoln, who opposed slavery's expansion into the west. An initial seven southern slave states responded to Lincoln's victory by seceding from the United States and, in 1861, forming the Confederacy. The Confederacy seized U.S. forts and other federal assets within their borders. Led by Confederate President Jefferson Davis, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bluegrass Music
Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ''roots music''. Many traditional songs have been sung ... that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe, Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like Country music, mainstream country music, it largely developed out of Old-time music, old-time string music, though in contrast, bluegrass is traditionally played exclusively on Acoustic music, acoustic instruments and also has roots in traditional English, Scottish, and Irish Ballads, Irish ballads and dance tunes as well as in blues and jazz. Bluegrass was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Monroe characterized the genr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Monroe
William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre takes its name from his band, the Blue Grass Boys, who named their group for the bluegrass of Monroe's home state of Kentucky. He described the genre as "Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's Methodist and Holiness and Baptist. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound." Early life Monroe was born on his family's farm near Rosine, Kentucky, the youngest of eight children of James Buchanan "Buck" and Malissa (Vandiver) Monroe. His mother and her brother, James Pendleton "Pen" Vandiver, were both musically talented, and Monroe and his family grew up playing and singing at home. Bill was of Scottish and English heritage. Because his older brothers Birch and Charlie already played the fiddle and guitar, Bill was resign ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uncle Pen (song)
"Uncle Pen" is a song written and originally recorded by Bill Monroe. Besides Monroe, the song was recorded by Porter Wagoner in 1956, Goose Creek Symphony in 1971, Michael Nesmith of The Monkees in 1973 on his solo album ''Pretty Much Your Standard Ranch Stash,'' and Ricky Skaggs in 1984. The song was Skaggs' ninth #1 single on the country chart. The single went to #1 for one week and spent a total of 13 weeks on the country chart. Bill Monroe played a character named "Uncle Pen" disappointed at the citification of Ricky Skaggs in the 1985 video for "Country Boy (Ricky Skaggs song), Country Boy". The improvisational-rock band Phish has performed their version of "Uncle Pen" over 200 times in the band's 30+ year career. Leon Russell recorded the song as "Hank Wilson's Back Vol. I, Hank Wilson" in 1973. Content The song was about Monroe's uncle and musical mentor, Pendleton Vandiver. Chart performance Porter Wagoner Ricky Skaggs Year-end charts References 1956 so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosine, Kentucky
Rosine () is an unincorporated community in Ohio County, Kentucky, Ohio County, Kentucky, United States. Bill Monroe, ''The Father of Bluegrass'', is buried in the community and memorialized with a bronze cast disk affixed to the barn where his music remains alive. The community was named for the pen name of Jenny Taylor McHenry, poet and wife of founder Henry D. McHenry. The ZIP Code is 42370 and the area code is 270. The nearest communities are Horse Branch, Kentucky, Horse Branch, and Beaver Dam, Kentucky, Beaver Dam; and the nearest major cities are Owensboro, Kentucky, Owensboro and Bowling Green, Kentucky, Bowling Green. The community sits at an elevation of 429 feet. At one time, Rosine was a thriving community with several stores, a school, a pickle factory, and a bat mill that milled bats for the Louisville Slugger bat factory. Demographics Schools There are no schools in Rosine, so students from Rosine attend Horse Branch Elementary School, Ohio County Middle School, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ricky Skaggs
Rickie Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954), known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, mandocaster, and banjo. Skaggs was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2016 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2018. On January 13, 2021, it was announced Skaggs had been awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Donald Trump, alongside fellow country musician Toby Keith. Biography Early career Skaggs was born in Cordell, Kentucky. He started playing music at age 5 after he was given a mandolin by his father, Hobert Skaggs. At age 6, he played mandolin and sang on stage with Bill Monroe. At age 7, he appeared on television's Martha White country music variety show, playing with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs. He also wanted to audition for the Grand Ole Opry at that time, but was told he was too young. In his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Country Boy (Ricky Skaggs Song)
"Country Boy" is a song written by Tony Colton, Albert Lee, and Ray Smith of the British band Heads Hands & Feet, and recorded by American country music artist Ricky Skaggs. It was released in February 1985 as the second single and title track from the album '' Country Boy''. The song was Skaggs' ninth #1 country hit. The single went to #1 for one week and spent a total of 13 weeks on the country chart. Music video The music video for "Country Boy" was filmed in New York City. At the beginning of the video, Ricky finishes having a phone conversation, and Uncle Pen (played by Bill Monroe) visits Ricky in his office and talks to him about his country ways. Ricky grabs the guitar and begins to sing. He leads Uncle Pen through New York City's streets, sights, and subways and shows through song and dance that he's still a "country boy at heart". It was directed by Martin Kahan, and produced by Marc Ball. The video includes cameos by Ed Koch, the then-incumbent Mayor of New York City, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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