The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Owensboro opened its doors Friday -virtually- to the public for tours during the pandemic shutdown.
On the virtual tour, hall of fame executive director Chris Joslin makes a stop at one of the museum’s most famous items, a fiddle belonging to Bill Monroe’s uncle, James Pendleton Vandiver, immortalized as Uncle Pen.
Joslin said, “One could argue that the source of bluegrass music might lie right here in this fiddle, because Bill Monroe was orphaned as a teenager and lived with his uncle Pen. And Uncle Pen played a lot of square dances in this area and Bill Monroe would accompany him.”
Joslin says they’d been wanting to make the video tour for some time, but being closed by the pandemic made the project a top priority.
He said, “Giving people a sneak peek at each section of the museum and I’m carrying instruments around and doing some performance within each area.”
The bluegrass music hall of fame and museum virtual tours are available on their website, bluegrasshall.org.
