Three chords and the truth

In the foothills of Indiana beyond the woods of Nashville lies Bean Blossom, a place Bill Monroe used to call home. Over 35 years ago, Monroe, the father of bluegrass helped build with his band the town that would become home to the longest running bluegrass festival in the country. The Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival, which started last Sunday and runs through this Sunday, was also one of the first. \nFrom the bluegrass museum you take the "Bluegrass Express," a tractor with wooden benches hitched to the back, past the campers and on toward the food and the stage. The small stage is crowded by hundreds of lawn chairs and families relaxing to the music with corn dogs, burgers and lemonade. Some of them come from as far Arkansas, others are there to hear a part of their country's musical heritage. \nFrank Ray, who performed at the festival with his band Cedar Hill, says "The festival tries to keep the memory of Monroe and the respect for his music alive." \nRay has been a part of the festival since its beginnings and made the trip back this year. "This is the first time I've been back since 1969," Ray says. "I played with Bill Monroe then, and I've had the highest respect for his music ever since. He is the father of bluegrass."\nLike Ray, much of the audience and even a few of the organizers have been involved with the festival since its inception. B.C. Hannemann, better known as "Lightning," was hired with some of his friends to help with parking at one of the first festivals. He remembers becoming friends with Monroe and warming him up to newgrass and hippies in general, who helped rebuild interest in bluegrass music. \n"I remember we were partying up on that hill behind the stage and Bill saw us up there smokin' a little of the whacky weed," Lightning says. "Then he yells 'Hey, you hippies!' So from then on, we called it 'hippy hill.'"\nMike Drudge, now in charge of public relations, remembers playing guitar with Monroe as a kid. Drudge says he's seen the music go through changes, but likes how Bean Blossom stays true to its roots. The event hosts bands with more of the classic "high lonesome" sound. Legendary bluegrass bands including Ralph Stanley and The Clinch Mountain Boys and Jimmy Martin and The Sunny Mountain Boys will be performing this weekend and James Monroe and The Midnight Ramblers will play throughout the latter half of the week.\nDrudge said this festival doesn't feature any newgrass bands. \n"This is the more laid back type of music," Drudge says. "Newgrass mixes (bluegrass) with rock and heavy downbeats. There aren't any drums or anything like that, but the clothes and the attitude are more rock. Bluegrass, they say, is just three chords and the truth."\nDrudge says there are plenty of bands for the whole family to enjoy. \n"The kids really get into bands like The Grasshoppers or Longview," Drudge says. "But some of the perennial favorites are Larry Sparks, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver and JD Crowe and The New South. Really, the "O Brother" phenomenon is kickin' everyone's butt. The resurgence of roots music is bringing in more of the younger crowds that we haven't seen in years."\nThanks to movies like "O Brother Where Art Thou" and newgrass bands, bluegrass seems to be going through a revival that it hasn't seen since the days of Woodstock. Lightning has been through both folk music revivals and seen bluegrass progress to where it is today. \n"I think people want to go back to the old roots and values," Lightning says. Lightning says he believes bluegrass traditions, for example the incorporation of Gospel music, will help give people just that. Drudge says he agrees that the resurgence is also part of a trend to connect with original American music and believes that the accessibility of some of bluegrass' stars makes it easy for anyone wanting to make that connection. \nThe festival also features the Friday night Sunset Jam where the musicians play alongside some of their favorite bluegrass pickers. The tradition started when Monroe himself took his mandolin up to the barn to hold jamborees on Sunday afternoons. The idea was to let everyone be involved in the music, whether amateur or pro. To help make the musicians even more accessible, Drudge says the stars will often have a little storytelling or Q-and-A in their sets.\nBean Blossom gives bluegrass fans a chance to hear ten different bluegrass bands each day and to check out some of the music's legends as well as some of its newest players.