Recognizing Owensboro, the ``Bluegrass Capital of the World''

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, few Kentucky creations have had as much impact on American culture as Bluegrass music. It is the spring from which all other country music flows and one of our State's most world- renowned exports. Owensboro, KY, has played an important role in maintaining and promoting Bluegrass history, style, and heritage and, in recognition of that work, was recently named the Bluegrass Capital of the World. Today, I honor Owensboro for earning this title and helping preserve Kentucky's proud Bluegrass culture.

Owensboro's deep connection to Bluegrass music dates back to the genre's earliest days. Bill Monroe, widely recognized as the ``Father of Bluegrass'', was born just outside Owensboro in Ohio County, KY. His musical group, the Blue Grass Boys, adapted the unique style of music they found in Scotch-Irish communities in Kentucky's Appalachian foothills and popularized it for a mainstream audience. Listeners, entranced by Blue Grass Boys' soaring melodies, jaunty rhythm, and homespun style, started a craze for Bluegrass music that brought national fame to generations of Kentucky artists.

Owensboro's leaders have recognized their unique role in Bluegrass history and sought to capitalize on that connection. City officials ushered in the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum in downtown Owensboro in 1991, inviting both tourists and locals to learn about and enjoy Bluegrass history. The city's annual ``River of Music Party'', or ROMP, welcomes more than 20,000 visitors to the banks of the Ohio River to celebrate Bluegrass artists and help sustain this proud Kentucky tradition. And just recently, Owensboro Mayor Tom Watson signed the official proclamation naming his city the Bluegrass Capital of the World, cementing Owensboro's important place in Bluegrass history.

Owensboro's leaders have also initiated a strong campaign to educate and popularize Bluegrass among the next generation of Kentuckians. The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum features rotating exhibits highlighting key parts of Bluegrass history and hosts artists that promote the genre. The museum offers lessons in musical instruments like the mandolin, banjo, and fiddle, helping ensure the survival of their unique sounds and style. The museum's Bluegrass in the Schools program has introduced Bluegrass music to nearly 10,000 elementary students, including in 24 Owensboro-area schools, connecting young Kentuckians with their State's culture and history.

Bluegrass music is the soundtrack of Kentucky. From the first pluck of the banjo, strum of the guitar, or drone of the fiddle, the genre is immediately recognizable. Owensboro's leaders have done incredible, extensive work to preserve and promote this unique Kentucky music and are incredibly deserving of their city's recent designation as Bluegrass Capital of the World.

Mr. President, the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer highlighted the city's new title in a recent article.

24, 2021] Bluegrass Capital of the World

The City of Owensboro has officially been designated the ``Bluegrass Capital of the World'' after more than a year of effort by the city and the Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Museum.

Mayor Tom Watson officially signed the proclamation permanently linking Owensboro and bluegrass music during a Nov. 12 ceremony at the Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Museum.

``About 15 months ago we started talking about this idea, and it has taken a little while to get it to this point, but we are here today to declare the City of Owensboro as the Bluegrass Music Capital of the World,'' Watson said during the event.

Watson called Chris Joslin, museum executive director, to the stage and asked him to turn around so he could officially sign the proclamation on his back, telling him, ``a lot of this is going to be on your back.''

``The idea is to create a sustainable structure and utilize our bluegrass music presence to build out economic development opportunities and increase tourism,'' Watson said. ``In short, attract new businesses that manufacture or provide services that are consumed outside our community connected to bluegrass music and attract people to Owensboro, the epicenter of bluegrass music.''

Joslin said Owensboro began celebrating its bluegrass heritage during the early 1980s, when a concert series was formed pairing bluegrass artists with the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra.

``I think it demonstrated that bluegrass music could be a differentiator for this community, creating something unique, creating something that no other community has,'' he said.

Joslin said the opening of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Museum at 311 West 2nd St. in Owensboro in 2018 signaled to the world that the organization means business and is part of an economic strategy that begins with cultural tourism, and can grow as more and more people and industry related to the music industry comes to the city.

``I have said before that I believe that most communities like ours, they want to be known for something,'' Joslin said. ``Something that matters, something that is authentic and compelling, something that has a positive, tangible impact on their community. I can tell you that if the news of that something extends beyond the city limits and the county line, well there is opportunity there, and opportunity attracts people, it attracts investment.''

``Friends, I can tell you that this is our time, this is our opportunity, and we are claiming it today as the Bluegrass Music Capital of the World.''

Mike Simpson, chairman of the International Bluegrass Music Association, provided a brief history of the bluegrass musical genre.

``The odyssey of this original American art form started right down the road here in Ohio County, and much of its history can be traced right here to Owensboro, Kentucky,'' Simpson said.

Simpson cited early bluegrass musicians Arnold Schultz, Pendleton Vandiver and his grandfather, Cleveland Baize, as forging a music combining Irish, Scottish and blues music.

``Pendleton Vandiver had a nephew by the name of William Smith Monroe that listened to that music, and he and his brothers, Charlie and Birch, they left Ohio County and they took it to the world,'' Simpson said. ``In 1936 they signed a record deal with RCA Victor, and soon the bluegrass music was being spread across radio airwaves across this country.''

Simpson said in 1945, bluegrass came to the Grand Ole Opry at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium when Chubby Wise, Howard Watts, Lester Flat and Earl Scruggs stepped onto the stage.

``That was bluegrass' sonic boom,'' Simpson said.

Today, bluegrass is a celebrated part of Owensboro's culture. With the only dedicated Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Museum, the annual ROMP Festival attracting 25,000 annually to enjoy bluegrass and roots music, as well as bluegrass- themed media being created in Owensboro, it has become ingrained in the city's culture.

Simpson said Owensboro being officially known and celebrated as the ``Bluegrass Capital of the World'' was ``a long time coming.''

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