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Preacher Josiah K. Alwood spotted a beautiful rainbow against a dense black cloud while traveling home to Michigan from Ohio back in 1879. He woke up the following morning inspired to write “Unclouded Day.”

“Rock Salt and Nails” ruminates in 3/4 time to a chord progression and melody that is reminiscent of the Stanley Brothers classic, “Lonesome River.”

“Kentucky Waltz” is a beautiful, timeless Bill Monroe composition that is welcome in any jam circle that features strong fiddlers, but the chord progression in the B part might take you out of your comfort zone.

“Dark Hollow” has some deep, tangled roots. I guess that’s why they call it roots music.

A Ph.D student writing her thesis about “In The Pines” found more than 150 versions of this song that dates back to at least the American Civil War.

“Can’t You Hear Me Calling” is a Bill Monroe classic that he first recorded and released in 1950 with a lineup of Blue Grass Boys that included Mac Wiseman on lead vocal and guitar, and Don Reno on banjo.

The number of big bluegrass acts that have covered “I Wonder Where You Are Tonight” is too large to list.

If you had to choose one song for Bill Monroe’s Hall of Fame plaque, “Blue Moon of Kentucky” would be it.

“Sitting on Top of the World”—or “sittin’” if you prefer—is a staple of American roots music that’s been played in just about every style since it was first recorded by the Mississippi Sheiks in 1930. That version, written by Lonnie Chatman and Walter Vinson, is in the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry. Howlin’ Wolf’s … Read more