International Bluegrass Music Museum

Bluegrass is the official State Music of Kentucky, and Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky" shares with Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home" the honorable distinction of being the official Kentucky State Songs. The infectiously energetic style of dance that grew up around bluegrass and old time music is clogging, the official Kentucky State Dance. This museum, established to preserve the history of the music Mr. Monroe created, is located 30 minutes from the little town of Rosine, Kentucky, and Jerusalem Ridge, the homeplace where he was born and grew to manhood, and where he and members of his family now rest in peace.

The International Bluegrass Music Museum is located in the RiverPark Complex at the foot of "the blue bridge" in downtown Owensboro, Kentucky. As you draw near, you'll hear the sounds of bluegrass music emanating from the museum's radio station, RBI, with audio speakers taking the music to the streets. Only a few hundred feet from the museum's entrance, the sound of music drifts downstream via the mighty Ohio River, the subject of more than a few memorable bluegrass songs.

While popular since the 1940s, bluegrass enjoyed an immense resurgence with the release of the movie, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" in the year 2000.

The International Bluegrass Music Museum is the world's only facility dedicated to the history and preservation of the international history of bluegrass music.

Mission

The mission of the International Bluegrass Music Museum is to develop and maintain an environment in which people of all ages can discover the richness of bluegrass music.

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