"Bluegrass Cafe" playlist - 9/13/2026

With the exception of three songs, today's Bluegrass Cafe exclusively featured music originally written by, performed by, or written about Bill Monroe (who is, of course, widely considered to be the Father of Bluegrass Music).  Why?  The reason is quite simple:  Bill Monroe would have celebrated his 115th birthday today -- born September 13, 1911.  If a birthday isn't reason enough to celebrate a music legend, what is?  We wouldn't have a Bluegrass radio program without Bill Monroe, so celebrating him is the best thing to do.  

We couldn't forget to acknowledge Grandparents Day, so we shared one song about a grandfather and one about a grandmother.  Happy Grandparents Day to all!

Today is also the birthday of another noted Bluegrass musician, as Lou Reid of the Seldom Scene was born September 13, 1954.  

Hope you enjoyed our Monroe-centric broadcast today!  Please consider joining me once again next Sunday afternoon for another edition of our Bluegrass Cafe!

Have a good week!

Amy O.

SONG / PERFORMER / ALBUM / LABEL [Request is RED]

• Watermelon On The Vine / Del McCoury Band / Old Memories:  The Songs Of Bill Monroe / McCoury Music
• My Music Comes From Bill / Spinney Brothers / Tried & True / Mountain Fever Records
• Foxhounds / Kathy Kallick Band / Foxhounds / Live Oak Records
• Bill Monroe For Breakfast / Acoustic Blue / This Is Now / Self-Produced
• The Ninth Of July / Butch Waller / The Ninth Of July / Big Chicken Records
• Is The Grass Any Bluer / Rhonda Vincent / The Storm Still Rages / Rounder
• Kentucky King / Larry Cordle, Glen Duncan & Lonesome Standard Time / Larry Cordle, Glen Duncan & Lonesome Standard Time / Sugar Hill
• Arleigh / Gibson Brothers / Bona Fide / Sugar Hill [Grandparents Day]
• Grandma's Gift / Dale Ann Bradley / Catch Tomorrow / Compass Records [Grandparents Day]
• My Long Journey Home / Monroe Brothers / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1936 / JSP Records
• What Would You Give In Exchange? / Monroe Brothers / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1936 / JSP Records
• Nine Pound Hammer Is Too Heavy / Monroe Brothers / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1936 / JSP Records
• I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling / Joe Val & the New England Bluegrass Boys / Diamond Joe / Rounder
• True Life Blues / Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard / O Sister! / Rounder
• Wheel Hoss / Frank Wakefield / A Tribute To Bill Monroe / Patuxent Music
• Used To Be / Laurie Lewis & Kathy Kallick / True Life Blues:  The Songs Of Bill Monroe / Sugar Hill
• I Believe In Your Darling / Bluegrass Album Band / The Bluegrass Compact Disc / Rounder
• In Despair / Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys / Can't You Hear The Mountains Calling / Rounder
• On And On / Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver / The Original Band / Sugar Hill
• When It Rains / Lou Reid / When It Rains / Sugar Hill [Lou Reid birthday, 9/13/1954]
• Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel #8) / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1940-1946 / JSP Records
• Shenandoah Breakdown / Northern Connection / Northern Connection / Patuxent Music
• Kentucky Waltz / Bob Paisley & the Southern Grass / Forty Years Of Trouble / Strictly Country Records
• Footprints In The Snow / IIIrd Tyme Out / Bill Monroe Centennial Celebration / Rounder
• Blue Moon Of Kentucky / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / Live At Mechanics Hall / Acoustic Disc
• Heavy Traffic Ahead / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1940-1946 / JSP Records
• Doghouse Blues / Nashville Bluegrass Band / The Nashville Bluegrass Band / Rounder
• Mother's Only Sleeping / Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder / Honoring The Fathers Of Bluegrass:  Tribute To 1946 & 1947 / Skaggs Family Records
• Can't You Hear Me Calling / Country Gentlemen / Can't You Hear Me Callin':  Early Classics, 1963-1969 / Rebel
• Cheyenne / Bluegrass Album Band / The Bluegrass Compact Disc / Rounder
• Walk Softly On This Heart Of Mine / Billy & Terry Smith / Bill Monroe Tribute / K-Tel
• My Little Georgia Rose / Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1954-1957 / JSP Records
• Sally Goodin / Byron Berline / Fiddle And A Song / Sugar Hill
• My Florida Sunshine / Claire Lynch / Bill Monroe Centennial Celebration / Rounder
• Bluegrass Swing / Feinberg Brothers / The Feinberg Brothers / Cabinwood Music
• Rose Of Old Kentucky / Seldom Scene / 15th Anniversary Celebration / Sugar Hill
• I Was Left On The Street / Peter Rowan / The First Whippoorwill / Sugar Hill
• I'm Blue I'm Lonesome / Del McCoury Band / Old Memories:  The Songs Of Bill Monroe / McCoury Music
• Southern Flavor / Becky Buller / 'Tween Earth & Sky / Dark Shadow Recording
• Uncle Pen / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / Anthology / MCA
• Wicked Path Of Sin / Jim & Jesse McReynolds with Bill Monroe / Music Among Friends / Rounder
• You're Drifting Away / Lost & Found / Let The Light Shine Down / Rebel
• Lord Lead Me On / Audie Blaylock & Redline / I'm Going Back To Old Kentucky / Rural Rhythm
• The Boat Of Love / Balsam Range / Marching Home / Mountain Home
• Voice From On High / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / High Lonesome / CMH
• Get Down On Your Knees And Pray / Johnson Mountain Boys / At The Old Schoolhouse / Rounder
• Little Community Church / Boone Creek / One Way Track / Sugar Hill
• Shine Hallelujah Shine / Reno & Smiley / Together Again / Rebel
• That Home Above / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1946-1949 / JSP Records
• Big Mon / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / Anthology / MCA

"Bluegrass Cafe" playlist - 9/12/2021

For the first Sunday since March 8, 2020, our Bluegrass Cafe was presented live from the WHUS studio at the University of Connecticut.  Does this mean that everything is now completely back to "normal?"  Not really, as COVID regulations currently require us to broadcast while wearing a mask, but overall, it's a step in the right direction, for sure.  While our broadcast wasn't the smoothest ever, it was fun to present music in celebration of a few birthdays, plus there was new music and some classic tunes, too.  Hope you were able to join us!

September 13th is the birth anniversary of the Father of Bluegrass Music, William Smith Monroe (September 13, 1911 - September 9. 1996).  While you can be assured that you will hear a Bill Monroe tune (either performed or written by him) just about every Sunday, today, we added a few extras in celebration of what would have been Bill's birthday.  Other birthday celebrants for this week include Country Music Hall of Famer (and King of Country Music), Roy Acuff, Lou Reid, Bill Harrell, and Michael Cleveland. We also remembered the late Aaron Foster, who would have celebrated his 29th birthday on September 11th.

There was a smidge of new music, too, from the the likes of Marty Raybon, Starlett & Big John, and the Grascals.  We also included music we've received over the past 18 months from folks like Jesse Brock, Jay Armsworthy & Eastern Tradition, Barry Abernathy, Laurie Lewis, High Fidelity, the Feinberg Brothers, Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass, the Po' Ramblin' Boys, the Kody Norris Show, Rock Hearts, and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.  

And if all of that wasn't enough, we shared a few songs in honor of National Grandparents Day.

Hope you enjoyed something you heard somewhere along the way today, and that you'll consider joining me once again next Sunday afternoon, 4-7PM.

Have a good week!

Amy O.

SONG / PERFORMER / ALBUM / LABEL [Request is RED]

• Katy Hill / Del McCoury Band / RockyGrass / Blue Planet
• My Rose Of Old Kentucky / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / The Essential Bill Monroe, 1945-1949 / Columbia [Remembering Bill Monroe:  9/13/1911 - 9/9/1996]
• Close By / Dailey & Vincent / Bill Monroe Centennial Celebration / Rounder [Remembering Bill Monroe:  9/13/1911 - 9/9/1996]
• Bill Monroe's Ol' Mandolin / Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road / Bill Monroe's Ol' Mandolin / Pinecastle [Remembering Bill Monroe:  9/13/1911 - 9/9/1996]
• Is The Grass Any Bluer / Rhonda Vincent / The Storm Still Rages / Rounder [Remembering Bill Monroe:  9/13/1911 - 9/9/1996]
• Arleigh / Gibson Brothers / Bona Fide / Sugar Hill [National Grandparents Day]
• Grandma's Gift / Dale Ann Bradley / East Kentucky Morning / Pinecastle [National Grandparents Day]
• A Grandmother's Love / Bear Tracks / Rough Edges / AMT Records [National Grandparents Day]
• That Ain't The Grandpa That I Know / Volume Five / Children Of The Mountain / Mountain Fever Records [National Grandparents Day]
• Wonder Could I Live There Anymore / Volume Five / Streamliner / Sound Biscuit
• Got No Reason Now For Goin' Home / Jay Armsworthy & Eastern Tradition / My Best Friend / Patuxent Music
• Unwanted Love / Barry Abernathy with Dan Tyminski / Barry Abernathy & Friends / Billy Blue Records
• Rooster Crow / Laurie Lewis with Craig Smith / And Laurie Lewis / Spruce And Maple Music
• Swinging A Nine Pound Hammer / Matt Dudman / Poa / Pleasant Valley Music
• Take My Ring From Your Finger / High Fidelity / Banjo Player's Blues / Rebel
• Don't You Know I Love You, Charlie Brown / Feinberg Brothers / Songs We Sing / Cabinwood Music
• He Can't Own Them / Danny Paisley & the Southern Grass / Bluegrass Troubadour / Pinecastle
• Great Speckle Bird / Roy Acuff & His Crazy Tennesseans / The Essential Roy Acuff / Columbia [Remembering Roy Acuff:  9/15/1903 - 11/23/1992]
• Not A Word From Home / Joe Val / Diamond Joe / Rounder [Remembering Roy Acuff:  9/15/1903 - 11/23/1992]
• Branded Wherever I Go / Special Consensus / The Trail Of Aching Hearts / Pinecastle [Remembering Roy Acuff:  9/15/1903 - 11/23/1992]
• Wreck On The Highway / Tennessee Mafia Jug Band / Barnyard Frolic / RME Records [Remembering Roy Acuff:  9/15/1903 - 11/23/1992]
• Wabash Cannonball / Roy Acuff / The Essential Roy Acuff / Columbia [Remembering Roy Acuff:  9/15/1903 - 11/23/1992]
• Drip Rock Kentucky / Marty Raybon / single / Billy Blue Records
• I'll Have You Back / Starlett & Big John / Till The End Of The Road / Turnberry Records
• Low Down Blues / The Grascals / Up All Night / Mountain Home
• East Bound And Down / Po' Ramblin' Boys with Jason Carter & Bronwyn Keith-Hynes / single / Sound Biscuit
• My Florida Sunshine / Claire Lynch / Whatcha Gonna Do / Rounder [Remembering Bill Monroe:  9/13/1911 - 9/9/1996]
• The Walls Of Time / Johnson Mountain Boys / Walls Of Time / Rounder [Remembering Bill Monroe:  9/13/1911 - 9/9/1996]
• Toy Heart / Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder / Honoring The Fathers Of Bluegrass:  Tribute To 1946 And 1947 / Skaggs Family Records [Remembering Bill Monroe:  9/13/1911 - 9/9/1996]
• Big Mon / Jesse Brock / Streamliner / Sound Biscuit [Remembering Bill Monroe:  9/13/1911 - 9/9/1996]
• I'm Blue And Lonesome / Reno & Smiley / Love Please Come Home / King [Remembering Bill Monroe:  9/13/1911 - 9/9/1996]
• Will You Be Loving Another Man / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass boys, 1946-1949 / JSP Records [Remembering Bill Monroe:  9/13/1911 - 9/9/1996]
• What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round / Seldom Scene / Long Time...Seldom Scene / Smithsonian Folkways [Lou Reid birthday, 9/13/1954]
• Walking In The Early Morning Dew / Bill Harrell & the Virginians / Classic Bluegrass / Rebel [Remembering Bill Harrell:  9/14/1934 - 6/24/2009]
• Five-String Swing / Michael Cleveland / Tall Fiddler / Compass Records [Michael Cleveland birthday, 9/18/1980]
• I'm Going Back To The Mountains / The Kody Norris Show / All Suited Up / Rebel
• There's A New Moon Over My Shoulder / Larry Sparks / New Moon Over My Shoudler / Rebel
• Whispering Waters / Rock Hearts / Starry Southern Nights / Self-Produced
• Is It True / Jim & Jesse / Jim & Jesse, 1952-1955 / Bear Family
• He Rambled / David Davis & the Warrior River Boys / Didn't He Ramble:  Songs Of Charlie Poole / Rounder
• Marianne / Paul Adkins & the Borderline Band / Modern Times / Rebel
• When I Wake Up To Sleep No More / Aaron "Frosty" Foster / single / Beehive Records [Remembering Aaron Foster:  9/11/1992 - 2/10/2021]
• Wicked Path Of Sin / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys / Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys, 1946-1949 / JSP Records [Remembering Bill Monroe:  9/13/1911 - 9/9/1996]
• Walk In The Sunshine / Spinney Brothers / Living The Dream / Mountain Fever Records
• Lay Down Your Troubles / Gary Ferguson / I'm Really Leaving / Webco
• Inside The Gate / Country Gentlemen / Calling My Children Home / Rebel
• Get On The Main Highway / Price Sisters / A Heart Never Knows / Rebel
• Let The Light Shine Down / Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice / Heartaches And Dreams / Rebel [Remembering Bill Monroe:  9/13/1911 - 9/9/1996]
• A Little More Faith In Jesus / Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver / Roundtable / Billy Blue Records
• That Glory Bound Train / Bear Bridge Band / Broken Hearts & Better Times / Open Road [Remembering Roy Acuff:  9/15/1903 - 11/23/1992]
• Black Mountain Blues / Johnson Mountain Boys / Requests / Rounder