James Monroe
James Monroe (1941 – June 24, 2026) was a singer, guitarist, and bassist, and the only son of Bill Monroe. He grew up around his father's tent shows and festivals and wanted to be a baseball pitcher, but in 1964 he joined Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys as bassist. He switched to guitar in 1969 and often sang lead on duets with his father. He began leading his own band, the Midnight Ramblers, in 1972. The band recorded three albums for the Atteiram label, including "Tall Pines" and "Sweet Mary and the Miles in Between." In 1973 he and his father recorded Father & Son together, and they followed it with Together Again in 1978. He started the magazine Bluegrass Star, which Bluegrass Unlimited later bought. In 1981 he opened Monroe Manor near Nashville, a venue for his father's band. He helped run the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Festival at Bean Blossom, Indiana, and after his father died in 1996 he managed the estate and the music catalog. He sold the Bean Blossom park in 1998. He later produced the Bill Monroe Memorial Day Weekend Bluegrass Festival in Rosine, Kentucky, and he kept performing with the Midnight Ramblers into the 2000s. He died in 2026 at age 85.
In the newsletter
- No. 11 Spring 1997