The Museum of Pop Culture or MoPOP is a nonprofit museum in Seattle, Washington, United States, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then MoPOP has organized dozens of exhibits, 17 of which have toured across the U.S. and internationally.
"Mother" Maybelle Carter was an American country musician and "among the first" to use the Carter scratch, with which she "helped to turn the guitar into a lead instrument." It was named after her. She was a member of the original Carter Family act from the late 1920s until the early 1940s and a member of the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle group.
An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term autoharp was once a trademark of the Oscar Schmidt company, but has become a generic designation for all such instruments, regardless of manufacturer.
Norman L. Blake is a traditional American stringed instrument artist and songwriter. He is half of the eponymous Norman & Nancy Blake band with his wife, Nancy Blake.
Charles Samuel Bush is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame a second time in 2023 as a solo artist.
Ernest Van "Pop" Stoneman was an American musician, ranked among the prominent recording artists of country music's first commercial decade.
Randall Franks is an American film and television actor, author, and bluegrass singer and musician who plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and mountain dulcimer. The singer was nominated for 2023 Inspirational Vocalist and Musician of the Year at the 9th Annual Josie Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House. He was inducted into the Tri-State Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2022; and America's Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019; Independent Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013; recognized by the International Bluegrass Music Museum & Hall of Fame in 2010 as a Bluegrass Legend; the Carolinas Country, Bluegrass and Gospel Hall of Fame presented him it’s Legend Award and designated him as the “Appalachian Ambassador of the Fiddle” in 2010; inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004; and was designated by Catoosa County, Ga. as "Appalachian Ambassador of the Fiddle" in 2004; and was inducted into the Chamber Business Person Hall of Fame and honored as Patriotic Citizen of the Year in 2020. He was chosen as the first 2020 AirPlay Direct Evolution Grant Artist (www.AirPlayDirect.com).
For a professional in the bluegrass music field, election to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame is the highest honor the genre can bestow. An invitation can be extended to performers, songwriters, promoters, broadcasters, musicians, and executives in recognition of their contributions to the development of bluegrass music worldwide. The hall of fame honor was created in 1991 by the International Bluegrass Music Association and the inductees are honored annually at the International Bluegrass Music Awards ceremony. The Hall's first inductees were Bill Monroe, widely considered as the founder of the genre, and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, two of bluegrass music's most pioneering and influential artists. Roy Acuff, the first living artist to join the Hall of Fame, was elected in 1962. The most recent inductees are Sam Bush, Wilma Lee Cooper, and David Grisman. The Hall itself is maintained at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky. The institution received its current name in 2007, and was known prior to this as the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor.
Tom Gray is a bluegrass musician widely considered one of the best bass players in the genre. He is probably best known for his bass playing with The Country Gentlemen and The Seldom Scene. In 1996, as a member of The Country Gentlemen, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor.
Larry Eugene Sparks, is an American Bluegrass singer and guitarist. He was the winner of the 2004 and 2005 International Bluegrass Music Association Male Vocalist of the Year Award. 2005, won IBMA for Album of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year for his album "40," celebrating his 40th year(2003) in bluegrass music. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2015.
Bluegrass Unlimited is a monthly music magazine "dedicated to the furtherance of bluegrass and old-time musicians, devotees and associates." First published in 1966, as of 2008 the magazine had a circulation of more than 25,000 copies and is widely considered the premier magazine for bluegrass music. Bluegrass Unlimited is a founding member of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA).
Bill Clifton is an American bluegrass musician and singer who is credited with having organized one of the first bluegrass festivals in the United States in 1961.
Peter Van Kuykendall also known as Pete Roberts, was an American bluegrass musician, songwriter, discographer and a magazine and music publisher. He was a co-founder of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine and its editor since 1970. He was instrumental in the formation of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) in 1985 and the International Bluegrass Music Museum (IBMM) in 1991. In 1996, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
John Ray Sechler, known professionally as Curly Seckler, was an American bluegrass musician. He played with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs in their band, Foggy Mountain Boys, from 1949 to 1962, as well as other bluegrass acts during his career in music.
The International Bluegrass Music Awards is an award show for bluegrass music presented by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). Awards are voted based on professional membership in the IBMA.
Mike Auldridge was an American resonator guitar (Dobro) player. In addition to his solo albums and recordings with the Seldom Scene, he has been featured as a performer and collaborator on numerous albums by other artists.
Thomas Michael Coleman is an American bass player of bluegrass and folk music. He is best known for work with Doc Watson and the Seldom Scene.
Andrew Forrest Boarman was an American bluegrass and folk musician. He was also well known as a banjo designer, luthier and repairman. From 1962 to 1974, Boarman's Hedgesville barber shop, out of which he ran a music store and instrument workshop, was a popular hangout for musicians from throughout the Southeastern United States. He subsequently became a full-time musician in the mid-1970s, releasing his first album in 1978, and was a popular performer at state fairs and music festivals across West Virginia.
David Michael Davis is an American mandolinist and singer in the bluegrass tradition. He has been cited as a foremost practitioner of Bill Monroe's mandolin technique.
Vivian Williams was an American fiddler, composer, recording artist, and writer. She won national fiddling titles, including the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest, and in 2013 she was inducted into the North American Old Time Fiddlers Hall of Fame.
