| True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe | |
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| Compilation album by | |
| Released | October 15, 1996 |
| Genre | Bluegrass music |
| Length | 51:33 |
| Label | Sugar Hill |
| Producer | Todd Phillips |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe is a compilation album of bluegrass music released through Sugar Hill Records on October 15, 1996. It was a tribute to Bill Monroe. In 1997, the album won Todd Phillips the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, as the producer.
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William Smith "Bill" Monroe was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the "Father of Bluegrass".
Earl Eugene Scruggs was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style", which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. His three-finger style of playing was radically different from the traditional way the five-string banjo had previously been played. This new style of playing became popular and elevated the banjo from its previous role as a background rhythm instrument to featured solo status. He popularized the instrument across several genres of music.
The Music of Kentucky is heavily centered on Appalachian folk music and its descendants, especially in eastern Kentucky. Bluegrass music is of particular regional importance; Bill Monroe, "the father of bluegrass music", was born in the Ohio County community of Rosine, and he named his band, the Blue Grass Boys, after the bluegrass state, i.e., Kentucky. Travis picking, the influential guitar style, is named after Merle Travis, born and raised in Muhlenberg County. Kentucky is home to the Country Music Highway, which extends from Portsmouth, Ohio, to the Virginia border in Pike County.
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