That High Lonesome Sound
Watch highlights from the Bluegrass stamp First Day of Issue Dedication Ceremony
The USPS hosted a First Day of Issue Dedication Ceremony Friday, March 15, 2024, for the new Bluegrass stamps. The event was held at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum, in Owensboro, Kentucky, just prior to a performance at the venue by Ricky Skaggs, a 15-time Grammy® Award-winner and bluegrass ambassador.
Music historians generally agree that bluegrass as we know it originated with Bill Monroe (1911–1996). Drawing on old-time fiddle and church music as well as gospel, blues, and jazz, Monroe fashioned a style that was both brand-new and achingly familiar.
By 1945, Monroe and his band, the Blue Grass Boys, had solidified the key components of bluegrass: refined vocal harmonies, driving tempos, and outstanding musicianship. Once viewed as a type of country music, bluegrass—famously described as “folk music with overdrive” by musicologist Alan Lomax—quickly emerged as its own distinct genre and could be found just about everywhere, from college campuses and large urban areas to television shows and movies.
Today, although bluegrass enjoys relatively little radio exposure, this singular American music style continues to thrive, attracting fans worldwide who all share the same passion for what they affectionately call the “high lonesome sound.”