Come join us for a night to remember, as shining stars from the Bay Area bluegrass constellation and beyond gather for a Grand Ole Opry-style performance in celebration of the 99th anniversary of the birth of Bill Monroe, the late singer, instrumentalist, composer, bandleader and the Father of Bluegrass.

Tonight's red-hot band features famed bluegrass siren Laurie Lewis on vocals, fiddle, and guitar; fiddler Chad Manning of David Grisman Buegrass Experience; High Country's Butch Waller on mandolin; banjo star Patrick Sauber; and Andrew Conklin on string bass; while MC Tony Marcus keeps things in historical perspective with anecdotes about Bill's life and songs. An impressive lineup of guest artists includes songstress Kathy Kallick, mandolin aces Tom Rozum and Henry Warde, guitarist/vocalist David Thom, and youthful guitar fingerpicker/vocalist, Molly Tuttle.

Born in on a farm near Rosine, Kentucky, Bill Monroe grew up playing mandolin and singing with his mother and seven siblings. He landed a regular spot on the iconic Nashville country music stage, the Grand Ole Opry, with his group the Blue Grass Boys, in 1939. Upping the musical tempo and stressing instrumental virtuosity, the Blue Grass Boys played an innovative style of music that brought traditional string band into a new genre that would become known as bluegrass. By 1945, when the Blue Grass Boys lineup included banjo prodigy Earl Scruggs and singer/guitarist Lester Flatt, Bill's group included all the key elements of modern bluegrass: breakneck tempos, sophisticated vocal harmony arrangements, and virtuosic solos on the mandolin, banjo, and fiddle. Bill passed away in 1996, but his legacy lives on through classic tunes like "Little Cabin Home on the Hill," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "Wicked Path of Sin," and "Stoney Lonesone," as well as through the contributions of over 150 musicians who Bill mentored in the Blue Grass Boys during the nearly 60 years of his performing career, from Jimmy Martin and Carter Stanley to Peter Rowan, Sonny Osborne, and Bill Keith.

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