More than five decades after Bill Monroe created bluegrass music, a collection of bluegrass, "newgrass," gospel and country musicians will honor him through The Legend Lives On: A Tribute to Bill Monroe, a two-CD, twenty-eight-song collection of covers of songs he wrote or redefined.

The album kicks off with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder's reading of one of Monroe's two most iconic songs, "Uncle Pen." "I like to say it's the national anthem for bluegrass music," Skaggs said. "I think it's pretty daggone apparent that the listeners out there are hungry for songs of substance. The O Brother record opened the doors for what else is out there, like Mr. Monroe. We have to be the caretakers of this music." Monroe's other trademark tune, "Blue Moon of Kentucky," is handled by his son, James.

Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys (of which Skaggs was once a member) contribute "Can't You Hear Me Callin'" and "I Got a Letter." The late gonzo bluegrass legend John Hartford puts his stamp on "Cross Eyed Child" and "Little Cabin on the Hill," while Charlie Daniels ("Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms") and Marty Stuart ("Raw Hide") represent for country.

A living link to Monroe is made with bluegrass patriarch Del McCoury, who with his band contributes a pair of tracks. McCoury was first introduced to bluegrass by former Monroe sidekicks Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs in 1950 and thirteen years later found himself playing guitar and singing with Monroe as a Blue Grass Boy, though he was a banjo picker.

"He offered me a job the very first day he heard my playing," McCoury recounted. "He very easy to work with in those days if you were used to hard work, which I was. And I think he respected that. He never said, 'Sing this way,' or 'Play that guitar like this.' Though he thought everybody should have a bluegrass haircut."

A DVD/VHS version of The Legend Lives On will be available through PBS affiliates in March, with nation-wide distribution to follow in September.

The Legend Lives On track listing:

Disc One:

"Uncle Pen," Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
"Cross Eyed Child," John Hartford
"John Henry," the Del McCoury Band
"Walkin' in Jerusalem," Connie Smith and the Whites
"Raw Hide," Marty Stuart with the Del McCoury Band
"Can't You Hear Me Callin'," Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys
"Rose of Old Kentucky," Larry Sparks
"Highway of Sorrow," Tim O'Brien
"Wicked Path of Sin," Jerry and Tammy Sullivan
"Orange Blossom Special," Charlie Daniels
"Rocky Road Blues," Jim and Jesse with the Virginia Boys
"Blue Eyed Darlin'," the Bluegrass Boys
"Blue Moon of Kentucky," James Monroe
"Will the Circle Be Unbroken," All artists

Disc Two:

"Rabbit in the Log," Marty Stuart
"True Life Blues," the Del McCoury Band
"What Would You Give in Exchange," Larry Sparks
"Get Up John," Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
"Used to Be," the Whites
"Swing Low Sweet Chariot," Bill Carlisle
"Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms," Charlie Daniels
"I Got a Letter," Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys
"In the Pines," the Bluegrass Boys
"Workin' on a Building," Tim O'Brien
"I'll Meet You in Church," Jerry and Tammy Sullivan
"Little Cabin on the Hill," John Hartford
"Bean Blossom Memories," James Monroe
"I'll Fly Away," All artists

ANDREW DANSBY
(February 5, 2003)