The Bluegrass Hotel

Louisville, Ky — Two of the world’s most innovative and influential bluegrass/newgrass bands are returning home to Louisville, Ky., the birthplace of the New Grass Revival and its predecessor, The Bluegrass Alliance.

These bands created and defined Newgrass, mixing traditional Bill Monroe-styled bluegrass with a fusion of rock, blues and jazz. Led by Sam Bush, the recordings, concerts and members of the New Grass Revival and The Bluegrass Alliance have become part of the folklore of the state and major forces within the music industry.

A key component of the Bluegrass scene in the halcyon days of the 1970s was an old Victorian mansion in Cherokee Park near downtown Louisville. The infamous Bluegrass Hotel, with proprietor Harry Bickel and luthier Harry Sparks, made life more stable for its residents and super pickers that included Sam Bush, Dan Crary, Tony Rice, Vince Gill, John Cowan, Curtis Burch, J.D. Crowe, Danny Jones, Jerry Douglas, Ricky Skaggs, Glenn Lawson, Tony Williamson, Jack Lawrence, Al White and many others who were making their way though the treacherous waters of the music business.

The Bluegrass Hotel represents an important chapter in music history, with a cast of characters that made Kentucky the center of the Bluegrass universe during the 1970s.

Sam Bush and former members of the New Grass Revival and The Bluegrass Alliance have launched a major project celebrating the Newgrass era in Kentucky, titled “The Bluegrass Hotel.”

The centerpiece of the project is a new film, accompanied by a DVD, CD and book, which will include reality-based storytelling and jam sessions filmed this month at the legendary Bluegrass Hotel, archival performances of the bands in the 1970s, and a March 6, 2009, concert at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville featuring Bush, his former bandmates from the two groups and special guest stars.

This Saturday, Bush, Crary, Rice, Burch, Crowe, Jones and Bluegrass Hotel proprietors Harry and Ann Bickel will join Louisville Mayor Jerry E. Abramson, Galt House Executive Director of Sales Lisa Haller and American Cancer Society Associate Executive Director Lorraina Aldridge at the Galt House to announce The Bluegrass Hotel Concert and Festival, scheduled for March 6, 2009.

“If it wasn’t for The Bluegrass Hotel, I don’t know how a lot of young Bluegrass musicians (like Vince Gill) could have moved to a different city to learn how to play music,” said Sam Bush. “I’m pleased to be involved in a project that is focused on the Newgrass era and to perform at this concert back in Louisville, where all the proceeds will benefit the work of the American Cancer Society. I know that cancer is a disease that affects all of our families in one way or another, and this concert will help the Society’s efforts to beat it,” said Bush.

Tickets and Hotel packages will go on sale Jan. 5 and be available to Newgrass fans.