International Bluegrass Music Museum

Owensboro, KY — A foot-stomping birthday celebration for native Kentuckian Abe Lincoln will take place in Owensboro on his 200th birthday. The International Bluegrass Music Museum and author Rick Miller will premiere a new, original musical: “Lincoln in the Land of Bluegrass.” The play is set to bluegrass music, the style created by another celebrated Kentuckian, Mr. Bill Monroe.

The museum is partnering with actors from Theatre Workshop of Owensboro and musicians and dancers from area schools and the community. The historical vignettes and many songs were written by local letter carrier Rick Miller and scored by the bluegrass museum’s education director, Randy Lanham. Lanham taught songwriting to students in the museum’s “Bluegrass in the Schools” program. More than 300 students will sing the songs they wrote or dance in the finale. Lanham’s bluegrass band and his brother Barry Lanham’s clogging troupe, Foot Stompin’ Express, will perform. A third brother, Dwayne, is building the log cabin set.

The public is invited to attend the musical 7 p.m., Thursday, February 12, 2009, in the RiverPark Center on 2nd & Daviess Streets in downtown Owensboro. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students and are available at the door.

About The International Bluegrass Music Museum

The International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, Ky., provides displays, archives, and events to preserve the heritage and foster the future of bluegrass music, an American musical style native to Western Kentucky.