The 33rd season of Friday night Bluegrass in Rosine, Ky, is exactly one week away. April 4, 2025 is opening night.
I can’t help but wonder if Hoyt and Eleanor Bratcher thought the 1992 Woosley barn project would still be going strong all these years later. We’ll have to ask them, won’t we?
Next Friday, when The Rosine Barn Jamboree opens its doors for the first time in 2025 at 5:00pm, the night will stand as a tribute to Bill Burden, who recently passed away. Bill was there in the beginning and never strayed, through good times and bad. If you knew Bill, you knew how much The Rosine Barn Jamboree meant to him.
When I became involved in running the barn, about ten years ago, Bill (who at the time was Chairman of TRA, The Rosine Association) and his partner Shirley, took me under their wings and showed me the ropes. I’m forever grateful for their support and friendship, but most of all, the music. That’s the core—the music!
Not much has changed since last year, except for the new Wall of Fame current TRA Chairman Dennis Cook and I put up.
Small bronze plates with the names of those folks who were significant in the founding and growth of The Rosine Barn Jamboree will grace the wall. Each year more names will be added. If you want to know who the first inductees to the Wall of Fame are, you’ll have to show up next Friday, April 4.
Friday nights will be structured the same as last year. I’ll be leading off with a 30-minute open mic segment from 6-6:30 (any and all who want to play, sing, or both are welcome to come to the stage and participate). “Flip Flop” Floyd Stewart will follow from 6:30-7:00. First band will play from 7-8:00. Second(and last) band will play from 8-9:00.
Next week, April 4, the first Friday of the season, will be different as we will have the Bill Burden tribute from 7-9:00.
The following week, April 11th, we’ll go back to our regular program. Both our bands will be from Tennessee—“Brand New Box of Matches” from Knoxville at 7:00 and “The Grassy Creek Bluegrass Band” from Gatlinburg at 8:00.
I can also offer you some future month-of-May scheduling:
May 2, 7:00, Kenneth and Angie Newell. May 2, 8:00, The Caney Creek Gang
I know this because, as some of you very well know, Kenneth and Angie (still newlyweds in my eyes) are great friends of mine, and Kenneth and I co-founded The Caney Creek Gang in 2019.
May 16, 7:00, Bill Cooper and Pure Country
May 16, 8:00, The Autry Brothers
I know this because, hey, I’m one of the brothers! My brother Kevin Autry and I have an absolute ball every time we’re afforded the privilege of playing here.
The Barn means a great deal to us both. We used to come over and play for our Mamaw Eva when it opened in ‘92. When her health failed in ‘95-‘96, she would sit on her porch next door and listen. Goodness gracious, she is missed.
I know she’ll be on my mind when I step up to the mic opening night next Friday, April 4, at 6:00 and say, “Howdy! Welcome to The Rosine Barn Jamboree.”
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