Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University will host the first-ever academic conference devoted to bluegrass music on campus Sept. 8-10.

Organized by the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology, the Bluegrass Music Symposium brings together well-known bluegrass scholars from 17 states, as well as Canada, Switzerland and Japan.

The event will include a concert by bluegrass legend J.D. Crowe and the New South on Sept. 8 and a keynote address by bluegrass scholar Neil Rosenberg on Sept. 9.

"Bowling Green is an ideal setting for a scholarly examination of bluegrass, past and present," said Dr. Erika Brady, folk studies professor. "It's a distinctly American style that emerged from this region. Bill Monroe blended oldtime Anglo-American tunes and songs he heard growing up in Rosine, Ky., with influence from blues, ragtime and popular music. Many of the finest bluegrass musicians call western Kentucky home, but it has a driving, irresistible sound that draws fans throughout the world."

In addition to the portion of the conference devoted to presentation of academic papers, the event includes a photographic exhibit, "Bluegrass Images: 1968-2005" featuring the work of Carl Fleischhauer and Charmaine Lanham, which will remain on display until December 2005 at the Kentucky Library and Museum on the WKU campus. A teachers' workshop presenting innovative ways to incorporate aspects of bluegrass music into the K-12 curriculum will take place Sept. 10.

Advance registration is required for the teaching workshop and the sessions presenting scholarly research. The conference does include, however, several events that are free and open to the public:

* The concert by J.D. Crowe and the New South, one of the most influential musicians in the history of bluegrass and a native-born Kentuckian, begins at 7:30 p.m. CDT Sept. 8 at Van Meter Auditorium. The concert also kicks off the 2005-2006 WKU Cultural Enhancement Series.

* The keynote address "How Will I Explain About You?: Intellectual and Academic Uses of Bluegrass," by preeminent bluegrass scholar Neil Rosenberg of Memorial University of Newfoundland begins at 7:30 p.m. CDT Sept. 9 at the Garrett Conference Center Auditorium.

A complete schedule with times, locations and profiles of J.D. Crowe and Neil Rosenberg can be found at the Bluegrass Music Symposium website, www.wku.edu/folkstudies/bgconference.

The Bluegrass Music Symposium is made possible through the support of the Kentucky Humanities Council; the WKU Cultural Enhancement Committee; WKU's Potter College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; the International Bluegrass Music Association; and the American Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers; NASCO; the WKU departments of Folk Studies and Anthropology, Music, and Communication; the WKU School of Journalism and Broadcasting; and WKYU-FM, Western's Public Radio.

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Erika Brady at (270) 745-5902.