KQED Life: Sun, Mar 20, 2011 -- 3:30 PM

This special brings together the best, the brightest, and the pioneersof one of America's most popular and enduring indigenous musical styl es. Bluegrass music, born and bred in the hills of Appalachia in the 1930's, has survived and thrived through the various cycles of pop music trends, and is now enjoying an unprecedented renaissance due to the phenomenal success of the movie, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and the yearning for a return to the basics, the spirit and soul of authentic American roots music.
This program is unprecedented in the history of bluegrass and in the history of modern public TV. For the first time, the legends are brought together with the stars of traditional country music and a new generation of bluegrass performers - all on the same stage, all on the same night. The live concert took place in January 2002 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville - the original home of the Grand Ole Opry, and the national birthplace of Bluegrass music.
Host Ricky Skaggs, considered by many the musical son of the acknowledged Father of Bluegrass Bill Monroe, welcomes a Who's Who of Bluegrass music today: Country icon Vince Gill; superstars the Dixie Chicks; legends Earl Scruggs, Ralph Stanley and the Del McCoury Band; andthe new generation represented by Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Trav is Tritt and Nickel Creek, plus the first bluegrass song to win the prestigious Country Music Association song of the year, "Man of ConstantSorrow," from the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack. Each artis t shines in a spontaneous environment of live-on-tape performances, with one-of-a-kind collaborations, revealing backstage moments, and excerpts from the final interview with the late Bill Monroe.