Bards Bluegrass Fiddle Tunebook Supplement/Uncle Pen

}} James Pendleton Vandiver (1869–1932) was a Kentucky fiddler, born there shortly after the American Civil War.http://www.lovelycitizen.com/story/1237513.html Uncle Pen Woodside, Donice 2009-01-06 He was uncle to bluegrass musician Bill Monroe, who immortalized him in a song, Uncle Pen.Dawidoff, Nicholas, In the Country of Country (1997) p. 87 Monroe used to hear his uncle playing fiddle on the hilltop where he lived, while Monroe put away his mules at night.http://www.lovelycitizen.com/story/1237513.html Uncle Pen Woodside, Donice 2009-01-06 He later said that Vandiver was "the fellow that I learned how to play from."Dawidoff, Nicholas, In the Country of Country (1997) p. 87 Vandiver played fiddle at local square dances and social events, and his nephew backed him up, playing mandolin.http://www.lovelycitizen.com/story/1237513.html Uncle Pen Woodside, Donice 2009-01-06 Monroe's parents had both died by the time he was 16, and he lived part of the time with his Uncle Pen, in his two-room hilltop house in Rosine, Kentucky.Dawidoff, Nicholas, In the Country of Country (1997) p. 104 Vandiver had been crippled earlier, and he made some money with his music.http://www.lovelycitizen.com/story/1237513.html Uncle Pen Woodside, Donice 2009-01-06 Bill Monroe's biographer, Richard D. Smith writes, "Pen gave Bill more: a repertoire of tunes that sank into Bill's aurally trained memory and a sense of rhythm that seeped into his bones. Sometimes Bill played guitar behind his uncle, sometimes the mandolin."Smith, Richard D., Can't You Hear Me Callin': The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass, Chapter One online: New York Times Books: http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/smith-callin.html Hardcover: Little, Brown and Company (Warner), July 1, 2000. Paperback: Da Capo Press, October 2, 2001. On September 13, 1973, a monument in honor of Uncle Pen was unveiled by Monroe at the Rosine Cemetery.March 2010 Bill Monroe left Vandiver another memorial, in the words of his song about his uncle: Late in the evenin' about sundown High on the hill and above the town Uncle Pen played the fiddle Lord, how it would ring You could hear it talk You could hear it sing References External links Photograph of Pendleton Vandiver's gravestone Biography of two influences on Bill Monroe, Pendleton Vandiver and Arnold Schultz Chapter one of Can't You Hear Me Callin': The Life of Bill Monroe, Father of Bluegrass by Richard D. Smith. Contains information on Vandiver family and a description of Uncle Pen. Video of Bill Monroe performing his song Uncle Pen at the Grand Ole Opery Genealogy page for James Pendleton Vandiver