I Hear a Voice Calling: A Bluegrass Memoir

During the final years of Bill Monroe's life, bluegrass fiddler Gene Lowinger took a series of on- and off-stage photographs of Monroe on the road—preparing for shows, performing, interacting with fans and audiences—and in informal settings with family, friends, and fellow musicians. As a bandmate, Lowinger was given unique access to Monroe's private life, and this book presents these photos as well as other photos documenting Lowinger's involvement with the bluegrass scene beginning in the early 1960s.

Lowinger also tells his own story of a New Jersey boy obsessed with folk and old-time music, and he recounts college trips to country music parks in Pennsylvania to see Monroe and other bluegrass masters; his stints as a fiddler for the New York Ramblers, Greenbriar Boys, and Blue Grass Boys; and his memories of playing at the Grand Ole Opry and music festivals. A photographic reflection on Bill Monroe's public and private life, I Hear a Voice Calling also testifies to the bluegrass master's profound mentorship and guidance.

A sensitive remembrance of bluegrass dreams and lessons.

Gene Lowinger is a freelance photojournalist based in New York and New Jersey. The first "Northern" fiddler to join the ranks of the Blue Grass Boys, Lowinger is also the author of Bluegrass Fiddle, one of the first books to accurately capture the bluegrass fiddle style in standard musical notation.