Interview with Pete Kuykendall, January 24, 2006

Interview Summary

Pete Kuykendall was a member of the Country Gentlemen from 1958-1959, one of the founders of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, co-founder of Wynwood Music Company, and was instrumental in the formation of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) and the International Bluegrass Music Museum. In this interview Kuykendall talks about his childhood interest in music, his desire to be a "hillbilly disc jockey," and the Bluegrass scene in the Washington, D.C. area from the 1940s on. He talks about working for the Library of Congress' recording laboratory and how he began doing his own recording which led to his engineering records for the Country Gentlemen. He talks about how bootleg recordings were passed around on the underground market, and describes his role in the rediscovery of Mississippi John Hurt. He goes into great detail about the founding of Bluegrass Unlimited, Bluegrass festivals, and the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) and Pete Kuykendall was a member of the Country Gentlemen from 1958-1959, one of the founders of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, co-founder of Wynwood Music Company, and was instrumental in the formation of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) and the International Bluegrass Music Museum. In this interview Kuykendall talks about his childhood interest in music, his desire to be a "hillbilly disc jockey," and the Bluegrass scene in the Washington, D.C. area from the 1940s on. He talks about working for the Library of Congress' recording laboratory and how he began doing his own recording which led to his engineering records for the Country Gentlemen. He talks about how bootleg recordings were passed around on the underground market, and describes his role in the rediscovery of Mississippi John Hurt. He goes into great detail about the founding of Bluegrass Unlimited, Bluegrass festivals, and the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) and International Bluegrass Music Museum.

Interview Keyword

Library of Congress Recording Laboratory The Country Gentlemen (Artist) Country Gentlemen, The (Artist) Audio recording Music recording Recording sessions Recording engineers Hurt, Mississippi John (Artist) Mississippi John Hurt (Artist) Spottswood, Dick Dick Spottswood Bluegrass Unlimited (Magazine) International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) International Bluegrass Music Awards International Bluegrass Music Museum Owensboro (Ky.) Bluegrass festivals

Interview LC Subject

Records Sound recordings Sound--Recording and reproducing Bluegrass music Bluegrass musicians Bands (Music) Musical groups Musical performance Music--Performance Radio programs Radio stations Washington (D.C.) Sound engineers Acoustical engineering Music business Periodicals Publishers and publishing Printing industry Printing--Periodicals

Interview Rights

The Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History has been licensed by the International Bluegrass Music Museum as the exclusive archival repository for this collection. All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, belong to the International Bluegrass Music Museum.?Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky.

Interview Usage

Interviews may only be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky.