Other than a few stage appearances, Bill Monroe had no direct involvement in southwestern Ohio bluegrass. However, he did influence many of the Dayton and Cincinnati bluegrass musicians. Bobby Osborne traces his first interest in bluegrass to seeing Monroe at Memorial Hall in Dayton in 1947. Noah Crase and Sonny Osborne played banjo in Monroe’s band early in their careers. Wayne Lewis, Tom Ewing, and Carlos Brock all sang lead and played guitar for extended periods in the Blue Grass Boys. Jimmy Martin was a long-time lead singer and rhythm guitar player with Bill. Many of the numbers that Sonny Osborne did for the Cincinnati budget labels Kentucky and Gateway were Bill Monroe covers. Frank Wakefield and Dorsey Harvey took inspiration from Monroe’s mandolin playing and Red Allen, as a boy, was in awe of him.
MONROE, WILLIAM SMITH “BILL” (1911-1996)