Bluegrass, Blues and Barbeque Region

Bluegrass, Blues and Barbeque Region covers the western coal-and-river country of Kentucky between Owensboro and the Ohio River, the agricultural-and-industrial belt running from the Indiana border south past Madisonville. The terrain is gently rolling — coalfield country in the south giving way to flat Ohio River bottomland in the north — drained by the Green and Pond rivers as they cut north toward the Ohio. Nine counties cover the region. Daviess holds Owensboro, the largest city; Henderson holds Henderson and the John James Audubon State Park; Hopkins holds Madisonville; Muhlenberg holds Greenville and the Everly Brothers’ hometown; Ohio holds Hartford and the Bill Monroe Homeplace at Rosine. The International Bluegrass Music Museum, the RiverPark Center, and the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art cluster in Owensboro. Most trips here run music-and-food focused. Owensboro carries the bluegrass heritage (the ROMP music festival each June, the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame) and the city’s distinctive barbecue tradition (mutton, served with burgoo and dip); Henderson handles the Audubon and W.C. Handy Blues Festival history; Rosine pulls bluegrass purists to Bill Monroe’s grave and the Saturday-night jam at the old country store.