American journalist
Peter Van Kuykendall
(January 15, 1938 – August 24, 2017) also known as
Pete Roberts
, was an American bluegrass musician, songwriter, discographer and a magazine and music publisher. He was a co-founder of
Bluegrass Unlimited
magazine and its editor since 1970. He was instrumental in the formation of the
International Bluegrass Music Association
(IBMA) in 1985 and the
International Bluegrass Music Museum
(IBMM) in 1991. In 1996, he was inducted into the
International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame
.
[1]
Early life
[
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]
Born in
Washington, D.C.
, he grew up in
Arlington, Virginia
, attending
Washington?Lee High School
.
An avid record collector from a young age, Kuykendall would listen to country and bluegrass music on the WARL, WGAY and
WWVA
radio stations. His mother was a piano teacher and Kuykendall played clarinet in his junior and high school concert bands. He learned to play all the
bluegrass
instruments, but his primary instrument is the five-string banjo. He played banjo as a member of
The Country Gentlemen
in 1958?1959.
[1]
[2]
[3]
Career
[
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]
After high school, he studied at Capitol Radio and Electronics Institute (CREI)
[1]
and was a deejay for WKIK in Leonardtown, Maryland
[3]
and WFCR (WEEL, now
WDCT
) in Fairfax, Virginia.
[4]
Graduated from CREI, he got married and worked for a short time as a recording division technician in the Library of Congress,
[4]
transferring recordings from fragile discs and cylinders to magnetic tape. He also worked as a broadcast technician at WETA-TV 26 in Washington, DC. He built Wynwood Recording Studio in the basement of his house in
Falls Church, Virginia
and recorded
Mississippi John Hurt
there in 1964 and many other blues, bluegrass and country music performers over the years.
[1]
[5]
He produced several albums for the Country Gentlemen,
[4]
including
Nashville Jail
in 1964.
Discographer
[
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]
In the late 1950s, Kuykendall wrote several articles and discographies for
Disc Collector
magazine which were "the first serious writing about the discographical aspects of the careers of
[Bill] Monroe
,
Reno and Smiley
,
Flatt and Scruggs
and the
Stanley Brothers
."
[6]
Folklorist and music scholar
Neil V. Rosenberg
has called him "the first discographer of bluegrass music."
[2]
Songwriter
[
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]
He composed and arranged songs, often using his stage-name, Pete Roberts,
[2]
[7]
[8]
that are now standards in bluegrass, including: "Down Where The Still Waters Flow", "I Am Weary (Let Me Rest)" ? used in the soundtrack of the movie
O Brother Where Art Thou
, "Journey's End", "No Blind Ones There", "Out On The Ocean", "Remembrance Of You" and "Rollin' Stone".
[1]
His own music publishing company is Wynwood Music.
[1]
Bluegrass Unlimited
[
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]
Bluegrass Unlimited
magazine was co-founded by Kuykendall in 1966, with Gary Henderson, Dick Freeland,
Dick Spottswood
, and volunteers Dianne and Vince Sims.
[1]
In 1970 he became its editor and has written many articles for it."
[9]
From 1972 to 1980,
Bluegrass Unlimited
, i.e. Kuykendall, produced the Indian Springs Bluegrass Festival near Hagerstown, Maryland, 17 times.
[1]
The
International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame
has stated that
Bluegrass Unlimited
magazine is "a publication affectionately referred to as the 'bible of bluegrass music'".
[10]
Influence
[
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]
Steve Spence, former managing editor at
Bluegrass Unlimited
, called Kuykendall "one of the foremost authorities on the history of bluegrass" and also said of him: "Kuykendall is as integral a part of the success of bluegrass music over the past five decades as any one person you are likely to find. He has been a performer, a songwriter, a magazine and music publisher, an event promoter, a disc jockey, a record producer, booking agent..."
[1]
Speaking of Kuykendall and the influence of
Bluegrass Unlimited
, David Freeman, owner of
Rebel Records
, said: "When the magazine started publishing, bluegrass was pretty much at a low point. The magazine spread the word and highlighted the artistic aspect of the music, which helped to bring it out of the bars where it was in the 1950s. Without him I don’t know where the bluegrass industry would be today."
[11]
Death
[
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]
Pete Kuykendall died in his sleep in a nursing facility in
Warrenton, Virginia
, on August 24, 2017.
See also
[
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]
Bluegrass Unlimited
References
[
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]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
International Bluegrass Music Museum
Archived
2011-09-07 at the
Wayback Machine
Inductee "Peter V. Kuykendall" by Steve Spence. Accessed 2011-09-15.
- ^
a
b
c
Rosenberg, Neil.
Bluegrass: A History
. p.159
- ^
a
b
Sachs, Bill. "Folk Talent and Tunes" column
Billboard Magazine
, December 15, 1958. p.4. (as "Pete Roberts"). Retrieved 2011-09-17.
- ^
a
b
c
Rosenberg, p.225
- ^
Piedmont Records discography
Stefan Wirz at www.wirz.de, label No. 13161. Accessed 2011-09-16.
- ^
Rosenberg, p.226
- ^
BMI Repertoire search, Songwriter/Composer: ROBERTS PETE
Retrieved 2011-09-14.
- ^
BMI Repertoire search, Songwriter/Composer: KUYKENDALL PETER VAN
Archived
2012-07-16 at
archive.today
Retrieved 2011-09-15.
- ^
Rosenberg, "Bibliography", p.391
- ^
Citation inducting Peter V. Kuykendall
Archived
2012-12-03 at the
Wayback Machine
into the
IBM Hall of Fame
, 1996. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- ^
Sprague, Connie. November 1, 1996. "Bluegrass Ambassador: Magazine Publisher Has Helped Nourish the Music for 30 Years,"
The Fauquier Citizen
. (at
IBMM
Archived
2011-09-07 at the
Wayback Machine
)
Sources
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External links
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