The Old Brown County Barn

“The Old Brown County Barn” is a fiddle breakdown in B composed by Bill Monroe. Its title points to the hall at Bean Blossom, Indiana, home of the Brown County Jamboree. The Jamboree had begun informally as a free outdoor show for local musicians and was drawing crowds from other states by 1941. That October, work started on a barn-like building, planned to seat 2,500, so the shows could go on through the winter. Its founders, Francis and Mae Rund, sold the Jamboree to Monroe, then a Grand Ole Opry performer, in 1951–52. The Brown County Democrat reported the sale in April 1952, and Monroe later recalled buying the place “back in ’52” to have a home base. He kept the Sunday Jamboree shows going, and from 1967 he held an annual festival on the grounds.