Big Family: The Story of Bluegrass Music

When 21-year-old banjo prodigy Earl Scruggs joined Bill Monroe's band, he revolutionized what people thought was possible from the banjo.

Examine the history of bluegrass music, from its origins to its eventual worldwide popularity, and hear from dozens of musicians who explain the ways bluegrass music transcends generational, cultural and geographic boundaries.

Just four or five people on stage with nothing but their instruments and microphones - and yet it allows for what Chris Thile calls "explosive creativity," creating something new while still retaining ties to the genre's traditions.

His parents died when he was young, so Bill Monroe spent much of his early years with his mother's brother, Uncle Pen, a renowned old time fiddler, and an African-American blues guitarist, Arnold Schultz, whose musical talents allowed him some freedoms otherwise not afforded blacks in a region marked by segregation.

Bluegrass musicians traveling in Japan were shocked to see how they were treated: like "rock gods," continually thronged by adoring young fans.