Department of Tourism
Blackacre Nature Preserve Will Echo with Bluegrass June 30

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of four news releases on the Bluegrass Week celebration in Kentucky.

JEFFERSONTOWN, Ky. – A secluded historic homestead and nature preserve in eastern Jefferson County will be the site of a rousing bluegrass concert and festival on Saturday June 30.

The Bluegrass at Blackacre concert will feature the traditional bluegrass picking of Tommy Brown and the County Line Grass.  With family roots traced to Bill Monroe's home place of Ohio County, Ky., Tommy Brown, a third generation musician, began picking the five-string banjo at age six. His musical abilities were recognized when he garnered both the Kentucky State and the Tennessee State Banjo Championships. In addition to banjo, Tommy is a masterful mandolin player. His powerful mandolin style and soulful vocals embrace his passion for the mountain-style bluegrass music he performs today.
 
Brown’s band also includes his 14-year-old son, Jereme Brown, who handles banjo duties. Thirteen-year-old daughter Rachel Brown plays acoustic bass. Tommy's wife, Laura Brown, provides tenor vocals and occasionally performs a jig dance or two. Both Tommy and Jereme have penned original songs, and both have CDs in international distribution.

Traveling in a 1971 Silver Eagle tour bus, the band is playing to audiences around the nation. They have appeared on DIRECTV's RFD Cumberland Highlander Show, IBMA Fan Fest, Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Celebration, Silver Dollar City (Branson, Mo.) and many festivals and concert venues throughout the country.

The Blackacre Nature Preserve and Historic Homestead is located at 3200 Tucker Station Road, about 15 miles east of downtown Louisville. The concert will be held in the courtyard of the 1844 farmhouse beginning at 6 p.m. Gates to the 300-acre preserve will open at 3 p.m. and activities will include a free hayride, free horse-and-buggy rides and hiking through the preserve’s verdant meadows, forests and fields. Guests can bring a picnic meal or purchase hamburgers and hot dogs from a vendor on site.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $2 for children under 12 years and $8 for Blackacre Conservancy members. For more information, contact Katie Greene, executive director of the Blackacre Conservancy, at 502-266-9802 or katiegreene@blackacreconservancy.org.

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The Kentucky Department of Tourism, an agency of the Kentucky Commerce Cabinet, exists to promote The Commonwealth as a travel destination, generate revenue and create jobs for Kentucky’s economy.