Gracie Muldoon
By Henry Piarrot
In the early 20th century, what we now call Bluegrass Music enjoyed a growth in popularity as Country Singers started to bring their skills to the cities. It was then known as Mountain Music, as it had evolved in the rural towns and villages from in and around the Appalachians. In the 1920s, The Monroe Brothers from Kentucky rose in prominence and featured Charlie on guitar and his brother Bill on mandolin. However, in 1938, the brothers split to form their own separate bands.
Hailing from Kentucky (The “Blue Grass State”), Bill named his band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys and soon this original American form of music had a new name. Distinguished by two or three-part harmonies accompanied by acoustic instruments and the lyrics reflected the lives of a people whose hopes and dreams were to simply find a tomorrow that would be more romantic and less challenging than today.
Gracie Muldoon, founder of Worldwide Bluegrass, the largest growing LIVE Bluegrass station on the internet, has not only been singing and performing Bluegrass music all of live, she also lives it.
Grace Jewell Howard was born on January 31, 1957 in Newport, Kentucky. Her parents, Reverend Carl Howard and his wife Mary, were the local pastors in their local church congregation, the West 7th St First Church of God, which began over 40 years ago in 1968, in the basement of their home. Gracie and her two sisters were raised singing Bluegrass and contemporary gospel harmonies in church.
Classically trained on the piano, Gracie graduated from Newport High School in 1975 and married her long time sweetheart 2 years later. But after her marriage of seven years ended, Gracie was challenged with raising their two sons on her own.
Several jobs and many late nights later, Gracie met and eventually married a man named Michael Muldoon. In time she would have another son to raise alone after that marriage of 18 years ended. However, during the several years it took for the relationship to finally dissolve, Gracie set out on her own to distinguish herself as a great promoter of the music that has always been at the heart of her life.
Gracie got into broadcasting in Batavia, Ohio and found it to be exciting and challenging. Her show, featuring Bluegrass and Classic Country Music became very popular and after two years, she brought her communicating talents to the internet when she began working with a man from Texas that taught her how to produce streaming radio shows. In 2007 she purchased the operation from her mentor and www.worldwidebluegrass.com was born. Thru this endeavor, Gracie has established a large and still growing worldwide fan base of Bluegrass music lovers all over the globe.
Celebrity interviews have become a large part of her shows and in the past five years, she has visited with some of the best Bluegrass and Country Music performers. Charlie Daniels, Jerry Reed, Rhonda Vincent and Charlie Louvin are only a few of her long list of celebrity interviews. Gracie is also an excellent singer who can play several instruments and loves all kinds of music.
Not very long ago, Miss Dixie Hall, wife of Tom T. Hall, honored Gracie Muldoon by awarding her with an “Honorary Daughter of Bluegrass Award,” and considers it to be the biggest thrill she has received during her career.
After years of burning her candle on both ends, Gracie suffered a stroke in June of 2010 and then lost her beloved father to cancer in May of 2011. Though she is almost completely recovered now, she sold Worldwide Bluegrass to Gary Reece, a webmaster who loves the music they feature, so she could regain her health and not hurt the growth of the station. However, she continues to host a show on Worldwide Bluegrass every Sunday evening.
Worldwide Bluegrass is a not for profit enterprise, broadcasting around the world and around the clock. All of the station’s hosts are professional volunteers who possess a passion for the true music of America.
Gracie Muldoon is a woman, mother, performer and visionary. Her labor of love represents all that is good in those of us who are a proud part of something larger than ourselves.
Henry Piarrot is a Sevier County resident and hotel manager on assignment in Nashville. Please send all story recommendations to hpiarrot@yahoo.com
