Host Profile

The Facts (as he knows them):
1. Bruce was born in 1959.
2. Arrival time at WYEP—1978
3. Bruce served on the WYEP Board of Directors from 1983 to 1985.
4. Bruce is a 1991 Pitt Graduate. Go Panthers!!

The fine art of radio was passed on to Bruce by Larry Berger. The Bluegrass Jam Session was founded by Alan Bennett in 1977. From 1980 to 1985, the Mountjoy Brothers, Bruce and Todd, hosted the WYEP early morning show, Bluegrass Reflections. Since 1985, Bruce has hosted The Bluegrass Jam Session and serves as a substitute host in a wide variety of genres including folk, new rock, blues and the WYEP Music Mix.

Rosemary Welsch’s profile of Bruce Mountjoy from the WYEP Newsletter:
To listen to music historians, you might imagine bluegrass music to be an orphaned Kentucky child with a heritage pointing to a variety of possible sires. The experts claim bluegrass roots reach back to Gregorian chants, ancient Chinese music, Anglo Celtic folk and the minstrel shows that criss-crossed Europe in past centuries. Music archivist Alan Lomax hailed bluegrass as “the first clear-cut orchestral style to appear in the British-American folk tradition in 500 years.” However, any true fan of the music will tell you the full name of the proud papa of bluegrass: William Smith Monroe. Never in the history of popular music has one man and his band become synonymous with a musical genre.

According to Bruce Mountjoy, host of WYEP’s Bluegrass Jam Session, that might be due to the protective stance Monroe took in creating his music. “Bill Monroe was an innovator and a defender of the faith. You can’t go very far from what he did and still call it bluegrass.” Monroe’s attention to details in phrasing, picking, timing and rhythm defined who a true Bluegrass Boy was. Monroe proclaimed Bluegrass to be the old Southern sound heard years ago in the backwoods, a sound that resurrects ancient tones. Mountjoy first encountered Bluegrass in reverse, listening to the commercial folk and blues leaning styles of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and John Denver. Later, moving into commercial country music, Mountjoy discovered Tom T. Hall’s “The Magnificant Music Machine,” a recording that included Bill Monroe.

With that introduction Mountjoy began seeking out bluegrass music. In 1977 he discovered the Bluegrass Jam Session on WYEP, hosted by Alan and Robin Bennett. More than twenty years later, Bruce Mountjoy is the bluegrass sentry on duty every Sunday evening from 8 to 10pm. The passion that drives bluegrass extends to its followers. “People are so involved with their music.” Mountjoy figures that probably 50% of any Bluegrass audience also play the music. Go to a bluegrass festival and you’ll find jam sessions occurring in the parking lot, a mix of professional musicians and audience members popping mandolins into overdrive, flying bows over fiddles, clicking rhythm out of banjos and begging guitars to sing harmony. You’ll hear love ballads, tales of family tragedy, traveling fast songs and bootlegger’s laments. Whatever the emotion is that resonates with you, you’ll find it at a bluegrass gathering.

As Bluegrass moves beyond it’s 1940’s birth-place into a new century, it continues to create an aura of antiquity while maintaining a freshness that carries through the generations. At a time when you can witness Bill Monroe’s progeny laying out the future of Bluegrass, you can still catch performances from some of the first generation players. Whether you’re listening to Alison Krauss, Ricky Scaggs or Earl Scruggs and Ralph Stanley, you are partaking in a uniquely American musical form that transcends time and people. Join the congregation at The Bluegrass Jam Session, Sundays from 8-10pm.