Bill Monroe is the subject of a recent article published as a web exclusive on the Newsweek Entertainment section of MSNBC.com.

The article is written in remembrance of the man who influenced so many, and forever altered the landscape of American music.

It’s a nice article that includes good observations by Malcolm Jones, who writes like someone knowledgeable about bluegrass music. The article also includes a nice flash audio player with three song clips cued up and ready for people to listen as they read.

Here’s one statement that particularly resonated with my own experience.

It was a curious thing, though, watching him from the audience in those last years. In a way, he seemed indestructible, as though he would go on doing this for years…It came as a genuine shock to realize that Monroe was mortal.