Peter Rowan says he has always been a bluegrass musician at heart.

“I have always followed Bill Monroe’s advice — if you can play bluegrass you can play anything,” Rowan said.

“I’ve never worried too much about which category I fit in. At some point, I realized the songs I write take me in that (bluegrass) direction, though.”

Rowan grew up in Massachussetts, which to Southerners, may seem like an odd place for a bluegrass musician to come into his own.

However, Rowan sees things differently. 

“It was a great place to be a bluegrass musician. Anyone who played bluegrass back then, did it for love. There were very few full-time bluegrass musicians,” Rowan said.

Rowan followed Monroe to Nashville, where he was part of his edgy bluegrass band. He stayed with Monroe for three years, and then, decided to leave to explore the big world of music. Rowan found himself playing with musicians from a variety of genres from reggae to rock. But eventually, he went back to his musical roots.

“I’ve found that to keep growing in music, you have to go back to square one,” Rowan said. “After all of my fine tuning, I went back to just a man singing and playing a guitar. “I have had so many honors in my career from being a Bluegrass Boy to performing with a reggae band.”

Rowan is currently on tour with the Tony Rice Quartet, in support of their second collaborative album, “Quartet.” The tour will make stop in East Tennessee at 5:50 p.m. on Aug. 11 at Patriot Park, located at traffic light #7 on the Parkway, in Pigeon Forge, during the city’s Stringtime in the Smokies Festival.

The three-day music festival will be held Aug. 10-12 with additional concerts at Patriot Park, Old Mill Square, located at traffic light #7 on the Parkway, and Walden’s Landing, located between traffic lights #2 and #3.

•Jack Pearson and William Howse
•The Hackensaw Boys
•The Steel Drivers
•King Wilkie
•New Harvest
•Jimbo Whaley & Greenbrier
•Grasstowne
•Claire Lynch Band
•Tim O’Brien Band

Musicians who want to take part in the fun can participate in Jammin’ at the Old Mill Pottery House Cafe´at 7 p.m. on Aug. 11-12.

Admission to the festival is free.

For more information, call (865) 429-7350 or visit www.mypigeonforge.com.