Annual IBMA Awards Thread

[pickloser]

I'll drive several hours and pay cash money to see Adam Steffey play.

I'm happily anticipating the IBMA event in Raleigh. It will be good to hear bluegrass for hours without having to sit in a lawn chair. I too hope costs are kept down for booths; I would love the opportunity to hear the work of so many of the builders I read about on the Cafe. With three major universities very nearby (NC State, Carolina, and Duke), Raleigh could work out well as a showcase for live acoustic music, and it's an opportunity to draw younger fans to bluegrass. But mostly, it's gonna work out well for me.

No "real deal" bluegrass musicians in North Carolina? . . . hmmph! Maybe a fair few work some in Nashville, but about half of those come home to NC.

[Mike Bunting]

I'll drive several hours and pay cash money to see Adam Steffey play.

Several hours, ha!, I drove 6400 km (return) to see and take lessons from Mike Compton et al.!

[greg_tsam]

And I love Doc as much as anybody, but guitar player of the year??? For what exactly??

Oh my. Really?

[greg_tsam]

I can certainly do without Steffey but great for Junior Sisk,one of my favs and hooray for Joe Newberry.

Thanks Mike!!

ROFLMAO!!! Oh My God!!! hahaha.... It took me 5 minutes to stop laughing. Great zinger, Adam!

[David]

This article sums up the organization's troubles, 5 years in the red, a refusal to embrace newer non-traditional bands, and an outdated organizational model. Raleigh is the death knell.

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/conten...stakes-raleigh

[Danny Clark]

I have been every year since 2006 ,for some reason it was harder to park this year than usual maybe other stuff going on most lots were full ,some sort of festival down at the river ,and Martina was at the Ryman friday night , i would guess inside about 65% of last years attendance ,fewer booths too
Gibson was back at Fanfest ,they only had a few mandolins tho
,Red Diamond had 4 at the Morgan Music booth,all were great sounding mandolins,Ellis had 2 F-5s and two of the new Pavas.they were all great as well ,also Steve Sorensen had 2 and a guitar ,very nice mandolins ,he had the first non-traditional mandolins that have ever got my attention,nice stuff !!
Elderly booth was as expected great,always nice stuff there
Danny

[sgarrity]

Oh my. Really?

Yeah, really. Why did he win? Did he put out a recording in the last year? Was he touring? No. I own the majority of the records Doc put out over the years and I count him as a musical influence. I never got to see him live and that is a major regret. But if they want to honor Doc, that's awesome. Give him a lifetime achievement award or put him in the hall of fame if he's not already. The player of the year awards should be for people that are out there playing.

[re simmers]

Steve Martin is the best front man since Duffey. I personally know many people who were not grass fans, who will pay 'whatever' and go 'wherever' to see Steve Martin pick the banjo.

NOT to hijack the thread, but........
I saw Doc about 5 yrs ago, the only time I ever saw him in person. He brought the house down. I really liked his rendition of the old bluegrass tune, "Nights in White Satin."

The passing of Doc Watson, if you check youtube, probably promoted bluegrass guitar more than any other this past year. And if you go by that, maybe Earl Scruggs should have been Banjo player of the year. Something to ponder.

Bob

[greg_tsam]

Yeah, really. Why did he win? Did he put out a recording in the last year? Was he touring? No. I own the majority of the records Doc put out over the years and I count him as a musical influence. I never got to see him live and that is a major regret. But if they want to honor Doc, that's awesome. Give him a lifetime achievement award or put him in the hall of fame if he's not already. The player of the year awards should be for people that are out there playing.

Well, first, I agree with you. I also thought he should been given a lifetime achievement award versus player of the year. But, I understand why they gave it to him. They wanted to honor him and that much is fitting and warranted. I figured they didn't have a lifetime achievement award so he got what he got.

But Doc did play this past year at MerleFest although I doubt he toured much further than that event, he was 89 after all.

The other nominees were Tony Rice, Kenny Smith, Bryan Sutton and Josh Williams.

[mandopete]

This article sums up the organization's troubles, 5 years in the red, a refusal to embrace newer non-traditional bands, and an outdated organizational model. Raleigh is the death knell.

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/conten...stakes-raleigh

Thanks for the link! I don't however agree that a move to Raleigh is a death knell. I think it's a great move that could re-start this event. I like the analogy used in the article...

Not only does Raleigh provide cheaper lodging, but it also allows the World of Bluegrass event to be “a bigger fish in a medium-sized pond rather than being in a large pond in Nashville,” Cardwell said.

This really makes sense when you think about the general appeal of bluegrass, which is pretty marginalized anyway.

On a side note we kind of experienced the opposite here in the Pacific Northwest when Wintergrass moved from Tacoma to Bellevue (agruably a much more expensive location). The hotel and city embraced the event as it added new revenue and they did their part to keep the costs down.

[Jeff Rose]

The keynote at IBMA WOB was super cool. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes/loves bluegrass. A summary can be found here: http://bluegrasstoday.com/a-tag-team-call-for-diversity

As to the ongoing debate about Owensboro, Louisville, Nashville, Raleigh... I plan to keep showing up wherever there is a week of jamming, workshops and performances by so many sensational musicians, singers and songwriters. BG Ahead

[Benjamin T]

Just a thought, maybe Bluegrass will have a sense of home coming to NC?

[mandopete]

The keynote at IBMA WOB was super cool. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes/loves bluegrass. A summary can be found here: http://bluegrasstoday.com/a-tag-team-call-for-diversity

“It’s not about me crossing over,” he said on the video Chris and Missy offered. “It’s getting (listeners) to cross over.”

Excellent - thanks for the link!

BTW Jeff - I have enjoyed your playing with Detour, keep it up!

[mandopete]

“It’s not about me crossing over,” he said on the video Chris and Missy offered. “It’s getting (listeners) to cross over.”

I should have noted that the quote above is attributed to Doyle Lawson.