The International Bluegrass Music Association held their annual awards on September 26th. And it wasn’t bluegrass phenom Billy Strings who’s out there selling out arenas that walked away with the top award.
It was 25 years ago on August 5th 1999 when young Nashville Lower Broadway performer, Jesse Lee Jones, finalized one of his most important decisions, to buy Roberts Western World from its founder, Robert Moore.
Bluegrass is no longer the cute little subgenre of country just trying to keep the traditions going in fiddle camps across the country. It’s that too, but Billy Strings has taken it to the arena level with others on his heels.
Carefully curated like MerleFest and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, it features an eclectic lineup each year. It’s not unusual to find legends and veterans of the traditional bluegrass scene, the jamgrass scene, and younger acts.
There are bigger festivals, and maybe in someone’s opinion, better festivals. But few festivals in the roots space are as prestigious as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in beautiful Telluride, Colorado. Celebrating its 50th year in 2023 of hosting bluegrass and bluegrass-adjacent music in the beautiful mountains…
With the re-formed Hurricane Ian bearing down on the Carolinas Thursday evening, forcing all of the festivities for the biggest gathering in bluegrass each year indoors, the International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA held their 33rd annual awards at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts.
Sunday night (5-29), Tyler Childers returned to the main stage of DelFest. But unlike in 2019 when he played a straightforward, daytime supporting set, this time Childers was the headliner backed by the festival’s namesake backing band, The Travelin’ McCourys.
Apparently Tyler Childers and his band were just down the road in Huntington, West Virginia practicing when they caught wind of the cancellation. Some calls were placed, and next thing you know, the roughly 200 people in attendance got a two-hour show from Tyler.
We are living in the era of Billy Strings in bluegrass music, and it won’t be long before that is so self-evident it’s trite to say, and his popularity and influence spills over into the popular culture realm at large. Gone already are the days of seeing him in clubs or on side stages .
If you’ve every wondered what Tyler Childers would sound like with some of the best bluegrass pickers in the world behind him, you’ll have your opportunity at the 14th Annual DelFest with none other than The Travelin’ McCourys behind him.
Sierra Hull leads the 2021 nominations for the International Bluegrass Music Awards with 5, tying her with the retiring Doyle Lawson who picks up 5 himself, while Balsam Range, Justin Moses, and Billy Strings also pick up multiple big nominations, and Molly Tuttle comes in with 2.
It’s the often-used cliche to say someone died while doing what they love. For some, it’s a dream they wish upon. For David Olney, it was a reality. “Olney was in the middle of his third song when he stopped, apologized, and shut his eyes. He was very still, sitting upright with his guitar on…”
For 32 consecutive years, bluegrass fans, folkies, country freaks and outcasts, and a cast of other cool characters from the roots realm and beyond have bivouacked at various locations around the Austin area under the heading of the Old Settler’s Music Festival. 2019 was the festival’s second season at the now permanent site.
Muddy Roots will be taking over the Grand Ole Opry House on May 15th for the finale of their 2016 Nashville Boogie Vintage Weekender, and the one and only Chris Isaak will be headlining. The performance will be part of the larger 4-day event being held at the Opryland Hotel and Resort. Other names playing throughout the weekend include The Reverend Horton Heat, The Blasters, Wanda Jackson, Pokey LaFarge, and Dale Watson.
Bill Keith many be known by just as many people by the name “Brad” Keith because of the nine months he spent as a member of Bill Monroe’s illustrious Bluegrass Boys in 1963. Though it was a very short stint in Bill Monroe history, the result was some of the most iconic, groundbreaking, and beloved bluegrass banjo recordings ever captured, regularly prefaced by Bill Monroe introducing “Mr. Brad Keith” on the banjo.
The Muddy Roots Festival is gearing up for its 5th annual event in the rolling hills just outside of Cookeville, TN, about an hour or so from Nashville to the east for the upcoming Labor Day weekend, and boasts an impressive lineup of many country and bluegrass legends, including Del McCoury, Bobby Bare, Ricky Skaggs, Ralph Stanley, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Peter Rowan, and an impressive under card of insurgent roots artists…
It was all doom and gloom and teary-eyed salutations when Dr. Ralph Stanley announced in June of 2013 that he would be embarking on his farewell tour in late 2013 into 2014. Since then Stanley has continued to tour with no signs of slowing down, despite now being 87-years-old. Now Dr. Stanley has a new album in the works.
The past 24 hours has seen some big signings by some worthy artists to record labels. The old-school throwback St. Louis singing and strumming song man Pokey LaFarge has signed to the prestigious Rounder Records. Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band has signed with Yazoo Records, and the Alabama-bred gritty and greasy Banditos have signed to insurgent country label Bloodshot.
The International Bluegrass Music Association unveiled their list of nominees for their 25th Annual Awards on Wednesday, August 13th. The IBMA will hold their awards this year in Raleigh, NC at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts on October 2nd. Nominees were announced at The Factory in Franklin, TN, facilitated by Music City Roots who broadcast the announcement ceremony live.
When it comes to the preservation of the history and sound of country music, you can make the case there is nobody who does it better and with more passion and dedication than Marty Stuart. Tireless and true to his convictions, from his music, to his archive of memorabilia, to his presence on television and the Grand Ole Opry stage, and to some of the thankless things he does well out of the public eye…
ABC’s Wednesday night drama Nashville just entered its second season, and though like many network television dramas, the drama can feel over-the-top and contrived, the show’s impact on a wide range of issues that fall under the charge of Saving Country Music is undeniable, if not unprecedented. Though I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the show, it’s still important to understand Nashville’s impact.
So what positives could come from the show? If you take away all the drama between the characters that’s really the central focus of the series, what you have is the biggest inside look into the business of country music ever released to the public through popular media and a vehicle for presenting new music to millions of folks. The ugly trappings of Nashville go with out saying. Here are some of the positives.
Is it compelling? Sure. Is it right? Of course not. Will it result in either the increased exposure of good music, or the greater awareness of the issues plaguing mainstream country? Well have to see. But I remain skeptical. I would rather see Nashville attempt to fix their problems as opposed to try and make money off the drama they create. But of course, that doesn’t make for compelling television.
Is this a great bluegrass album? Of course not. But a great bluegrass album would also not be a vehicle to introduce a generation of people to Del McCoury, Kris Kristofferson, and bluegrass music in general. Is it the album that Dierks set out to make without commercial consideration or label meddling? I kind of think it is.