International Bluegrass: Day One
Welcome To Raleigh!
While my husband was covering the garden last weekend to protect the peppers and tomatoes from scattered frost, I was en route to Raleigh, NC for the International Bluegrass Music Convention, where temps are in the 80s. Not that weather really matters this week; I’m indoors most of the time, attending classes, interviewing musicians, meeting other broadcasters, and listening to new music.
Since I won’t be hosting String Fever this Thursday, I’d like to bring you along with me as I go through the week. I’ll send a postcard each day from the temporary Bluegrass Capitol of the World.
Let’s start at the beginning. We (I carpooled with a friend from Baltimore) arrived on Sunday night amidst a Harley Davidson convention in downtown Raleigh. I shared an elevator with a gentleman who was here for the Firemen’s Convention. There were Harleys and bikers everywhere.
Fast forward 12 hours. Remove bikes. Insert banjos.
The Raleigh convention Center welcomes bluegrass industry reps from all over the world for a week of education, awards, networking and music.
Founding father, Sir Walter Raleigh, decked out with banjos. He is a very popular guy this week.
Sir Walter is about 2 times the size of an average man. His banjo was specially constructed for a custom fit.
There are musicians EVERYWHERE. There is jamming in every corner of the hotel.
Bluegrass jam sessions pop up everywhere in the hotel. This is a room off the lobby, just down the hall from six ballrooms, each filled with performers.
Today began with several class offerings on topics relevant to musicians, event producers, studio engineers, and booking agents. There is also a series of classes for lawyers who wish to expand their knowledge of entertainment law. These are fascinating – I attended two classes on digital streaming and copyrights & trademarks. After the keynote reception I had time for a few interviews. Here are a couple of the folks that you’ll be hearing from when I get back:
Jim Gaudet (L) – of Jim Gaudet & The Railroad Boys – with band bassist Bobby Ristau (R)
Greg Cahill, Special Consensus
I always see friends from the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival at IBMA . These two were easy to spot by their attire. That’s Lisa Husted on the right, who is an integral part of the IBMA awards show production. We’ll see more of Lisa in a few days….
What were the odds that these two women would each wear the same blouse from the same festival?
The Rounder Records team will receive special recognition this year for their enormous contribution to the bluegrass genre. More about that later, too.
Ken Irwin (L), Marian Leighton Levy, and Bill Knowlin (R) started Rounder Records in the early 1970’s.
Sir Walter Raleigh is the city’s founding father, but for this week, he is a banjo picker in a sea of banjo parts. I happened to walk by Sir Raleigh while the installation artist was at work. His name is Bland Hoke, and I recorded an interesting interview with him, which I’ll post later. In the interim, here are some closer shots of Sir Walter Raleigh the Banjo Man:
Bland Hoke (R) with Sir Walter Raleigh. Hoke is the designer of the IBMA World of Bluegrass art installation.
The installation uses discarded/reject banjo parts from Deering Banjos.
You can see that Deering really didn’t want to use this banjo neck! It’s nice to know that they have high quality standards.
The necks are alternated with banjo rings — also rejects from Deering. These are bolted together into columns.
And now, a different kind of art installation in the hotel lobby:
This balloon banjo is back by popular demand! It was made by a local balloon artist. Yes – it’s made entirely of balloons.
Day 1 is drawing to a close, but tomorrow’s blog post will be contributed by singer/songwriter Joe Newberry.
Joe Newberry
You may have heard him perform on A Prairie Home Companion, or with Mike Compton. I think you’ll enjoy his diary of a day in Raleigh. Stay tuned!
Until then, greetings from The City of Oaks. Wish you were all here! -Barb
