Dan Hayes, Executive Director of IBMA, was just by the booth here in the exhibit hall and was talking to John when his phone rang with the bad news. Josh Graves passed away this morning here in Nashville. Uncle Josh was a major contributing force in bringing the dobro to high regard in bluegrass music. He performed with many of the founders of this music including being a memeber of The Foggy Mountain Boys with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs.

Full bio available here.

We’ll pass along more details as we are able to find them.

Our condolences and prayers go out to the family.

A look at the stats from yesterday and this morning shows just how truly international the interest in bluegrass music is - at least based on our readership.

Here’s a visitor map showing where our most recent 2500 readers are located.

Oops… We neglected to post the list of IBMA’s Special Award winners, which were announced and distributed at a luncheon here in Nashville on Thursday afternoon.

Distinguished Achievement Awards were also given to:

Chris Thile will be a guest next week on The Loft, on XM Satellite Radio’s Channel 50.

The show involves a wide range of musical styles, but always features interviews and live performances recorded at The Living Room in New York. The owner of The Living Room is a renowned audio engineer and Grammy-winning producer, and audio fidelity is a hallmark of this program.

The Loft will air on Sunday (10/1) at 6:00 p.m., with repeat airings on Tuesday (10/3) at 11:00 p.m., and Thursday (10/5) at 3:00 a.m. All times shown are eastern.

Here’s a nice group of photos from the Exhibit Hall.

Photos by Dave Carney © 2006

Lawson and Reno	Bull Harman	Dan Miller	Herschel Sizemore
The Huber Booth	Katy Daly	Bill Keith	Sewell and Leftwich
Reid and Baucom	Merriam and Bush	Ronnie Reno	Richard Gelardin
Danny Roberts	Roland White	The Smiths	Eberle and Vorndick

Here is a gallery of photos from the Wednesday Showcases, both official and after hours, here at IBMA 2006.

Photos by Tami Roth © 2006

Jeremy Garrett	Chris Pandolfi	Andy Hall	Chris Eldridge
Jesse Cobb	Chris Pandolfi	Downhill Bluegrass Band	Frankie Nagle
Audie Blaylock	Michael Cleveland	The Lovell Sisters	Rhonda Vincent
Donica Christensen	Daughters of Bluegrass	Becky Buller	Dale Ann Bradley

Here are the rest of the photos from last night’s Awards Show.

Photos by Tami Roth © 2006

Vince Gill with The Del McCoury Band	Del McCoury and Vince Gill	Rhonda Vincent	Joe Wheatley, Country Current
Frank Solivan II, Country Current	Tim O’Brien accepts as Male Vocalist	Marty Stuart improvises when the audio goes out	The Grascals with Steve Wariner
Jamie Johnson, Terry Smith and Terry Eldridge	Darrell Adkins accepts Album Of The Year Award	Marty Stuart	Bobby Osborne and Marty Stuart
Sonya Isaacs and Ronnie Bowman	Vince Gill announces the Entertainer of the Year	The Grascals accept as Entertainer for 2006	Lewis Family tribute

Here is part one of our photo overview of last night’s International Bluegrass Music Awards from The Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. Click any photo to see a larger version, which will also allow you to page through the whole gallery.

Photos by Tami Roth © 2006

Kim, Barb and Joel Fox open the show with The Star Spangled Banner	Cherryholmes	Cia Cherryholmes	2006 host Marty Stuart welcomes the audience
Ricky Skaggs with the Nashville String Machine	Claire Lynch	Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver accept Gospel Award	Ricky Skaggs accepts Instrumental Group
Curly Seckler and Larry Sparks	Dixie Hall, Lorraine Jordan and Dale Ann Bradley accept Recorded Event	2005 Instrumental Performers of the Year	Adam Steffey
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver	Kenny and Amanda Smith announce Female Vocalist	Rhonda Vincent accepts Female Vocalist Award	The Del McCoury Band

This is just a quick update from the exhibit hall. We are having a great time today meeting a lot of readers who are coming up and introducing themselves to us. We’ve also met with several artists and recorded some great interviews that we’ll be putting up in coming weeks as GrassCast episodes. As I type John is in the iso booth recording an interview with Andy Hall of The Infamous Stringdusters.

Here is a sampling of the pre Awards Show reception at The Opry House last night, hosted and sponsored by BMI.

Photos by Tami Roth © 2006

Pete Wernick & Live Five, featuring Don Rigsby and Mike Bub	Mike Drudge with Garnet and Ronnie Bowman	Terry Baucom and Kenny Ingram	Tom T. and Dixie Hall
Doyle Lawson	Larry Stephenson	Ronnie and Allison McCoury	Myrna and David Talbot with Dan Loftin

We’ll have many more photos later this evening, when we get back from the trade show floor. There are hundreds to pore through, and we will pick out the best ones and publish them here.

I was so bummed that the servers were acting up last night.  I lost a really long, detailed post about the Pre-Awards reception, but, I will attempt to redo it to give you all an idea who was there and what was happening.

The Pre-Awards reception was held in Studio A, which is adjacent to the backstage area of the Grand Ole Opry.  Once upon a time, Studio A was where a lot of the shows on the late Nashville Network were taped, as well as Hee Haw, from the early 80’s on.

BMI put out a nice spread of finger foods, an open bar and provided some wonderful music in the background that featured Pete Wernick, Mike Bub as well as some bluegrass vibes and clarinet.  It was wonderful and definitely provided a festive backdrop.  I couldn’t see who all was in the band and I apologize for not having all the names, but, they were wonderful. It was so crowded in that room, it was difficult to see.

When we made our way into the reception, the first person we saw was Rounder Records head Ken Irwin who introduced me to the legendary Hazel Dickens.  I got the biggest kick out of seeing that Hazel and my mother in law Hazel Smith giggling.  What they were giggling about, I do not know.  They were sure enjoying each other’s company though.

I was surprised and happy to see my old boss man, Stan Hitchcock,who I had not seen in about 15 years. Remember the days of the old Country Music Television when Stan and Ronnie Reno would pick in between videos?  I didn’t get a chance to talk to Ronnie, but, he was milling around Studio A as well.

Rhonda Vincent looked great in her white evening gown; all of the Cherryholmes ladies were decked out in lovely gowns, greeting and posing for pictures;

Everybody appreciates and loves Bob McLean, the man who made it possible for Mother Maybelle’s guitar and Bill Monroe’s mandolin to be where they belong…in the Country Music Hall of Fame.  It’s always great to see Bob.

Molly Skaggs looked beautiful in black.  I was so happy to see her aunt, Cheryl White Jones, and her new husband (new as since Labor Day), Billy Paul Jones; her grandpa Buck White; her cousin Rachel (Mrs. Andy) Leftwich;longtime Skaggs staffer Barbara Kimes; I later saw the Patriarch himself, Ricky Skaggs and had to tell him, “No, you can not give my 8 year old some coffee.”

All of the McCoury Clan was present, even Lisa McCoury (Mrs. Robbie) who you could not tell just delivered a baby about a month ago.  Mama Jean, Daddy Del, Sister Rhonda and her son, Jacob,who has suddenly turned into a young man.  He looked simply smashing in his tux. 

I was thrilled to see legendary songwriter/mogul Bill Gaither. Bill was there to induct The Lewis Family into the Hall of Honor.  His Mountain Homecoming video prominently featured bluegrass artists like Rhonda, Del, Doyle Lawson and Marty Stuart.

Lots of great couples moving through Studio A- Bluegrass Unlimited’s Pete Kuykendall and his always colorful and hilarious bride, Kitsy; another great Bluegrass couple Terry and Cindy Baucom; Jeff and Sheri Easter; I had the pleasure of meeting another nice couple Kevin and Pam Sluder; Jan and David Harvey, along with their daughter, Emma; Mike & Meredith Bub with their 2 year old son, Riley, in tow;Earl and Janis Phillips and Earl offered his sympathies to me for enduring 17 years of marriage to that Smith Guy.

Our friends at Mandolin Cafe have made the audio from the 2006 LoarFest West panel discussions available on their site. Participants were Roger Siminoff, Darryl Wolfe, Charlie Derrington, Dan Beimborn and Bruce Harvie, moderated by Mandolin Cafe’s Scott Tichenor.

We recorded an interview yesterday with Craig Wilson, one of the organizers of the LoarFest West event, which will be included in a future episode of The GrassCast.

We will try to get some of the many photos from last night up on the site before we have to head down to staff The Bluegrass Blog booth in the Exhibit Hall.

We have many from Wednesday night’s showcases as well, and from the Exhibit Hall yesterday, so look for dozens of IBMA photos here by later this evening.

Be sure to check in on the Grand Ole Opry broadcast this weekend, as they have taken on a bluegrass theme in recognition of IBMA week here in Nashville. The Friday and Saturday night radio shows will feature bluegrass artists, and the live TV coverage on GAC Saturday evening is all bluegrass as well.

Friday night’s show will include The Isaacs (9:30-10:00 p.m. slot), Ricky Skaggs (10:00-10:30 p.m. slot) and Jesse McReynolds (10:30-11:00 p.m. slot).

On Saturday, the Opry show has a special one hour, all-bluegrass segment that will feature Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Cherryholmes and The Grascals. It will run between 8:00-9:00 p.m. (EDT) and also be carried live on GAC’s Grand Ole Opry Live program on TV.

The GAC web site has been showing this week’s episode as an encore presentation, but we checked with the folks there who assured us that Saturday’s bluegrass show would be live from The Opry House. In addition to the live feed at 8:00 on 9/30, the show will be rebroadcast on Sunday (10/1) at midnight (late Saturday night), again on Sunday at noon and 7:00 p.m., and once again on Tuesday (10/3) at 9:00 p.m. All times are EDT.

Tune in to WSM 650 AM in Nashville, or catch the live WSM audio stream online to hear the program, which runs from 7:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 30.

Rhonda will appear again in the 11:00-11:30 p.m. segment, Ricky again in the 11:30 p.m.-12:00 a.m. segment, and Cherryholmes once more in the midnight to 12:30 a.m. slot. Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top Express are also scheduled to come on, in the final 12:30-1:00 a.m. spot.

Well folks, it looks like another night of the International Bluegrass Music Awards has come and gone. Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to the folks at IBMA (especially Tina Potter) and the people at The Grand Old Opry for their hospitality and assistance.

We have hundreds of great photos, and will pick the best and upload them as soon as our frazzled nerves and weary bones will allow - probably tomorrow morning.

Good night everyone.

Because of the technical issues, I haven’t been able to blog as we’ve gone along tonight, but, I promise, I will either late tonight or tomorrow do a complete rundown. 

I have to tell y’all, Brance and John, who keep this Bluegrass Blog going, are two of the nicest people in Bluegrass music.  I look forward to being able to work with them in the future.  Y’all do what you can to support this website.

I said I’d give him a shout out and I will….my pal Chris who is working…..Told ya I’d say hey. 

Sista Smiff just freaked out and yelled at the top of her lungs backstage here in the Opry house. She was so excited that her husband and band had won Entertainer of the Year. I don’t know if any of the guys are as excited as she is.

Congrats!

Vince Gill is announcing the nominees for Entertainer of the Year…and OH MY GOSH!!!!  I am married to one of the Entertainers of the FRIGGIN YEAR!!!!!!!!!

Sorry…I must go collect myself. 

Entertainer Of The Year

This award is for a performing act who displayed the greatest competence in all aspects of the entertainment field. Voters should give consideration to recorded and in-person performance, public acceptance, attitude, leadership, and over-all contributions to the bluegrass music image. The award goes to member(s) of the performing act.

The Entertainer Of The Year for 2006 is:

Review past recipients of this award.

I may be slightly biased where the legendary Bobby Osborne is concerned since Mr. Smiff spent 13 years traveling the country and the world with The Osbornes,but, I think perhaps one of the best performances I’ve seen tonight has been Marty Stuart and Bobby singing What Would You Give In Exchange For Your Soul.

Marty was so right when he said that Bobby should’ve been nominated for Emerging Artist of the Year. After a million years traveling with Sonny and then in his 70’s, upon Sonny’s retirement, Bobby continuing on, doing new things and breaking new ground. It’s inspiring for all of us young folks.