Priority hotel registration for IBMA World Of Bluegrass 2009 will open next week. This first shot at accommodations is restricted to attendees and exhibitors from the 2008 event, and will allow for reservations at 9 downtown Nashville hotels adjacent to or near the convention site.

This window is open from March 2 through the 31st, with all remaining rooms at these hotels being offered to all comers on April 1. Rooms at the Renaissance Hotel in particular – attached to the convention center – tend to be snapped up very rapidly, and there may be none available by the end of March.

To access these restricted reservations (at IBMA-negotiated discount rates), you need to call 877-259-4716. The reservation center will have a list of eligible names, so don’t try to pull one over on them.

IBMA 2009 will run from September 28 through October 4, and will include the annual Business Conference, the International Bluegrass Music Awards and their Fan Fest.

Mark Schimick, mandolinist with Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, and his wife Leigh, are celebrating the birth of a son. David Riley Schimick bounced into this world on Wednesday (2/25) at 12:12 p.m, weighing in at 7 lbs. 9 oz.

Mark tells us that they will be calling him Riley, after Gid Tanner and the Skillet Licker’s guitarist Riley Puckett – and that he has an insatiable appetite!

Congratulations to the happy Schimicks from The Bluegrass Blog!

Three-time Grammy-winning jazz bass icon Charlie Haden along with actor and son-in-law Jack Black will make their debuts on the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night. (February 28).

Leading the two shows on the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium on February 28 are Opry members Ricky Skaggs and Del McCoury, together the winners of a total of 14 Grammy and 30 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awards.

The show will also feature multiple IBMA award-winners The Infamous Stringdusters.

The Charlie Haden Family & Friends 2008 Grammy-nominated release and roots music-orientated Rambling Boy features appearances by Skaggs as well as a number of other great musicians, including Haden’s son-in-law, Golden Globe-nominated actor Jack Black.

Among others who both appear on Rambling Boy and are set to be part of the Haden Family Opry shows are renowned musicians Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Mark Fain, Rob Ickes, Jim Mills and Bryan Sutton.

"Together, the exemplary artists confirmed for this show have amassed more than 30 Grammy awards and an amazing 50 plus awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association," said Opry Vice President and General Manager Pete Fisher. "We are looking forward to seeing these masters of their various instruments together on the Opry stage."

Del McCoury, Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys and Bobby Osborne & Rocky Top X-Press will also perform on tonight’s Friday Opry show.

The Grand Ole Opry is broadcast live on WSM AM 650, on XM channel 11 (XM Nashville), and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com.

The Tuesday Night Opry resumes on March 3.

Fiddle master Bobby Hicks spent some time at the Berklee College of Music in Boston earlier this month, just prior to the Joe Val Festival. Berklee professor (and banjo instructor) Dave Hollender sent along a brief report on the master class Hicks convened for fiddlers at the school.

Bobby spent about three hours playing with and coaching Berklee students who attended the master class on 2/12. The main focus was on how to play fiddle on bluegrass songs – breaks, backup, etc. He emphasized the importance of playing in tune, knowing the melody really well, and the fact that it is the bow that really gives players their own voice.

He demonstrated some great twin fiddling with Mike Barnett, a student who studied with Bobby before enrolling at Berklee.

It was clear that Bobby had a great time and the session ended with he and a large group of students playing some fiddle tunes he had recorded years ago with Bill Monroe – with Bobby and everyone else grinning from ear-to-ear.