The end of each year inevitably brings a plethora of countdowns and “best of” events in both television and radio.

And bluegrass music is no different…

Lee Michael Demsey has compiled his Top 40 Bluegrass Songs of 2008, which he will disclose on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country on New Yea’s Eve from 10:00 p.m. until midnight (EST), and again on New Year’s Day from 10:00 a.m. until noon.

Lee has been in charge of putting together the National Bluegrass Survey charts for Bluegrass Unlimited this past 18 year, and has used that information from the past 14 months to create his 2008 Top 40.

“This [year end] chart is not officially sanctioned by BU as being ‘official.’ Songs that first charted in January 2008 and spent the whole year on the chart would have had an unfair advantage over songs that first charted the previous October and had a shorter run on the chart during the calender year of 2008. For that reason, if a song spent at least five months on the chart in 2008, I gave it credit for its points for its entire run, including late 2007. For songs that spent at least five months on the chart at the end of 2008, I extrapolated how the rest of their chart run might actually go, so as not to give them short shrift.

So it’s not an official chart, just an approximation.”

The BU charts are derived from votes cast by prominent bluegrass radio show hosts and syndicators world wide.

You can listen to Lee’s Top 40 countdown tonight and tomorrow morning at www.bluegrasscountry.org. It will also be rebroadcast during the Special Programs slot in the Bluegrass Country schedule later in January.