Richard Matteson JR lives in Louisville, KY. He teaches guitar at a local music store. He began playing bluegrass in the early 1980s with banjoist Derrick Phillips. In 1997 he formed his band, the Bluegrass Messengers. Matteson has published ten books. His most recent book, Bluegrass Picker’s Tunebook, is currently available from Mel Bay Publications.

Aside from his playing and writing, Matteson has begun to promote bluegrass music via the visual arts. In 2006 he began a series of paintings based on traditional American songs. The lyrics of the song are engraved on the canvas in small print and the painting depicts the story of the song. He has painted such bluegrass tunes as: Bury Me Beneath the Willow, Careless Love, Darlin’ Cory, Banjo Pickin’ Girl, and Molly & Tenbrooks. Matteson has kindly shared these five images with us.

Matteson continues to paint other songs while also doing concerts performing the songs he’s already painted while displaying the accompanying artwork. The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame & Museum, in Renfro Valley, KY, recently acquired two of Matteson’s paintings for display.

Matteson performed at the museum, displaying all ten of his bluegrass series song paintings, last Satuday Oct. 18th. Director of the museum, Robert Lawson, found the paintings compelling enough that he plans to exhibit Molly and Tenbrooks in the Bill Monroe exhibit area, and is currently working on a new display for Lily May Ledford, which will feature the painting of her song, Banjo Pickin’ Girl.

The paintings may be viewed on Matteson’s new Bluegrass and Artwork Blog.

Brance and I had a busy week at IBMA earlier this month, but were not able to stay for the Fan Fest which ran that weekend (10/3-4). Our impression of the World Of Bluegrass trade show was that attendance was down, and several exhibitors and vendors expressed that their sales and interaction were also down from previous years.

We were delighted, however, to get this more positive report from painter Karen Cannon, who had a large booth in the exhibit area during Fan Fest.

“IBMA Fan Fest was a great show for me. Sales were brisk, some folks were returning customers and a number of them discovered my art for the first time this year. We were happy to see that the current economy debacle didn’t noticeably dampen spirits, everyone was happy and having a great time.

The Awards Show was very well done, and having it in The Ryman was a treat. The IBMA staff does a great job with all aspects of the convention.

An added bonus to the Nashville trip: we finalized plans with the Grand Ole Opry, The Ryman, and The Country Music Hall of Fame to carry our music art products. I’ll be doing custom work for The Opry and am looking forward to that. And I’m already planning my exhibit for Fan Fest 2009 and hope to have several new designs to debut there. It’s going to be a busy year.

Looks like I’d better learn how to paint with both hands at the same time!”

We would be interested in hearing from anyone else who exhibited at IBMA 2008, or anyone who attended in a professional capacity, with your own impressions of the event, how well it met your expectations, and how well you accomplished your goals.

All-time bluegrass guitar hero Tony Rice is offering autographed copies of a print that shows his fabled left hand in a typically contorted position.

The print is from the original drawing, Jump On It, by Adam Carlos, part of his Hands Of Music series that includes renderings of the hands of some of the most noted players in bluegrass.

Only a limited number of the autographed Rice prints are available, and can be ordered from Tony’s web site.

We first met artist Karen Cannon when she contacted us about advertising on The Bluegrass Blog several months back. As we spoke, I realized that I had seen a number of her images of bluegrass instruments or themes, including a clever image of Santa Claus tuning his mandolin which she has licensed as a Christmas card.

Her latest painting is a striking portrait of Bill Monroe, entitled Goin’ Home. Karen describes this stirring image as imagining Bill Monroe tuning up for his final journey.

It is now available as a limited edition print, taken from the original pastel painting. These are high quality, fine art Giclee prints that measure 22 x 28” (outer mat dimensions). The run is limited to 100 prints, each of which is signed and numbered by the artist, and will be shipped in a bevel cut mat with a certificate of authenticity.

Each print is priced at $175 with complimentary shipping to any US address. Full details on this limited offering can be found on Karen’s web site.

Karen’s art is published through Art Strings Publishing LLC, and distributed internationally by Hal Leonard Corporation. Music lovers worldwide have begun collecting her pieces, and the signed prints are rapidly gaining in value.

She also invites IBMA attendees to visit with her during Fan Fest where many examples of her bluegrass themed art will be on display.