This year’s trade show exhibit hall seems to have noticeably fewer booths than in past years. (This picture labeled “Where’s Gibson?” demonstrates this point admirably. Other long-time exhibitors notably absent are Huber Banjos and The Murphy Method.) Walking through the hall on Tuesday also revealed many booths with people’s names on them, but no one there. The mystery of those deserted spots was solved on Wednesday when the one-day exhibitors set up. A one-day option is new this year and we’ll have to wait until the dust settles to find out whether these businesses felt it was worth their while to come set up for just one day.

This year is also the first year that the official showcase bands received their own booths, which no doubt helped to fill up the available (unsold) booth space.

Vendors’ impressions of hall traffic varied. Bob Fehr at Martin Guitars said that business was very slow; Rienk Janssen of The European Bluegrass Music Association, who was reading a book at his booth when I stopped to talk, agreed that things were slow, but perhaps not more so than last year. I told him he should get a really good book and that would guarantee that people would be constantly interrupting him. Laurie Matheson from the University of Illinois Press said that business wasn’t exactly booming, but it was steady.

The single exception to this trend is Bluegrass Unlimited, which is offering a tote bag stuffed full of truly great stuff for renewing your subscription. They’ve sold more than 175 subscriptions and renewals so far and have around 70 left, so if you want yours, act fast!

Steve Martin graces the cover of the October issue of Bluegrass Unlimited, being mailed to subscribers this week. The hilarious image is one that Martin had considered for the cover of his new banjo CD, The Crow.

Inside the magazine is an interview with Martin conducted by fellow banjo picker Pete Wernick.

In addition to all their regular features, Managing Editor Sharon McGraw tells us that the new issue also has a special 20th Anniversary overview of the International Bluegrass Music Awards.

Sharon also invites all of our readers who will be at IBMA next week to swing by the BU booth in the exhibit hall for some special offers.

You can find subscription and single issue purchase info for Bluegrass Unlimited on their web site.

Dale Ann Bradley graces the cover of the latest edition of Bluegrass Unlimited.

The August 2009 issue also includes a lengthy article about Bradley by Larry Nager, which chronicles her career in bluegrass from her early days with the New Coon Creek Girls through her latest compass CD, Don’t Turn Your Back, and her ongoing struggle with diabetes.

There is also a fascinating travelogue written by Dan Loftin, Nashville photographer and teller of tall tales, about his road trip with Jim Mills to shoot some of the pre war banjos for Mills’ book, Gibson’s Original Mastertones: Flathead 5-String Banjos of the 1930s-40s.

Casey Henry has a piece on dance troupe Footworks, and Murphy Henry has one on bluegrass pioneer Gloria Belle. Regular features include the BU personal appearance calendar, Notes & Queries and the monthly National Bluegrass Survey chart, where Lonesome River Band continues their run at #1 with Them Blues from their No Turning Back CD.

In discussing the August issue with BU Managing Editor Sharon McGraw, it came out that this cover is the second of three in a row that will feature female artists – a first from the magazine. Valerie Smith and Becky Buller had the July cover, and Claire Lynch will be there for September.

You can read the cover story on Dale Ann, and find subscription and single issue purchase information on the Bluegrass Unlimited web site.

WAMU’s Bluegrass Country and Bluegrass Unlimited magazine have joined forces to bring a new monthly radio program to the air, starting this weekend.

Bluegrass Unlimited Top 30 Countdown will be broadcast on the last Saturday of each month from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (eastern), hosted by Lee Michael Demsey. The show will feature the top 30 songs as reported to Bluegrass Unlimited for the upcoming month, in the familiar countdown format. Demsey will also include brief comments from some of the artists and/or songwriters whose music is included.

BU has maintained their monthly chart, the National Bluegrass Survey, for the past 19 years. Since its inception, Demsey has compiled the list for the magazine from reporting radio stations and syndicators, so he would seem the obvious choice to host a radio countdown.

The debut show is this Saturday (4/25), during the first two hours of Demsey’s regular morning show on Bluegrass Country.

You can hear their 24/7  bluegrass music feed online at bluegrasscountry.org, or broadcast in the Washington, DC area on HD Radio WAMU 88-5 Channel 2 and 105.FIVE FM.