This 3 day program (March 9-11) brings together people from a wide swath of the bluegrass world for a unique, guided, networking and educational experience.

As they describe it officially…

The purpose of the Leadership Bluegrass program is to pull together a cross section of people with exhibited or potential leadership qualities into a network of learning and communication. The results will foster a broad-based understanding of the total needs of the bluegrass community, which will help participants better prepare to determine the goals of the particular organization, company or group in which they choose to serve.

Leadership Bluegrass seeks to explore bluegrass music and its place in the larger world of entertainment through:

• A systematic study of the business of bluegrass, its institutions and organizations, their needs, problems and resources
• Exposure to a wide variety of current music leaders and notable persons
• Encouraging independent thinking, fresh perspectives and approaches. It is not intended to “indoctrinate” or pass on the current leaders’ views and ideas.
• Acquaintance with relevant issues facing bluegrass, their history and future possibilities
• Involvement of all related facets of the music industry which impact bluegrass
• High quality interactive sessions for the participants.

The fee for Leadership Bluegrass is $300 for IBMA members and $370 for non-members. Candidates are selected competitively, so acceptance is not guaranteed.

Find all the pertinent details online.

The event outgrew Owensboro quickly, and in 1997 moved to Louisville and The Galt House where it remained through 2004. Of course, Nashville’s Convention Center is IBMA’s new home, along with The Renaissance Hotel. With growth comes change, and a few at IBMA each year can be heard reminiscing about “the old days” in Owensboro.

Yesterday (11/8), The Executive Inn Rivermont in Owensboro was razed as a part of the city’s $80 million redevelopment and revitalization campaign. The Evansville Courier Press has an article about the fate of “The Big E”  available online, along with this video report on the demolition.

There are a number of other videos of the hotel coming down on YouTube as well.

Goodbye old friend. You will be remembered well.

This particular video features Doug McKelway interviewing John McEueun, who was instrumental in the production of Steve Martin’s newest CD, The Crow.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This one features Katy Daley interviewing The Gibson Brothers, Eric and Leigh.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This one features Katy Daley interviewing Terry & Cindy Baucom.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This one features Katy Daley interviewing Patrick McAvinue and his fiancée Sarah Fitzmaurice.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This one features Katy Daley interviewing Tom Adams of Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This one features Katy Daley interviewing Phil Leadbetter of Grasstowne.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Our good friend Doug McKelway conducted the interview. He and Sam spoke at length about Sam’s new CD, Circles Around Me. The CD is due to be released on October 20, on Sugar Hill Records. They also spoke about the digital age of music, recording a duet with Del McCoury, Sam’s place in the mandolin world, and more.

Thanks to Donica and all the folks at Sugar Hill Records for making this interview possible.

The interview lasted close to 15 minutes, and we’re bringing it to you in full. Enjoy…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Much more still to come over the weekend and throughout next week.

Watch the video from Mountain Heart we shot during their special Tuesday night showcase at IBMA. It offers a glimpse of the variety of music they deliver, from traditional bluegrass to a rockin’, hybrid sound. The presentation was powerful, and whether you agree with taking bluegrass in this direction, the impact of the performance was impressive – and unforgettable.

Watch the video here.

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!

For Monday’s “Teaching Bluegrass: An Alternative Revenue Stream” moderators Ned Luberecki and Megan Lynch were joined by panelists Terry Baucom, Stephen Mougin, and myself. Many players rely on teaching to get them through the slim winter months when the gigs are few and far between. We covered many different avenues of instruction including private lessons, group lessons, workshops, camps, DVDs and books, and internet lessons. The last is a recent development and not many people are offering this option yet. Strangely (to us anyway) Mike Compton has been on the leading edge of this technology and has been doing internet lessons for quite a while. Anyone interested in pursuing that avenue, either as a teacher or as a student, should consult his FAQ page.

Tuesday’s “Writing for the Internet: Blogging and Building an Audience” was hosted by our own John Lawless. Panelists included Ashby Frank, sometime contributor to this publication who blogs on his own website; Ted Lehmann of Ted Lehmann’s Bluegrass, Books and Brainstorms blog, and Craig Shelburne who contributes to and edits the blog over at CMT.com. Despite what it looks like in the picture, the discussion was lively and extended. The crux of the discussion was that blogging should be entertaining to the audience, who you hope will come back to your site on a regular basis. Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites are good tools to use to drive people to your site where, hopefully, they’ll buy your CD, or look at your schedule and come out to a show. It’s all about staying connected to people and letting them get to know you through your writing.

They talked a little bit about the technical side of blogging—using programs  such as WordPress, or Blogger—but mostly about the power of changing content to get people to visit your site every day or every week. The Bluegrass Blog is the best at this. I don’t know about you but even when I’m not writing for the Blog I read it every day and it is my main source of bluegrass news.

Each of us spoke briefly about ways we have seen the industry change over the past 5 years, which led to some very interesting questions and comment from the folks in attendance. One remarkable thing about World Of Bluegrass is seeing prominent artists, record company heads, print publishers, major festival producers, entertainment attorneys and PRO reps sitting in the gallery taking it all in – and giving some back as well.

I sensed a major change in the pulse of the group from when a similar discussion was hosted two years ago. At that time, the notion of free distribution of recorded music raised the hackles of most of the artists and songwriters, whereas now they are eagerly seeking other ways to monetize their music. It is a very unsettling time in the music business, with long-established models falling left and right, and I’m encouraged to see our little piece of the industry actively embracing and researching new methods and modalities.

The audio from this seminar will be made available, as will all held during this week, shortly after the World Of Bluegrass concludes. Information will be found on the IBMA web site.

Ted Lehmann was also in the audience, and he has a number of photos on his site.

After the session concluded, I had a chance to speak with Alan Munde about the discussion. Alan was also in attendance, and suggested that he had the perfect solution for monetizing free content.

“What I would do is have a form they had to fill out before anyone can download free music online. I would have them put their address, when they are least likely to be home, and where they hide their spare key.

Then I can burgle their homes.”

Better head back to the chalkboard, Professor Munde.

John asked the questions, Del did most of the talking, and I was behind the camera…

Click here to view the embedded video.

I didn’t get to hear him play, but I walked by Casey Driessen, who was sitting on the floor in the hallway, preparing for his solo showcase. I complimented him on the cylindrical bushes in front of his house, which he tweeted about recently. They were a three-year pruning project. He’s not only a perfectionist when it comes to his playing…

I got to see the newest lineup of Special Consensus with their new guitar player, Ryan Roberts. As usual they killed, playing to a full room for the New England Bluegrass Coalition. IBMA President Greg Cahill always fields a top-notch lineup. I’m always amazed that he can manage the duties of President and still do late-night showcases. He must have almost as much energy as Little Roy Lewis.

Playing just after us in the Pickin’ in the Pavilion room was Asheville-based quartet Silver Dagger. Their banjo player is Grace Van’t Hof (what can I say, I always remember the banjo player!) and they were laying down a solid set. The duet with Grace and bass player Ashleigh Caudill was especially nice. You can catch them at showcases tonight as well.

My favorite act of the night, though, was Heather Berry and Tony Mabe. Playing on the Home Grown Music Stage I almost missed them because they appeared much later than they were listed on the schedule. Heather has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard and both she and her husband Tony have so much musical talent, expressed in a pre-bluegrass duet style, that it’s just ridiculous. I caught their very last song and it should be a good indication of the fervor of their fans that we clapped until they played an encore, even though it was nearly 2 a.m.

One sight that stuck with me was Eddie Stubbs standing in the hallway, surrounded by the Quebe Sisters. I know he is a big fan of their band–a western-swing trio with Andrews-Sisters-style harmonies. If Eddie is a big fan of something, you know it’s worth paying attention to. They play an official showcase tonight and I predict that the buzz surrounding them will be close to deafening.

Brance and I had a great interview with Del McCoury (which we’ll get up as soon as we can), but I got down to the evening showcases too late to hear The Davidson Brothers, who traveled from Australia to perform at IBMA.

I did get to hear Gold Heart, and they delivered a strong set of original bluegrass, taken primarily from their new Rural Rhythm CD, My Sisters And Me. This teen sister trio consists of Analise, Jocelyn and Shelby Gold along with their dad, Trent, on bass and Russ Carson on banjo.

Mike Lovely shot some terrific pictures of them on stage.

Cindy was especially complimentary of Steve Martin, who will be lending his considerable star power to the event. She said that he has been very generous with his time, and while he offered to do anything in the show that she thought would be helpful, he had made a particular point of ensuring that he would not be getting stage time that should be going to “someone more deserving,” as he put it more than once.

One change this year is that our good buddy Ned Luberecki will be serving as backstage announcer, a job that Eddie Stubbs has handled for many a year. Eddie was unable to slip away from his WSM Thursday night duties this year, and Ned jumped at the chance to fill in.

Cindy also mentioned how proud she was to get some of the acts that haven’t performed on the show in some time back for 2009. Both Lonesome River Band and IIIrd Tyme Out return this year.

The show will open with a performance from Dale Ann Bradley, and will also include songs from Sierra Hull & Highway 111 and a very special “band duet” appearance from Junior Sisk & Rambler’s Choice and Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass.

The show begins at 7:30 p.m. on October 1. Sirius-XM subscribers can listen to the show live on Bluegrass Junction, and of course, The Bluegrass Blog will offer live blog coverage here in real time.

We have video interviews set up with Del McCoury and Sam Bush to talk about their upcoming CDs.

The Grascals have scheduled a major announcement for Monday afternoon. No leaks about what they are up to, but we’ll have something on it as soon as possible.

Mountain Heart has a very ambitious schedule for the week. On Tuesday evening they have a private showcase set up that is expected to draw a great deal of attention. The band has written and worked up some new material that they will be performing before an invitation-only group of label folks on Tuesday, and we’ll be there to report on the show.

If you have seen Mountain Heart of late, you may have noticed that their edgy, in-your-face style has become even more so, with vocalist/guitarist Josh Shilling occasionally slipping behind an electric keyboard for some bluesy, rocking numbers.

Here’s an example…

Click here to view the embedded video.

This event is open to any IBMA registrants. We hope to capture some video of the show, and speak to some of the performers.

Also on Wednesday, Rural Rhythm and Sugar Hill Records are hosting private showcases, and we are planning to spend time there as well. Both will serve to highlight their fine artists, who we hope to interview and shoot – videowise, that is.

Rural Rhythm’s showcase is expected to feature Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain, IIIrd Tyme Out, Audie Blaylock & Redline and Michael Martin Murphey. They will also share details about their involvement with a major east coast festival. Kyle Cantrell will MC.

Those are just a few of the IBMA events we’ll be covering over the next few days. Whew… better bank some sleep!

We are heading for Nashville and the IBMA World Of Bluegrass, where we will report on the very many activities that occur during this brief span of days. It can be overwhelming to even fathom the sensory and intellectual overload, not to mention the stress that results from trying to “take it all in.” That is what led to the now-somewhat stale joke that IBMA stands for “I’ve Been Mostly Awake.”

With the near impossibility of covering such a wide-ranging event, we have enlisted some extra help for the 2009 festivities.

Brance’s wife, Lauren Gillihan will also be working IBMA with us. She is a talented videographer and we expect that her presence will allow us to get more videos posted, and sooner, than we have been able to do in the past.

Casey Henry will serve as a roving reporter, posting news and impressions based on her multiple responsibilities next week. In addition to her work for The Bluegrass Blog, Casey will have official duties as an exhibitor with The Murphy Method, and as a performer with The Dixie Bee-Liners. She is also able to stay up later than I can, so I look forward to her coverage of what goes on in the wee-wee hours.

We will also have news photographer Dean Hoffmeyer working IBMA, posting frequent galleries of the people, places and sights from World Of Bluegrass. We are especially excited about Dean’s participation during Thursday’s Awards Show. If all goes according to plan, he will be able to post photos from the show while it is occurring.

I should mention that Brance and Lauren’s daughter, Haddie, will also be with us, though her contributions are expected to be limited to pre-verbal expressions of glee.

Our Thursday coverage is our most comprehensive to date for the Awards Show. Brance and I will be live-blogging the show from the press area at The Ryman. I am convinced that we have resolved our issues with page loads from prior years, and will be able to announce the award recipients as they are announced in a single post that refreshes itself automatically.

We will also expand our Red Carpet coverage, with both Katy Daley from WAMU’s Bluegrass Country and Doug McKelway of WJLA serving as co-hosts. They will do brief interviews with the many award nominees just before the show, which we will edit and post on The Bluegrass Blog as soon as possible – hopefully by the weekend. Katy tells us that she has found a “killer dress” – I can’t wait.

There will be all sorts of news that breaks at IBMA, and you can be sure that we will be on top of it all. Artists, labels and festivals regularly schedule major announcements during IBMA week, and we will be following several that have already been scheduled.

Keep your eyes on The Bluegrass Blog all week.