John and I have already had a busy day. We attended the Special Awards Luncheon, interviewed Sam Bush, and were interviewed by Katy Daley.

At the Special Awards Luncheon we had the distinct pleasure of sharing a table with Rodney Dillard, his wife Beverly, and their children. What a delightful family, very gracious and enjoyable. I have the feeling we’ll be hearing from them this evening, but at the luncheon they sat and ate, and applauded enthusiastically for all the winners.

Speaking of winners…I tried to make some notes, so here’s what we have.

The award for Best Liner Notes for a Recorded Project, went to Steve Martin for his CD, The Crow.

Best Graphic Design for a Recorded Project was awarded to Greg Carr & Salli Ratts for their design of Steve Martin’s CD cover, The Crow.

This year’s Print Media Person of the Year is Roger Siminoff, for his work on Siminoff’s Luthiers Glossary, Banjo NewsLetter and Bluegrass Breakdown.

Our good friend, and co-hostess of this evening Red Carpet videos, Katey Daley, was named Bluegrass Broadcaster of the Year for her work at WAMU’s Bluegrass Country in Washington, D.C.

Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival won the Bluegrass Event of the Year.

In addition to these Special Awards, four five Distinguished Achievement Awards were given as well.

Hylo Brown, Jody Rainwater, Dick Spottswood, Joe Wilson and Pati Crooker (Thomas Point Beach) were all recognized for their contributions to bluegrass music.

Penny Parsons passed along this word about one of the legends from the early days of bluegrass music. Penny is a bluegrass writer and photographer who currently manages the performance career of Curly Seckler.

Jody Rainwater (a.k.a Chuck Johnson), who spent two years as a Foggy Mountain Boy in the early 1950s, and later worked for many years in country radio, is having some serious health issues.  He spent several days in the hospital last week, after suffering a heart attack, and is now under nursing care at home.

During his 20 years at WSVS Radio in Crewe, VA, Jody became one of the most popular radio personalities and concert emcees in southern Virginia.  His format was classic country and bluegrass, and he possessed a vast record collection and a wide-ranging knowledge of the music.  He also promoted concerts in the area, and provided work for bands such as Flatt & Scruggs, the Osborne Brothers, Jim & Jesse, and many others, during a time when bluegrass was still relatively obscure and work was not always easy to find.  He went on to work at various other radio stations in Virginia and North Carolina before retiring in 1983.  He spent much of the next 20 years traveling with his wife, Emma, to various festivals around the southeast, and visiting with their many bluegrass friends.  To this day, Jody and Emma remain caring and devoted supporters of the music and the musicians.

Jody celebrated his 90th birthday on April 13, 2009.  In recent years, Jody’s health has prevented him from attending many festivals, but he still has close ties to WSVS Radio and the station has often featured him in guest spots on the air.  Now Jody needs our thoughts and prayers as he struggles with serious health challenges.

Get well wishes may be sent to:

More big bluegrass doin’s on online radio this Saturday (10/25).

At 1:00 p.m. (EDT) former Foggy Mountain Boys Jody Rainwater and Curly Seckler will join Steep Canyon Rangers for a live set on WSVS AM 800 in Crewe, VA. They will be performing together that evening in nearby Kenbridge, and will offer a taste of the show over the air (steamed live at www.wsvsam.com).

WSVS was the radio home for Flatt & Scruggs in 1954 and ‘55, where they did a live noontime show each weekday and also taped their Martha White shows for WSM in Nashville. Rainwater, who had left the band several years earlier, was a show host on WSVS while Lester and Earl were based in Crewe.

Curly and Jody look forward to spinning yarns about the old days on Saturday’s show, and getting a chance to perform together again backed by a fine young band who learned to play listening to the recordings they had made.

Then at 8:00 p.m. on WNCW in Spindale, NC, Merlefest will announce their artist lineup for 2009. [See update below]

John Adair from Merlefest and Christie Hutchens from Wilkes Community College will be on WNCW’s Martin Anderson to run down all the acts who will be on tap for the festival April 23-26, 2009.

Listen live online at wncw.org.

The lineup will be posted on the Melefest site after the show has concluded on Saturday at 9:00 p.m.

Update 10/26:  Ooops….. The Merlefest radio show is on Tuesday, October 28 at 8:00 p.m.