Following yesterday’s (3/17) cancellation announcement from The Bluegrass Hotel, the promoters are indicating that the concert originally scheduled for March 20 will instead be held at a later date.

The new date should be announced soon, with the rescheduled show likely to be held this Fall.

The reasons given for the postponement are as follows:

Due to recent issues involving filming schedules, and a high risk assessment of civil disorder at the venue caused by some fans of Sam Bush who are upset that he removed himself from the line-up, The Bluegrass Hotel concert & festival is being re-scheduled for a fall 2009 concert to coincide with the broadcast of the film on PBS Television and the release of a DVD and Coffee Table Book at retail locations.

Refunds for the 3/20 show can be obtained through Ticketweb.

We have just received word that the Bluegrass Hotel concert scheduled for this Friday (3/20) in Louisville, KY has been canceled.

An official statement from the promoters, and from The American Cancer Society, are expected later today.

The Itchin’ To Pick event, also scheduled for this weekend at The Galt House in Louisville, will continue as planned. It will be held in the east tower at the Galt House.

UPDATE 6:05 – The following statement came from Lorraina Aldridge, Associate Executive Director of the Greater Louisville Kentucky Area for the American Cancer Society.

The American Cancer Society agreed to be the beneficiary of the proceeds from ticket sales from the Bluegrass Hotel benefit concert. The Bluegrass Hotel LLC agreed that the American Cancer Society name could only be used in relation to being the beneficiary of the event, and that all usage of the organization’s name needed to be approved by the American Cancer Society.

We have asked that the incorrect information posted on the Bluegrass Hotel website and on the MySpace page indicating that the American Cancer Society participated in a consultation with Bluegrass Hotel concerning the payment of artists be removed. The American Cancer Society was not involved in the logistics or planning of the event, including artist agreements, or conversations with artists.

It appears that the acrimony over announced appearances by top bluegrass/acoustic artists in Louisville this weekend (3/20) is likely to linger for a while. Charges and counter-charges are being flung online, with ill will and dashed expectations for a major bluegrass initiative floundering over contract disputes.

The Bluegrass Blog has posted a few times about this project to commemorate The Bluegrass Hotel, a rooming house that accommodated young musicians in Louisville during the 1970s, and helped turn this part of the bluegrass region into a breeding ground for newgrass music as much as thoroughbred horses.

You can catch up on the story in our earlier postings:

• Bluegrass Hotel – Newgrass turns 40
• Concerning the Bluegrass Hotel concert
• Bush and The Bluegrass Hotel redux

A cascading series of booked acts for the March 20 concert, scheduled to both kick off a year-long tribute to The Bluegrass Hotel, and raise funds for the American Cancer Society, have announced that they will not appear on the show. Sam Bush was the first to drop, followed almost immediately by John Cowan and Tony Rice.

These artists claim that necessary assurances and contract requirements for them to take part in the concert were never received, while the event promoter insists that these performers have reneged on prior agreements. The tone has turned ugly, with the following headline posted on the official Bluegrass Hotel website: Bluegrass Stars Jilt Major Charity.

The Bluegrass Hotel Project has been attempting to negotiate agreements with Sam Bush and Tony Rice since Jan. 2008 to appear in the film, but paying those artists a fee to perform at a benefit concert for the American Cancer Society was not included in the terms. Part of the process has been negotiating a broadcast of the film on PBS Television, which was recently completed.  Therefore it came as a surprise to receive notification from Bush and Rice informing the charity that unless they were paid fees of $10,000 and $3000 respectively, they would not perform at the benefit concert on March 20 at the Galt House Hotel.

For their part, both Bush and Rice deny this charge vehemently, insisting that no demand for these payments was ever issued.

Bush has posted the following on his web site:

I apologize to all you.  I cannot perform in Louisville on March 20.  I promise you I will work fervently to restore my reputation and earn your trust that Bill Millet has stolen from me.

To say this situation is out of control is a major understatement.  The duplicity with which self-titled executive producer Bill Millet has and continues to conduct himself towards you the fans, the performers, vendors and participants of the Bluegrass Hotel Project has undermined the foundation, principal and loyalty of those involved.

For those that ask how this could happen……   so do I.  I couldn’t stop him from using my name before and I can’t stop him now.  What he continues to do to me and others through the anonymity of the internet makes him, among many nasty things, a cyber stalker.  He has hurled so many lies at all of us.  Only some have been addressed in the Cease and Desist letter to Bill Millet from my attorney; that you can read on this site.

What Bill Millet continues to do to you, me, my friends and my family is ethically immoral and morally reprehensible.  Not to mention expensive.  In my 40 years in the music business, I have never been placed in a more despicable situation than this.

I apologize to all of you,

Sam

It seems fair to conclude that we haven’t heard the last of this dispute.

Multiple updates after the jump…

It seems that the very promising series of projects announced last fall to commemorate The Bluegrass Hotel in Louisville, KY is falling victim to poor communication and inattention to detail.

After discussions with Bill Millet, one of the chief coordinators of the concert and other related projects, we posted at length about them on The Bluegrass Blog. There is to be a benefit concert in Louisville, with proceeds going to support the American Cancer Society, plus an audio CD, a coffee table book and a concert DVD.

In that report, we indicated (per Bill Millet) that Sam Bush was to be a co-producer of the audio CD, which would include new music recorded by him, Tony Rice, Dan Crary, JD Crowe, Curtis Burch and John Cowan, all scheduled to perform on the 3/20 concert.

We posted yesterday that Sam Bush would not, in fact, be involved, and that a statement from his attorney would be forthcoming. It is reproduced below.

Sam Bush announced last week that he will not be participating in the Bluegrass Hotel Project and will not be performing at the festival in Louisville, KY on March 20, 2009.  There has been considerable misinformation and falsehoods disseminated regarding Sam’s decision, and it is time to set the record straight.

First, Sam will not be performing at the festival.  For many weeks, the Producer of the Project has used Sam’s name and likeness without his permission.  Despite being advised of Sam’s decision on March  5th, the Bluegrass Hotel website continues to list Sam as one of the featured performers.  The website’s information is not correct.

Further, Sam’s decision not to perform had absolutely nothing to do with money.  Contrary to statements posted on the internet by the Project’s Producer, Sam has never requested to be paid anything, including what is being fraudulently reported as requiring a $10,000.00 fee as an executive producer.  Any statements to the contrary are false.

For several weeks, now months, Sam had been unsuccessful in his attempts to obtain information relating to the Project’s financial and legal structure and unable to substantiate that all necessary agreements, clearances, and approvals had been obtained for completion of the Project.  Accordingly, after extensive consultation with legal council, Sam reluctantly decided he could not go forth in such a manner of chaos and liability.

The statement from the Bluegrass Hotel referenced above begins with a ominous lead, and proceeds to the charge denied above.

Sam Bush is a cancer survivor and his father recently passed away from the diseases. New Grass Revival founder Courtney Johnson also died from cancer.

The Bluegrass Hotel has been attempting to negotiate an agreement with Sam Bush since Jan. 2008, but paying him a fee to perform at a benefit concert for the American Cancer Society was not included in the terms. Therefore it came as a surprise to receive notification from Sam Bush’s manager at the 11th hour informing The Bluegrass Hotel Project that unless Sam was paid a $10,000 fee to perform at the benefit concert for the American Cancer Society on March 20 at the Galt House, Sam would be pulled from the concert. (more…)