The tour covered 15 cities in 16 days, in halls that held between 80 and 450 people. Promoter Rainer Zellner also served as master of ceremonies, and told us that the response from the audiences were universally enthusiastic, with no fewer than 4 encores at each stop.

It was an ambitious undertaking, not to mention risky, but Rainer said that it was worth the time and effort. I asked if he felt that the tour had been a success.

“It was a success that we did not loose money! To get such a project to tour over here, with a musical style that almost nobody very much has ever heard of, was a high financial risk of course. Thanks to some funding and grants (amongst others by the cultural department of the American consulates in Berlin and Munich) and an overwhelming support by print and radio media (some TV too), we broke even AND had a great time with a great group of people on our wonderful tour bus and very good stages throughout Germany with a stop in Switzerland. What more can you ask? We will definitely go on 2010 with the same concept and other artists.

Sponsoring by American companies connected to the Bluegrass and Acoustic music scene though is something we will have to achieve. So far, none of the players in Bluegrass world have shown interest in expanding to the market in Europe via this amazing live concept that shows what you can do with good instruments and accessories. Funding by IBMA has not yet worked out, but EBMA in Europe at least gave us some coverage within the scene. But there is no way we can make this a reasonable project without reaching audiences outside the bluegrass world. That is why we worked in concert halls, theaters and  art centers that draw audiences from all sorts of music.”

Zellner has brought US bands and artists to Germany for nearly 20 years, including shows and tours for Lynn Morris, Alison Krauss, Infamous Stringdusters, Crooked Still, Peter Rowan and many others. Uncle Earl is due over in May of 2010.

“This continuing work has given us credit with German media, both print and radio, which was of great help for this tour. To raise the profile of Bluegrass music we need high level writers and DJs – both of which we are very well connected to, but who would not support small bar or music club gigs – so we went one step higher. We had press announcements, band portraits, CD reviews, airplay, festival portraits and concert reviews in various national and local media.

The locations we chose needed to have a good standing with local media to promote the event and the style. All of this worked out well in many places.”

He is especially pleased that WDR3 radio in Germany will be doing a special 2 hour broadcast from Bluegrass Jamboree on January 17, featuring both live performances recorded on the tour and interviews with the artists.

“We will see in 2010 if all the promo we did for 2009 and the good shows we had ,will result in higher attendance figures, which we will need definitely.”

The itinerary and artists for the 2010 tour will be announced shortly. Photos and a tour blog from 2009 can be found online.

Here’s a video of the grand finale during the show in Offenburg on December 12.

Headlining is Steep Canyon Rangers, who will be fresh off their US tour with Steve Martin, and hawking their newly-released CD, Deep In The Shade. Rounding out the show will be US old timers Beverly Smith & Carl Jones, and British grassers Toy Hearts.

The tour is intended to be an annual event, which the promoters describe as a first for the European bluegrass scene. In true barn storming fashion, Bluegrass Jamboree will consist of 16 consecutive one-nighters which will hit Berlin, Bonn, Munich, Hamburg and another dozen German cities.

Sophia Johnson of Toy Hearts shared a few words about their participation.

“We are very proud to be involved with this project – which is the first of its kind, to have a touring show of 3 bands doing 15 (?) consecutive nights together. The Headline band the Steep Canyon Rangers are personally one of our favourite groups – they are incredible musicians and who put on a really great show, and as they write their own material, they are a great showcase of the new wave of young, dynamic bands currently coming through in the USA. I think the whole show will have something for any audience member, because of the range of bands, it would be a great introduction for newcomers to Bluegrass as well as featuring enough great picking for the more trained ear!”

Sophia also mentioned that Toy Hearts is set to return to the US in January to record their 3rd CD. David Mayfield of Cadillac Sky is set to produce, and the band is hoping to involve some top Nashville pickers on the new project as well.

Details on the various Bluegrass Jamboree tour stops (December 5-20) can be found online.

You know that we had a busy IBMA when it’s Sunday morning before I have a chance to post comments on the Wednesday night showcase performances.

Sugar Hill hosted a reception late Wednesday afternoon, and I enjoyed speaking with a number of folks, including music writer, author and Wall Street Journal columnist Barry Mazor. His new book, Meeting Jimmie Rodgers, was published earlier this year, and he has a couple of new projects in the works that will be of interest to bluegrass lovers. Sorry… can’t share details yet.

I also spoke with Barry Bales, who said that the next Alison Krauss & Union Station CD which he had told us earlier would be completed in August, has been pushed back a ways. He told us that once they finished the songs they had chosen to cut, a number of them just didn’t seem strong enough, so they are heading back to the drawing board to find some new material. No predictions yet on when the album might see the light of day.

From the Sugar Hill soiree we headed to one hosted by Rural Rhythm Records. It featured sets by several of their artists, plus a special announcement. More on that later.

I made it down to the ballroom for the main stage show just in time for Joe Diffie’s set. Joe had a string of country hits in the 1990s, both as a songwriter and a singer, but he is returning now to his bluegrass roots for Rounder Records, with a new CD expected early in 2010.

NewFound Road served as Diffie’s band, with Chris Ward on fiddle and Cory Walker on resonator Guitar. Joe stuck with music from his upcoming Rounder album, and his voice was strong and definitely bluegrass. He is a very solid performer and his re-embrace of bluegrass is a welcome one, judging from the reaction on Wednesday night.

We’ll try to get some details about this CD next week.

Despite being completely worn out, I slipped downstairs to catch a couple of the late night sets. The Jeff & Vida Band was one that I had been looking forward to hearing at IBMA, and their showcase on Wednesday did not disappoint. The group is fronted by Jeff Burke and Vida Wakeman, whose original material is the basis for their recordings and live shows.

Theirs is an eclectic sound, combining buegrass, old time and traditional country in a quirky-cool mix. The band includes Jake Schepps on banjo, Justin Hoffenberg on fiddle, Greg Schochet on guitar and Will Downes on bass. Jeff plays mandolin and Vida guitar, with both sharing vocal duties. I enjoyed their music very much.

Before falling over from exhaustion, I also caught part of a set by Toy Hearts, who traveled from England for a US tour, culminating at IBMA this week. The focus here is on the Johnson sisters, Hannah on mandolin and vocals, and Sophia on guitar. They are lovely and talented young ladies, and the group made quite a mark with several appearances over the past few days.

They will be playing at two bluegrass festivals, the Tri-State Bluegrass festival in Indiana and The Bluegrass Heritage festival in Dallas, TX., and have gigs booked in Chicago, Oklahoma, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Waco and Houston. These shows all lead up to their week in Nashville during for IBMA’s World Of Bluegrass.

The group are all very excited to be invited to play at Byron Berline’s legendary fiddle shop, in addition to the opportunity to play onstage with The Texas Swing Kings when they open for Asleep at the Wheel. Toy Hearts also has three radio performances scheduled and slots on two FOX TV shows, and they are planning to document the US tour with a video diary.

Lead vocalist and mandolin player, Hannah Johnson commented,

“We are all very excited about the trip and especially now we have our visas printed and returned to us….. We’re ready to go!  Can’t wait!”

In preparation for the US tour, Toy Hearts have recently recorded a live-in-the-studio EP which they will offer for sale at their live appearances in September.

Guitarist Sophia Johnson tells us more…

“The recording of the live EP was done on Friday, 21st August, at Major Key Studios in The Public in West Bromwich (close to Birmingham UK where we live).

The regular line up of Hannah, Dad [Stewart Johnson on banjo] and myself was joined by Bradley Blackwell on double bass, and a young virtuoso French fiddle player, Raphael Maillet, we have recently been working with, and who will be touring with us in the USA.

We recorded 6 songs completely live – 5 brand new originals:

• The Captain
• Tequila and High Heels
• The Cat Song
• Bet Good Money
• She Got There First

… and also a longtime audience and band favorite, a song called Carolina that we got from a CD by Kate McKenzie.”

You can find the entire US tour schedule on the band’s web site.

It’s the title track of their current CD, When I Cut Loose, recorded earlier this month at the Ely Folk Festival in Ely Cambridgeshire, UK.

The group is a “grown up” family band, based around banjo picker Stewart Johnson and his two daughters, Hannah on mandolin and Sophia on guitar. In addition, Bradley Blackwell is on bass and Howard Gregory on fiddle.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“That song was written by me, my sister and my dad – its our attempt to add to the ‘train song’ genre!!

The Toy Hearts will be coming over to the USA for a 5 week tour starting at the beginning of September.

We will be starting at the Tristate bluegrass festival in Kendalville, IA, then driving and gigging through St Louis, Oklahoma City and on into Texas. We are playing at the Bluegrass Heritage Festival in Arlington TX, then spending 2 weeks gigging in Texas before finally going up to Nashville for IBMA. We already have 5 after hours showcases confirmed.”

Sophia also told us that she had just quit her day job to manage Toy Hearts full time. Bluegrass is thriving in the UK, it seems.

You can find out more about the band on their web site or MySpace page.