This post is a contribution from Casey Henry. Casey is the daughter of banjo player and bluegrass entrepreneur, Murphy Henry, and an accomplished banjo player in her own right, as well as an experienced instructor. Currently Casey and her brother Chris are fronting a band called The Two-Stringers. She first posted this on The B, where we encourage any IBMA attendees to share their impressions of this week’s events in Nashville.

You never know what you’re going to walk away with when you come to IBMA. You can plan and make your agenda, but you can never tell what band is going to blindside you with its brilliance or who you’ll unexpectedly make a connection with. I heard some really good music last night and I heard some awesome music last night, and I’m going to tell you who was playing it so you can go see it, too.

The band that blindsided me, though I’m not sure why she did - I was fully aware of her brilliance before seeing this new band - was the Missy Raines Band. I’d been seeing square pins around the exhibit hall that read “song + groove: MRB” but I didn’t know what they meant.

Now I do. Missy played a showcase in The Murphy Method room and I was only able to catch the last song, but Holy Mother of God she was amazing. I’d heard her play the tune, one she wrote, with Jim Hurst as a duo, but it was a completely different animal in this setting. It’s a five-piece band including Megan McCormick on guitar and Mike Witcher on Dobro, Matt Flinner on mandolin, and a percussionist who normally plays with Alison Brown. They had some kinda groove, some kinda funk, and I heard talk that Missy was contemplating re-naming the group Missy Raines and the New Hip, a name I love on many levels. (For those of you who don’t know Missy had hip replacement surgery last year.) If you have a chance to see Missy play, DO IT!

Another group I was pleasantly surprised by was Anne and Pete Sibley. (more…)