The November/December 2008 edition of Bluegrass Music Profiles (BMP) is now available according to a note that I received this morning from the publishers, Bluegrass Publications, LLC.

This new edition carries the legend “3rd Annual Women In Bluegrass Issue,” and it features articles about Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain, Sierra Hull, Jeanette Williams, and Next Best Thing (Tensel and Sally Sandker). In addition you’ll find in its pages a DJ Profile with Andrea Bradstreet, ShopTalk with Casey Henry, Songwriter Profile with Donna Ulisse, and a Promoter Profile with Chris Palmer of RiverCity Bluegrass Festival.

BMP is currently soliciting submissions from promoters regarding their 2009 festival dates for a free listing in the magazine’s annual festival guide, to be included in the January/February 2009 edition.

Women in Bluegrass is also the theme of this week’s Music from Foggy Hollow, airing on WAMU’s Bluegrass Country. The show is hosted by Australian Mike Kear and is offered 6 times weekly over the 24/7 streaming audio feed at bluegrasscountry.org.

Mike says that every song played on this week’s show will either be all-female, or feature a female performer. A number of selections from the newest Daughters Of Bluegrass CD, Bluegrass Bouquet, will be played, along with an interview with co-producer and songwriter Dixie Hall.

Look for Mike’s show Tuesday at 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Thursday at 10:00 p.m., and Friday at noon. All times eastern.

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…)