IBMA has been on our minds, and on this blog a lot recently. Most of that due to the recent World of Bluegrass event held in Nashville, TN recently. Some of the discussion of IBMA though has sprung from the controversy surrounding this year’s award show. Hit the tag for IBMA 2006 Awards above to see those posts. In light of all that attention I thought it might be a good idea to do a little run down of the Board of Directors, who they are, and who they represent.

Remember these people represent us, the membership of IBMA, and should be representing our desires and concerns on the issues the board faces. If you are concerned about the direction IBMA takes in the future, I would strongly urge you to consider joining the IBMA. If you are already a member, I would urge you to find the board member(s) that represent your portion of the industry, contact them and let them know your thoughts. I’m sure they all welcome and appreciate active participation from the membership.

The IBMA board consists of 16 members elected by the professional members of the organization. The board members are elected to 3 year terms on a staggered rotation so that only a limited number are up for election at once. Recently, 5 new board members where elected. The IBMA website describes the board and it’s duties as follows.

Elected or appointed from the active professional membership of IBMA, the board serves as a policy making body that meets at least twice each year to consider proposals and projects to carry out the organization’s mission. The board is also responsible for appointing officers of the organization and has the authority to delegate work to staff and committees. Board members may also serve and/or be a liaison to committees. Board members are volunteers and bear the full expense of attending meetings and IBMA functions.

Here is the list of current board members with the new additions coming at the end of the list. These new board members began their three-year term on September 25, 2006.

Greg Cahill serves as our Vice-Chair, and our acting president in the wake of David Crowe’s resignation. Greg is an active member of the bluegrass community having fronted the band Special Consensus for the last 31 years or so. You can read Greg’s bio here.

Peter D’Addario representing the Merchandisers & Luthiers serves as the IBMA Treasurer. Peter, of course, is involved in the music via his families business, J. D’Addario & Co.

Lee Michael Demsey serves as the IBMA Secretary and represents the Broadcast Media constituency. Demsey hosts a 3 hour bluegrass show on bluegrasscountry.org as well as hosting Bluegrass shows on WAMU 88.5 FM in Washington, DC for the past 20 years. Demsey’s bio is here.

Eddie Adcock represents the Artists & Composers. Fans of bluegrass music should need no introduction to Eddie but here’s his bio just in case.

Paolo Dettwiler represents the International bluegrass music community. Paolo is involved in both the print publication Bluegrass Europe and the European Blugrass Music Association.

Stephanie P. Ledgin is an author and photographer who serves on the board representing Print Media & Education. Her bio is available here.

Alan Munde, banjo player and bluegrass professor at South Plains College, serves on the board as an At Large board member. This simply means that he represents us all. Read Alan’s bio here.

Tim Stafford of the band Blue Highway represents the Artists & Composers. Tim’s bio here.

John Stiernberg is another At Large board member. John runs his own consulting business, John Stiernberg Consulting. You’ll find John’s bio here.

Jon Weisberger is a bass player and writer serving At Large on the board. His bio is here.

Stan Zdonik represents the Associations. Stan is involved with the Boston Bluegrass Union.

New board members are:

Alison Brown of Compass Records serves on the board representing the Record Companies, Publishers & Recording Services. Brown’s bio can be found here.

Mike Bub is a five time recipient of the Bass Player of the Year award from IBMA and represents the Artists & Composers. I couldn’t find a bio as such for Mike, but you can visit his myspace page for more info.

Neil Rosenberg is a distinguished author/historian and performer from Newfoundland serving as another At Large representative. Here’s a short bio about Neil.

Don Light of Don Light Talent in Nashville and one of the music industry’s most respected managers represents Agents and Managers.

Stephen Ruffo, producer of Wintergrass and Bluegrass by the Bay in Washington state, is representing Event Producers on the board.

John adds:  Let me reiterate Brance’s suggestion that, if you are eligible to become a voting member of IBMA, and have not joined, you certainly should make the minimal effort to do so. Regardless of where you may stand on recent IBMA controversies, you can’t have an impact if you don’t join and vote!