Another busy IBMA has come and gone.

We will have a few more World Of Bluegrass posts on The Bluegrass Blog before this week is out, including a number of videos. Brance is till putting the finishing touches on our Red Carpet interviews prior to last Thursday’s Awards Show. You won’t want to miss that one.

We’ll also shortly post our side-by-side comparison of the winners in our 2008 Bluegrass Blog Awards Poll and the actual award recipients selected by the IBMA voters.

A few random thoughts and comments after catching up on some sleep…

Thanks to all the people who shared kind words with us about our work with The Bluegrass Blog.

Particular thanks to the folks at WAMU’s Bluegrass Country (Katy Daley, Jen Hitt, Echo) who had us on the air with them on Tuesday, and helped coordinate the Red Carpet interviews on Thursday. They have posted a good many photos from their IBMA remote broadcasts on their web site.

Another great job by the IBMA staff and their legion of volunteers. World Of Bluegrass is a fairly large convention, with a much more intense schedule – that runs longer through the day – than most trade show events. Things ran very smoothly again this year. I agree with Brance that Thursday’s Awards Show was the best ever, and that those who conceived and executed it deserve congratulations.

I was also delighted to see so many new names and faces among the award winners. Likewise in the late night showcases, where several new, young bands generated a buzz.

There was an admirable diversity of music as well, with everything from neo-traditionalists to experimental string music on display.

Attendance seemed to be way down this year. Vendors in the exhibit area and hotel staff shared this with us without reservation. No official attendance numbers from IBMA yet to verify or disprove this impression.

Keep an eye out for our remaining IBMA coverage this next few days.