Balsam Range – AcousticMusicScene.com

Performing Arts Presenters Gather in NYC

Michael Kornfeld — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 15:10:44 +0000

More than 2,700 performing arts professionals from throughout North America and beyond converged on New York City, Jan. 13-17, 2023 for the annual conference of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) – its first in-person gathering in several years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As in years past, dozens of performers from the folk, roots and singer-songwriter communities were featured among the more than 1,000 showcases during the global multidisciplinary performing arts marketplace and conference.

A number of booking agencies whose rosters include such artists were among the more than 300 exhibitors in the large EXPO Hall. The conference also featured networking opportunities galore, streamlined array of professional development workshops, peer group sessions, and networking opportunities galore.

Since the last in-person APAP conference in NYC in January 2020, the impacts of the pandemic; calls for racial equity, diversity and inclusion; and a shifting economy and workforce continue to have a major impact on the performing arts industry as it seeks to recover and reimagine itself.

For Lisa Richards Toney, who joined APAP as its president and CEO in 2020, the 2023 gathering also marked the first in-person conference of her tenure. As she noted in an email to members and colleagues last November, the conference has evolved to meet the shifting nature of the field and the times we live in. “None of this has been easy. In fact,it’s been downright hard,” she acknowledged during the conference’s opening plenary session. In welcoming people to what she called “the creative capital of the world,” Richards Toney said “We are a resilient community of colleagues from all across North America” and expressed excitement at “the feverish fury to reignite business [in the performing arts].”

APAP embraced the ‘less is more’ philosophy — with considerably fewer professional development sessions during the 2023 conference than in previous years in light of its increased year-round programming. This afforded attendees — more than one-third of whom were first-timers — more time to connect and network with colleagues, visit the exhibit halls, enjoy showcases, and just breathe.

For the first time, APAP did not produce a printed conference program and other printed materials (or a tote bag in which to carry them), relying instead on an online platform called Swapcard that was also available as an app.

Showcases of Note Took Place at the Host Hotel and at Venues Around NYC

Showcases took place both at the New York Hilton Midtown, the conference hotel, and at venues throughout Manhattan. A few also were set in other New York City boroughs and beyond.

Ken Waldman (second from left) showcased his talents, along with Caitlin Warbelow, Jefferson Hamer and Ilan Moss, among others, during a roots music variety show. (iPhone Photo: Michael Kornfeld)

As in past years, a roots music variety show at the Manhattan nightclub Don’t Tell Mama was a musical highlight. Ken Waldman, Alaska’s fiddling poet (although he no longer lives there) who also performed (along with banjoist Ilan Moss and others), has been curating and hosting the revue for more than a decade. This year, Danielle Devlin of Canis Major Music, a booking agency, joined him as co-producer and presenter. Participating artists included the Boston-based roots and gypsy jazz-oriented Jason Anick Acoustic Trio; Montreal-based shanty singer and multi-instrumentalist Sean Dagher (who also showcased his talents during a Folquebec Spotlight); New York-based singer-songwriter and guitarist Jefferson Hamer (joined by bassist Rob Jost); Canadian singer, Sephardic artist and flamenco dance Tamar Ilana; NYC-based chanteuse Tamar Korn; master kora player Yacouba Sissoko (based in NYC by way of Mali); and Caitlin Warbelow and Chris Ranney (who were part of the acclaimed Broadway production of Come From Away). As in previous years, each of the participating artists/acts opened with a short intro piece to provide a musical morsel of the evening’s eclectic lineup upfront before their individual 15-minute sets.

“When I talk to presenters, I sometimes tell them I always strive for events that are win/win/win and are successful for the attendees, for the host organization and its community, and for myself and anyone joining me;” Waldman told AcousticMusic Scene.com.

So once I had my mini-preview set to open the evening with Fairbanks native and super fiddler, Caitlin Warbelow, and I playing my ‘Fairbanks Cabin Waltz’ composition, then joined by Ilan Moss on banjo and Jefferson Hammer on guitar, I had my own successful time of it. And, later, I had my couple of tunes, with poems, joined by Ilan. Fun, too, for me, and I heard positive things afterwards… I got very positive feedback from my troupe of musicians and from Danielle, so that all checked the box of ‘me and anyone joining me’.”

Waldman, who has been attending, exhibiting and mentoring at APAP conferences since 2007 and began hosting a Friday night roots music variety show three years later, said that also received very positive feedback from attendees. “One attendee emailed me during the evening to say how much they were enjoying it. Another told me later how inspired they were from being introduced to such a wide range of musicians that were different, yet all fit together.” However, he said that his favorite response came from someone who arrived the earliest, said they were tired and would probably only stay for a half hour, and stayed for the whole three hours (later informing him that they passed word about the evening to their venue’s artistic director). “A number of people stopped me through the week to either say they were there and thoroughly enjoyed it, or weren’t there but heard it was fantastic. With proper follow-up and any luck at all I’ll get work I probably wouldn’t have gotten otherwise– and I hope some also goes to the artists I invited and to Danielle’s artists.”

Danielle Devlin (Canis Major Music) is all smiles as she introduces one of the artists at Don’t Tell Mama. (iPhone Photo: Michael Kornfeld)

Echoing his sentiments, Danielle Devlin said: “This was my first time producing a showcase at APAP, and I was happy at the invitation from Ken to co-produce with him.” She noted that in years past, his multi-act folk showcases at Don’t Tell Mama were always a highlight for her as an APAP attendee and exhibitor. “Indeed, there were presenters there who had the intention to only stay through the first intro set where each artist quickly cycles through one quick song or tune, but then were so spellbound that they couldn’t leave — there is no greater compliment than that (well, perhaps hiring the artist in follow up, which I’m sure will happen for folks)!”

“The evening had a beautiful range of artists performing that included flamenco, sea shanties, masterful kora playing, jazz manouche, beautiful song and fiddle tunes, poetry … all complementing each other. One of my artists, Tamar Ilana, who was performing with Shelley Thomas on oud, came to me immediately after her opening single-song [and said] that her heart was so full from the experience and was just loving it. The energy in the room was beautiful and felt like a perfect return to an in-person APAP for all involved, I believe.”

Sean Dagher performs during the roots music variety show. (iPhone Photo: Michael Kornfeld)

For Sean Dagher, this was only his second APAP conference and the first one at which he showcased his talents as a shanty singer and multi-instrumentalist. He noted that his previous APAP experience was in January 2020. “I had been warned by other musicians that the conference was big, impersonal and intimidating, and I went there not expecting to enjoy myself,” he recalled. “As part of the Cinars/Québec on Stage delegation, I was given space at their booth, along with several other representatives. I spent the first hour or so of the Expo standing there with all of them, waiting for someone to come by and speak to us. Whenever anyone did stop to look at the posters on the wall, we all looked at them hopefully — like shelter dogs hoping to be adopted. I decided that wasn’t how I wanted to spend my time and started to stroll around the Expo halls. This was a great decision. Over the course of the [2020] conference, I stopped in at nearly every booth to chat with whoever was standing there: agents, artists, presenters, regional arts council representatives, etc. I made lots of great contacts and sometimes talked about the shows I was selling, sometimes didn’t, depending on what felt right at the moment. I had meetings with agents and presenters whom I had contacted prior to the conference. I saw showcases, went to cocktail [parties] and meet & greets, and generally found out what it was all about. I spent an entire afternoon at the counter of a bar next to the Hilton and had impromptu meetings with all of the people from the conference who happened to come and sit on either side of me. At the end of it all, I had agents interested in a couple of my projects, I had potential shows lined up with a few presenters, and I felt like I had had a great time. Then Covid.

So three years later, he returned – having lined up two showcases for his new solo shanty show and planning to reconnect with as many of the people he had met in 2020 as possible. Dagher decided to focus less on the Expo Commons and found that the experience of showcasing changed how he interacted with people and how they interacted with him. “After the first showcase [the roots music variety show], random people came up to me to tell me that they had enjoyed my performance… I suddenly felt like less of a beggar and more of a commodity,” he said.

Dagher considered the showcase at Don’t Tell Mama to be great – “despite and because of being chaotic. I heard lots of great artists and met some fascinating people. According to Danielle Devlin, my agent and co-host of the event, I generated some interest from presenters. The venue was intimate and having the other musos there helped create a great atmosphere.”

Folquebec Shines Spotlight on Artists from the Canadian Province

Dagher also performed a short set during a Folquebec Spotlight showcase at the host hotel that he described as “an entirely different, though no-less enjoyable experience.” Comparing it to showcases he had seen and participated in at other conferences, he noted that the hotel room “had a colder feel and the lights made it hared to connect with the public, but I still had fun playing for and with them. The loud altercation between the lighting tech and the maintenance guy during my set actually helped put me at ease. Again, I felt like people were treating me with a little more respect than when I was just a delegate. I hope that I get a lot of work out of the conference, and I will definitely go back next year.”

Gilles Garand served as emcee for the Folquebec Spotlight showcase at the New York Hilton Midtown. (iPhone Photo: Michael Kornfeld)

An active participant at APAP conferences for a decade. Folqubec aims to offer conference attendees and introduction to the Canadian province’s traditional, folk and world music scene, according to Gilles Garand president and artistic director of the 22-year-old nonprofit organization, who served as emcee during the showcase. In addition to Dagher, also on the bill were Grosse Isle (a trio featuring Irish uileann piper Fiochra O’Regan, Quebec fiddler –pianist and singer Sophie Lavoie and noted guitarist Andre Marchand, who blend traditional Irish and Quebecois traditional music with Lavoie’s own compositions), Montreal Guitar Trio (a virtuosic, internationally touring acoustic guitar ensemble comprised of Sebastien Deshaies, Glenn Levesque and Marc Morin) and Cordame (a string sextet).

Garand previously informed AcousticMusicScene.com that Folquebec’s formation stemmed from conversations at a Folk Alliance conference in 2000 and that he views APAP and other conferences as “opportunities to share our knowledge and contribute to the concept of cultural reciprocity among artists. Through its participation in such conferences, Folquebec “looks forward to developing an ongoing partnership with leaders of North American cultural organizations to bring together our strengths, our resources, our complementaries in the advancement of the performing arts sector, and music in particular, of the broad cultural diversity of human expression through the arts,” he said.

A 30-minute This Land is Our Land showcase featured Martha Redbone and American Patchwork Quartet.

Other folk and roots music showcases of note included Yonas Media’s Celebrate Our Folk at Connolly’s Pub and This Land Is Our Land at the New York Hilton Midtown. Celebrate Our Folk featured Kittel and Co. (an acoustic string band with folk and jazz sensibilities, along with bluegrass, Celtic and classical influences, that is fronted by violinist and composer Jeremy Kittel), two-time Grammy Award-winning Zydeco artist Terrance Simien and his soulful singing daughter Marcella Simien, Enrique Chi of Making Movies and Hector Flores of Las Cafeteras, AMERIKANA All Stars, Bulla en el Barrio, and singer-harpist Calvin Arsenia. This Land is Our Land featured American Patchwork Quartet (a NYC-based ensemble that is on a mission to reclaim the immigrant soul of American roots music) and Martha Redbone (a stirring blues and soul singer, whose music bridges her own Native American and African American heritage).

The quartet’s Clay Ross (who also fronts both Matuto and Ranky Tanky) joined with composer, banjoist and producer Jayme Stone — with whom he has previously co-produced Global Routes Music Showcases — to also present an interactive, multi-part Composing Your Career professional development series of workshops for artists. [Editor’s Note: As someone who is often retained by artists and others to write bios for them, I sat in on part of one of their workshops, Tell a Better Story, Book Better Gigs and found that the information and insights that they shared pretty much conformed with mine.]

Among the other folk and roots artists who showcased their talents during the conference were two-time IBMA Entertainers of the Year Balsam Range, Colorado-based folk and Americana duo Bettman & Halpin, Colombian-Panamanian roots duo Calle Sur, bluesician Eli Cook, singer-songwriter and pianist Annie Moscow and her trio, New York-based progressive bluegrass band Nefesh Mountain, Mali Obamsawin Sextet (whose music is a blend of blues, jazz, hymns, folk songs, and native cultures), ebullient New York-based jig-rockers The Prodigals, 2022 International Blues Challenge Winner Eric Ramsey (whose fingerpicking and bottleneck slide playing really impressed this writer), and The Scooches (a band whose spirited and joyful music features an eclectic mix of Roaring ‘20s, global folk, blues, gospel, New Orleans jazz, Americana, and more). Americana-cowboy country outfit Bill & the Belles, banjoist Nora Brown with Stephanie Coleman, and balladeer Phoebe Hunt shared a Concerted Efforts Presents bill at Rockwood Music Hall during the conference. Susan Werner, a very witty and versatile singer-songwriter who accompanies herself on both guitar and piano, played Iridium, a Manhattan nightclub that primarily features jazz artists. There were also musical tributes to such artists as Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison, while Darrah Carr Dance presented “Celidh“ Irish Music & Dance and Allan Harris and others shared excerpts from Cross The River — a musical by him and Pat Harris that relates the story of an escaped slave named Blue who journeys to Texas and becomes one of the first Black Cowboys. Artists in various other musical genres also showcased their talents, while comedy, dance and theatrical showcases also were part of the mix.

About the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP)

Based in Washington, DC, APAP (apap365.org) is a nonprofit national service, advocacy and membership organization dedicated to developing and supporting robust performing arts presenting field and the professionals who work within it.

AcousticMusicScene.com Hosts Song Swaps During SERFA Conference, May 12-15

Michael Kornfeld — Fri, 06 May 2022 14:56:11 +0000

More than 200 people will converge on Black Mountain, North Carolina, May 12-15, 2022 for the annual Southeast Regional Folk Alliance (SERFA) Conference. An extended weekend of contemporary and traditional folk music, networking and learning opportunities, the conference will be keynoted by Thomm Jutz and features 16 juried official showcases, along with a number of late-night guerrilla showcases hosted by AcousticMusicScene.com and others.

The official showcases take place Friday and Saturday evenings from 7:15-10:15 p.m., with each artist/act performing a 15-minute set. Unplugged guerrilla showcases follow from 10:40 p.m. to 2 a.m. Also on the agenda are daytime panel discussions and workshops, a Wisdom of the Elders session, a couple of film screenings and Q & A sessions, several thematic song circles, an open mic, peer group and one-on-one mentoring sessions, an awards presentation, an exhibit hall, communal meals, and plenty of other opportunities to learn, share and network –- including during built-in afternoon breaks in the programming.

SERFA is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International (folk.org), a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. Formed in 2002, SERFA (serfa.org) exists to promote, develop and celebrate the diverse heritage of roots and indigenous music, dance, storytelling and related arts in the southeastern United States. SERFA has produced an annual conference since 2008. Its conference’s move to Black Mountain this year marks a return of sorts. Prior to the event’s move to Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2019, it had taken place for eight consecutive years at the Montreat Conference Center, a few miles down the road and also nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted SERFA– like other FAI regional affiliates – to pivot to an online event last year, SERFA in Session: A Virtual Gathering.

Acclaimed Songwriter Thomm Jutz to Deliver Keynote Address

Named Songwriter of the Year in 2021 by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Thomm Jutz (pronounced “Yootz”) has written a number of bluegrass hits and his songs have been recorded by Balsam Range, Nanci Griffith, John Prine, and The SteelDrivers, among others. A native of Germany who has called Nashville home for many years, Jutz toured with such artists as Griffith, Mary Gauthier, David Olney, and Kim Richey; built a recording studio and produced albums for other artists – including Country Music Hall of Famers Bill Anderson and Mac Wiseman. He received a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album in 2020 for To Live in Two Worlds, Volume 1 and is featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame’s American Currents exhibit, which is slated to extend from 2022-2023.

Afternoon Programming Includes Workshops, Film Screenings, Song Circles, Wisdom of the Elders, and More

Nearly 20 workshops and panel discussions will delve into such topics as African-American contributions to Southern Appalachian music and dance, basics of piedmont picking, creating in community: the Jack Hardy Songwriters Exchange method, expanding our folk community, free-range folklore: an introduction to the Music Maker method, getting the gig and being invited back, the magic of collaboration, media coverage and strategy, music off the radar: making money and making a difference, simple measures for drastic guitar playing improvement, social media & fan engagement, songwriter residencies, and trends in folk radio and radio promotion.

Besides the workshops and panel discussions, there will be screenings of two recent music documentaries – The Mountain Minor and Nobody Famous – followed by Q & A sessions, as well as a Wisdom of the Elders session, several thematic song circles (songs of joy, struggle, place, and the environment), and one-on-one mentoring sessions during the afternoons.

The Mountain Minor is an award-winning narrative feature film that provides an authentic and respectful glimpse of Appalachian culture, music and history; of the joys and challenges experienced by the folks who have kept traditional mountain music alive. Loosely based on a true story, the film follows five generations of a family from their roots in eastern Kentucky in 1932 to a stage in Cincinnati, Ohio today as told by a man who yearns to return to his Kentucky home after migrating with his family to southwest Ohio during the Great Depression. Written-and directed by Dale Farmer (himself an old-time musician) and produced by Susan Pepper, a Cincinnati native now based in North Carolina, the film notably features traditional Appalachian musicians in acting roles. Among them are The Tillers, Smithsonian Folkways artist Elizabeth LaPrelle, banjoist and fiddler Dan Gellert, and Pepper herself. Following a series of festival screenings, The Mountain Minor had a limited theatrical run in late 2019-early 2020 due to the pandemic. It has aired on some public television stations and is available for home viewing.

Named Best Documentary in the 2021 New Jersey Film Festival and Best Music Documentary in the Seattle Film Festival earlier this year, Nobody Famous is set against the backdrop of the socially and politically volatile 1960s and traces the quick rise and ready fall of the folk-pop trio Pozo Seco Singers as folk music’s zeitgeist gives way to the heavy rhythm of rock & roll. Nobody Famous features Taylor Pie (Susan Taylor), who helped form the trio with Don Williams in the early 1960s and has been a solo singer-songwriter and musician since it disbanded. As Taylor Pie – then fresh from her first year in college – recounts today, while Williams went on to become one of the most successful country music artists of the 20th century, she shied away from fame and fortune, instead choosing to “go where the folk wind blows” – embracing her own path, her own unique artistry, and her own individual identity in the process.

Sparky & Rhonda Rucker will engage i conversation during a Wisdom of the Elders session. (Photo: Pam Zappardino)

Musical activists Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, bluegrass legend Bill Clifton and women’s music pioneer Deidre McCalla will engage in conversation during a Wisdom of the Elders panel session moderated by Art Menius. Sparky and Rhonda Rucker have worked for decades at the intersection of southern roots music, social activism, history, and education. They have released 10 albums together since 1990. Drawing from blues, spiritual, and mountain music, their repertoire presents a broad view of southern music, and slave and civil rights movement songs. A 2008 inductee into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, Bill Clifton, now 91, brought bluegrass music to the UK and beyond after making some of the finest recordings in the genre during the 1950s and presenting the first bluegrass festival in 1961. His book, 150 Old-Time Folk and Gospel Songs, published in 1951, features a forward by Woody Guthrie. Deidre McCalla was a pioneer of women’s music and a rare Black face during the early years of that genre. Roulette Records, better known for pop-rock 45s, released her first album in 1973 while she was still a student at Vassar, although her career as a solo folk singer-songwriter really took off when ‘the dreadlocked troubadour” released several albums for Olivia Records beginning in 1985. The Ruckers and Clifton are also among the people and organizations to be recognized with SERFA Awards for having made extraordinary contributions to folk music and the folk community in the southeastern U.S.

Dozens of Artists to be Featured in Official and Guerilla Showcases

Images of 2022 SERFA Official Showcase Artists (Composite courtesy of SERFA)

Slated to present official showcases on Friday, May 13, are (in order of appearance) Abigail Dowd, Erin Peet Lukes, Rupert Wates, Pretty Little Goats, Lara Herscovitch, Halley Neal, Tim Easton, and The Appaluchians. Saturday’s official showcase lineup features Kate Klim, Sam Robbins, Marc Berger, Violet Bell, Matt Burke, Emerald Rae, Ruth Wyand, and 5j Barrow.

Following the official showcases (as well as on Thursday overnight), late-night guerilla showcases will take place in various rooms for several hours. AcousticMusicScene.com, which has had a presence at the SERFA Conference since 2011, will host late-night song swaps and a midnight hoot (featuring two-dozen artists/acts – each performing one song) on Thursday, May 12, overnight. The AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot is a pre-arranged, round-robin song swap, a three-plus-hour version of which has been a popular staple at Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) conferences since 2007, will feature two-dozen artists/acts – each performing one song. The Midnight Hoot is intended to provide concert and festival presenters, folk DJs and others with an opportunity to get a small sampling of the music of a lot of artists in a short period of time on the conference’s opening night. It also enables artists to enjoy each other’s company and music before the conference really gets into full swing on Friday.

Here’s the AcousticMusicScene.com showcase schedule:

11 p.m. PuffBunny Records Songswarm: Taylor Pie, Nancy K. Dillon,Nicholas Edward Williams

11:30 p.m. Texas!: Andrew Delaney, Claudia Gibson, Scott Martin

12:00 a.m. AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot, Part 1:

(one song each, not necessarily in order of appearance)

Antonio Andrade, Ashley & Simpson, Meg Braun, Matt Burke, Cheryl

Cawood, Emerald Rae, Kala Farnham, Alice Hasen, Lara Herscovitch,

Lucy Isabel, Rob Lytle, Karyn Oliver

1:00 a.m. AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot, Part 2:

(one song each, not necessarily in order of appearance)

Amy & Mike Aiken, Crowes Pasture, Dan & Faith, Paul Helou,

Letters To Abigail, Crys Matthews, Brant Miller, Halley Neal, Sam

Robbins, Hank Stone, Annette Wasilik, Elly Wininger

Editor’s Note: In addition to hosting the AcousticMusicScene.com guerrilla showcase and moderating the Q & A session with Taylor Pie following the screening o the award-winning documentary Nobody Famous that features her, I will be assisting PuffBunny Records (Taylor Pie’s label, for which I handle public relations) with its Friday night guerrilla showcase and an exhibit hall table. I will also again be a mentor offering advice and counsel on various aspects of PR, social media and strategic communications. A board member of Folk Alliance International, I’m a past president of Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) and continue to serve on its board of directors. I have been an active participant at SERFA conferences since 2011.

Winners Named in IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards

Michael Kornfeld — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 13:48:26 +0000

Billy Strings was the recipient of the coveted Entertainer of the Year Award, the top honor in the 32nd Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards, presented September 30, 2021 at Raleigh, North Carolina’s Duke Energy Center for the Arts.

Billy Stringswas voted Entertainer and Guitarist of the Year for 2021 by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA).

The Lansing, Michigan-born and Nashville, Tennessee-based genre-bending flatpicker and singer also was honored as Guitar Player of the Year, received the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album (Home) earlier this year, and was named Pollstar’s Breakthrough Artist of the Pandemic. He was previously named both Guitar Player and New Artist of the Year in the 2019 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards.

Billy Strings, who turns 29 on Oct. 3, grew up playing traditional bluegrass with his dad. In the years since, he has been among the artists who have helped to expand the boundaries of the genre, widening its appeal. His latest album, Renewal, features 16 songs (mostly originals), that while primarily acoustic, transcends bluegrass via incorporating elements of jam band, psychedelic music, classic rock, and even heavy metal.

Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), a nonprofit music organization that connects, educates, and empowers bluegrass professionals and enthusiasts, honoring tradition and encouraging innovation in the bluegrass community worldwide (ibma.org).

A complete list of winners in 17 categories appears below, while information about the three previously announced Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees (acclaimed artist Alison Krauss, trailblazing bandleader and banjoist Lynn Morris and early bluegrass influencers the Stoneman Family) and five Distinguished Achievement Awards recipients, as well as a listing of all the category nominees can be found at https://acousticmusicscene.com/2021/07/21/ibma-bluegrass-music-awards-nominees-named/.

Entertainer of the Year:

Billy Strings

Vocal Group of the Year

Sister Sadie

Instrumental Group of the Year

Appalachian Road Show

New Artist of the Year

Appalachian Road Show

Song of the Year

“Richest Man”
Artist: Balsam Range
Songwriters: Jim Beavers/Jimmy Yeary/Connie Harrington
Producer: Balsam Range
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

Album of the Year

Industrial Strength Bluegrass: Southwestern Ohio’s Musical Legacy
Artist: Various Artists
Producer: Joe Mullins
Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Gospel Recording of the Year (Tie)

“After Awhile”
Artist: Dale Ann Bradley
Songwriter: Public Domain
Producer: Dale Ann Bradley
Label: Pinecastle Records

“In the Resurrection Morning”
Artists: Sacred Reunion featuring Doyle Lawson, Vince Gill, Barry Abernathy, Tim Stafford, Mark Wheeler, Jim VanCleve, Phil Leadbetter, Jason Moore
Songwriter: Mark Wheeler
Producers: Barry Abernathy, Jim VanCleve, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

Instrumental Recording of the Year

“Ground Speed”
Artists: Kristin Scott Benson, Skip Cherryholmes, Jeremy Garrett, Kevin Kehrberg, Darren Nicholson
Songwriter: Earl Scruggs
Producer: Jon Weisberger
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

Collaborative Recording of the Year

“White Line Fever”
Artists: Bobby Osborne with Tim O’Brien, Trey Hensley, Sierra Hull, Stuart Duncan, Todd Phillips, Alison Brown
Songwriters: Merle Haggard/Jeff Tweedy
Producers: Alison Brown, Garry West
Label: Compass Records

Female Vocalist of the Year

Dale Ann Bradley

Male Vocalist of the Year (Tie)

Del McCoury
Danny Paisley

Banjo Player of the Year

Scott Vestal

Bass Player of the Year

Missy Raines

Fiddle Player of the Year

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes

Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year

Justin Moses

Guitar Player of the Year

Billy Strings

Mandolin Player of the Year

Sierra Hull

IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards Nominees Named

Michael Kornfeld — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 16:35:00 +0000

Nominees for the 32nd Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards were announced July 20 in Nashville, Tennessee. In the running for the coveted Entertainer of the Year award are Balsam Range, Billy Strings, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Del McCoury Band, and The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys. McCoury and Lawson are Bluegrass Hall of Fame members, while McCoury and Balsam Range are past winners of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s top award.

Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), a nonprofit professional music organization that connects, educates, and empowers bluegrass professionals and enthusiasts, honoring tradition and encouraging innovation in the bluegrass community worldwide (ibma.org). Award recipients will be named during the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards Show on Thursday night, September 30, 2021 at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina. The awards show will also be broadcast on SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction at 7:30 p.m. EDT and streamed via Facebook Live (as was the July 20 awards nominees announcement)
.
A complete list of nominees appears below, along with information about three Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees and five Distinguished Achievement Awards recipients.

Entertainer of the Year:

Balsam Range
Billy Strings
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
The Del McCoury Band
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys

Vocal Group of the Year:

Darin & Brooke Aldridge
Balsam Range
Blue Highway
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Sister Sadie

Instrumental Group of the Year:

Appalachian Road Show
Billy Strings
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
The Infamous Stringdusters
The Travelin’ McCourys

New Artist of the Year:

Appalachian Road Show
Carolina Blue
Gina Furtado Project
High Fidelity
Merle Monroe

Song of the Year:

“Banjo Player’s Blues”
Artist: High Fidelity
Songwriter: Charlie Monroe
Producers: Jeremy Stephens, Brad Benge
Label: Rebel Records

“Hitchhiking to California”
Artist: Alan Bibey & Grasstowne
Songwriters: Wes Golding/Alan Bibey/Jerry Salley
Producers: Jerry Salley, Ron Stewart, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Just Load the Wagon”
Artist: Junior Sisk
Songwriter: J.R. Satterwhite
Producers: Amanda Cook, Junior Sisk, Mark Hodges
Label: Mountain Fever Records

“Leaving on Her Mind”
Artist: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Songwriter: Jack Clement
Producer: Rosta Capek
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Richest Man”
Artist: Balsam Range
Songwriters: Jim Beavers/Jimmy Yeary/Connie Harrington
Producer: Balsam Range
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

Album of the Year:

Bluegrass 2020
Artist: Scott Vestal, Patrick McAvinue, Cody Kilby, Dominick Leslie, Curtis Vestal
Producers: Scott Vestal, Ethan Burkhardt, Lonnie Lassiter
Label: Pinecastle Records

Distance and Time
Artist: Becky Buller
Producer: Stephen Mougin
Label: Dark Shadow Recording

Fall Like Rain
Artist: Justin Moses
Producer: Justin Moses
Label: Mountain Fever Records

Industrial Strength Bluegrass: Southwestern Ohio’s Musical Legacy
Artist: Various Artists
Producer: Joe Mullins
Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Load the Wagon
Artist: Junior Sisk
Producers: Amanda Cook, Junior Sisk, Mark Hodges
Label: Mountain Fever Records

Still Here
Artist: Steve Gulley & Tim Stafford
Producers: Steve Gulley, Tim Stafford
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

Gospel Recording of the Year:

“After Awhile”
Artist: Dale Ann Bradley
Songwriter: Public Domain
Producer: Dale Ann Bradley
Label: Pinecastle Records

“Grit and Grace”
Artist: Balsam Range
Songwriters: Ann Melton/Milan Miller/Beth Husband
Producer: Balsam Range
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

“Hear Jerusalem Calling”
Artist: Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers
Songwriters: Marty Stuart/Jerry Sullivan
Producers: Joe Mullins, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“When He Calls My Name”
Artist: Alan Bibey & Grasstowne
Songwriters: Alan Bibey/Ronnie Bowman
Producers: Alan Bibey & Grasstowne, Ron Stewart, Jerry Salley, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

Instrumental Recording of the Year:

“The Appalachian Road”
Artist: Appalachian Road Show
Songwriter: Jim VanCleve
Producers: Jim VanCleve, Barry Abernathy, Appalachian Road Show, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Foggy Mountain Chimes”
Artists: Scott Vestal, Patrick McAvinue, Cody Kilby, Dominick Leslie, Curtis Vestal
Songwriter: Earl Scruggs
Producer: Scott Vestal
Label: Pinecastle Records

“Mountain Strings”
Artist: Sierra Hull
Songwriters: Frank Wakefield/Red Allen
Producer: Joe Mullins
Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

“Taxland”
Artist: Justin Moses with Sierra Hull
Songwriter: Justin Moses
Producer: Justin Moses
Label: Mountain Fever Records

Collaborative Recording of the Year:

“Birmingham Jail”
Artists: Barry Abernathy with Vince Gill
Songwriter: Public Domain
Producers: Barry Abernathy, Jim VanCleve, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“My Baby’s Gone”
Artists: Justin Moses with Del McCoury
Songwriter: Dennis Linde
Producer: Justin Moses
Label: Mountain Fever Records

“Tears of Regret”
Artists: High Fidelity with Jesse McReynolds
Songwriters: Jesse McReynolds/Lucille Hutton
Producers: Jeremy Stephens, Corrina Rose Logston, Brad Benge
Label: Rebel Records

Male Vocalist of the Year:

Ronnie Bowman
Del McCoury
Danny Paisley
Junior Sisk
Larry Sparks

Female Vocalist of the Year:

Brooke Aldridge
Dale Ann Bradley
Sierra Hull
Molly Tuttle
Rhonda Vincent

Banjo Player of the Year:

Gena Britt
Gina Furtado
Rob McCoury
Kristin Scott Benson
Scott Vestal

Bass Player of the Year:

Mike Bub
Todd Phillips
Missy Raines
Mark Schatz
Marshall Wilborn

Fiddle Player of the Year:

Jason Carter
Michael Cleveland
Stuart Duncan
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Deanie Richardson

Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year:

Jerry Douglas
Andy Hall
Rob Ickes
Phil Leadbetter
Justin Moses

Guitar Player of the Year :

Trey Hensley
Billy Strings
Bryan Sutton
Molly Tuttle
Jake Workman

Mandolin Player of the Year:

Jesse Brock
Sam Bush
Sierra Hull
Ronnie McCoury
Tristan Scroggins

Alison Krauss, Lynn Morris, Stoneman Family to be Inducted into Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame

Inductions into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame are also set to take place during the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards Show. Slated for induction are acclaimed artist Alison Krauss, trailblazing bandleader and banjoist Lynn Morris and early bluegrass influencers Stoneman Family. A winner of multiple Grammy Awards, a two-time IBMA Entertainer of the Year and four-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year; Krauss is the most commercially successful bluegrass-related artist since Flatt & Scruggs. Morris was named three times as IBMA ‘s Female Vocalist of the Year and was previously a two-time winner of the National Banjo Championship in Winfield, Kansas. She was also a recipient of an IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award in 2010. Stoneman Family, whose 1920s recordings have been equated by country music historians with those of the Carter Family (who also hailed from the Appalachian Mountains region of southwest Virginia), also received IBMA’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 2000.

Five Distinguished Achievement Awards Will Also Be Presented on Sept. 30

Five veteran bluegrass industry innovators will receive Distinguished Achievement Awards in recognition of their significant contributions to the genre this year. The five, who will be presented with plaques during a Sept. 30 luncheon at the IBMA business conference, are Nancy Cardwell Webster, Lee Michael Dempsey, Jaroslav Pruch, Cliff Waldron, and Stan Zdonik. Cardwell Webster has been a writer, educator, mentor, and formerly served as executive director of both the IBMA and its foundation. She was instrumental in developing such IBMA programs as Bluegrass in the Schools and Leadership Bluegrass. Dempsey, a mainstay at Bluegrass Country Radio, is a veteran Washington, DC area radio broadcaster who hosted a weekday afternoon contemporary bluegrass show daily on WAMU from 1982-2018 and was named IBMA Broadcaster of the Year in 1991. . He also has compiled Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine’s monthly National Bluegrass Survey for nearly 32 years. Pruch, a Czech luthier and performer who is viewed as one of the world’s finest contemporary banjo makers, has also helped to foster a love of bluegrass music in his native Czech Republic. Waldron was a performing musician for many years and was elected to the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America’s Hall of Greats in 2004. Zdonik helped to form the Boston Bluegrass Union in 1976 and served as the all-volunteer nonprofit organization’s first president. He has also been an emcee for the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, among others, and an IBMA board member.

The IBMA Bluegrass music Awards Show is the centerpiece of World of Bluegrass Week that is slated for September 28-October 2 in North Carolina’s capital city. IBMA World of Bluegrass also features a business conference (Sept. 28-30), the IBMA Bluegrass Ramble (a series of showcases taking place Sept. 28-30 in downtown Raleigh and the Raleigh Convention Center), and IBMA Bluegrass Live! (a two-day festival slated for Oct. 1-2). Considered the genre’s annual industry gathering and family reunion. IBMA’s annual World of Bluegrass week has taken place in Raleigh since 2013. Concerns surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic prompted the trade and professional association for the global bluegrass community to shift to online presentation of its professional development seminars, artist showcases and awards last fall.

Nominees Announced for 2020 IBMA Awards

Michael Kornfeld — Sat, 27 Jun 2020 15:56:22 +0000

Nominees have been named in 17 categories for the 2020 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards. On June 26, the International Bluegrass Music Association also announced the 2020 inductees into the Bluegrass Music Hall Of Fame and a number of Distinguished Achievement Awards recipients.

An awards show is usually the centerpiece of the IBMA’s annual five-day World of Bluegrass, which is considered the genre’s annual industry gathering and family reunion. It has taken place in Raleigh, NC since 2013. However, concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic recently prompted the association for the global bluegrass community to shift to online presentation of its professional development seminars and artist showcases in September. THE IBMA has not yet announced how and when the awards will be presented.

Nominees for the IBMA’s coveted Entertainer of the Year Award include Balsam Range, Billy Strings, Del McCoury Band, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Sister Sadie, and Special Consensus Each is also nominated in other categories.

Balsam Range, a five-member acoustic ensemble that previously won this award in 2014 and 2018, takes its name from a majestic mountain range that surrounds part of its home county in western North Carolina, where the Smokies meet the Blue Ridge. Formed in 2007, Balsam Range has received more than a dozen other IBMA honors – including the 2017 and 2013 Album of the Year awards for Mountain Voodoo and Papertown, respectively. Besides its nod for Entertainer of the Year, Balsam Range is also in the running for /also received nominations for Vocal Group of the Year and Gospel Recording of the Year (“Angel Too Soon’).

Billy Strings is a 27 year-old genre-bending flatpicker who hails from Lansing, Michigan but now calls Nashville home. Named IBMA Guitarist and New Artist of the Year last September, he is also a nominee for Album (Home), Instrumental Recording (“Guitar Peace”) and Guitar Player of the Year in 2020.

Led by a Grand Ole Opry member and nine-time IBMA Entertainer of the Year, the Del McCoury Band took home the a2019 IBMA Award for Album of the Year (Del McCoury Still Sings Bluegrass). While the band vies to be named Entertainer of the Year again, Del is among the nominees for Male Vocalist of the Year and is also featured on Jason Barie’s “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” which is in the running for Collaborative Recording of the Year. His son, Ronnie McCoury, is nominated for Mandolin Player of the Year.

Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver is a traditional bluegrass & southern gospel group fronted by a 76 year-old Tennessee native and International Bluegrass Hall of Famer who has been playing mandolin and singing professionally for nearly 60 years. Launched in 1979, the group is up for five other awards besides Entertainer of the Year. These include Vocal Group, Song (“Living Like There’s No Tomorrow”), Album (Live in Prague, Czech Republic), Instrumental Recording (“Shenandoah Breakdown”), and Gospel Recording (“I’m Going to Heaven”) of the Year.

Sister Sadie

Sister Sadie, the reining IBMA Vocal Group of the year, is also in the running to retain that distinction. The female quarter features five-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year Dale Ann Bradley (who is again nominated in that category), Fiddle Player of the Year nominee Deannie Richardson, and Banjo Player of the Year nominee Gena Britt, and mandolin player and past female vocalist nominee Tina Adair. Bradley is also nominated for Gospel Recording of the Year (“Because He Loved Me”), while Britt shares a nomination for Collaborative Recording of the Year (“On and On”) with Brooke Aldridge, a three-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year.

Special Consensus has been performing as a band for four decades. Five-time IBMA award-winners and two-time Grammy nominees, the quartet is led by banjo player Greg Cahill, an IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award recipient who also is a former IBMA president and board chair. The band received the 2018 IBMA Album of the Year award for Rivers & Roads and also was honored for Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year. Its latest release, Chicago Barn Dance, is in the running for Album of the Year, while its title track is also nominated for both Song and Collaborative Recording of the Year.

Other artists receiving multiple awards nominations include Brooke Aldridge, Appalachian Road Show, Blue Highway, Becky Buller, Sam Bush, Michael Cleveland, Mile Twelve, Po’ Ramblin’ Boy, Missy Raines (eight-time IBMA Bass Player of the Year), and Molly Tuttle.

The nominees for these awards were selected by the professional membership of the IBMA, which is comprised of artists, songwriters, label personnel, radio hosts, event producers, managers and agents, publicists, studio engineers, associations, manufacturers, retailers, and others who work in the bluegrass industry. IBMA members also will vote to determine the winners.

The complete list of nominees in 17 categories as determined by votes cast by IBMA’s professional members follows.

Entertainer Of The Year

Balsam Range (Photo: David Simchock)

• Balsam Range
• Billy Strings
• Del McCoury Band
• Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
• Sister Sadie
• Special Consensus

Vocal Group Of The Year
• Balsam Range
• Blue Highway
• Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
• Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out
• Sister Sadie

Instrumental Group Of The Year
• Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
• Mile Twelve
• Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
• Sam Bush Band
• The Travelin’ McCourys

New Artist Of The Year
• Appalachian Road Show
• Carolina Blue
• High Fidelity
• Merle Monroe
• Mile Twelve

Song Of The Year
• “Both Ends Of The Train” – Blue Highway (artist), Tim Stafford/Steve Gulley (writers), Rounder Records, Blue Highway (producers)
• “Chicago Barn Dance” – Special Consensus (artist), Becky Buller/Missy Raines/Alison Brown (writers), Compass Records, Alison Brown (producer)
• “Haggard” – The Grascals (artist), Harley Allen (writers), Mountain Home Music Company, The Grascals (producers)
• “Hickory, Walnut & Pine” – The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys (artist), Slaid Cleaves/Nathan Hamilton (writer), Rounder Records, Dave Maggar (producer)
• “Living Like There’s No Tomorrow” – Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver (artist), Jim McBride/Roger Alan Murrah (writer), Billy Blue Records, Doyle Lawson and Rosta Capek (producers)

Album Of The Year
• Chicago Barn Dance – Special Consensus (artist), Compass Records, Alison Brown (producer)
• Home – Billy Strings (artist), Rounder Records, Glenn Brown (producer)
• Live In Prague, Czech Republic – Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver (artist), Billy Blue Records, Doyle Lawson and Rosta Capek (producers)
• New Moon Over My Shoulder – Larry Sparks (artist), Rebel Records, Larry Sparks (producer)
• Tall Fiddler – Michael Cleveland (artist), Compass Records, Jeff White, Michael Cleveland, and Sean Sullivan (producers)
• Toil, Tears & Trouble – The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys (artist), Rounder Records, Dave Maggard (producer)
• Tribulation – Appalachian Road Show (artist), Billy Blue Records, Jim VanCleve, Barry Abernathy, and Appalachian Road Show (producers)

Gospel Recording Of The Year
• “Angel Too Soon” – Balsam Range (artist), Balsam Range (producer), Mountain Home Music Company (label)
• “Because He Loved Me” – Dale Ann Bradley (artist), Dale Ann Bradley (producer), Pinecastle Records (label)
• “Gonna Rise And Shine” – Alan Bibey & Grasstowne (artist), Mark Hodges (producer), Mountain Fever Records (label)
• “I’m Going To Heaven” – Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver (artist), Doyle Lawson and Rosta Capek (producer), Billy Blue Records (label)
• “Little Black Train” – Appalachian Road Show (artist), Barry Abernathy, Darrell Webb, and Ben Isaacs (producer), Billy Blue Records (label)

Instrumental Recording Of The Year
• “Tall Fiddler” – Michael Cleveland (artist), Jeff White, Michael Cleveland, and Sean Sullivan (producers), Compass Records (label)
• “Shenandoah Breakdown” – Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver (artist), Doyle Lawson and Rosta Capek (producer), Billy Blue Records (label)
• “Soldier’s Joy” – Jesse McReynolds with Michael Cleveland (artist), Jesse McReynolds (producer), Pinecastle Records (label)
• “The Appalachian Road” – Appalachian Road Show (artist), Jim VanCleve, Barry Abernathy, and Appalachian Road Show (producer), Billy Blue Records (label)
• “Guitar Peace” – Billy Strings (artist), Glenn Brown (producer), Rounder Records (label)

Collaborative Recording Of The Year
• “Chicago Barn Dance” – Special Consensus (artist), Alison Brown (producer), Compass Records (label)
• “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cr”y – Jason Barie featuring Del McCoury & Paul William (artists), Jason Barie (producer), Billy Blue Records (label)
• “Tall Fiddler” – Michael Cleveland with Tommy Emmanuel (artist), Jeff White, Michael Cleveland, and Sean Sullivan (producers), Compass Records (label)
• “The Barber’s Fiddle” – Becky Buller with Shawn Camp, Jason Carter, Laurie Lewis, Kati Penn, Sam Bush, Michael Cleveland, Johnny Warren, Stuart Duncan, Deanie Richardson, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Jason Barie, Fred Carpenter, Tyler Andal, Nate Lee, Dan Boner, Brian Christianson, and Laura Orshaw (artists), Stephen Mougin (producer), Dark Shadow Recording (label)
• “On and On” – Gena Britt with Brooke Aldridge (artists), Gena Britt (producer), Pinecastle Records (label)

Male Vocalist Of The Year
• Ronnie Bowman
• Del McCoury
• Russell Moore
• Danny Paisley
• Larry Sparks

Female Vocalist Of The Year
• Brooke Aldridge
• Dale Ann Bradley
• Amanda Smith
• Molly Tuttle
• Rhonda Vincent

Instrumental Performers Of The Year

Banjo
• Kristin Scott Benson
• Gena Britt
• Gina Furtado
• Ned Luberecki
• Scott Vestal

Bass
• Barry Bales
• Mike Bub
• Todd Phillips
• Missy Raines
• Marshall Wilborn

Fiddle
• Becky Buller
• Jason Carter
• Michael Cleveland
• Stuart Duncan
• Deanie Richardson

Resophonic Guitar
• Jerry Douglas
• Andy Hall
• Rob Ickes
• Phil Leadbetter
• Justin Moses

Guitar
• Trey Hensley
• Billy Strings
• Bryan Sutton
• Molly Tuttle
• Jake Workman

Mandolin
• Alan Bibey
• Jesse Brok
• Sam Bush
• Sierra Hull
• Ronnie McCoury

In addition, the IBMA has announced three new inductees into International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and seven people who will receive its Distinguished Achievement Award:

2020 Hall Of Fame Inductees
• New Grass Revival
• The Johnson Mountain Boys
• J.T. Gray

2020 Distinguished Achievement Award Recipients
• Norman & Judy Adams
• Daryl & Phyllis Adkins
• Darol Anger
• Wayne Rice
• Jack Tottle

2018 International Bluegrass Music Awards Presented

Michael Kornfeld — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 22:09:28 +0000

Entertainer of the Year, the top honor in the 29th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards – presented Sept. 27 at Raleigh, North Carolina’s Duke Energy Center for the Arts – went to the Tar Heel State’s own Balsam Range. The five-member acoustic ensemble previously won this award in 2014. Balsam Range’s Buddy Melton was voted 2018 IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year, while Tim Surrett was named Bass Player of the Year.

Balsam Range (Photo: David Simchock)

Balsam Range, which takes its name from a majestic mountain range that surround part of its home county in western North Carolina, where the Smokies meet the Blue Ridge, formed in 2007. Besides Melton on vocals and fiddle and Surrett on bass, dobro and vocals, its members include Caleb Smith (guitar, vocals), Darren Nicholson (mandolin, vocals), Mark Pruett (banjo), and Caleb Smith ((guitar, vocals). Balsam Range has previously received more than a dozen other IBMA honors – including the 2017 and 2013 Album of the Year awards for Mountain Voodoo and Papertown, respectively.

This year’s Album of the Year honors went to Special Consensus for Rivers & Roads, while the four-member acoustic bluegrass band led by banjo player Greg Cahill (a former president and board chair of the International Bluegrass Music Association) was also honored for Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year. “If I’d Have Wrote That Song” — recorded by Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers and written by Larry Cordle, Larry Shell and James Silvers — was named 2018’s Song of the Year.

A listing of all the award winners appears below:

Entertainer of the Year: Balsam Range
Album of the Year: Rivers & Roads – Special Consensus (artist), Alison Brown (producer), Compass Records (label)
Song of the Year: “If Id Have Wrote That Song” – Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers (artist), Larry Cordle, Larry Shell and James Silvers (writers)
Male Vocalist of the Year: Buddy Melton (of Balsam Range)
Female Vocalist of the Year: Brooke Aldridge
Vocal Group of the Year: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Instrumental Group of the Year: Travelin’ McCourys
Banjo Player of the year: Ned Luberecki (of the Becky Buller Band)
Bass Player of the Year: Tim Surrett (of Balsam Range)
Dobro Player of the Year: Justin Moses
Fiddle Player of the Year: Michael Cleveland
Guitar Player of the Year: Molly Tuttle
Mandolin Player of the Year: Sierra Hull
Emerging Artist of the Year: Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
Recorded Event of the Year: “Swept Away” – Missy Raines with Alison Brown, Becky Buller, Sierra Hull and Molly Tuttle (artists), single release – Alison Brown (producer), Compass Records (label)
Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year: “Squirrel Hunters” – Special Consensus with John Hartford, Rachel Baiman & Christian Sedelmyer (10 String Symphony), & Alison Brown (artists), Traditional arranged by Alison Brown/Special Consensus (writers), Rivers & Roads (album), Alison Brown (producer), Compass Records (label)
Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year: “Speakin’ to That Mountain” – Becky Buller (artist), Becky Buller and Jeff Hyde (writers), Crepe Paper Heart (album), Stephen Mougin (producer), Dark Shadow Recording (label)

In addition, Tom T and Dixie Hall, Ricky Skaggs, and Paul Williams were inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame during the awards show hosted by Hot Rize.

The International Bluegrass Awards Show was a centerpiece of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s five-day World of Bluegrass, which is considered the genre’s annual industry gathering and family reunion. Held in Raleigh for the sixth consecutive year, World of Bluegrass also featured a wide array of professional development seminars, meetings and forums, artist showcases and late-night hospitality functions, an exhibit hall, plenty of networking and relationship-building opportunities, and the Wide Open Bluegrass Music Festival.

Philadelphia Folk Festival Set for Aug. 16-19

Michael Kornfeld — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 20:55:11 +0000

Thousands of music lovers are expected to converge on Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford Township, near bucolic Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, Aug. 16-19, 2018 for the annual Philadelphia Folk Festival. Now in its 57th year, the event, produced and presented by the Philadelphia Folksong Society, a nonprofit arts organization, is the longest continuously running outdoor music festival of its kind in North America.

Among the notable artists slated to perform during the festival are Balsam Range, Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet, David Bromberg Quintet, Joe Crookston, Jeff Daniels, Mary Gauthier, John Gorka, Patty Griffin, Eileen Ivers, Christine Lavin, Martha Redbone, Tom Paxton and The DonJuans, Riders in the Sky, The Seldom Scene, The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, Alexis P. Suter Ministers of Sound, Tempest, Trout Fishing in America, and Molly Tuttle.

A number of talented Canadian artists are also on the bill — including Melanie Brulee, Matthew Byrne, Elage Diouf, Earle and Coffin, Jay Gilday, Terence Jack, David Myles, Benjamin Dakota Rogers, Dana Sipos, and The Small Glories. From the UK are Scottish folk-roots rockers Skerryvore (my favorite new musical discovery during the 2018 Folk Alliance International Conference) and Gloucestershire duo The Black Feathers. Limerick, Ireland’s Hermitage Green makes its Philadelphia Folk Festival debut, as do Australian singer-songwriter Tom West and Tuvan throat singers Alash.

Also of note are Michigan-based band The Accidentals (named among Yahoo Music’s 10 Bands to Watch” in 2017), Washington, DC area-based singer-songwriter Crys Matthews (grand prize winner of the 2018 NewSong Music Competition and winner of the People’s Music Network’s Social Justice Songs Contest at the 2017 Northeast Regional; Folk Alliance Conference), Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter Matt The Electrician, and rollicking, high-energy folk-rockers Scott Wolfson and Other Heroes.

Among the up-and-coming local touring artists who will showcase their talents during the festival are April Mae & the June Bugs, Michael Braunfeld, Meghan Cary & Analog Gypsies, Orion Freeman, Marion Halliday & Trickster Sister, Aaron Nathans & Michael G. Ronstadt, and Brittany Tranbaugh. A Friday morning album release celebration for Kicking Down Doors and Tin Bird Choir will take place on the Camp Stage.

As the names above suggest, the Philadelphia Folk Festival features an eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary music that stretches the boundaries of folk, helping to broaden its appeal and reach a new generation of listeners. National and international touring artists of note as well as emerging ones are on the bill.

In partnership with the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA), a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International, the festival will also showcase the talents of three up-and-coming young artists/acts –the previously mentioned Benjamin Dakota Rogers and Earle and Coffin, as well as Lula Wiles, a female Americana trio recently singed to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings– during a NERFA Presents Young Folk song swap on Saturday morning.

In addition to musical performances and workshops on eight stages – including an accordion workshop, contra dancing with Groovemama, a Martin Guitar Jam, and a late Sunday afternoon Klezmer dance party — there will be an array of children’s activities in the shady Dulcimer Grove – including craft-making and performances by The Give & Take Jugglers and a number of children- and family-oriented artists. As in years past, many artisans will display and sell their creations in an open-air juried crafts area.

There’s also a festival within the festival for those who opt to camp onsite and enjoy some late-night musical revelry. The 40-acre campground – chock-a-block with tents — is home to a unique late-night scene, with singing by campfires and jamming into the early morning hours. David Dye, host of the syndicated World Café radio program, will host a special Thursday night concert on the Camp Stage — featuring multi-ethnic Latin pop songstress Gina Chavez, contemporary blues guitarist and singer-songwriter Toranzo Cannon, and Scots folk band Talisk — exclusively for all-festival camping ticket holders.

Both day and full-festival passes are available for purchase. Children under 12 will be admitted free with an adult, while discounted tickets are available for youth, ages 12-17

For more information about the Philadelphia Folk Festival and to order tickets, visit www.pfs.org/philadelphia-folk-festival/.

Editor’s Note: As president of the NERFA board of directors, I have the honor and pleasure of hosting the “NERFA Presents Young Folk” showcase on Saturday morning, Aug. 18, at 11 a.m.

National Folk Festival Returns to Greensboro, NC, Sept. 9-11

Michael Kornfeld — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 18:54:52 +0000

Diversity is the hallmark of the 76th National Folk Festival taking place Sept. 9-11, 2016 in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina. The free event, programmed and co-produced by the National Council for Traditional Arts (NCTA), the U.S.’s oldest nonprofit folk arts organization, in partnership with Arts Greensboro, celebrates togetherness and the diversity of America’s arts and heritage – with artists young and old honoring America’s musical soul and cultural roots.

The National Folk Festival will feature more than 300 traditional musicians, dancers and craftspeople in performances, workshops and demonstrations, in addition to hand-on activities for children and youth, participatory dance, storytelling, parades and more. Music and dance traditions from every part of the nation will be represented.

Among the many artists slated to perform on the festival’s seven stages are Alberti Flea Circus, Balsam Range (an award-winning NC-based bluegrass group), Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys from Lafayette, Louisiana (zydeco), Bill Kirchen (Austin, TX-based master of the Telecaster), Quebecois group Le Vent du Nord, Quebe Sisters (Texas fiddling and western swing), Super Chikan & the Fighting Cocks (Delta blues from Clarksdale, MS) and Youth Rising: Tomorrow’s Masters of Appalachian Music.

A North Carolina Folklife Area – including the North Carolina Traditions Stage and the North Carolina Folklife Demonstration Area – will celebrate the state’s rich, living traditions – from the southern Appalachians to the Piedmont to the coastal plains. Traditional and modern arts and crafts that express the cultural identity of the artists and their communities will be showcased in The Masters and Makers Area within the Folklife Area, while the North Carolina Arts Marketplace will feature juried, handmade creations by artists and craftspeople from the North Carolina region.

A wide array of regional and ethnic food, as well as traditional festival fare, will be available for purchase at seven food courts.

America’s longest-running event of its kind, the National Folk Festival, founded in 1934, generally rotates to a new home every three years and hopes to lay the groundwork for sustainable, locally-produced festivals and events that continue at each host city after it moves on. More than two-dozen cities have played host to the festival to date, and musicians and craftspeople from every state and most U.S. territories have participated. 2016 marks its second year in Greensboro, where it drew more than 100,000 people of all ages and backgrounds in 2015. An even larger crowd is anticipated to descend on the small southern city this year.

For more information, visit www.nationalfolkfestival.com.

Arts Presenters, Performing Artists Converge on New York City, Jan. 15-19

Michael Kornfeld — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 01:04:45 +0000

Several thousand people are expected to converge on New York City, Jan. 15-19, for the annual conference of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP). Now in its 59th year, the global performing arts marketplace and conference will feature more than 1000 artist showcases, a large EXPO Hall featuring nearly 400 exhibitors, networking opportunities galore, daily plenary sessions and keynote speakers, and a wide array of professional development workshops and forums. Plenaries and select sessions will live stream free for industry professionals, artists and the public.

The theme for the 2016 conference is Makers – recognizing the craft and contributions of performing artists and all who are critical to the process of making art and bringing live performances to communities worldwide. The conference coincides with the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, and some sessions will focus on the performing arts as they relate to resolving societal challenges posed by conflict, violence social injustices, racial and religious discourse, poverty, and humanitarian crises, as well as opportunities for collaboration. Conference subthemes include Make Art, Make a Difference, Make Decisions, and Make Money.

“APAP members – artists, presenters and industry leaders – view APAP/NYC as an indispensible tool for conducting the business of performing arts, but when our members gather in New York city, non-members and enthusiasts wanting a glimpse inside the business of performing arts presenting also benefit,” said Mario Garcia Durham, APAP’s president and CEO. He cited pre-conference public events on Thursday and Friday (including the Wavelengths: APAP Global Music Pre-Conference featuring workshops, panels discussions and artist pitch sessions arranged by music PR firm Rock Paper Scissors) and the live streaming of select conference activities via Howlround.tv that began with last year’s conference. For information on the plenaries and other sessions to be live-streamed and to find a link to RSVP to them, visit www.apapnyc.apap365.org.

Folk and Roots Artists to Showcase Their Talents

As in years past, dozens of performers from the folk, roots and singer-songwriter communities in the U.S., Canada and several other countries will showcase their talents during the conference. Among them will be string-band duo The Aching Heart, Punjabi vocalist Kiran Ahlywolia, singer-songwriter Kristen Andreassen (with Jefferson Hamer), Asleep at the Wheel (masters of western swing), rollicking roadhouse blues singer and pianist Marcia Ball, Balsam Range (2014 IBMA Entertainers of the Year), Birds of Chicago, Blind Boys of Alabama, Grammy Award-winning banjo player Alison Brown, Buckwheat Zydeco, the rollicking Washington, DC-based roots music ensemble Bumper Jacksons, Caladh Nua from Ireland, Colcannon (Irish music), DakhaBraha (Ukrainian folkdrone Bjorkpunk quartet), indie-folk quartet Darlingside, Newfoundland harmonic duo Ennis Sisters, female international roots vocal trio EVA, Lauren Fox’s “The Songs of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen,” The Grahams, The Hillbenders Present The Who’s Tommy: A Bluegrass Opry, The Hunts (Virginia-based band of siblings), Isle of Lesbos (klezmer), Bettye LaVette, Los Llaneros (music of the Colombian and Venezuelan savannas), Makem & Spain (continuing the Irish tradition), Matuto (a NYC-based Brazilian bluegrass ensemble), Metropolitan Klezmer, David Orlowsky Trio (klezmer), singer-songwriter Eliza Paltouf, Americana band Parsonsfield, jig-rockers The Prodigals, singer-songwriter Carrie Rodriguez, Samite of Uganda, folk-rock jam band The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, New Orleans’ The Subdudes, Celtic-Americana duo Switchback, singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson, and the French-Acadian party music of Vishten.

Ken Waldman, Alaska’s fiddling poet, performs and hosts showcases during the APAP Conference.

Alaska-based fiddler and poet Ken Waldman presents “From Red Hook to the Real Alaska” and “From Manhattan to Moose Pass” roots music variety showcases featuring a number of acts at Brooklyn’s Jalopy Theatre on Thursday night and at the Manhattan nightclub Don’t Tell Mama on Friday. Featured artists include The Aching Hearts (Ryan Spearman and Kelly Wells), Anna & Elizabeth, Riley Baugus, Corn Potato String Band, Ken’s Class party, Ken Waldman & The Secret Visitors, Evie Ladin & Keith Terry, Mo Mojo, and Richie Stearns & Rosie Newton. A FOLQUEBEC Trad Fest on Saturday night at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theatre at the West Side YMCA, organized in partnership with the Quebec Government Office in New York, will feature performances by Quebecois artists Nicolas Pellerin et Les Grands Hurleurs, Yves Lambert Trio and Melisande [electrotrad], as well as a reception. Gilles Garand, FOLQUEBEC’s leader, also hosts a World Trad Forum networking meeting on Friday afternoon, from 2-3 p.m., at the Sheraton New York.

Randy Noojin portrays Woody Guthrie in “Hard Travelin’ with Woody,” a one-man multimedia show.

Artists in various other musical genres also will showcase their talents, while there will also be comedy, dance and theatrical showcases. Randy Noojin will present excerpts from Hard Travelin’ with Woody – his one-man multimedia show featuring the music and artwork of Woody Guthrie, while Tayo Alukp will share excerpts from Call Mr. Robeson: A Life, with Songs (a one-man show about Paul Robeson).

Conference exhibition halls will again teem with booking agents and presenters eager to speak with them, and there’ll be a whole lot of networking opportunities.

A Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, APAP is a national service, advocacy and membership organization dedicated to developing and supporting a robust performing arts presenters field and the professionals who work within it.

The Earls of Leicester Take Home a Bevy of International Bluegrass Music Awards

Michael Kornfeld — Sat, 03 Oct 2015 04:26:51 +0000

The Earls of Leicester

The Earls of Leicester were the big winners during the International Bluegrass Music Awards show, Oct. 1, at Raleigh, North Carolina’s Duke Energy Center for the Arts. The group –- which pays homage to the musical legacy of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and their band, the Foggy Mountain Boys — took home Entertainer, Album (for its Grammy Award-winning self-entitled debut), Instrumental Group and Gospel Recorded Performance (“Who Will Sing For Me”) of the Year awards. In addition, bandleader Jerry Douglas and bandmate Shawn Camp were named top dobro player and top male vocalist, respectively. Rounding out the group are Barry Bales (bass and vocals), Johnny Warren (fiddle) and Charlie Cashman (banjo and guitars).

Speaking during the awards show, Douglas said: “This is unbelievable fun, and we’re going to keep doing it.”

The Tar Heel State’s own Balsam Range, last year’s Entertainer of the Year and previous winner for Album and Song of the Year, was honored as Vocal Group of the Year, while its “Moon Over Memphis” was named Song of the Year. The acoustic quintet’s Tim Surrett was named Bass Player of the Year.

During the show, Balsam Range performed another one of its songs “Stacking Up The Rocks,” a cappella. Other performers included Flatt Lonesome, the Gibson Brothers (hosts of the event), The Del McCoury Band and Hot Rize.

Alison Krauss joined singer-guitarist Larry Sparks and his band, the Lonesome Ramblers, on a medley of his signature songs after inducting him into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Sparks recently released a new album to mark his 50th year in bluegrass music. Also inducted into the Hall of Fame was banjoist Bill Keith – whom Bill Monroe had hailed as the first banjo player who could play banjo songs in a fiddle style and with a fiddler’s virtuosity. Musician and author Jim Rooney and fellow banjo player Alan Munde sang Keith’s praises in inducting him, while banjoist Noam Pikelny – a founding member of the Punch Brothers and last year’s Album and Banjo Player of the Year winner — played Keith’s tune “Beating Around the Bush” in tribute.

The 26th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards is the centerpiece of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s five-day World of Bluegrass event that continues through Saturday, Oct. 3, with the Wide Open Bluegrass festival featuring free and ticketed events. Awards were voted on by the professional membership of the IBMA (www.ibma.org), the trade association for the global bluegrass music community. Prior to the evening awards show, winners of five 2015 Distinguished Achievement Awards were recognized.

A listing of all the award winners appears below.

2015 International Bluegrass Music Awards

Entertainer of the Year: The Earls of Leicester
Female Vocalist of the Year: Rhonda Vincent
Male Vocalist of the Year: Shawn Camp
Vocal Group of the Year: Balsam Range
Instrumental Group of the Year: The Earls of Leicester
Song of the Year: “Moon Over Memphis,” Balsam Range
Album of the Year: The Earls of Leicester, The Earls of Leicester (produced by Jerry Douglas)
Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year: “Who Will Sing for Me,” the Earls of Leicester
Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year: “The Three Bells,” Jerry Douglas, Mike Auldridge, Rob Ickes
Emerging Artist of the Year: Becky Buller
Recorded Event of the Year: “Southern Flavor,” Becky Buller with Peter Rowan, Michael Feagan, Buddy Spicher, Ernie Sykes, Roland White and Blake Williams
Bluegrass Songwriter of the Year: Becky Buller
Banjo Player of the Year: Rob McCoury
Bass Player of the Year: Tim Surrett
Dobro Player of the Year: Jerry Douglas
Fiddle Player of the Year: Michael Cleveland
Guitar Player of the Year: Bryan Sutton
Mandolin Player of the Year: Jesse Brock

Inductees into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame: Bill Keith and Larry Sparks
Distinguished Achievement Awards: Alison Brown, Murphy Henry, the International Bluegrass Music Museum, “Bashful Brother” Oswald Kirby and Steve Martin