Jamming in the shadow of the Raleigh sign at World of Bluegrass ’24 – photo © Jeromie Stephens
When IBMA’s World of Bluegrass pulled out of Nashville in 2012, I spent most of the 12-hour drive home, and many of the following months, thinking that IBMA had made a mortal mistake in moving the annual event over the mountains to Raleigh.
Attendance would certainly suffer. And the organization that raised most of its annual budget from World of Bluegrass would surely fade away or become a shadow of itself.
I’m here to say that I was wrong. Very wrong.
Raleigh revitalized IBMA, and bluegrass music, in a way that no other city probably could. In Nashville, the annual bluegrass conference wasn’t even the biggest music conference in town during the month. In Raleigh, World of Bluegrass became THE signature event of the year.
The street fair brought thousands of new fans to the genre and many, many dollars to IBMA, the city, and vendors. It was a shot in the arm that even a pandemic and a couple of hurricanes couldn’t deter.
In fact, bluegrass became such a staple of the Raleigh music scene that local organizers will continue an annual festival after IBMA moves away to Chattanooga. New fans for bands and songwriters that weren’t here when the 12-year stay began. How can that be anything but beneficial.
And it helped build lasting friendships. We came to know bell captains, waiters, and parking attendants by name. One of the servers in the Rye Bar in the Marriott yesterday was hoping the rain wouldn’t prevent her from getting red carpet photos of regular customer and new Hall of Fame member Katy Daley.
Even the jamming, a staple of bluegrass gatherings everywhere, has seemed more energetic and welcoming over the years than in Nashville. On Friday afternoon, for example, there were probably 30 people gathered in an aisle of the exhibit hall, playing and singing with unabated enthusiasm. There’s always energy in bluegrass, but this was far beyond the norm. Deep in the crowd, just another picker, was Rhonda Vincent. Even if some of those folks never get to Chattanooga, they will carry that memory for years.
So the next host city has some huge boots to fill.
There will be complaints, for sure. Humans are creatures of habit, and change is always difficult. (Witness the cries of purists who say Billy Strings and others have strayed too far from the Bluegrass Gospel according to Bill Monroe, never mind that Mr. Monroe’s music was itself a huge departure from what came before).
So you’ll hear that you can’’ get there from here, that the facilities in Chattanooga won’t match what Raleigh had to offer. And on and on, like a Grateful Dead song that never seems to end.
I won’t be joining that chorus. You do a lot for family, and World of Bluegrass is my home-away-from-home family. So I’ll hope for the best, use my extra two hours of travel time to listen to new music, anticipate the next adventure, and look to make new memories.
So thanks, Raleigh. It’s been great. I’m sorry for doubting you.
