Happy Birthday to us! 10 years of Bluegrass Today

Yesterday, September 23, was the 10th Anniversary of the day we first lit up Bluegrass Today in 2011. We went live just before the IBMA World of Bluegrass convention, which was held in Nashville at that time.

Of course we had been working most of that year on building out the site, developing a business plan, finding people to help out, and talking with advertisers and web developers, but we picked World of Bluegrass as the appropriate time to launch. The staff at that time were all on hand for the big IBMA week, and we offer special thanks to Woody Edwards and Eric Tapp who have since left the company.

Ten years have gone by fairly quickly, and when we look back it becomes clear that we owe our success to the wonderful folks who visit and read the site on a regular basis, our radio partners who contribute to our charts, and our advertising partners in the bluegrass industry. Likewise the many publicists and independent artists and festival promoters we coordinate with on news stories, plus the people who send us information about news we might not have seen otherwise.

From the beginning, we envisioned Bluegrass Today as a sort of hometown newspaper for the bluegrass world. We report important industry news and new music releases, alongside band personnel switches, new products, birth and death notices, and wedding announcements. Like any media source, the biggest stories are usually the saddest, when a member of our community passes on, but we feel fortunate to be able to remember them all to our readers. That is a commitment we take most seriously.

Today, it is myself, my business partner Terry Herd, and our Advertising Manager, Ashley Lewis, who handle the bulk of the work. We are deeply thankful for the many correspondents and photographers who contribute, including Chris Jones, Richard Thompson, David Morris, John Goad, Sandy Hatley, Tabitha Benedict, Braeden Paul, Bill Warren, Dale and Darcy Cahill, Daniel Mullins, Dave Berry, Pamm Tucker, Gina Proulx, Katy Daley, Lee Zimmerman, Laura Ridge, Tara Linhardt, and Frank Baker. An extra special thanks to The Chief, Sonny Osborne, whose weekly columns light up our Fridays here.

So all of you, please accept our sincerest gratitude and respect. On to ten more!

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.