The International Bluegrass Music Association has announced today that Hot Rize will host the 2018 International Bluegrass Music Awards show on September 27. The gala program will be held at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, NC, just a short walk from the Raleigh Convention Center.
The quartet is a previous winner of the IBMA’s most prestigious Entertainer of the Year award, and have been delighting bluegrass audiences around the world with their music and wit this past four decades. One is given to imagine that Hot Rize will seek to contain their alter-egos, Red Knuckles & The Trailblazers, off stage and away from the festivities. But you never know.
As always, awards will be distributed to a variety of bluegrass artists, as nominated and chosen by the voting professional members of the IBMA. The show will also feature a number of live performances, and the recognition of the newest members to be inducted into the IBMA Hall of Fame.
Claire Armbruster, who will serve as co-executive producer of the awards show with Mary Burdette, says that the theme for this year is “The Oak Tree.”
“The 2018 Awards Show will reflect the strength of bluegrass music today and its growth as we look to the future.
The oak tree symbolizes strength, endurance and is viewed as the ‘great protector.’ The ‘City of Oaks,’ Raleigh, NC, uses the iconic image of the oak tree because it grows there in great abundance. Bluegrass music may perhaps be symbolized by the mighty oak as it has experienced many changes over the past eighty or so years, yet the genre has endured as it continues to branch out and grow.”
The awards show is a separately ticketed event, so even those registered to attend the World of Bluegrass business conference or the weekend’s Wide Open festival will need to get tickets in advance. Full details can be found online.
