The 2014 International Bluegrass Music Awards, held October 2, will be broadcast in a one-hour edited version during the Spring 2015 season of American Public Television’s Music City Roots television series.
The show was hosted live by Jerry Douglas and Lee Ann Womack at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, NC during the IBMA Business Conference earlier this month. Live internet streaming of the entire show was provided as it occurred by the Music City Roots crew, who also recorded the presentation for subsequent editing.
The editors will have a tough job taking the jam-packed three hour awards show down to just sixty minutes. It featured live performances from Della Mae, The Boxcars, Claire Lynch, The Gibson Brothers, Blue Highway, Noam Pikelny, Del McCoury Band, Balsam Range, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, and from each host, Lee Ann Womack and Jerry Douglas. It’s not likely that all of that could be ground down to an hour.
The live show also included beautiful induction ceremonies for the original Seldom Scene and Dr. Neil Rosenberg, each of which featured a live performance, on top of all the awards presentations and a lively opening dance sequence that ran close to six minutes.
IBMA Executive Director Nancy Cardwell says that everyone in the organization is excited to share their awards show with a national audience on Music City Roots’ 71 PBS affiliates.
“It’s been an IBMA goal since our first Awards Show in 1990 to share this fabulous showcase of some of the year’s best talent with a wider television audience. I can’t tell you how excited we are—after 25 years of dreaming about this—to announce The International Bluegrass Music Awards, Presented by Music City Roots, in conjunction with senior producers Todd Mayo and John Walker of Heng Dai Media. The one-hour version of the 2014 Awards Show will air in national PBS markets where Music City Roots is already a favorite, and cities across the nation are welcome to contact their local PBS stations to request the show.”
Business and charitable organizations can still become involved in underwriting the awards show broadcast, and interested parties are invited to contact Cardwell at 615-256-3222, or IBMA sponsorship consultant Susan Woelkers at 615-497-4801.
This special Music City Roots telecast is expected to air in February or March 2015.
