Dear IBMA,

Please stop asking the most accomplished artists in our business to read corny lines from a teleprompter, or to engage in cringe-inducing banter for the sake of a light-hearted awards show. Last night’s production made Hee-Haw look like high art.

Nashville is lousy with writers and show business professionals. I know that money is tight, and that a volunteer production staff works very hard to pull off a tightly-paced presentation with appeal for a wide audience, but folks… it’s just not working. It’s long past time to bring in professionals with a proven record of producing successful shows.

Picking is easy; comedy is hard. Let’s try and preserve the dignity of our music and its top practitioners by placing them in a position to shine rather than shrink on this, our biggest annual stage.

Your friend,

John

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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.