Northern England’s The Often Herd have been announced as the recipients of the 2025 IBMA International Band Performance Grant, an award that assists non-US bluegrass performers to expand their audience in this country.
The band, obviously, takes their name as a play on words on The Seldom Scene, and is a quartet that has retained its founding members from 2014. Rupert Hughes is on guitar, Evan Davies on mandolin, Niles Krieger on fiddle, and Sam Quintana on bass.
This award provides both financial and logistical assistance to artists to allow them to travel to the US and showcase at World of Bluegrass in Chattanooga, TN (9/16-20), and to tour further in the US this year, and again the following year as well.
Christopher Howard-Williams, who occupies the International At Large seat on the IBMA Board of Directors, and is the founder of the Bluegrass in La Roche festival in France, speaks quite highly of this year’s recipients.
“The Often Herd have established themselves as a stand-out band in the vibrant European bluegrass scene, with a growing fan base across the continent. I am delighted that they are receiving this grant, and I’m excited to see the reception they get from American bluegrass fans.”
Here’s a look at their latest video, for Cool Summer Rain, written by Hughes and Davies, and released just last week.
Further information on the US tour dates for The Often Herd will be available on their web site as they are announced.
Full details on the 2025 World of Bluegrass can be found online.
The IBMA International Band Performance Grant is funded by donations from the membership, and the general public.
