Tag: The Foundation for Bluegrass Music

Jordan Laney to receive 2019 Rosenberg Bluegrass Scholarship Award

The IBMA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the International Bluegrass Music Association, has announced that the recipient of their 2019 Rosenberg Bluegrass Scholarship Award will be Jordan Laney, Presidential Pathway Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Religion and Culture at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. She receives a cash grant of $500, and will be invited to present at the academic conference held in conjunction with the IBMA Business Conference in Raleigh, NC in September.

Each year the organization presents this award to the developing academic scholar who they feel has presented the best paper on an aspect of bluegrass music at a juried academic conference. It is named in honor of bluegrass historian and academician Neil Rosenberg, a 2014 inductee into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

According to the Foundation…

The objective of this award is to grow the academic awareness of bluegrass music by encouraging developing academic scholars to present research of high quality to fellow scholars on any aspect of the genre. Developing academic scholars eligible for this award are defined as graduate students in MA or PhD programs and recent PhDs (within five years of degree completion). 

Laney’s paper that took the prize is entitled: “Rehistoricization and Performance: a Methodological Approach to (Re) Creating the Bluegrass Genre.” It was presented at the Cultural Studies Association Conference at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA over the May 30-June 1 weekend. It examines Carlton Haney’s iconic “Bluegrass Story” from a feminist perspective.

She describes the paper thusly…

“This paper discusses the methodological findings of my dissertation in which I focus on “the Story,” a staged event curated by folklorist Ralph Rinzler, and a narrative that quickly became the history of bluegrass music. I argue that the quick adoption of a single story highlighted the roles of men and arguably veiled the influence of women and people of color within the genre. Interested in utilizing alternative conceptual approaches to uncover marginalized stories, I combine archival, reflexive interviews, ethnographic, participant observation, and survey methods to disrupt traditional narratives. Specifically, my paper not only asks how bluegrass music festivals began, for whom, and to what end, but focuses on research methods and power structures within the community, reflecting on how histories are created. Attention is focused on the construction of the narrative to allow greater insight into the social desires, political needs, and economic trends of the bluegrass community across time.

 This historical aspect of the study is combined with my fieldwork which spans the time period of 2014-2017. This longitudinal study leads me to grapple with the narratives we re-create through scholarly processes of collecting, translating, performing, and archiving shared narratives. It is my assertion that methodological choices often fail to explore the borders between disciplines and communities and the power of methodology. The result is that methods for researching traditional music communities often fail to utilize the same level of criticality as our questions demand. Methods provide the maps for our inquiries and impact. My exploration of a dominant story, the story, through multiple, hidden stories, allows for a narrative shift from the margins to the center, to borrow a phrase from bell hooks. This reflective re-visiting of methods is, I posit, a promising arena of new knowledge in bluegrass scholarship.”

Laney not only studies and writes about bluegrass music, she has it in her blood. Her family have long been bluegrass performers, including her uncle Glenn Laney who was a member of The Knoxville Grass, and brother Colby Laney, formerly with Volume Five and the Larry Stephenson Band.

The 2019 selection committee for the Rosenberg Bluegrass Scholarship Award was chaired by Dr. Travis Stimeling of the University of West Virginia, with input from Dr. Kristine McCusker of Middle Tennessee State University, and Tim Stafford of East Tennessee State University and Blue Highway.

The mission of the IBMA Foundation is to bundle individual and association donations and direct them to non-profit organizations that support and foster bluegrass music-related arts and culture, education, literary work, and historic preservation. They depend on these donations for their annual grants. More details can be found online.

Mary Tyler Doub of the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival was the sponsor for the 2019 Award. She has been an active member of the bluegrass community and the IBMA since the beginning, and received the organization’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 1997.

Congratulations to Dr. Laney, and many thanks to the IBMA Foundation for the terrific work they do.

IBMA Foundation partners with Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee

The IBMA Foundation, previously known as the Foundation for Bluegrass Music, has announced a new partnership with The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, also based in Nashville. Charitable giving to associations intended to foster the growth and preservation of bluegrass is the IBMA Foundation’s goal, and they do so both by planned donations to worthy people and organizations, and by accepting them from individuals who share their desire to promote the music, essentially serving as a clearinghouse for bluegrass giving.

This new association with the Community Foundation, in the form of a $50,000 endowment from the undesignated funds of the IBMA Foundation, is meant to attract new donors by providing them with the investment expertise which the Community Foundation possesses. Their long track record of success, and extensive degree of knowledge and experience in the areas of structured giving, provides the IBMA with a “back office” capability which the part-time nature of its Board does not allow.

IBMA Foundation Board Chair Fred Bartenstein says that this new partnership gives potential donors both a level of service and a confidence that may have been absent in the past.

“The IBMA Foundation is delighted to be entering into partnership with the $400+ million Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. They will bring to our new IBMA Foundation Endowment Fund considerable investment expertise as well as technical assistance, helping our donors to structure their bequests and other planned gifts. Together, we are helping bluegrass music to live forever!”

Under this new system, donors to The IBMA Foundation can still make gifts and bequests directly to the Foundation, or to the new endowment with the Community Foundation. All of these funds will continue to be used to further the interests of bluegrass music.

Each year The IBMA Foundation issues $15,000 in grants to organizations with programs designed to bring young people into the world of bluegrass. In 2018, the recipients of these grants include:

  • Black Swamp Arts Council, Tri State Youth Bluegrass Initiative (Archbold, Ohio)
  • Bluegrass Ambassadors with the Hanna Miners, Silver Sound Foundation (Carbon County, Wyoming)
  • Coda Mountain Academy Summer Music Festival (Fayetteville, West Virginia)
  • Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival (Fairbanks, Alaska)
  • Grey Fox Educational Fund, Grey Fox Bluegrass Academy for Kids (Oak Hill, New York)
  • Makers Guild of Maine, Vacationland Bluegrass Camp (Searsport, Maine)
  • Nashville School of Traditional Country Music (Nashville, Tennessee) 
  • San Diego Folk Heritage, Julian Family Fiddle Camp (San Diego, California)
  • The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, Professional Development Seminar for Musicians (Abingdon, Virginia)

The IBMA Foundation is meant to exist in perpetuity, and believes that this new partnership will help them maintain their efforts going forward as far as the mind can project. More information about their efforts can be found on their web site, or by contacting Nancy Cardwell by phone (615-260-4807) or email

For more info, please contact Nancy Cardwell at the IBMA Foundation 615-260-4807 info@bluegrassfoundation.org or go to www.bluegrassfoundation.org.

Members of the IBMA Foundation Board include: Fred Bartenstein, Fred Bartenstein & Associates/University of Dayton (president/board chair); Alan Tompkins, Bluegrass Heritage Foundation (vice-chair); Ruth McLain, McLain Family Band/ Morehead State University (secretary); Wendy Tyner, Wintergrass/Acoustic Sound (treasurer); Tim Stafford, Blue Highway; Tom Kopp, professor emeritus/Miami University; Peter Salovey, Yale University; Peter D’Addario, St. Louis Cardinals; Sam Blumenthal, The Blumenthal Foundation; and ex-officio member Paul Schiminger, IBMA.

IBMA and Bluegrass Foundation now merged

The proposed merger between the International Bluegrass Music Association and the Foundation for Bluegrass Music, announced during the World of Bluegrass convention in Raleigh this summer, has now been finalized. The IBMA will continue operating under the same name, while the Foundation will henceforth be known as the IBMA Foundation.

No change is anticipated in the management or functioning of either agency, though closer integration of their Boards of Directors is planned. The Foundation will now have direct access to IBMA staff and data resources, and both organizations will be able to accept tax-deductible contributions. IBMA also plans to seek grant funding as a newly-organized Section 501(c)(3).

IBMA Board Chair Joe Mullins expressed gratitude for the hard work put in to get this merger accomplished in short order.

“I am grateful for the planning and execution of this merger, with many hours invested by the Board of Directors of IBMA, the Board and officers of the Foundation and Paul Schiminger, IBMA E.D., and Nancy Cardwell, the Foundation Administrator. Bluegrass music is our shared passion, and now it’s easier for each member of our community to participate in successfully funding the efforts of the association on behalf of our membership, and the programming encouraged and supported by the Foundation.”

Schiminger likewise sees nothing but positive things going forward.

“The strong 10-year partnership of the IBMA and what is now the IBMA Foundation has now become even stronger. Each organization benefits from this combined effort to carry forward ongoing efforts to educate, connect, and empower the bluegrass community. This merger will create efficiencies to attract and utilize additional resources necessary to fulfill our collective mission.” 

The IBMA web site has been revised and updated to reflect these changes, with the merger completed on November 30.

Foundation for Bluegrass Music Grants Due December 1

Applications for the 2018 grants from the Foundation for Bluegrass Music are due at the end of this month. They award between $8,000-$10,000 each year in individual grants to organizations that support educational, literary, artistic, and historic preservation projects and programs that are bluegrass-related.

The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, created by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2007 to serve as an umbrella organization for people wishing to donate money to worthy bluegrass efforts, without having to study and research them all themselves. They accept donations of any size, including legacy gifts, and may be tax-deductible.

This is the group with whom the IBMA is planning to merge before the end of 2017. At that point it will become known as the IBMA Foundation.

Most of the awards they make each year are to other 501(c)(3) outfits, or governmental agencies like schools, and average in the $2,000 range.

For example, their 2017 grants went to:

  • Acoustic Sound – Wintergrass Bluegrass Academy (WA)
  • Coda Mountain Academy, Inc. – Coda Mountain Academy Summer Music Festival (WV)
  • Greater Ozarks Bluegrass Society – John Wynn College Scholarship (MO)
  • Madison County Arts Council – Junior Appalachian Musicians Program (NC)
  • McCall Folklore Society – Kids Mountain Music Camp (ID)
  • Podunk Bluegrass Festival, Inc. – The Mosaic Project (CT)

They also offer smaller, mini-grants for schools that offer Bluegrass In The Schools assembly programs. These are typically for $200 each to help offset costs and materials.

An application for the 2018 grants can be found online.

The Bluegrass Symposium being held in conjunction with Wide Open Bluegrass

The Bluegrass Symposium, which debuted this morning in Raleigh, has academically-minded bluegrass fans buzzing as it got underway today in room 304 of the Marriott Convention Center. Throughout the next 24 hours, some of our industry’s sharpest minds will be on hand presenting research on a number of bluegrass-related topics.

Although this isn’t the first gathering of this nature, it’s shaping up to be quite an event with papers and discussions surrounding a number of topics related to bluegrass history. A keynote address from Bluegrass Hall of Fame member Neil Rosenberg is sure to be a memorable start. His speech titled “Bluegrass: Scholarship and Realities,” is based on the last chapter of his soon-to-be-released book, Bluegrass Generation: A Memoir, which details his involvement in the bluegrass music industry from 1961-1963. Other works being presented include topics discussing the legacy of performers like fiddler Jim Shumate and the Lilly Brothers, trends in harmony singing, and the impact of recordings and broadcasts, among several other subjects.

“I think that most bluegrassers would understand that it is important to gather with the people who care about music, to figure out what you know as a group, and then figure out what you don’t know and then learn about it,” said Lee Bidgood, an associate professor of Bluegrass, Old Time, & Country Music Studies at East Tennessee State University and an organizer of the event. “The Symposium brings together a group of scholars who are intent on understanding what bluegrass music has been, is, and will be. We have a lot to learn from their individual presentations, and from the discussions sparked by the presentations.”

Along with the public, the scholars themselves are looking forward to new findings from fellow academics. “I’m excited to hear what scholars from all over the country have to say about their research and their thinking about a field that deserves to be studied and taught,” said presenter Fred Bartenstein. “In 2009, a marketing study indicated that 15.5 million Americans (5 percent) consider bluegrass their most-favorite form of music. That’s pretty amazing for a form that’s more than 75 years old; that incorporated many older styles, material, and instruments from the British Isles, Europe, Africa, and North America; and is well on its way to becoming- like classical, jazz, and rock – a global phenomenon.”

Though everyone recognizes aspects of bluegrass that could be considered standard, Bartenstein believes there’s more to the music than that, and that the Symposium will help bring attention to it. “Over the years bluegrass has developed its standard ways of doing things,” he said. “But if we look back at early recordings, there’s a lot more than just the standard things we do nowadays.” He compares it to biologists preserving biodiversity through heirloom seeds. “By paying attention to some of the unusual harmonies in earlier bluegrass, we can tap into the music’s ancestral diversity to bring richer emotional content to the music we love.”

While Bartenstein is looking into unique historical aspects of the music, Jordan Laney, another presenter, plans to delve into a more theoretical side of the music. “I believe bluegrass scholarship that pushes disciplinary boundaries is crucial at this particular juncture in local, regional, and national history, and I am glad to be a part of this dialogue,” she said. “We need more feminist and critical theoretical interpretations in most fields of study. I hope my work offers new entry points and methodological opportunities for bluegrass scholars.”

Why do this at World of Bluegrass? “IBMA week is the one time of the year that so many people who are involved seriously in bluegrass are all in the same place,” said Bartenstein. “So it makes sense to have the Symposium at the WOB not only because so many of the bluegrass scholars will be gathered together there, but also because it makes their work accessible to the musicians and fans who will be in Raleigh for the event.”

The Symposium is sponsored by the Foundation for Bluegrass Music as part of their mission to collect and distribute resources that will enrich the future of this music. Presentations continue throughout this evening and begin again tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m.

Foundation for Bluegrass Music to host college symposium and showcase during WOB

The Foundation for Bluegrass Music will host an academic symposium and a college bluegrass band showcase following the 2017 World Of Bluegrass convention in Raleigh, NC. Billed as the Bluegrass Symposium, the second of its kind, it will be held September 29-30 at the Raleigh Convention Center at the end of the Business Conference, while the Wide Open Bluegrass festival is going on across the street.

The focus of the symposium is the study of our music and its attendant culture in colleges and universities. Presenters and speakers include professors and academic writers within this community, with a special lunch/discussion for department heads and instructors in these programs.

Eminent bluegrass historian Neil Rosenberg will give the keynote address to start the conference on Friday. Registration is only $50 for the two days, which entitles you to attend all scheduled events. Selected parts of the symposium will be open to the public, including the Introduction to College Bluegrass Programs, moderated by Fred Bartenstein, which will present an overview of schools which offer instruction in bluegrass performance, either as a major or minor course of study. It will be geared towards parents and potential students looking into college in the near future.

It sounds like a great way to wrap up IBMA week in Raleigh, or you could just make the trip to get your head re-pointed. Bluegrass and Appalachian Studies is all the rage these days in academic circles, another sure sign that the music is here to stay.

Hats off to the Foundation!

See complete details online. A full schedule follows.

Friday, Sept. 29

12:00-1:30 p.m. Keynote luncheon for paid academic conference attendees. Keynote speaker: Neil Rosenberg, Ph.D.

1:30 – 3:00 p.m. Bluegrass Music Symposium Session 1: Institutions and Narratives – Chair: Jordan Laney

Ryan Banagale & Keith Reed – Bluegrass and the Liberal Arts
Chelsea Burns – Boston Bluegrass: Institutional Traces in the Urban Scene
Ron Roach – Building a Shared Rhetorical Vision: Fantasy Theme Analysis of Discourse at Early Bluegrass Festivals

3:00 – 3:15 p.m. Break

3:15 – 4:45 p.m. Bluegrass Music Symposium Session 2: Performance Studies – Chair: Toby King

Liza Sapir Flood – Song Choreography and Self-Expression at Bluegrass Jams
Lee Bidgood – The Broken Circle Breakdown and Belgian Bluegrass
Louisa Branscomb – Use of Bluegrass Songwriting as Treatment Intervention in Foster Teens with PTSD: A Qualitative Pilot Study

4:45 – 5:00 p.m. Wrap-up of Day One (with advice given on attending the Ramble showcases at eateries)

5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Dinner on your own

5 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. – IBMA’s “Kids on Bluegrass” Ensembles (Wide Open Bluegrass Youth Stage, RCC)

7:00 – 9:00 p.m. College Band Showcases, Youth Stage

7-7:45 p.m. – Warren Wilson College
8-8:45 p.m. – East Tennessee State University

Saturday, Sept. 30

9:00 – 10:30 a.m. Bluegrass Music Symposium Session 3: Performing History – Chair: Fred Bartenstein

Ira Gitlin – Lonesome And Then Some: Unusual Vocal Harmonies In Early Bluegrass Recordings
Natalya Weinstein-Miller – Jim Shumate: Pioneering Bluegrass Fiddler
Everett Lilly – Making Bluegrass History: The Role of the Lilly Brothers in Bluegrass History

10:30 – 10:45 a.m. Break

10:45 – 12:15 p.m. Bluegrass Music Symposium Session 4: Media – Chair: Nancy Cardwell

Nathan Sykes – Farm and Fun Time Legacy: Radio and Regional Music
Greg Reish – Documenting Bean Blossom: The Recorded Legacy of Marvin Hedrick
Ted Olson – Reassessing a Pioneering ‘Bluegrass Label’: Tracing the Impacts of Rich-R-Tone Records

12:15 – 12:30 p.m. Wrap-up of the Bluegrass Music Symposium (evaluation)

12:30 – 2:00 p.m. Bluegrass College degree program luncheon (Off site lunch for bluegrass degree program department heads and instructors, and those interested in college level bluegrass instruction. RSVP to info@bluegrassfoundation.org for a head count. We will be buying our individual lunches.)

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Introduction to College Bluegrass Programs, moderated by Fred Bartenstein

7:00 – 9:00 p.m. College Band Showcases, Wide Open Bluegrass Youth Stage, RCC (presented by the Foundation for Bluegrass Music)

6-6:45 p.m. – Morehead State University
7-7:45 p.m. – Pellissippi State Community College;
8-8-45 p.m. – Denison University

2017 recipients of Bluegrass Foundation grants

The Foundation for Bluegrass Music has announced the recipients of their 2017 grant requests. Each year since they formed in 2007, the Foundation has awarded cash grants to worthwhile organizations to assist in their efforts to further music education and historic research related to bluegrass.

Like many such umbrella groups, the Foundation exists to simply the process of supporting bluegrass music for myriad donors around the country. Rather than having to research the many agencies that work in this field when considering donations, people can channel their charitable giving to the Foundation who then do the checking and hand out grants accordingly. And as a 501(c)3 non-profit, all donations are tax-deductible, and they welcome contributions of any size online.

This year’s recipients include:

  • Acoustic Sound – Wintergrass Bluegrass Academy
  • Coda Mountain Academy, Inc.
  • Greater Ozarks Bluegrass Society – John Wynn College Scholarship
  • Madison County Arts Council – Junior Appalachian Musicians Program
  • McCall Folklore Society – Kids Mountain Music Camp
  • Podunk Bluegrass Festival, Inc. – The Mosaic Project

The Foundation offers these thumbnail descriptions of the recipient programs:

The Acoustic Sound/Wintergrass Youth Education program based in Bellevue, Washington includes the well-known Youth Academy and Youth Orchestra, which successfully introduces middle school strings students to bluegrass and integrates them into a world-class festival experience while performing with nationally known bluegrass artists. New in 2017 is “Pintgrass,” created for pre-school children, “Youth Academy Teacher Training“ and “Rhapsody Songsters”—both for ages 14-20. The YATT program is designed for youth interested in pursuing a music education career, and the Rhapsody Songster program mentors disadvantaged youth with information about the wider array of careers available in and around the music community.  

Coda Mountain Academy, Inc., is a nonprofit organization committed to equipping under-served youth with the tools they need to live productive and fulfilling lives. Based in Fayetteville, West Virginia, the Academy has several programs, one of which is a two-week, residential music camp, which focuses on providing high caliber musical opportunities and training for students regardless of their socio-economic status. Coda offers two distinct tracks during its summer festival, bluegrass studies and classical music.


The Greater Ozarks Bluegrass Society based in Springfield, Missouri, decided in 2012 to honor John Wynn, a nationally recognized luthier and bluegrass educator. A scholarship in his memory has been award annually since 2013 to a local graduating high school senior or a current college student who has an interest in bluegrass music. Numerous people throughout southwest Missouri credit Wynn for their discovery of bluegrass music. He was an encourager to dozens of musicians and bands in the region, always generous with his time and expertise. His family band also performed for numerous school band and orchestra students, introducing them to the instruments and the sound of bluegrass music.

The Madison County Arts Council grant goes to fund a sound system for the Junior Appalachian Music (JAM) program so students may continue to present their music throughout the county at festivals and community gatherings. Performing teaches self-expression, enhances self-esteem and provides opportunities to polish public speaking skills, as well as giving students an opportunity to give back to the community. Based in Marshall, North Carolina, JAM programs in this area have grown from 7 students in 2007 to 60 young musicians from kindergarten – college age. The program teaches bluegrass and traditional music and dance.

The McCall Folklore Society, based in McCall, Idaho, hosts a three-day Kids Mountain Music Camp for beginning and intermediate young musicians as a part of their Summer Music Festival at Ponderosa State Park on the McCall Outdoor Science School campus. The grant will go to add an additional instructor for the 2017 event, and also to provide scholarships to young musicians. Classes are offered on mandolin, guitar, fiddle, banjo, bass and singing.

The Podunk Bluegrass Music Festival in Hebron, Connecticut will present The Mosaic Project in 2017. Participants will be given formal and informal opportunities to explore bluegrass instrumentation, songwriting and personal artistry. The mission of the Podunk Bluegrass Festival is to promote and proliferate bluegrass music in Southern New England by producing and hosting an annual festival unique to the area with a focus on education and awareness of the heritage of bluegrass music.

These annual grants can be up to $2,000 each, and are separate from the smaller mini-grants which the Foundation offers to Bluegrass In The Schools programs around the country.

The deadline to apply for the annual grants is December 1 each year, and details about the application process can be found online.

Nancy Cardwell to Bluegrass Foundation

The Foundation for Bluegrass Music in Nashville has announced the hiring of Nancy Cardwell to serve as their administrator. Cardwell has worked in bluegrass most of her life, as both a performer and on the staff of the International Bluegrass Music Association where she worked for many years as their special projects coordinator, culminating in her assumption of the Executive Director’s position for her last few years with the organization.

She will assist the Board of the Foundation with their charitable efforts, primarily in helping givers connect with worthy organizations and educational institutions in the bluegrass community. Each year they award grants to multiple agencies based on an ongoing application process. By collecting smaller donations from a large group of individuals, the Foundation can function as an umbrella entity that can offer sizable contributions.

Nancy says that her experience with the IBMA’s Bluegrass In The Schools program when she was their Special Projects Director puts her in a good position to administer the Foundation.

“I’m excited about working with the Foundation. There’s an enormous amount of potential for this group to do a tremendous amount of good with bluegrass music, for current and future generations.” Cardwell also served on staff at IBMA from 2012 through the spring of 2015 as executive director of the trade association for bluegrass music.

If bluegrass music were a town, we would be your community foundation. We’re the ‘United Way’ of bluegrass music—a place to donate funds and set up endowments that will be used for bluegrass-related programs and projects that will keep the genre alive and growing for decades to come. As Mr. Monroe said, this music is powerful. We want to save the world with bluegrass music.”

As this is not a full time position, Nancy will continue working as a membership specialist for the Hispanic Community/Faith-based initiatives for Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee, as a booking agent for BuckleDown Productions, and as a freelance musician and writer.

The Foundation for Bluegrass Music will have a large presence at next month’s World Of Bluegrass convention in Raleigh, NC. They will host a booth in the convention’s exhibit hall during the week, and at the Red Hat Amphitheater during that weekend’s Wide Open Bluegrass festival.

Other notable Foundation events that week include:

  • Thursday (9/29) – Foundation Chair Mark Panfil will announce the 2016 grant recipients during the Special Awards Luncheon.
  • Friday (9/30) – Bluegrass Music Higher Education Forum, moderated by Foundation board member Fred Bartenstein.
  • Friday (9/30) – Lunch symposium for current and retired college professors to discuss trends in bluegrass music education.
  • Friday/Saturday (9/30-10/1) – College Band Showcase on the Wide Open Bluegrass Youth Stage.

More details about the Foundation and their charitable work can be found online.

Foundation For Bluegrass Music announces 2015 grants

The Foundation For Bluegrass Music, a non-profit (501c3) organization supporting educational, literary, artistic and historic preservation efforts in bluegrass, has announced their grants for 2015.

$2,000 funding grants will be made this year to the following entities:

  • Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM inc.) in Independence, VA – JAM affiliated programs seek to provide small group instruction for young students in the various musical forms native to the Appalachian region. They also make instruments available to loan the students.
  • Toe River Arts Council, Bringing Bluegrass Back Home in Burnsville, NC – a group of volunteer musicians who rehearse weekly and perform for community events and concerts in the area.
  • West Virginia University, West Virginia University Bluegrass and Old-Time Instruction in Morgantown, WV – WVU now has a student bluegrass band which rears weekly on campus, directed by Travis Stimeling, assistant professor of music history.

Mark Panfil, Chairperson for the Foundation for Bluegrass Music, said that…

“We were very happy to receive so many very worthwhile applications for our grants this year. It encourages us to hear of the many places, throughout the country, where people are working to spread Bluegrass music, but it also makes the decision process so difficult for the members of this board. We believe the programs that we chose focus most directly on Bluegrass music, and addressed specific needs as identified by the board in the Bluegrass music community.

We would like to thank all of the organizations that applied this year and encourage those who we couldn’t manage to help with funding to re-apply next year.”

To be considered for a future grant from the Foundation For Bluegrass Music, please read their criteria online and complete the application on that page. Applications must be received by December 1 to be considered for 2016.

Blue Highway at the Foundation for Bluegrass Music

Blue Highway will be the featured entertainers at next Thursday’s fundraiser in Raleigh for the Foundation For Bluegrass Music. The event will be held at the Tir Na Nog Irish Pub, which is one of the official Bluegrass Ramble venues, scheduled to begin at 11:00 p.m. following the International Bluegrass Music Awards celebration.

Tickets for this event are only $10, and can be purchased online. If you are unable to attend, donations towards their annual fundraising goals can also be made at that link.

The Foundation is the industry’s fundraising arm, serving as a conduit between individuals and families with a desire to help support bluegrass music as a charitable effort and deserving projects across the US. It works independently from the IBMA with its own Board of Directors, starting with a major gift from an anonymous donor in 2007.

Though not its exclusive focus, a primary mission of the Foundation is supporting young grassers, and educating young people about bluegrass music. A variety of grants and programs are available each year to further those ends.

All World of Bluegrass or Award show attendees are invited to visit the October 2 fundraiser, but do be advised that it is a separately-ticketed event. In addition to Blue Highway’s performance, the show will include bluegrass karaoke with a professional band.

Full details can be found online.

 

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