Brooke Aldridge tries her hand at soundhole at World of Bluegrass 2019 – photo © Tara Linhardt
Wednesday of World of Bluegrass was another-jam packed day (as are all days of IBMA) here in Raleigh, North Carolina. Loads of helpful tips for all sorts of industry professionals, showcases of bands, interviews being conducted, recordings and radio broadcasts being made, and awards being presented.
On Wednesday the always popular Exhibit Hall opened with all sorts of yummy instruments, microphones, and music-related what-not for sale. Folks are there to try out and learn about instruments, as well as meeting many of the luthiers making them. There were also games to be had, and broadcasts and recordings being made of live bands, showcases of various bands, radio stations, music organizations, record labels, and publishers all making their existence known and sharing their information at their booths.
There was a Special Focus on the stage in the large foyer outside of the Exhibition Hall that highlighted some of the internationally-based bluegrass bands. There were bands from Canada, New Zealand, France, and Italy that I ran into today throughout the festival. One woman at a showcase bar in town was so excited by some of the Canadian bands she had seen, that she asked me what their word for “Americana” would be and started stabbing at forms of Canadiana and similar attempts… I wonder if there is a word there somewhere already? hmmm…
With the conferences starting early each day, and going through the day, and the showcases of bands going way into the night with some showcases still starting at 1:00 a.m., and everything so good, no one wants to miss anything. IBMA is definitely living up to its nickname that some regulars use to explain the acronym” “IBMA stands for I’ve Been Mostly Awake.”
Lots of folks having a great time and loads of great music of all sorts seem unending, much of it all happening at the same time in different places. So here are some clips of the variety of showcases to help even those who were here to see some of the showcases that may have been missed. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is a big thing here for sure, with so much great stuff going on. We will all sleep next week. 🙂
Gina Furtado Project (Gina is up for IBMA banjo player of the year again this year)
Cane Mill Road won the Momentum Award for Band of the Year 2019
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
The Dead South (a great band from Saskatchewan, Canada)
Crying Uncle (hot young band from California)
The Farmer & Adele (old style Western fun, with great clothes and yodeling even)
