Exhibit Hall jam with Rhonda Vincent at World of Bluegrass ’24 – photo © David Morris
It may be IBMA’s last year in Raleigh, but things are definitely not slowing down. The floor of the exhibit hall inside the Convention Center is all abuzz with vendors, products, artists, fans, and much, much more. Traffic in the aisles continues to grow as the annual event continues throughout Saturday. Besides all the wonderful wares to examine and try, there is a family reunion atmosphere. Performers visit with other performers, entertainers greet fans, and music reverberates from every nook and cranny of the vendors area.
Tonedevil Guitars from Sandpoint, Idaho is there displaying and demonstrating their handcrafted instruments. Co-owner, David Powell, performs for the curious on a harp guitar that he and his brother’s company built. He shared some of the unique instrument’s history.
“We resuscitated the instrument and made it more affordable. The harp guitar has been around for more than 100 years. It was first patented in America in 1898 by a gentleman named Chris Knutsen, who then licensed the patent to Gibson. Gibson built harp guitars back in the 1920s. They were actually involved in the mandolin orchestras at that time. We are trying to appease a newer finger-style market with the harp guitar.”
He elaborated on its unusual design.
“It is a guitar on the bottom half, and above that is the bass harp. You can play the bass with the guitar at the same time.”
The instrument allows the player to pick lead on the guitar neck, and accompany themself with the bass.
Brother, Tony, added, “We’ve been producing harp guitars for about ten years. We are here at IBMA to promote our new product, an F-style mandolin that we are producing for around $3,000. They are all American-made – where the heart of the tonewoods are.”
Another of the many vendors is Strum Machine. Luke Abbott, creator of the jam along app, discussed his California-based product.
“I’m a musician and music teacher. Now I work on Strum Machine full time. I came up with it in 2016. I wanted my students to have a way to practice at home that would be like playing with other people. I would record backing tracks for them, which is tedious. Then they had one MP3 file that they couldn’t adjust. I wanted them to have something that, with the click of a button, they could change the speed, change the key, or loop a section that they wanted to focus on. I wanted it to sound like real instruments, not like a metronome that gives the feeling you’re not playing with a real band. I looked for that to exist and I couldn’t find it, so I started making it myself. Here we are eight years later and it’s really amazing to see how it’s grown, and how many people are using it.”
Currently, Abbott’s subscribers number in the thousands worldwide. Strum Machine comes with a library of over 1,000 primarily bluegrass songs, and users can easily write and add their own songs. Visit strummachine.com to sign up for a free two-week trial.
“If you want to subscribe, it’s $5 a month or $49 for the year,” Abbott concluded.
Jared Finck of Nashville is set up to promote his videography and artistry. His four-year-old son, Sonic, is an aspiring mandolinist who desires to follow in his dad’s musical footsteps. Sonic drew attention to their booth.
His dad explained, “Thursday, he was sleeping on the mandolin case. I had more people show up to watch him than the fancy signs and professional lights (that I have).”
Guitarist and songwriter, Bob Minner, fresh from winning IBMA’s Song of the Year Award for his co-write with John Meador on Authentic Unlimited’s Fall in Tennessee, was busy greeting folks in the Austin, Texas-based Collings Instrument booth.
Minner shared, “It’s been busy; it’s been loud. There’s a lot of banjos, but we’re not letting that get in our way. Collings has introduced a new line called the Hill Country series. They are wonderful, and give a whole different voice for Collings Guitars. I’ve just been hanging out and visiting people, picking guitar with them, having a good time. Just seeing old friends and making new.”
The Chapmans’ Acoustic Shoppe (based out of Springfield, MO) has a stage set up for live music, in addition to all their instruments and musical wares. John Chapman elaborated on what he and his two brothers are doing during the festival.
“I always enjoy being at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass. We have a big, giant booth with tons of great instruments, and we run a live streaming show from the stage all day long. It’s been a blast. We’ve had some great artists every half hour since we’ve been open.”
Dan Miller, editor of Bluegrass Unlimited, was busy in the magazine’s booth.
“We have a booth set up for Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, ROMP festival, and the Bluegrass Museum and Hall of Fame. We’re selling a lot of subscriptions and a lot of back issues. We’ve got Rhonda Vincent on the cover in August, Del (McCoury) on the cover in September, and the Grascals on the cover in October. All those issues are flying off the shelves here for all the bluegrass enthusiasts at the IBMA Convention.”
Lauren Price Napier is present and serves as store manager for the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum, located in Owensboro, KY.
She shared, “I’m here helping out in the booth, selling merchandise, and telling people about events that we have coming up.”
Close by stands her husband, Scott Napier, who explained his role at IBMA. “I am here with a brand new program from Owensboro Community College called Capital Bluegrass & Traditional Music. I have my first ever band here and am super excited. We play on the college stage Saturday night, 7:30-8:00 p.m. It’s the last hurrah here in Raleigh. I am tickled to have a group of students who have never been to IBMA before and will be here performing.”
Everyone is making the most of the last day of the last year of IBMA in Raleigh. There’s still plenty to take in at the Exhibit Hall today until 6:00 p.m. Live music continues throughout North Carolina’s capital city well into the evening. Come on out!
