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SPBGMA Awards

The Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America awards were announced in Nashville this week.

• Bluegrass Promoter of the Year – Bertie Sullivan
• Bluegrass Song Writer of the Year – Tom T. Hall & Dixie Hall
• Bluegrass Album of the Year – Blue Side of the Blue Ridge – by Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice / Rebel Records
• Bassfiddle Performer of the Year – Darrin Vincent
• Dobro Performer of the Year – Tim Graves
• Guitar Performer of the Year – Josh Williams
• Mandolin Performer of the Year – Alan Bibey
• Banjo Performer of the Year – Aaron McDaris
• Fiddle Performer of the Year – Hunter Berry
• Female Vocalist of the Year (Contemporary) – Rhonda Vincent
• Female Vocalist of the Year (Traditional) – Alecia Nugent
• Male Vocalist of the Year (Contemporary) – Jamie Dailey
• Male Vocalist of the Year (Traditional) – James King
• Gospel Group of the Year (Contemporary) – Dailey & Vincent
• Gospel Group of the Year (Traditional) – Paul Williams & The Victory Trio
• Vocal Group of the Year – Dailey & Vincent
• Instrumental Group of the Year – The Bluegrass Brothers
• Bluegrass Band of the Year (Overall) – The Grascals
• Song of the Year – “Amanda Lynn” – by Lou Reid & Carolina / Rural Rhythm Records
• Entertaining Group of the Year – Nothin’ Fancy
• Entertainer of the Year – Rhonda Vincent

Bluegrass News, International News, Music Industry SPBGMA

The 2010 World of Bluegrass Education Committee will be appointed and begin work on a slate of seminars and professional development opportunities this month, in January. Do you have a suggestion for a seminar topic?  If so, email Nancy Cardwell at the IBMA office: nancyc@ibma.org

Here’s what they’re looking for:

• Seminar topic name
• A brief description of information to be covered
• Potential presenter or moderator names
• Which IBMA member constituencies will be principally interested in this topic?

IBMA is also interested in hearing suggestions that members might have for additional World of Bluegrass educational events, including The Crash Course for Artists, The Crash Course for Bluegrass Songwriters, Educational Labs, Mentor Sessions, the Keynote Address and Song Demo Listening Sessions.

Music Industry IBMA

Daniel Watkins’ De Gruchy dreadnought guitar has been taken from the festival he last played at over the January long weekend.

The following words from Daniel explain the loss.

I hope everyone has been enjoying their new year, taking it easy and enjoying some free time before its time to get busy again. Sadly, I have had a few setbacks since the start of 2010. the biggest setback was having my guitar lost (or stolen, though I hate to think that) at the Woodford folk Festival near Brisbane last week.
I first noticed my guitar was missing on Friday 1st January 2010. I was performing at the Duck and Shovel Stage the Day before and, to my knowledge was the last time i had used it. I believe I either put my guitar back in the instrument lockup next to the stage or left it backstage underneath a desk - Daniel Watkins.

The missing instrument is a De Gruchy dreadnought, made in August 2006 (written inside the guitar) and has a slightly elongated square headstock with Waverly tuners. It has herringbone inlay around the guitar body and sound hole. The guitar has a L.R. Baggs pickup inside it, abalone dots on bridge pins, rosewood back and sides, a spruce top (slight cracks in the finish) and is pictured below. (click to enlarge)

If any one believes they know anything about my guitar and its whereabouts, or knows people in the Australian Folk music scene who may be able to spread the word, your help would be very much appreciated.

Artists, Music Industry Daniel Watkins, Stolen Instruments

2009 IBMA Showcase

Hope River Entertainment has announced their line-up for the after hours showcase to be held during the International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass.

The concert will take place at the Renaissance Hotel, 2nd floor, Fisk Rooms 1 & 2 on Tuesday, 29th September,  from 11:15pm – 2:00am. This late night concert includes performances by Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain, Brandon Rickman  from the Lonesome River Band, Audie B laylock & Redline, Donna Hughes Band, Brand New Strings, Tim Hensley, and Jett’s Creek.

Schedule:
11:15  pm – Jett’s Creek
11:35 pm – Brand New Strings
12:00 midnight – Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain
12:25 am – Audie Blaylock & Redline
12:50 am – Donna Hughes Band
1:10 am – Tim Hensley
1:40 am – Brandon Rickman

If your from Australia and there, we’d love to hear from you – tell us what we’re missing. <SIGH>

Music Industry IBMA

Australian and New Zealand Awards

Here’s an award which I had never heard of until tipped of by Andrew Clermont this week, who happens to be one of the Award’s directors.

The Golden Fiddle Awards is the first awards system embracing all musical styles, which focuses on nurturing, supporting and rewarding the wealth of violin playing, performance and composing talent in Australia and New Zealand.The awards aim to recognise players, composers and teachers of classical, folk, rock, jazz, punk, Celtic, country, bluegrass and alternate violin.

Award directors, Marcus Holden, fellow player Andrew Clermont and fiddle manufacturer Mark Mitchell, decided to set up an awards system focused on nurturing, supporting and rewarding the wealth of talent that exists in Australia and New Zealand.

Fiddlers of all ages and styles, composers, teachers and groups, are invited annually to contest eight categories. Closing date for the 2010 awards, to be announced in Tamworth is 30 November 2009.

Visit the Golden Fiddle Awards website

Music Industry Tamworth

New Opportunities From a Natural Progression

The Board of the Country Music Association of Australia has announced that in June 2010, the Australian College of Country Music and the Camerata School of Country Music will join forces and deliver their senior and junior development programs simultaneously.

This new entity will be branded the ‘CMAA Australian Academy of Country Music‘

This will cement Tamworth as not only the home of Country music but also the home of professional industry development.

The move comes after detailed plans and discussions between both groups during the past 4 months.  The result will see the Australian College of Country Music, which for the past 13 years has taken place in the lead up to the annual Country Music Festival, move to the mid-year time slot. Camerata has traditionally taken place in the June/July school holidays.

The outcome will see the programs operate simultaneously with the long-term view of creating an education hub for the Australian country music industry. It is anticipated that this timeframe will expand to include industry led workshops, writers and musician camps.

The joining together of the two schools was a simple form of natural progression. Both Camerata and College utilise many of the same industry specialists for master-classes and tuition so by having them operate together we will be able forge ahead and create a new and exciting focus on developing professional Australian country music for all age groups – Joan Douglas, Director of Camerata.

This amalgamation will strengthen our industry. The continued progress that we have made over the past thirty years will surely be pushed further by our young talent coming through the CMAA Academy of Australian Country Music. This can only be good for our unique Australian identity – John Williamson OAM, President of the CMAA.

The combining of Camerata and College was a decision that was reached after a great level of input and discussion. The newly formed CMAA Australian Academy of Country Music will bring together the very best in talent development specific to the country music genre unrivalled anywhere in the world - Cheryl Hayes, General Manager of the CMAA.

Music Industry Tamworth

Song Central have let us know that they have a couple more tender opportunities in the children’s genre for the Australian primary school music program.

The selectors are currently seeking Action, Humorus, Campfire and Miscellaneous songs to suit children 5 – 12 years and have, just recently, submitted a further request for Folk songs and Partner songs.

If you would like to know more about these (or any other) tender opportunities on Song Central or find out more about how Song Central works – just email Song Central.

Music Industry Song Central

Richard F. Thompson, a leading figure in international bluegrass journalism, has been appointed editor of British Bluegrass News, the quarterly journal of the British Bluegrass Music Association (BBMA).
Richard describes himself as a news hound and brings his journalist skills and his depth and knowledge of bluegrass and its history to the task. He was one of the first members of the BBMA, and was editor of the BBN in the 1990s.

Congratulations Richard from the Australian Bluegrass Blog.

Music Industry General News

Song Writers -

Here’s a place where you can store, manage, develop and showcase your original tunes and songs to industry users.

Musicians, producers and song users -

Here’s where you can source, sample, shortlist and select original songs and music for that next album.

Song Central was developed by songwriters who understand the difficulties of having new work ‘considered’ by industry representatives. This site provides you with storage and backup facilities for your music and unlimited opportunities to have your material showcased and heard by people in a position to use it.

Song Central now provides the network, so the songs and the music can do their own walking and talking. For the first time in Australia, songwriters and composers have a place to market their music to a wide range of people who are in the business of using it.

I wasn’t sure when I first found Song Central that it would yield much in the way of any real opportunity as it was a new site and I had heard about some US sites making promises of getting your songs heard where you end up hearing nothing. But to my surprise, the experience with Song Central has been quite the opposite. For a start, the operators of the site were responsive and communicative when I had a question and then the site published a tender to which I submitted a couple of my songs.
Following that I was contacted by the industry user responsible for the tender offering to pitch some of my songs via his publishing company both locally and in the US. Since then he has put me in touch with an artist with whom I am currently co-writing for their next project. Needless to say, I don’t regret joining Song Central one bit …. I think it is a great site for networking and making the sorts of connections that can lead to the results and opportunities we’re all looking for – Andrew Cochrane, Songwriter/Composer/Producer member on Song Central.

Music Industry Song Central

Rounder Records has announced that Robert Plant & Alison Krauss are finalists for three 2009 CMT Video Awards in support of their Grammy® Award winning album Raising Sand. They were nominated in the following categories:

• Performance of the Year – Gone, Gone, Gone (from their 2008 CMT Crossroads special)
• Wide Open Video of the Year – Please Read The Letter
• Collaborative Video of the Year – Please Read The Letter

The awards ceremony will be televised on CMT on June 17th  and the first round of voting is from 13th April  to 11th May. Click on this link to vote now – http://www.cmt.com/cmt-music-awards/vote.jhtml. The final four nominees in each category will be announced 19th May. Fans can vote again through to the 15th June to determine the overall winners.

Music Industry Alison Krauss

Nominations are currently being accepted from IBMA members for the following awards, to be presented during World of Bluegrass Week, Sept. 28 – 4th Oct., in Nashville, Tennessee.

• Bluegrass Broadcaster of the Year
• Print Media Person of the Year
• Best Graphic Design
• Best Liner Notes
• Bluegrass Event of the Year.

Letters of nomination are requested, which outline why you think the Bluegrass Event or nominee for Print Media Person of the year should be considered. For liner notes and graphic design, six each of the CD released during the eligibility period are requested in order to forward them to the appropriate special award committee members. Read more…

Music Industry IBMA

Sue from Song Central contacted us again today to let us know that they have another new tender opportunity on Song Central:

A producer is looking for songs for new album by an international artist. US country nostalgia with western tex/mex flavour.  Deadline end of April 2009.  More details are available for songwriter composer members on www.songcentral.com.au

Music Industry Song Central

Iain Shedden for The Australian writes:

Sales of CDs and music DVDs in Australia have dropped 14.32 per cent last year,  a slump that further threatens the conventional CD store in the face of digital music distribution.

The new figures from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) show that the industry’s revenue for last year dropped by $36 million, or 12 per cent, from $462 million in 2007 to just under $426 million. The slump came despite a 35 per cent dollar-value increase in digital music sales last year, compared with the previous year…

Despite the poor sales in shops, the continuing rise in digital music sales could help the music industry ride out a recession over the next 12 months. We’ve seen a decline, which is disappointing, but then we’re hardly Robinson Crusoe on that front. Negative figures are the order of the day - ARIA chief executive Stephen Peach

Read the full article in The Australian

Music Industry General News

We received a call from Sue yesterday advising that Song Central has a client looking for an original song for the Bushfire Appeal.

If you have something already, or feel urged to write something in response to the  current Victorian tragedy, you can submit it to Song Central for consideration. Song Central will fund all showcasing costs for songs submitted in response to the brief to support this worthy cause.

Another client is seeking songs for known recording artist – singing style of Bruce Springsteen. If you have something you would like to submit, just login to www.songcentral.com.au to complete your songwriter membership and learn more about these and other opportunities.

Music Industry Song Central

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Recording Industry is set to drop its legal assault as it searches for more effective ways to combat online music piracy.

After years of suing thousands of people for allegedly stealing music via the Internet, the recording industry, this decision represents an abrupt shift of strategy which had opened legal proceedings against about 35,000 people since 2003.

Critics say the legal offensive ultimately did little to stem the tide of illegally downloaded music. It created a public-relations disaster for the industry, whose lawsuits targeted, among others, several single mothers, a dead person and a 13-year-old girl.

The new initiative relies on the cooperation of Internet-service providers with the Recording Industry Association of America. The trade group said it has hashed out preliminary agreements with major ISPs under which it will send an email to the provider when it finds a provider’s customers making music available online for others to take.

The ISP will either forward the note to customers, or alert customers that they appear to be uploading music illegally, and ask them to stop. If the customers continue the file-sharing, they will get one or two more emails, perhaps accompanied by slower service from the provider. Finally, the ISP may cut off their access altogether.

Read the full story Wall Street Journal

Music Industry Music Copyright