australianbluegrass.com

News from the folk in Melbourne is that this year’s Australian International Music Show is scheduled for 2nd and 3rd October.

Three Halls of Music Gear
At AIMS 2010, you can see, touch, hear and play hundreds if not thousands of different instruments. With three halls of music gear, if you can’t find it here, they probably don’t make it.

Free Advice From the Experts
Many of the big brands are sending their product experts, so you can ask all your questions and get free advice from the people who use the gear day-in, day-out.

Performances
Expect to see world-class international and Australian artists on some of the stands and performances by some of the best musicians on the planet.

Workshops and Masterclasses
Get up close and personal with intimate masterclasses.

Thinking of Getting Started?
Always wanted to play, but haven’t known where to start? This is the place and the time! Coaching is by industry professionals who get you started and share some tips to help you keep going. It’s all about playing for fun. You won’t have to learn to read the dots before they’ll let you touch the instrument. No experience necessary.

This year’s event also features performances and workshops from Redd Volkaert whose resumé is impressive to say the least. His current gig includes lead guitar duties for Merle Haggard, Lucky Tomblin, Heybale and Brad Paisley. He won a Grammy in 2009 for best country instrumental performance and was a Grammy nominee in 2003.

Check out the Australian International Music Show website for all the details.

The bluegrass industry’s highest honors of the year go to the new members of the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. This year’s inductees are singer/songwriter, banjo and fiddle stylist John Hartford and the pioneering business manager of Flatt & Scruggs, The Earl Scruggs Revue and Earl Scruggs Family & Friends, Louise Scruggs. Hartford passed away in 2001, and we lost Mrs. Scruggs in 2006.

John Hartford was an American original—a musician, songwriter, steamboat pilot, author, artist, disc jockey, calligrapher, dancer, folklorist, father and historian. Born John Cowan Harford in New York on December 30, 1937, John grew up in St. Louis.  A descendant of Patrick Henry and cousin of Tennessee Williams, John’s grandfather was a founder of the Missouri Bar Association and his father was a prominent doctor. At an early age John fell in love with two things: music and the Mississippi River, and these two passions would last a lifetime.

Born on the 17th February, 1927 in Grant, Tennessee east of Nashville, Anne Louise Certain married Earl Scruggs on 18th April 1948, around the time Flatt and Scruggs resigned their employment with Bill Monroe and formed their own group. By 1955 Mrs. Scruggs had taken over booking Flatt & Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Boys, and their sponsorship by Martha White Mills of Nashville, begun in June 1953 on radio and on personal appearances, was followed two years later by a heavy schedule of weekly television shows on stations in throughout the Southeast.

IBMA officials state that if the title first lady of country & bluegrass music business could be attributed to anyone, it would most certainly belong to Louise Scruggs. Over a span of 58 years she led her husband’s career down a path to superstardom, as she managed, booked and negotiated recording contracts first for Flatt & Scruggs, and later for the Earl Scruggs Revue and Earl Scruggs Family & Friends.

Apple has introduced a bluegrass filter for its famous online store.

Those having to navigate through the myriad of country albums in the try-before you-buy space can now enter http://www.itunes.com/bluegrass into your browser to go straight to the iTunes Bluegrass filter.

While it’s hardly a comprehensive offering, it does go someway towards recognising bluegrass music as something decidedly different to the Contry genre.

22nd and 23rd May 2010

Melbourne Guitar Makers Festival is a weekend exhibition celebrating handcrafted guitars from some of Australia’s finest independent luthiers.

Melbourne Guitar Makers Festival is an opportunity to see and play some beautiful handmade guitars, and meet the people who make them in an intimate setting. These instruments are seldom seen in shops, and the workshops of the makers often off the beaten track.

To have a range of guitars and makers together, and available for a whole weekend is a rare thing in Ausatralia. The 2009 showcase was a great success and organisers are keeping that concept for 2010.

Melbourne Guitar Makers Festival is held at the Abbotsford convent 22nd and 23rd May 2010.

The festival also features a series of workshops:

• Pete Fidler – Lap-Steel Guitar Workshop
• David Ross Macdonald – Fingerstyle Guitar Workshop
• Nick Charles – The Art of Acoustic Blues and Roots Guitar
• Sergio Ercole – Musicianship for Guitarists
• Peter Baylor – Gypsy Jazz
• Matthew Fagan – The Complete Guitarist Workshop
• Jim Matheas – Achieving variations in tone and Buying a New or 2nd hand
• Sam Lemann – Swinging the Blues

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

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.

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.

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>