Posted by alprice on Friday, October 9, 2015
This may be the most memorable IBMA trip ever. The Year of the Mighty Storm.
There was some concern that we would be in the direct path of Joaquin. Some wondered if the weekend events would be cancelled. As it turned out, the storm took a hard right and we caught some rain and wind, but no flooding or other damage. Made this Seattle guy feel right at home.
The IBMA staff was proactive in their planning and notification of everyone on what the rain plan would be and followed up with updates as need. Local print media, social media and email was used effectively toward this end. Well done, everyone.
The indoor Wide Open Bluegrass went smoothly for the most part. Outdoor vendors were assigned spots around the convention center, outdoor concerts were assigned to ballrooms in the same building.
it is always fun to get with my Nechville Banjos pals: Tom Nechville, Tedd Williams, Lawrence Levine, Rick Sampson. And to see people who I have come to know as friends: Armando Zuppa, Toni Santos, Donald Nitchie, Katy Daley, John Lawless, Terry Hurd, Frank Solivan (Jr and Sr), Tj Doerfel , Dana Thorin, Phil Bankester, Kyle Triplett, Emily Bankester,Tim Finch, Greg Blake, Jeff Scroggins. Donnie Durham, Louis Meyers, Taylor Shuck, Damon Postle, Tony Rook, Buck Thrailkill, Ralph Miller, Tim Gardner, Bobby Martin, Rex McGee and many more.
I was not prepared to have my mind blown. But The HillBenders did it with their performance of Tommy. Holy crap! They nailed it, and I was singing "We're not gonna take it" at the top of my lungs just like I did when I was sixteen. I will admit I had my doubts that anyone could pull that off. But they did.
I was very happy to see the awards show on local TV, and hear Bill Keith graciously accept his induction into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Frail and weak, he soldiered on, using most of his time to recognize many other fine banjo players. Our good friend Becky Buller picked up several awards, as did the Earls of Leicester. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love all those folks.
And so great to see many folks who live or have lived back in the Pacific Northwest: Chris Luquette, Jeff Westerinen, Greg Linder, Kent Powell, Nick Dumas, Will McSeveney, Wendy Tyner, Ruffo Sj , Louisa Branscomb, Alyse Read. Paisley Gray, Gary Wagner and more. Northwest bands North Country and Pickled Okra were there showing the world the bluegrass music in our part of the country is bonafide. Believe it.
2 comments on “IBMA Reflections 2015”
myfavefive Says:
Saturday, October 17, 2015 @4:44:03 PM
Hey Al, I agree this was an amazing year on many levels. I've got a long list of highlights and many match yours. There's nowhere else where you can have 5 full, long days of complete bluegrass immersion and FUN. And our Seattle area crew was well represented this year as you point out. Here's a playlist of videos I've posted from what I was able to capture:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLty..._MMv2r2az
alprice Says:
Tuesday, October 20, 2015 @8:04:33 AM
Tom, nice to see you there. Thanks for capturing the Danny Barnes- Alison Brown- Gerald Jones jam especially. I will have to check the rest of the playlist.
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