RALEIGH — One of Grammy award-winning Dobro player Jerry Douglas’ earliest memories is hearing Earl Scruggs play banjo on the radio in his childhood Cleveland home.
“I doubt I would be a musician now if it hadn’t been for that sound,” Douglas told a group gathered at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) annual conference and music festival in the Raleigh Convention Center on Friday, Sept. 27, for the announcement of the inaugural Earl Scruggs Music Festival set for Sept. 4-5, 2020, at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina.
Douglas continued, “Little did I know that later in life he would be my friend.A s far as I’m concerned this festival named in his honor is far overdue. But I also believe that’s the way Earl would want it to be. We can only hope that we can make him proud in how we perceive his legacy to the world.”
Douglas, who started his group the Earls of Leicester as a tribute to Scruggs, will act as musician in resident for the festival.
Scruggs, who has deep ties to North Carolina, popularized a three-finger banjo picking style that became a defining characteristic of bluegrass music.
The two-day event that will feature music from bluegrass, folk, blues, roots and Americana styles to celebrate Scruggs is a collaboration between the Earl Scruggs Center located in Shelby and WNCW radio station located on the campus of Isothermal Community College. The festival will benefit both the radio station and the college.
In addition to Douglas, the initial lineup includes Marty Stuart, Alison Brown, Dom Flemons, Radney Foster, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, The Barefoot Movement and Unspoken Tradition. Both Foster and Unspoken Tradition performed as part of the announcement that was made by festival director Steve Johnson, formerly of MerleFest.
Few other artists in American history have had such an impact as Scruggs, according to a festival press release. His work in 1946/47 with Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys and later with Flatt and Scruggs helped create an entire genre of music. His banjo playing was so fresh and different for the time that it was christened the “Scruggs style” of banjo and is still the most prominent banjo performance style in the world.
“Earl was my uncle, so I knew him a long time,” says JT Scruggs, a board member of the Earl Scruggs Center. “The first Earl Scruggs Music Festival presents an opportunity to bring exposure and new visitors to the Earl Scruggs Center in Shelby, North Carolina. The proceeds from the festival will also help to keep the center in good financial shape. The festival will bring great music and many different groups to the region. And I hope that people will hear things about Earl that they may have never heard before as all the artists share their personal stories. I know that Earl would be proud of what we are doing and that we are remembering him through the festival.”
Noah Wall of The Barefoot Movement grew up in North Carolina.
“I feel so lucky to have that in common with legends like Earl Scruggs,” he said. “He was such a trailblazer, not just a pioneer of bluegrass, but he also pushed the boundaries of traditional music. I don’t think he set out to be different for the sake of standing out, I think he did it for sake of the music itself. He just sought after good music, music that moved him, and that is so inspiring to me.”
In October, two new acts — Acoustic Syndicate and Blue Highway– were announced. More artists, both national and North Carolina-based, will be added over the coming months. The festival will feature more than 20 artists and three stages in a beautiful setting at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, according to organizers. Camping, lodging, restaurants and other amenities will be available onsite.
If you are attending this week’s International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s World of Bluegrass conference and festival in Raleigh, North Carolina, you hopefully have a chance to catch one of Zoe & Cloyd‘s many sets as one the event’s Official Showcase Artists.
The duo — Western North Carolina natives Natalya Zoe Weinstein and John Cloyd Miller — have been on my radar since I discovered them at MerleFest. Fans of the former Americana trio Red June will recognize the Appalachian roots husband and wife duo that made up two-thirds of that group.
I continue to be particularly impressed by the fiddle stylings of Weinstein and the guitar and banjo talents of Miller as well as their gorgeous harmonies. Their traditional approach to their music take you back to an earlier era. If you like Mandolin Orange, you’ll like Zoe & Cloyd.
Based in Asheville, the couple have been making music together in various arrangements since first meeting in 2005.
I had a chance to chat briefly with Weinstein after the band’s set at Social Architect on Wednesday night and she said they were really excited to be featured again as IBMA Official Showcase Artists, an honor they haven’t enjoyed since 2016. In addition to performing during the week at the business conference you can find them playing at the free WOB StreetFest on Friday and Saturday in downtown Raleigh.
“This week is always a highlight of our year, and we are really looking forward to catching up with folks and hearing lots of great music,” Weinstein said.
At the end of their toe-tapping inducing performance, they rolled out a new tune, “Only Game In Town,” which lead Weinsteint to joke with the audience that during IBMA at least, this was NOT the case.
Zoe and Cloyd are using the IBMA’s annual event to release their third album, “I Am Your Neighbor,” on Friday, Sept. 27, on Organic Records.
NASHVILLE — Organizers of this year’s PNC presents Wide Open Bluegrass on Sept. 27-28 in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, have announced the full list of performers, and performance schedules, for the annual festival.
The free Wide Open Bluegrass festival – part of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s five-day World of Bluegrass event, sponsored by Chiesi USA – brings bluegrass into the community, and introduces the music to thousands of new fans every year, with more than 100 performers on seven stages along Fayetteville Street.
Performers include a broad mix of local, national, and international talent. Stages include the Youth Music Stage – situated on the outdoor plaza at the Convention Center – and the Dance Tent, which features clogging performances, participatory square dances, and late-night open dancing Friday and Saturday nights.
In addition to the seven stages of Wide Open Bluegrass, performances at Raleigh’s Red Hat Amphitheater will be open to the public for free, as well, subject to venue capacity. A limited number of reserved seats in prime sections of the venue are still available for purchase, to ensure admittance for every performance. More details about the festival can be found online at worldofbluegrass.org/wide-open-bluegrass, or on the festival app, available for free download via your app store.
PNC returns, for the seventh year, as the presenting sponsor for the two-day Wide Open Bluegrass festival: “PNC’s support of Wide Open Bluegrass allows festival goers free access to all stages and makes this festival even more special,” said Jim Hansen, PNC regional president of Eastern Carolinas. “As the presenting sponsor for the seven years that Raleigh has hosted Wide Open Bluegrass, we are pleased that this event has become a flagship music festival and adds to our vibrant cultural scene. We at PNC look forward to celebrating a great weekend of bluegrass in downtown Raleigh.” Continue reading →
NASHVILLE — Organizers of this year’s International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s World of Bluegrass, brought to you by Chiesi USA and taking place September 24-28 in Raleigh, North Carolina, announced a change to the annual event’s weekend festival, PNC presents Wide Open Bluegrass. Beginning this year, in addition to the 7 stages of music that are available for free in downtown Raleigh during Wide Open Bluegrass, the performances at Raleigh’s Red Hat Amphitheater will also be open to the public for free. Continue reading →
Held Thursday, Sept. 27, as part of IBMA’s 2018 annual weeklong business conference and Wide Open Bluegrass, the party celebrating the best in individual and band achievement for the year was hosted by Hot Rize, the first group to ever win the coveted entertainer of the year award. Continue reading →
In 2017, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard were inducted into theInternational Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Hall of Fame. With the exception of women who were part of a band, and usually a family band, ie. the famous Carter Family, who were inducted in 2001, only one other woman — Louise Scruggs in 2010 — has received solo recognition by the hall of fame organizers since 1991. And this week, songwriter Dixie Hall will be inducted as the fourth.
Let’s face it. Bluegrass has been a good old boys genre since Bill Monroe picked up a mandolin, Louise’s husband Earl Scruggs met Lester Flatt and the Stanley Brothers became the Clinch Mountain Boys. But as Bob Dylan once wrote, “the times they are a changin.'”
Fast forward to 2016, when Sierra Hull and Becky Buller became the first women to win Instrumental Performers of the Year awards for mandolin and fiddle, respectively. Hull came out on top in the same category in 2017, and Molly Tuttle, who appears poised to be among the next female superstars of bluegrass, won Instrumental Performer of the Year for her guitar picking prowess — the first woman to ever top that particular chart. Continue reading →
The third annual “Shout & Shine: A Celebration of Diversity in Bluegrass” will honor the connection and cross-pollination between blues, bluegrass, and their offshoots and will take place on Monday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. at the North Carolina Museum of History Daniels Auditorium, at the very beginning of IBMA’s World of Bluegrass events in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina.
After Molly Tuttle’s impressive win at the 2017 International Bluegrass Music (IBMA) Awards as the first female IBMA guitarist, Becky Buller leads the field for the 2018 International Bluegrass Music Awards with eight nominations followed by Tuttle’s six. Close behind with five nominations each are Special Consensus, and The Del McCoury Band/The Travelin’ McCourys, with strong showings by Rhonda Vincent, The Earls of Leicester, Balsam Range, and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Results of the balloting will be revealed at the International Bluegrass Music Awards on Thursday, Sept. 27, at the Duke Energy Performing Arts Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Sam Bush loves North Carolina. And gauging from the roar of the appreciative crowd of some 200 souls gathered at the Cat’s Cradle live music venue in downtown Carrboro on Saturday night, North Carolina loves Sam Bush and company, and in this particular instance, the Sam Bush Band.
“It don’t get no better than to play in North Carolina,” Bush said from the stage.
His fans agree. “As always, Sam and band were amazing,” commented Rick Henderson of Raleigh. “No two shows are the same, but they’re all terrific.”Continue reading →
Doors for this all-ages show will open at 5 p.m. and the music starts at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $25 to $50.
Water for People is a non-profit dedicated to providing water and wastewater education, training, and service in an effort to protect public health and the environment.
“We are always excited to come back to North Carolina and Raleigh in particular hold a lot of great memories for us with IMBA and the First Night Raleigh show we’ve played,” explains one of Scythian’s frontmen Danylo Fedoryka (vocals, guitar, accordion).
“To link a return show to a great cause makes it twice and meaningful for us and we hope that people will come out and support a great cause.”
