Europe at the IBMM's ROMP, June 2008

Red Wine and G2 on the ROMP stage at Owensboro

At the International Bluegrass Music Museum's ROMP (River Of Music Party) festival in Owensboro, KY, this past summer, European bluegrass was well represented by Red Wine (Italy) and the G2 Bluegrass Band (Sweden; #1 European Bluegrass Band 2007).

Thanks to Jens Koch, banjo-player of G2, for photos from ROMP, where Christopher Olsson (lead vocals and guitar) held the guitar workshop, together with Skip Cherryholmes and Jim Hurst, and Tobias Strömberg (dobro) the dobro workshop, together with Andy Hall. Jens adds:

We met our good Italian friends from Red Wine – it's always so nice to meet Martino, Silvio, Luca and Stefano. These fellows asked us to join them onstage for 'I'll stay around' during their set. Fun! When it got close to us, dark clouds conquered the sky, which made us worried - the night before, the show had to be cancelled when the storms came and gave ROMP a real shower. However, as we entered the stage, the sun was shining again. (Is this good luck or what?) Our show went well and the crowd was awesome! ... When the 'Dusters asked us up to join them for their two last songs, we all agreed that there couldn't be a better ending on our amazing US tour.

Jens's full day-by-day account of G2's tour in the USA, in three instalments, can be read on the band's website.


The Infamous Stringdusters and G2 (photo by Darwin Davidson)

IBMM's ROMP, 26-8 June

The International Bluegrass Music Museum (IBMM) holds its annual River Of Music Party (ROMP) by the Ohio River in Owensboro, KY, on the last weekend in June. ROMP 08 begins at 11 a.m. on Thursday 26 June at the Riverpark Center, Owensboro, which also hosts the Legends Concert at 7.00-10.00 that evening, featuring the Sullivans, the Lewis Family, and the Isaacs.

The shows at Yellow Creek Park on Friday 27 June and Saturday 28 June feature twenty-one top-notch bands, including Red Wine (Italy) and G2 Bluegrass Band (Sweden), the current #1 European Bluegrass Band. Full details of the programme can be seen here or here.

European bluegrass wanted for RBI airplay

Bob Mitchell of Louisville, KY, reports:

Radio Bluegrass International has given me a weekly two-hour bluegrass program. 'The Best of Bluegrass' will be broadcast from the International Bluegrass Museum website. The first internet broadcast will probably be in March or April.

I've recorded eight programs and played several tracks from your recordings of the EWOB Festival - I want to include more music from around the world. I'd be interested in receiving CDs for possible airplay. I can not promise each artist will be played, but I will give everyone equal consideration. Traditional bluegrass only, please. If you have any questions or suggestions, let me know. Best wishes from the United States,

Bob Mitchell
5800 Coach Gate Wynde (309D)
Louisville KY 40207
1-502-897-0256
e-mail

Niall Toner interviewed on IBMM's RBI

Mike Lawing of the International Bluegrass Music Museum at Owensboro, KY, reports that there will be a short interview at 8.30 a.m. Central US time tomorrow morning (Friday 8 February) with Niall Toner of Ireland, on the Museum's twenty-four-hour internet radio service, RBI (Radio Bluegrass International).

RBI has been a free service to listeners since the IBMM launched it in May 2007. As from Tuesday 8 January 2008, all Museum members have been assigned a password which allows access to the RBI stream as part of their memberships. Listeners who do not wish to join the IBMM will be able to listen to RBI by paying a monthly subscription of $4.00.

To obtain your password, send an email with PASSWORD in the Subject column to Mike Lawing or call him at +1 (270) 926-7891. There is no extra charge to existing members. All new members will receive their password when their membership purchase is complete.

Smoketown Strut at IBMM

Thanks to Jan Michielsen (of Four Wheel Drive) and Pieter Groenveld (of Strictly Country Records), who were both members of the band Smoketown Strut back in the 1970s, for these photos of posters - for shows which Smoketown Strut played with Charlie Moore and with Bill Clifton and Red Rector - now framed and on display at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, KY.


Photos by Pieter Groenveld

Four Wheel Drive now have a MySpace site and will soon have a new album available. Watch the European Bluegrass Blog for details!

Shopping benefits bluegrass

Elizabeth Fuhrman Bragg, curator of the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, KY, sends a friendly reminder to use ShopforMuseums.com when doing holiday shopping online. In this way, a portion of what is spent will be donated to the IBMM at no extra cost to the purchaser.

The method is easy to use and allows shopping with Amazon, Toys R Us, and hundreds of other stores; the customer also gets exclusive savings and discounts including free shipping, coupons, and more. Go to the website and select International Bluegrass Music Museum to support. Then use the links to shop your favorite stores. The donation will count automatically when you check out. A demo video on how to do it is here.

International display planned at Bean Blossom

A message from Jim Peva, friend of Bill Monroe and historian of the Bill Monroe Memorial Music Park at Bean Blossom, Indiana:

Attention all bluegrass fans from outside the United States who have visited Bean Blossom:

We intend to develop an International display at the Bill Monroe Museum at Bean Blossom. If you have attended one or more of our bluegrass festivals and would like to be a part of this display, please mail a photograph of yourself, preferably not larger than snapshot size (we do not have the staff or equipment to process email photographs), stating your full name, country of citizenship, and the date or dates of your visit(s), to

Dwight Dillman
c/o Bill Monroe Music Park and Campground
5163 SR 135N, Morgantown (Bean Blossom)
IN 46160
USA

International Bluegrass Music Museum becomes truly international

In keeping with the International Bluegrass Music Museum's mission to make bluegrass accessible to a global fan base and to be more hospitable to its international visitors, the IBMM decided earlier this year to put up signs in seven major languages. The front door welcomes visitors in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Czech, and Japanese. Other signs throughout the museum translate information for foreign guests, and the Museum's Self-Guided Tour has been translated into Japanese and Czech in its entirety. Translation of these and the IBMM website into all seven languages is in progress.

At ROMP, the museum's annual mega-bluegrass celebration on Memorial Day Weekend, five international bands were among 42 featured acts: Hermanek (Czech Republic), Bluegrass 45 (Japan), the Abrams Brothers (Ontario), the Kruger Brothers (natives of Switzerland), and John Reischman & the Jaybirds (British Columbia).

Also during ROMP, the museum opened a new exhibit: 'The History of Bluegrass in Europe and Japan'. Part I showcases bluegrass publications, posters, and other paper memorabilia from all over the world in many languages; visitors follow a narrative that describes how bluegrass music reached all corners of the globe. In this cumulative three-year exhibit, Part #II will focus on international bluegrass festivals, and Part #III will feature bluegrass instruments from around the world. Each new addition to the exhibit will open at ROMP.

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Elizabeth Fuhrman Bragg, IBMM curator, says:

Get involved in the fun! Sign up to win free tickets to 'Night at the Museum' by visiting ShopforMuseums.com and clicking on the link on the left, and learn how you can earn donations for our organization at no extra cost each time you shop online through ShopforMuseums.com!

Please take a moment to forward this news to your friends and family, and ask them to do the same. Be sure to tell them to register for the contest and to help out our organization when they shop. Thanks and Merry Christmas from everyone at the International Bluegrass Music Museum!