IBMM's ROMP 2010 - and more

The Ambassador Program for the International Bluegrass Music Museum (IBMM) in Owensboro, KY, was announced on the European Bluegrass Blog on 23 November 2009 - a welcome initiative by the Museum in reaching out to partner with bluegrass associations all over the world.

Thanks to Garian Vigil, coordinator of the Ambassador Program for the IBMM, for news on the program and on the IBMM's River Of Music Party (ROMP) this year (23-6 June 2010). Garian recaps on how the program works:

Your association will appoint or elect a person who is willing and enthusiastic about being an Ambassador from your association to the International Bluegrass Music Museum. This Museum Ambassador will work with the Bluegrass Museum to trade news for our respective newsletters and work on special projects. We are also inviting the Ambassador to attend a yearly meeting of Ambassadors at ROMP in Owensboro each year. ROMP is our biggest fund-raising event and it takes place the fourth weekend of June. I would like to stress that attending ROMP is encouraged, but not required for participation in the program.

Ambassadors will receive a complimentary IBMM membership, a VIP ROMP pass (which includes VIP access to all events, backstage privileges, meals with Artists/Pioneers), and an Ambassadors t-shirt. The museum will arrange low-cost lodging for your Ambassador's stay at ROMP, getting in on our artists’ rates (typically $54/night + tax). There is also free camping at ROMP for the adventurous types.

We’re very excited to inform you about this year's ROMP (River of Music Party) held 23-26 June in Owensboro. We have a great lineup that includes Doc Watson, Pete Wernick, Mac Martin & the Dixie Travelers, Claire Lynch, Jack Hicks & Summertown Road, Michael Cleveland, Dailey & Vincent, G2, Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, Acousticure, Roland White, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, Danny Paisley & Southern Grass, the Isaacs, John Cowan Band, Packway Handle Band and many more! Advance weekend passes are available for the low price of $75 for adults and $50 for IBMM members. Get a 4-day family pass for only $150. And there’s FREE camping!

As well as two #1 European Bluegrass Bands, G2 (Sweden) and Acousticure (Hungary), the lineup includes the New Appleseed Band from Japan. Full details of ROMP 2010 are on the Museum's website and on the ROMP 2010 flyer, which can be seen here.

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Gabrielle Gray, the IBMM's Executive Director, writes:

If you’re a visual artist and want to submit a work of art to potentially be included in the upcoming Bill Monroe Centennial Art Exhibit here at the Bluegrass Museum in Owensboro, KY, please go to our website and read the short list of rules and download the application form. The deadline for submissions is 15 May. This is a juried exhibit and will be excellent.

Everyone else, please come see this exhibit. It kicks off the first of the Centennial events by opening this year at ROMP on 23 June 2010.

This Friday (23 April 2010) at 7.00 p.m. Central Standard Time, Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, who have made several tours in Europe, will be giving a concert at the IBMM for its benefit. The band, who have been the force behind this series of concerts in support of the Museum, will also have a CD release party at this time, introducing the first-ever CD made at the Museum. Tickets ($10) include a wine and cheese reception.

IBMM - an Italian translator needed

The International Bluegrass Music Museum (IBMM) in Owensboro, KY, takes its international responsibilities seriously and is a good friend to bluegrass from outside the USA - as shown in the EBB report of 6 October. Now Gabrielle Gray, director of the IBMM, announces:

A website improvement we're excited to announce is our addition of international language translations of all the permanent features on our site, such as our Hall of Fame Bios and historical sections. They will be presented in French, Spanish, Russian, German, Czech, Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, and Japanese.

We are excited to be able to help make bluegrass history and culture even more accessible to more fans around the world. Since our announcement, we've lined up translators for all languages except Italian, but we're confident that we'll locate someone soon!

The Italian bluegrass scene should be well equipped to help out the IBMM in this latest of its welcome initiatives in support of bluegrass music worldwide.

The IBMM's annual River Of Music Party (ROMP) festival in 2010 will include - in addition to Acousticure (Hungary), the G2 Bluegrass Band (Sweden), and the Mideando String Quintet (Italy) - a reunion of all living Blue Grass Boys who played with Bill Monroe, and the annual Pioneers of Bluegrass Reunion.

Partner with the Bluegrass Museum in the new Ambassadors Program!

The International Bluegrass Music Museum, Owensboro, KY, sends this message to all bluegrass associations:

Dear Bluegrass Lovers,

The International Bluegrass Music Museum wants to partner with you! We’re starting an official Bluegrass Museum Ambassadors Program, and we’re inviting your association to participate.

Your association will appoint or elect a person who is willing and enthusiastic about being an Ambassador from your association to the International Bluegrass Music Museum. This Museum Ambassador will work with the Bluegrass Museum on special projects, report news and information for our newsletter, report Museum news back to your association for members and newsletters, encourage Museum membership and donations, encourage donation of bluegrass artifacts to the Museum, and attend a yearly meeting of Ambassadors at ROMP in Owensboro each year. ROMP takes place the 4th weekend of June.

Ambassadors will receive a complimentary IBMM membership, a VIP ROMP pass (which includes VIP access to all events, backstage privileges, meals with Artists/Pioneers), and an Ambassadors t-shirt. The museum will arrange low-cost lodging for your stay at ROMP, getting you in on our artists’ rates (typically $54/night + tax).

What we need from you:

Designate your official Museum Ambassador and send us the following information.

Association name:
Ambassador:
Mailing address:
Phone number:
E-mail address:
T-shirt size: S M L XL 2XL

Please mail this information to the address below or by e-mail to Gabrielle Gray

International Bluegrass Music Museum
Attn: Bluegrass Ambassadors
207 East Second Street
Owensboro, KY 42303

IBMM leads from the front

The International Bluegrass Music Museum (IBMM) at Owensboro, KY, has made a major contribution to raising the profile of European bluegrass in the USA. First, by booking three winners of the #1 European Bluegrass Band award at the annual European World of Bluegrass (EWOB) festival at Voorthuizen, the Netherlands, to appear at the IBMM's annual River Of Music Party (ROMP) festival in 2010; and secondly, by urging other event organisers to follow this example and lay the foundations for regular exposure in the US for bands from outside.

Acousticure (Hungary; #1 2008; above), the G2 Bluegrass Band (Sweden; #1 2007; right), and the Mideando String Quintet (Italy; #1 2006; below) will all be performing at ROMP on 26 June 2010. IBMM executive director Gabrielle Gray has issued a 'Call to action' to event organisers, IBMA members, and other bluegrass supporters throughout the USA to

... route these great musicians from festival to festival during the summer of 2010, making it more affordable for everyone and giving the EWOB winners the exposure their winning has merited them... These three EWOB bands, and all their 1st place predecessors, won because their music is extraordinary and immensely appealing.

And the proposal is not just for a one-off special effort in 2010:

Here's the challenge: let's get our act together and give international bands a series of events in which to perform, every year, from all around the world... It's both good for business and for the planet.

The 'Call to action' has already evoked positive response, especially from the western USA. Peter Thompson of Redwood Bluegrass Associates in Northern California, whose concert schedule runs from October to May, reports:

... we're wide open to European bands who want to try a club/concert tour during these months, perhaps in conjunction with appearances at one of the winter festivals in the western US... The annual Live at EWOB releases, which always get my nomination for Recorded Event Of the Year, are packed with terrific bluegrass.

Linda Bolton of the Albuquerque Folk Festival, held annually in late June, reports:

If you can get other June festivals interested, and the routing works, we'd love to have a great European bluegrass band at AFF.

The IBMM is also selecting a band from Japan to appear at ROMP 2010.

The ROMP stage, Yellow Creek Park, at twilight

Non-US bluegrass CD covers wanted for Blue Ridge Music Center

Ken Irwin of Rounder Records sends this message to the IBMA Members' e-mail discussion list:

The Blue Ridge Music Center is working on a permanent exhibit which will trace the history of the music of America through the Blue Ridge region. The contemporary perspective includes primarily bluegrass and old-time.

The design team has come up with the concept of a large three-dimensional cube which allows for the display of some thousand or more CD covers. Part of the story involves how the music has gone all over the world - both in terms of musicians from here traveling and musicians in various countries learning to play bluegrass and old-time.

They are looking for CD covers going back to the Bluegrass 45 on Rebel Records and everything since then. Unfortunately, they do not have the ability to display LPs.

They are interested in music of non-American bluegrass groups, preferably released in countries other than America.

If people wish to send items (just need the jacket) it would be to Blue Ridge Traditional Arts, P.O. Box 1010, Galax, VA 24333. The project will be the permanent exhibit for the Blue Ridge Music Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway outside Galax. Here is a bit of text from website.

The Blue Ridge Music Center celebrates the music and musicians of the Blue Ridge. Established by the U.S. Congress in 1985, the site includes an outdoor amphitheater and an indoor interpretive center used to highlight an important strand of American musical culture, which is still alive and thriving in the region. The site is operated through a partnership between the National Park Service and the National Council for the Traditional Arts. The permanent exhibit will open in summer 2010.

Street address:

Attn. Bill Kornrich
Blue Ridge Traditional Arts
Blue Ridge Music Center
700 Foothills Road
Galax, VA 24333

IBMM's Mando Camp 09

The International Bluegrass Music Museum at Owensboro, Kentucky, will hold its Fourth Annual Monroe-style Mandolin Camp on 11-13 September 2009. A maximum of fifty students will be able to take part.

The teachers (who will give a combined concert on the Saturday night) will be Mike Compton, camp & curriculum director; Dr Richard Brown, associate director; Skip Gorman; Tim O'Brien; Jody Stecher; and Butch Waller. Special guests: Tom Ewing, Monroe historian and concert performer, and Will Kimble, luthier. One-to-one master classes will be part of the programme.

For full details, including video footage from previous Camps, see the IBMM's Mando Camp 09 website. Gabrielle Gray, IBMM's executive director, says:

The Monroe-Style Mandolin Camp is the ultimate gathering spot for Monroe enthusiasts. Satisfy your desire to 'Know Monroe' by spending the anniversary of his birth and passing at the museum and the camp dedicated to preserving his legacy.

Help save historic instruments

The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum in Nashville, TN, has launched a $1.1 million fund-raising campaign to enable it to retain and display four instruments of unique significance in the history of country music: Maybelle Carter's Gibson L-5 guitar, two Martin guitars that belonged to Johnny Cash, and the Lloyd Loar Gibson F-5 mandolin #73987 that was Bill Monroe's prime instrument.

The full story can be read here. Ricky Skaggs has said: 'This is an equal-opportunity challenge to the greatest fans in the world... Twenty–five cents is as significant as a gift of $25,000.'

The Precious Jewel Fund already has $450,000 and needs to have the remaining $750,000 by 22 February 2009. Persons interested in making a tax-deductible contribution may do so online, by mail, and by telephone. Gifts by mail may be sent to Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, 222 Fifth Avenue South, Mail Drop DP, Nashville, Tennessee 37203, USA. Cheques should be made out to the Country Music Foundation. Please specify 'Precious Jewel Fund'. For credit card contributions, call +1 615/416-2050; all major credit cards are accepted.

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!