Apr 11
Rounder Celebrates Worldwide Bluegrass Music Month in May
Sierra Hull “Secrets” (Rounder Records) will be released May 6, 2008Burlington, MA – For the past 20 years, May has been regarded as Worldwide Bluegrass Music Month, an idea that began in 1987 with Bob Wolff, a performing arts consultant from NYC and an enthusiastic bluegrass fan. Wolff proposed the idea – after he had attended the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Fan Fest in Owensboro, KY – as a means to develop a larger audience for bluegrass music. Wolff recalls, “My concept was that if people got to stand as close to the musicians as the musicians were to each other, there was no way that they could go away anything but fans. If a friend invited them to an event, perhaps paying the price of attendance, it would be likely they would return to another and, if these folks left that group or that show with some way to get news of bluegrass events they could attend, they would become part of the audience.”
With the help of fans around the world, May 1988 was chosen as the First Annual Worldwide Bluegrass Music Month. Though recognized by the IBMA in 1989, the concept is not supported by any one association; it is solely organized by bluegrass devotees who ensure that May is filled with bluegrass activities in their neighborhoods.
Now a resident of Milton, MA, Bob Wolff had this to say about WWBGMM, “My theory was that if more people were introduced to bluegrass music, the audience would grow. It seemed to me to be very important that the audience grow if I were going to be able to continue to hear the music. The music is so very captivating. It is not the particular month that matters; it is the opportunity to get non-fans to hear the music that counts!”
2008 Rounder Bluegrass Releases
- Jan. 8 — Rhonda Vincent Good Thing Going
- Jan. 15 — IIIrd Tyme Out Footprints: A IIIrd Tyme Out Collection
- Jan. 15 — The SteelDrivers The SteelDrivers
- Jan. 29 — Dailey & Vincent Dailey & Vincent
- Feb. 12 — Blue Highway Through the Window of a Train
- Apr 8 — Longview Deep in the Mountains
- May 6 — Sierra Hull Secrets
- May 20 — James King Gardens in the Sky: The Bluegrass Gospel of James King
- Jun 17 — Dan Tyminski Band Wheels
- Jun 24 — Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass The Room Over Mine
- Jul 15 — The Grascals Keep On Walkin’
- Jul 29 — Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
Listen to samples here.
-From Rounder
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