Another year rolls around and memories of the bluegrass sounds of 2009 still float like sugar plums in my head. And, a lot of juicy plums there were in the past year, indeed a bad year for the national economy but quite robust in the realm of great bluegrass CDs.

As I look back on the past year, the wealth of bluegrass in the form of new CDs piled high….

Bluegrass festivals aren’t set up as battles of the bands. It’s just not the nature of the bluegrass world, where harmony, not heated competition, rules — both on the vocal side of things and also in the kinship and brotherhood of bluegrass musicians.

In fact, it’s this great community spirit that’s so attractive to many bluegrass fans and musicians, myself included. It’s a world where fans aren’t merely fans, they’re friends of the artists and their band members.

After setting that stage, I’ll confess to a twinge of guilt when I anticipated attending last week’s Greater Downstate Indoor Bluegrass Festival in Springfield, Ill. I had set up my own little mind game, a war of the bands if you will, between Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and Dailey & Vincent. Shame on me, huh? Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.

I hadn’t seen Doyle Lawson and his fine group perform for four or five years, back when Jamie Dailey and Barry Scott were providing the band’s explosive vocals. How, I wondered, would Lawson’s new lineup stack up against Dailey & Vincent, perhaps the hottest act in bluegrass today?…

Springfield, Ill., the state’s capitol city, is the bull’s eye for Midwestern bluegrass fans each November. They’ll be returning again this year for the 23rd annual Greater Downstate Indoor Bluegrass Music Festival on Nov. 6, 7 and 8.

It’s held at the Crowne Plaza, just off Interstate 55….

The nominees for the 2009 IBMA Entertainer of the Year award include past winners as well some new to the ballot this year. Dailey & Vincent (2008) along with The Grascals (2007, 2006) and the Del McCoury Band (9 time winners between 1994 and 2004) have all graced the stage as winners IBMA’s biggest award of the night. Rounding out the nominees are veteran bluegrass acts, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out and the Dan Tyminski Band. Vote for your favorite now !

Which Bluegrass group has the pipes to rise to the top of the crop? The nominees for this years IBMA Vocal Group of the Year feature a plethora of top names in bluegrass and all are known for their outstanding vocal prowess. Blue Highway, Dailey & Vincent, The Isaacs, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out round out this years nominees. Given the vocal caliber of these 5 groups makes for some tough decisions if only one can rise to the top.