Wide Open Bluegrass 2019

Photo: Shannon Kelly/Recording Academy

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Wide Open Bluegrass Celebrates Past, Present & Future In Raleigh, N.C.

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Get the inside scoop on the biggest week in bluegrass: "This convention is such an amazing opportunity for bluegrass musicians," said Fireside Collective's Jesse Iaquinto
Derek Halsey
GRAMMYs
Sep 30, 2019 - 6:00 pm

It is a fascinating change of groove when the business side of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) World of Bluegrass Conference ends and the public begins to arrive and fill the streets of downtown Raleigh, NC, for the Wide Open Bluegrass Festival that follows.

For three days, the bluegrass music industry has met in Raleigh to showcase new and up-and-coming talent, hold various workshops focusing on what it takes to successfully run a band and succeed in the genre, to connect concert promoters from around the country with bands ready to put a tour together and to honor the top musicians in the bluegrass world with the 30th annual IBMA Awards Show.

Then, early Friday morning, the city of Raleigh shuts down almost seven blocks of prime downtown streets to set up the Wide Open Bluegrass Festival. Billed as the “The largest free urban bluegrass festival in the world,” the thoroughfares slowly become inhabited, surging by noon as folks get off work early on Friday to take in the live music offered on multiple stages.

The Recording Academy was on-the-ground for this year’s Wide Open Bluegrass Festival Sept. 27 and 28, walking the streets of Raleigh and taking in what should be considered an amazing accomplishment by this state capitol city.

Photo Gallery: IBMA's Wide Open Bluegrass 2019 Takes Over Raleigh, N.C.

About eight years ago, Raleigh presented an impressive plan to the IBMA that was, at first, hard to believe. If the organization would consider moving their convention week to North Carolina from Nashville, the city of Raleigh and the local Pinecone Traditional Music Association would provide the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts for the IBMA Awards Show, they would offer the wonderful 5,500-seat Red Hat Amphitheater for a weekend of special performances and they would shut down a wide swath of their downtown district and hand it over to live bluegrass music. Seven years into the change, the event is as strong and popular as ever.

It is noon on Friday of Wide Open Bluegrass, and the streets of Raleigh begin to swell with festival goers as live bluegrass music fills the nine official outdoor stages stretching from the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts to the Capitol Building. There are many other stages to choose from as well, including the impromptu jams found at the various music industry booths in the convention center as well as unofficial stages that have sprouted up along the avenues.

On the City Plaza Stage, we caught up with the band Fireside Collective. This is a group that has successfully taken advantage of the IBMA Convention and its late night Bluegrass Ramble showcases and the Wide Open Bluegrass Street Fest. Just a short few years ago, the group was working hard just to get noticed. Now, they recently signed with the Mountain Home Music record label and just released their new single “She Was An Angel” from their new album that will drop in the coming months.

Fireside Collective
Photo: Shannon Kelly/Recording Academy

Fireside Collective’s Jesse Iaquinto takes a moment to talk about the band's journey just before they are about to play in the high profile 5 p.m. slot.on the City Plaza Stage after Sierra Hull's set and before the Gibson Brothers show.

“The very first year we came to the IBMA, we were relatively obscure, and we kind of just played the fringes of the convention and had our Raleigh friends come out and support us,” said Iaquinto. “Back then, it was a nice yet small and intimate view from the outside. In the next year, we were a showcase band and we played 15 shows that week. We played eight shows in one day starting at 11 a.m. and ending at 2 a.m. I think I lost my voice on the last note that night. But, it was totally worth it as we made so many connections here with festivals around the country and other venues and bands. This convention is such an amazing opportunity for bluegrass musicians. Today, to play this prime time show on the Plaza, it is an honor to feel accepted into the whole IBMA community.”

As Fireside Collective completes their show in front of a packed crowd, GRAMMY-winning singer/songwriter extraordinaire Jim Lauderdale congratulates them on a great set and says hello. 

Just the night before, Lauderdale co-hosted the IBMA Awards Show with Hall of Famer Del McCoury. Lauderdale began as a bluegrass artist before branching out to make country music. But, over the last two decades, he has come back to the genre, releasing both country and bluegrass albums along the way.

Some of the highlights from the 2019 IBMA Awards Show include Billy Strings winning the Guitar Player of the Year award, Alan Bibey winning his first-ever Mandolin Player of the Year award, and Sister Sadie, who we profiled at last year’s IBMA Convention, becoming the first female artists to ever win the Vocal Group of the Year Award.

A day later, however, Lauderdale has other things on his mind. Three days earlier on Sept. 23, acclaimed Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter died at 78. Not only did Hunter write many of the most well-known Grateful Dead lyrics, he also wrote more than two album’s worth of songs with Lauderdale.

“I lost a good friend of mine in Robert Hunter this week, and we wrote a couple of bluegrass albums together,” said Lauderdale. “When I first started working with him, it was because I was going to work with Ralph Stanley, and that is how he became interested. Robert and I branched off from that and we wrote a lot of other, different kinds of songs together. I have recorded about 87 of the songs I wrote with Robert, and we co-wrote about 100 songs in total. He would either give me lyrics or I would give him melodies, both long distance and while together. He was an incredible man and it really hit me hard this week.”

At one point, Lauderdale and musician and former Nashville journalist Peter Cooper were able to take Robert Hunter backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, which thrilled Hunter. Later on, after Lauderdale recorded the albums that he co-wrote with the renowned late lyricist, he was able to bring out Hunter to perform on the Grand Ole Opry stage.

“About four years ago, I was playing on the Opry and I took Robert and I got him and (IBMA Hall of Famer) Jesse McReynolds to sit in with me to play a song that Robert and I wrote called ‘Headed For The Hills,’” said Lauderdale. “That really meant a lot to me to have Robert onstage at the Grand Ole Opry. He wasn’t a very demonstrative person, but he was very kind and let me know he really enjoyed it and appreciated it.”

The key to the modern success of bluegrass music is the effort put into cultivating and encouraging young musicians. Those who visit either the IBMA Convention or the Wide Open Bluegrass Street Fest are always blown away by the amount of young players that are walking around and showcasing their incredible ability to sing or play an instrument. In fact, there are two stages set up at the Wide Open Bluegrass Street Fest that are dedicated to younger musicians. The first one is the IBMA Youth Stage, which featured performances by the Burnett Sisters, the all-star group Kids On Bluegrass, the Shiloh Creek Girls and more.

The IBMA Youth Stage also showcased many bands from the colleges that now offer a bluegrass music degree. Some of the groups featured included the Eastern Tennessee State University Bluegrass Pride Band, the Mountain Music Ambassadors from Morehead State University, the High Lonesome Senate band from Walters State Community College, the Tigertown Roots band from Clemson University, the Warren Wilson College Bluegrass Band, the Glenville State College Bluegrass Band, the Carolina Bluegrass Band from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, The Ruta Beggars band from the Berklee College of Music, the Eastern Kentucky University  Bluegrass Band, the Pellissippi State Bluegrass Band, the Bob Jones University Bluegrass and the Denison University Bluegrass Band.

A mile or so away on Martin Street is the very popular Junior Appalachian Musician Stage. The Junior Appalachian Musician (JAM) program is an amazing entity that sets up weekly classes and music lessons for kids in over 40 rural towns and cities in Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

At the side of the JAM Stage is the organization’s Director Brett Morris, who brings the best of the musicians involved in the organization to perform on the streets of Raleigh.    

“We had a really good crowd on both days, especially during the evening time,” said Morris. “It was pretty impressive. ShadowGrass and Cane Mill Road were the last two bands on Friday night and the crowd stretched all of the way to the main street. ShadowGrass features guitar great Presley Barker, who is only a freshman in high school, and Cane Mill Road features 17 year old multi-instrumentalist Liam Purcell. Cane Mill Road just won the IBMA Momentum Band of the Year award on Wednesday and their banjo player Tray Wellington won the IBMA Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year award as well.”

There are a lot of other genres that could take bluegrass music’s lead when it comes to building up a new generation of artists.

“I mean, if you don’t like to watch kids that are totally killing it while playing music onstage, than there is something wrong with you,” said Morris. “We let Cane Mill Road play a little bit over their allotted stage time and they had this huge crowd eating out of their hands. And, what is cool is that there are a lot of even younger kids that are coming along right behind them.”

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ACL 2019

ACL 2019

Photo: Erika Goldring/FilmMagic/Getty Images

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Relive The Fun At Austin City Limits 2019 With The Aces, Mahalia, Pink Sweat$ & More

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Backstage at one of the most frigid iterations of the Texas capital event, we hid from the chills and chilled with some of your favorite artists
GRAMMYs
Oct 14, 2019 - 6:56 pm

Austin City Limits, the music festival that's been keeping Austin groovy since 2002, wrapped up Weekend Two of its 2019 event last night. As per usual, the big three-day fest brought in a killer lineup of big name and emerging acts across genres and locales. The Recording Academy was there to catch some music and interview a handful of the performers, including Alesia Lani, The Aces, Mahalia and Pink Sweat$.

Backstage at one of the most frigid iterations of the Texas capital event, we also caught up with Denzel Curry, Billie Eilish and her big brother Finneas, King Princess, Orville Peck, IDK, Metric, K.Flay and more.

Relive Austin City Limits 2019

Watch the recap video above to hear from the artists themselves about the electric mood at the fest, and click the links for more great ACL 2019 exclusives. 

Behind The Scenes At Austin City Limits 2019

The Chambers Brothers (L-R: Joe, Lester, Willie & George)

Photo: Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
 

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Psych-Rock Pioneer George "Pops" Chambers Dead At 88

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The bassist and singer was a member of the Los Angeles psych-soul group The Chambers Brothers, best known for their 1968 Top 10 hit, "Time Has Come Today"
Ana Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Oct 14, 2019 - 1:34 pm

George "Pops" Chambers, the singer and bassist of Los Angeles psych-rock outfit The Chambers Brothers, passed away Fri., Oct. 12 at 88. The death was announced on the official Facebook page for the pioneering '60s/'70s group with a short message and link to their song "Heaven."

"To all our fans, friends and loved ones, I was informed this morning at about 5:00 am, that my brother George, known as 'Pops' Chambers has passed. We thank you for all your years of Love Peace and Happiness," the post read.

George Chambers and his younger brothers Lester, Joe and Willie, originally active in their Baptist church choir in Mississippi, formed their aptly named group after relocating to L.A. in the mid-'50s. Spending the first few years performing as a gospel group, the soon began expanding their sound and found a home in the local folk scene, and was invited to perform at the iconic Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

Channeling the moods of the times, The Chambers Brothers incorporated electric instruments, expanded to add Brian Keenan on drums and embraced a groovy psych rock sound. As Rolling Stone notes, after adding Keenan, they became one of the few interracial musical groups at the time, as well as "staples" of the local music scene for a full decade.

With the sprawling acid/psych rock track "Time Has Come Today," the group saw their first Top 10 hit in 1968. While it was technically the shorter single cut of the song that charted, the full album version (from 1967's The Time Has Come) clocks in at 11 minutes, with spooky laughs and screams piercing the funky guitar and bass licks.

The group remained an active part of the burgeoning L.A. psych rock scene until the mid-'70s, when they split up. Each member remained active in music, with George returning to his gospel music roots and eventually leading his local church. The Chamber Brothers also reunited on stage several times over the years.

George Clinton: "The Funk Is Just Beginning" | GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends

Devendra Banhart

Photo: Raphael Dias/Getty Images

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Big Ears Festival 2020: Devendra Bahnhart, Kim Gordon, Anthony Braxton & More

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The festival will take place March 26–29, 2020 in Knoxville, Tenn.
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Oct 8, 2019 - 3:42 pm

Big Ears Festival has announced Kim Gordon (performing music from Andy Warhol's KISS film soundtrack,) Devendra Banhart, Peter Brötzmann, Iceland's Múm and more as the first round of performers for the 2020 lineup.

Other artists performing include Thundercat, Andrew Cyrille, Caroline Shaw, Caterina Barbieri, Saul Williams and more. The festival will take place March 26–29, 2020 in Knoxville, Tenn.'s iconic theatres, clubs and performance spaces.

From jazz to indie and folk, the fest offers an eclectic lineup of musical tastes from the U.S. and abroad. Tickets will go on sale Oct. 10 at 12 p.m. EST. For more information, visit the festival website. 

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Ramblin' Jack Elliott at The Freight & Salvage

Ramblin' Jack Elliott at The Freight

Photo: Hail McGrath

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Historic Berkeley Folk Venue Freight & Salvage Welcomes A New Generation Of Music Fans

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"There's kind of a special feeling when you walk in. It's like you are walking into someone's extra-large living room with a bunch of your close friends," Sharon Dolan, the historic venue's Executive Director recently explained
Lily O'Brien
GRAMMYs
Oct 4, 2019 - 9:20 am

When The Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse opened its (original) doors in 1968 in Berkeley, Calif., the intention was to create a cafe and gathering place for the community. Housed in a former used furniture store (thus, the name of the venue), it began to attract local musicians—acoustic guitar strummers, banjo pickers, fiddle players and more. It soon became the nexus for the burgeoning traditional folk and old-time music scene that was rooted in the anti-establishment, counter-culture, radical and experimental ethos of the iconic '60s and '70s eras.

Now, 51 years later, this legendary establishment is still going strong. The Recording Academy spoke to several of the people who help run the venue to learn how it's still shining bright.

In 1983, the popular club became a nonprofit, "the Berkeley Society for the Preservation of Traditional Music," to be exact. Five years later, the Freight moved to a slightly larger venue nearby, in 1988, eventually moving to its current home at 2020 Addison St. in 2009. The newer space offers an inviting, architect-designed 400-plus seat performance hall with a state-of-the-art sound system from Berkley's Meyer Sound. Yet even as they've grown, their space—and those who perform there—retains the rustic and intimate atmosphere.

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Just down the block from other popular cultural institutions—Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Aurora Theater Company and the California Jazz Conservatory—it is firmly planted in the heart of the Downtown Berkeley Arts District. A large, eclectic group of local and international artists, like Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Teresa Trull and David Grisman, have graced its stage, in genres ranging from traditional folk, blues, jazz, bluegrass, world and classical music.

GRAMMY-nominated Windham Hill Records artist Barbara Higbie has served on the Freight's Board of Directors for 14 years, and is currently its Co-Chair. A pianist, composer and fiddler, she began performing there 42 years ago, alongside fiddler Daryl Anger and guitar and mandolin player Mike Marshall.

"The City of Berkeley really wooed the Freight to come down there [to the current area], because they wanted to create an arts district, and at the time, the club was bursting at the seams," Higbie explained. "The Freight has so much goodwill. In the East Bay there are a few big communities that have supported it in a big way—the bluegrass community, the women's community, the blues community, the people who really love singer/songwriters and the alt-country community." 

Deeply passionate about preserving the integrity of the club, she initially had some concerns about the new venue, based on what she had seen happen to other spaces in the Bay Area. Now, 10 years later, she believes they are on the right track.

"I had experienced so many clubs getting bigger and either going out of business or changing beyond recognition," she explained. "I am so loyal to the Freight and I want it to survive, so it was a really a big concern to me that we didn't become just a commercial venue." 

Three years ago, Peter Williams was hired as the new Program Director at the Freight and has been giving their programming a fresh, worldly spin. With a resume that includes prominent positions at the Green Music Center in Sonoma, the Napa Valley Opera House, and Yoshi's in Oakland, his eclectic musical background made him the perfect choice.

"When the position became open I was really excited about it, because they wanted to diversify the programming and the audience a bit, so it sounded like a great opportunity for me to get creative and put all my musical tastes to work," Williams said over the phone. 

He explained the Freight's focus for many years had mostly been Americana and bluegrass music before he came on board. He began mixing it up by booking a healthy mix of Latin and world music artists, including bands from Haiti, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

"Since Peter came, it's been phenomenal—he's such an expert at booking," Higbie revealed. "He is balancing it out amazingly between big draws, keeping all the constituents happy, bringing in new communities and trying to expand. He is a really visionary booking person and I think it has made a huge difference."

Not long before Williams, current Executive Director Sharon Dolan came onboard in 2015, after many years as a patron and volunteer. She is committed to preserving the Freight's original ideology of diversity.

"When I first got there, I saw the potential to fully live out our mission of preserving and promoting traditional music from a variety of cultures around the world," she said. "Historically we had focused on music from the folk revival from when we were founded in 1968—bluegrass, old-time and Celtic music. We still continue to do all that, but we also saw an opportunity to broaden our thinking and reach more people, partly by community outreach and partly by what we were putting on stage."

Dolan feels that the newer venue has maintained the comfortable, welcoming atmosphere it has always been known for. "There's kind of a special feeling when you walk in. It's like you are walking into someone's extra-large living room with a bunch of your close friends—a shared experience that we have. It's different from being in a large stadium show where the audience is so far away. You are right there, and there's much more of a connection between the performers and the audience, and that's a really key part of what happens here."

Along with the innovative and eclectic programming, the Freight also offers music classes for adults and kids, open mic nights and education and community outreach programs, to further its mission. 

"Our new education programming is part of our longer-term planning. We are continuing to work with adults, but the new part is the collaboration with middle schools in Berkeley, and we are definitely reaching a more diverse population," Dolan added. "The program is about mashing up traditional music with something more contemporary that the kids can relate to. For example, we have a program mixing traditional Indian vocal percussion with rap that the kids are really enjoying. We have only just started it and it's really cool."

They are also set to work on a new project with their local Recording Academy chapter in early 2020. PC Muñoz, who was recently hired as the Freight's Director of Education and Community Engagement has been an active member of the Recording Academy San Francisco Chapter.  He explained by email they are working on the details of a collaboration with Academy members who are educators, for a professional development event for the Freight's teachers.

With an exciting and ever-expanding roster of performers, classes, events and numerous other collaborations, the Freight seems to have found a sweet spot in the arts community that has helped it to retain its vitality and relevance in the Bay Area.

"I think music and the arts right now are critical," Dolan emphasized. "Music is one of the ways we build empathy for each other and for each other's cultures—we learn about each other that way. It's a way to share with a room full of other people, your despair or your hope about what's happening in the world."

Wide Open Bluegrass Celebrates Past, Present & Future In Raleigh, N.C.