Bluegrass Fest Spotlight: The Gravy Boys

The Wide Open Bluegrass Festival is proud to once again host the always entertaining Americana band, The Gravy Boys.  This five-piece acoustic group offers true lyrical genius, sharing classic themes that resonate with listeners of all ages. Gravy songs are created collaboratively, with each member having a significant role in sewing the lyrics together.  This talent for writing and performing has gained some recognition for the band recently, playing the highly respected MerleFest and the Wide Open Bluegrass Festival in years past.                  

A show with The Gravy Boys promises to provide boot-stompin' fun with vocal harmonies and lively banter. With three of the bandmates being brothers, the boisterous jeering comes naturally, and makes the audience feel like they're at a family gathering.  Crowding around one condenser mic, the band's strong musicianship and engaging harmony is evident.  The group's talents mesh together intricately, but they are equally able to spotlight individual talents, taking turns soloing on the mandolin, guitar, harmonica, and bass. While The Gravy Boys are immersed in tradition, their shows also offer some surprises, including unconventional covers like The Zombies' "Time of the Season."

There is plenty of opportunity to catch The Gravy Boys this week for the World of Bluegrass event; check out their showtimes below:

     --Thursday - 6 PM - The Vintage Church (Bluegrass Ramble)
     --Thursday - 10 PM - Lincoln Theatre (Bluegrass Ramble)
     --Friday - 7:30-9 PM - The Dance Tent (corner of Fayetteville St. and Hargett St.)

To see a complete listing of showtimes, bands, and to purchase tickets, visit the IBMA website. 

*photo courtesy of Dave Brainard 

Bluegrass Fest Spotlight - Flatt Lonesome

With the IBMA Wide Open Bluegrass Festival less than one week away, one band that is highly anticipated to return to Raleigh this year is Flatt Lonesome.  After being named the Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2014 Awards Show, the band returns next week in hopes of claiming even more accolades. This year could be a greater success for the group as they are nominated for Vocal Group of the Year and Album of the Year. As if being in the running for these two great honors isn't enough, the band will also be releasing their third album, Runaway Train, at the festival on Friday, October 2.

Flatt Lonesome is comprised of 6 members; Charli and Buddy Robertson, Kelsi Robertson Harigill, Paul Harigill, Dominic Ingleworth, and Michael Stockton.  As indicated by their early success, the group has quickly become one of the hottest names in bluegrass music thanks to their individual talents and a collective passion for creating a truly remarkable sound.
 
For a brief preview of their upcoming album, the band has generated the following clip for your viewing and listening pleasure:

You can catch Flatt Lonesome at one of their following performances:

-Tuesday - 11:30pm - Marriott Room #320-322
-Wednesday - 1:00am - Convention Center Workshop Stage
-Thursday - 7:30pm - IBMA Award's Show - Duke Energy Performing Arts Center
-Friday - 5:00pm - CD Release Meet 'n Greet/Jam with the band - Convention Center
-Saturday - 11:30am - Red Hat Amphitheater
-Saturday - 2:00pm - Jam with the Youth - Convention Center Youth Room




If you simply can't wait for their album release, a copy can be pre-odered via iTunes. The IBMA Wide Open Bluegrass will feature Flatt Lonesome and over 50 other bands performing throughout the week of Sept. 29-Oct.3 in downtown Raleigh.  For tickets and more information, please visit the Wide Open Bluegrass website. 

World of Bluegrass StreetFest Performers Announced

Nashville, Tenn. (September 3, 2014) — The full schedule of artists and performances for Wide Open Bluegrass StreetFest, the free street festival portion of Wide Open Bluegrass, has just been announced. The roster of artists performing at Wide Open Bluegrass StreetFest, held October 3 and 4 in Raleigh, North Carolina, includes a broad mix of local, national and international bluegrass talent.
 
The full schedule of artists and performance times for various stages at the free Wide Open Bluegrass StreetFest is listed below. For any schedule adjustments or additions, check www.wideopenbluegrass.com.

The PNC-presented free Wide Open Bluegrass StreetFest, held in downtown Raleigh along Fayetteville Street, will feature more than 80 bands, four music stages, a dance tent, vendors, concessions and a special youth stage near the Convention Center that will feature performances and activities from the future stars of bluegrass - including programming set up by IBMA’s Youth Council. Additionally, StreetFest will contain a Bluegrass Expo Hall and a Masters Workshop Stage in the Raleigh Convention Center.

 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3

*CITY PLAZA STAGE  

12:00-12:45 pm             Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers

1:15-2:00 pm                 Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper

2:30-3:15 pm                 Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen

3:45-4:30 pm                 Scythian

5:00-5:45 pm                 Sierra Hull

6:15-7:15 pm                 Adkins & Loudermilk

7:45-9:00 pm                 The Gibson Brothers

9:30-11:00 pm               Chatham County Line

*DAVIE STREET STAGE  

12:15-1:00 pm               Al Batten & The Bluegrass Reunion

1:30-2:15 pm                 Tommy Edwards & The Bluegrass Experience

2:45-3:30 pm                 The Outliers

4:00-4:45 pm                 The Grass Cats

5:15-6:00 pm                 Missy Raines & The New Hip

6:30-7:30 pm                 Compton & Newberry

8:00-9:15 pm                 Carl Johnson & Jim Lloyd

9:45-11:00 pm               Steve Dilling & Sideline

*MARTIN STREET STAGE  

12:30-1:15 pm               Nixon, Blevins & Gage

1:45-2:30 pm                 Bill Evans

3:00-3:45 pm                 The Bankesters

4:15-5:00 pm                 The Barefoot Movement

5:30-6:15 pm                 Terry Baucom & The Dukes of Drive

6:45-7:45 pm                 Donna Ulisse

8:15-9:15 pm                 The Boxcars

9:45-11:00 pm                Blue Highway

*HARGETT STREET STAGE  

12:15-1:00 pm               Moore Brothers Band

1:30-2:15 pm                 Foghorn Stringband

2:45-3:30 pm                 New Country Rehab

4:00-4:45 pm                 The Duhks

5:15-6:00 pm                 I Draw Slow

6:30-7:30 pm                 Floodwood

8:00-9:15 pm                 Balsam Range

9:45-11:00 pm               The Deadly Gentlemen

*YOUTH STAGE  

12:00-12:45 pm             Cup O’Joe

1:00-1:45 pm                 Maybe April

2:00-2:45 pm                 The Burie Family

3:00-3:45 pm                 Gold Heart

4:00-4:45 pm                 Breaking Grass

5:00-5:45 pm                 Kids on Bluegrass

*DANCE TENT  

12:00-1:15 pm               Square dance w/Southern String Band

1:30-2:30 pm                 Cane Creek Cloggers w/Southern String Band

3:00-4:00 pm                 Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble

4:30-5:15 pm                 Carolina Heartland Cloggers & Little River Cloggers, w/Patrick Walsh                                       & Friends

6:00-7:00 pm                 Square dance – Caller Aaron Ratcliffe w/Yer Crooked Cousins

7:30-9:00 pm                 The Duhks

9:30-11:00 pm               Scythian

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4

*CITY PLAZA STAGE  

12:00-12:45 pm             Clay Hess Band

1:15-2:00 pm                 Hubby Jenkins

2:30-3:15 pm                 Special Consensus

3:45-4:30 pm                 Kids on Bluegrass

5:00-5:45 pm                 Billy Strings & Don Julin

6:15-7:15 pm                 The Kruger Brothers

7:45-9:00 pm                 Claire Lynch Band

9:30-11:00 pm                Jim Lauderdale

*DAVIE STREET STAGE  

12:15-1:00 pm               Gravy Boys

1:30-2:15 pm                 Mountain Faith

2:45-3:30 pm                 Jeff Little Trio

4:00-4:45 pm                 David Holt & Josh Goforth

5:15-6:00 pm                 Bobby Hicks, Tony Williamson, Ron Shuffler and Friends

6:30-7:30 pm                 Snyder Family Band

8:00-9:15 pm                 Mark Johnson & Emory Lester

9:45-11:00 pm               Laney Jones

*MARTIN STREET STAGE  

12:30-1:15 pm                Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road

1:45-2:30 pm                  Darin & Brooke Aldridge

3:00-3:45 pm                  Donna Hughes

4:15-5:00 pm                  Audie Blaylock & Redline

5:30-6:15 pm                  Lynda Dawson & Pattie Hopkins

6:45-7:45 pm                  Dale Ann Bradley

8:15-9:15 pm                  Danny Paisley & Southern Grass

9:45-11:00 pm                The Ramblin Rooks

 

*HARGETT STREET STAGE  

12:15-1:00 pm               Malpass Brothers

1:30-2:15 pm                 Kristy Cox

2:45-3:30 pm                 Flatt Lonesome

4:00-4:45 pm                 MIPSO

5:15-6:00 pm                 Front Country

6:30-7:30 pm                 Rebecca Frazier and Hit & Run

8:00-9:15 pm                 Wood & Wire

9:45-11:00 pm                Della Mae

*YOUTH STAGE

12:00-12:45 pm             TBA

1:00-1:45 pm                 Ash Breeze

2:00-2:45 pm                 The Lindsey Family

3:00-3:45 pm                 Meyerband

4:30-4:45 pm                 The Willis Clan

*DANCE TENT  

12:00-2:00 pm               Family Square Dance - Connie Carringer w/Carolina Catbirds

2:30-3:30 pm                 Green Grass Cloggers w/Epps Pepsteppers

4:00-5:30 pm                 Swing Dance - Huzzah the Band with introductory swing lesson by                                        Jason Sager

6:00-7:00 pm                 The Stuart Brothers

7:30-9:00 pm                 Front Country

9:30-11:00 pm               The Revelers

*Information courtesy of IBMA

Join the Raleigh Viewing Party for Bluegrass Music Awards Nominations

Bluegrass fans all over the globe can watch live as the final nominees for the 25th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards are announced on Wednesday, August 13 at 4:45 pm Central/5:45 pm Eastern; for the fourth year in a row, Music City Roots will broadcast the nomination press conference live at www.musiccityroots.com, from Liberty Hall in The Factory at Franklin (230 Franklin Road) in Franklin, Tennessee.

Celebrated bluegrass artists/songwriters Sam Bush and Jim Lauderdale will host the Aug. 13 nominations press conference, which is free and open to the public. Separate admission is required for Music City Roots’ Wednesday show, which will feature Sam Bush, Balsam Range, Detour, and Becky Buller. The regularly scheduled Music City Roots show will take place after the press conference at 7:00 pm Central. For ticket information, visit the MCR’s website.

Like last year, bluegrass supporters in Raleigh, North Carolina – host city for IBMA’s World of Bluegrass, Sept. 30 – October 4 – have the opportunity to watch the live August 13 nominations broadcast with fellow music fans at a “viewing party” at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (11 West Jones Street) in downtown Raleigh. The viewing party is free and open to the public, but free tickets are required – visit pinecone.org for details. North Carolina bluegrass band Diamond Creek will perform in the Daily Planet Café after the final nominees are announced.

Subscribers to SiriusXM can also listen to the August 13 press conference live on the Bluegrass Junction channel, with coverage starting at 4:45 pm Central/5:45 pm Eastern.

The International Bluegrass Music Awards will take place in Raleigh’s Memorial Auditorium (in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts) at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, October 2. Grammy-winning country vocalist Lee Ann Womack and Grammy-winning musician Jerry Douglas have been tapped to host the Awards show.

The IBMA Awards is part of IBMA’s World of Bluegrass event, an annual bluegrass music homecoming. The event consists of four parts: the IBMA Business Conference, September 30 – October 2; the 25th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards, scheduled for Thursday evening, October 2; Wide Open Bluegrass, October 3-4 (which includes both free stages and ticketed festival performances) and the Bluegrass Ramble, an innovative series of showcases, taking place September 30 – October 2 in downtown Raleigh and at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Tickets for the Award Show, as well as for the ticketed portion of Wide Open Bluegrass (which takes place at Red Hat Amphitheater and Raleigh Convention Center Ballroom Stages), Bluegrass Ramble Showcase passes, IBMA Business Conference registration and hotel reservations – along with additional details and pricing information – are available through IBMA’s website, ibma.org.   

IBMA – the International Bluegrass Music Association – is the professional trade organization for the global bluegrass music community. The organization’s six-year stay in Raleigh is the result of a partnership with The Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau, PineCone—The Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, the City of Raleigh and a local organizing committee.

Raleigh Viewing Party tickets available via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ibma-award-nominees-announcements-viewing-party-tickets-12384938685

*Information courtesy of PineCone press release 

Additional Artists Announced for the World of Bluegrass Festival

 

Additional artists have been announced for the Wide Open Bluegrass festival, which takes place October 3-4 in Raleigh, North Carolina; the list includes Yonder Mountain String Band;  Jerry Douglas presents The Earls of Leicester with Shawn Camp, Tim O'Brien, Johnny Warren, Charlie Cushman and Barry Bales;  Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn;  Balsam Range;  Lonesome River Band;  Chatham County Line;  Noam Pikelny & Stuart Duncan;  Della Mae; Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out;  The Grascals;  Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice;  Special Consensus; Town Mountain;  The Deadly Gentlemen;  James King Band;  Larry Stephenson Band;  Mustered Courage; The Roys and The Davidson Brothers. Of special note in the WOB lineup are two legendary bluegrass artists: Bluegrass Hall of Fame member Jesse McReynolds, from Virginia, and North Carolina’s own Bobby Hicks, a ten time Grammy award winning fiddler who recently received the prestigious North Carolina Heritage Award from the North Carolina Arts Council. For his set, Hicks will be joined by musicians Tony Williamson, Ron Shuffler and other special guests.

These artists will join the previously announced Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder with Bruce Hornsby, Del McCoury Band with special guests, Hot Rize (with Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers), Gibson Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, Sierra Hull, The Kruger Brothers with Kontras Quartet’s world premiere of new concerto “Lucid Dreamer” and the Wide Open Jam, featuring the superstar lineup of Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton and Stuart Duncan as the performers for the ticketed portion of the two-day music festival.

“We’re so pleased that, once again, Wide Open Bluegrass will present such a diverse, acclaimed lineup of artists at both Red Hat Amphitheater and the Raleigh Convention Center this fall,” said William Lewis, Executive Director of PineCone (the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music) and Wide Open Bluegrass producer. “And, in the weeks to come, we may have an additional guest or two to add to this esteemed roster.”

Performers for the free Street Festival portion of Wide Open Bluegrass will be announced in the coming months.

Wide Open Bluegrass is part of International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass 2014 event, which takes place September 30 – October 4 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

IBMA’s World of Bluegrass event, an annual bluegrass music homecoming, consists of four parts: the IBMA Business Conference, September 30 – October 2; the 25^th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards, scheduled for Thursday evening, October 2; Wide Open Bluegrass, October 3-4 (which includes both free stages and ticketed festival performances) and the Bluegrass Ramble, an innovative series of showcases, taking place September 30 – October 2 in downtown Raleigh and at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Those wishing to obtain tickets for the ticketed portion of Wide Open Bluegrass (which takes place at Red Hat Amphitheater and Raleigh Convention Center Ballroom Stages), Bluegrass Ramble Showcase passes, IBMA Business Conference registration, IBMA Award Show tickets and hotel reservations should go to IBMA’s website, ibma.org. Single day general admission for the ticketed portion of Wide Open Bluegrass starts as low as $50, with a three-day Bluegrass Ramble pass available for $75. Additional details and pricing information are available at the website.



Press Release Courtesy of IBMA, Nashville, TN