Europe (and the rest of the world) at IBMA's World of Bluegrass

IBMA's World of Bluegrass 2008 begins in Nashville on Monday 29 September. An important event in the schedule will be the International Summit meeting (30 Sept.-1 Oct.), aimed at reaching a new consensus on IBMA's priorities for assisting the growth of bluegrass worldwide. Europe is strongly represented, with over half of the thirty members attending the Summit.

European musicians at World of Bluegrass will include the G2 Bluegrass Band (Sweden; #1 European Bluegrass Band 2007) andJohnny Butten (UK; current holder of the Guinness Records title 'World's Fastest Banjo Player'). The EBMA will again be hosting the International Suite showcases at the Nashville Convention Center (NCC), Room #104. The schedule is:

Tues. 30 Sept.
11:00 Janet McGarry (Canada)
11:30 G2 Bluegrass Band (Sweden)
12:00 Widow Maker (Canada)
12:30 The Toy Hearts (UK)
01:00 Lilly Drumeva (Bulgaria)
01:30 Johnny Butten (UK)

Wed. 1 Oct.
11:00 Red Wine (Italy)
11:30 C-Denny Band (Canada)
12:00 April Verch (Canada)
12:30 J.B. Rochat & Joost van Es (Switzerland/Netherlands)
01:00 Johnny Possum (New Zealand)
01:30 Tabea Anderfuhren, Aaron Till, & Steve Ledford (Switzerland/USA)

For details of other showcase appearances at World of Bluegrass by European performers, see the individual artists' websites.

G2's schedule in the US begins on Sunday 28 September at the world-famous Station Inn, Nashville, and includes an interview (with music) on Bluegrassradio.org (1 Oct.) and a slot on the main IBMA Fan Fest programme (4 Oct.). Red Wine, as well as playing in the main evening showcase programme (30 Sept.), will play for the IBMA Awards Reception Party (2 Oct.) and will go on to play at the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival (3-4 Oct.) and - for the second time - at the massive Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festivalin San Francisco (5 Oct.).

Europe challenged on banjo speed record

In response to yesterday's mention of Johnny Butten (UK) as world's fastest banjo player, Erio Meili (originally of Switzerland, but now head of the Sao Paulo Bluegrass Music Association in Brazil and leader of the South American Bluegrass Network), reports:

Howdy folks,

Here comes our Southern challenge for a new record for world fastest banjo player, pre-qualified in the Livro da Guineia(Guineia Book) and hopefully running now for Guinness. Check it out on YouTube. The tune is 'Sunday', home-made and faster than Johnny Butten's 'Duelling banjos'. For our alternative duelling banjos spot, watch our 'Titanic deviation medley' here.

And only last week, all we had to worry about was that the world might be destroyed by the Large Hadron Collider...

Irish Bluegrass in Brazil

Our friend from Ireland, Richard Hawkins, reports a fascinating story on his Bluegrass Ireland Blog. An Irish bluegrass night in Brazil!

Bluegrass at Expomusic Trade Fair in Brazil

Erio Meili of the Sao Paulo Bluegrass Music Association reports that bluegrass was well received at the Expomusic2007 Trade Fair, the largest annual trade fair for music in South America.

Here are some photos of the event.

International Suite at IBMA's World of Bluegrass 2007

As reported earlier, this year the European Bluegrass Music Association EBMA will again present the International Suite which will feature bluegrass bands from outside the USA. Rienk Janssen will be in charge of organising the International Suite and he informs us that the Davidson Brothers from Australia are among the first bands scheduled to perform.

International Bluegrass Bands

The World International Bluegrass Band, which will be performing in the USA later this year and which we featured in recent news, has a forerunner.

Erio Meili of the São Paulo Bluegrass Association has reminded us of the International Band that performed at the 1997 IBMA FanFest. The personnel included Claudio Vescovi (guitar; Milan, Italy), Erio Meili (banjo; São Paulo, Brazil), Helmut Mitteregger (mandolin; Vienna, Austria), Katarina Mitteregger (bass; Vienna, Austria), Katsyaki Miyasaki (mandolin; Kyoto, Japan), Marilyn Barclay (guitar; Munich, Germany), Markus Stadler (banjo; Munich, Germany), Monika Schwentner (mandolin; Zurich, Switzerland), Paul Graham (mandolin; Jerusalem, Israel), Richard Hawkins (banjo; Dublin, Ireland), Thierry Schoysman (banjo; Brussels, Belgium).


Further research by EBMA's European Bluegrass Blog has uncovered that the group was assembled and organised for the performance by the late Eric Hoogstad of the Netherlands. The picture below shows Eric (right) and Erio holding the framed artwork for the 1997 World of Bluegrass.

A world of bluegrass at the World of Bluegrass