My last post was about Grey Fox and I mentioned a bunch of folks I enjoy spending time with, in this post I have the opportunity to do some first class name-dropping but prefer not to. I will put a list at the end because there are a few people I would like to thank personally and sincerely, but I don't want the post to get derailed by a lot of names that, even for me, is a bit hard to fathom. (No, I am not being surly, I am actually a bit numb as to how I could be so lucky.)
After my last post I had a couple of weeks before heading off the The Summer Hoot, which was even better this year than last, and last summer was a Hoot. Great Music, great people, great musicians, good art, nice connections made and an all around wonderful time. I can't wait for The Winter Hoot coming up too fast.
The week before The Hoot, the (International Bluegrass Music Association IBMA) had their annual press conference to announce the nominees for their annual awards and the recipients of the special awards. This was the little secret I could not share in the last post. Bill Keith was announced as one of this years recipients of the Distinguished Achievement Award. An award thought long overdue by many industry insiders, Bill finally got some well earned recognition from his peers.
In the weeks before and after the Hoot it was decided that for several reasons I would be privileged to travel with Bill down to Raleigh, NC for the IBMA convention and get to see him receive the Award, as well as enjoy the other festivities.
Bill and I flew out on Tuesday and were picked up at the airport by Darwin Davidson, noted photographer and co-host of the Bronzewound Radio program on WERU. Darwin was wonderful and it was SO nice not to hassle with cabs or shuttles. He delivered us to our Hotel in fine shape and humor, and I appreciate the sacrifice he made in missing Bela Fleck's keynote address which was delivered while he was driving to pick us up. It was a great speech, still is.
IBMA is a veritable candyland for somebody like me. My head felt like it was on a pivot all week, constantly looking around for familiar faces because I quickly learned that there were a LOT of people there that I either knew, knew of, or just enjoyed their music and I didn't want to miss a single opportunity to say 'Hi' and "Thanks". Scarcely an hour went by all week where I did not see somebody I knew or meet somebody I had known through their music. The printed out single line schedule for all the events at IBMA that week was 17 pages. I found it impossible to choose and eventually just went with the flow of whatever happened. Also Bill had places he had to be and I didn't want to miss any of that either. Bill is like a magnet at these things and everybody wants to say 'Hi' so I got to meet a lot more folks that way.
The music at IBMA is amazing and it is everywhere. During the street fair (Friday and Saturday) there are at least 7 stages running all day and many many thousands of people. Just before we left I learned that Joe Walsh would be at IBMA and he is one of the most impressive mandolinists I have ever heard. I had hoped to see him there. When Bill and I arrived on Tuesday, we settled in, then headed over to the convention center to get the registration stuff out of the way. Wouldn't you know that when we walked in, the very first music I heard at IBMA was Mr. Sun playing on the showcase stage with Joe Walsh, Darol Anger, Grant Gordy, and Ethan Jodziewicz! We hung out for their set and got in some 'howdy's' after. We ran into them several times in the coming days and they gave me a sampler of their upcoming CD which I have been listening to for 2 weeks now.
In addition to the scheduled music, the jams going on all over the streets, hotel lobby's and hallways, not to mention the rooms and suites was just hard to believe. Pro's with amateurs, kids with old-timers, there were no boundaries and it went on all day and night. I was in overload because all of it was great music, I mean great!
I had the forethought (it was an accident really) to realize that all these folks would be in a very small area and it would be a great time to bring together some of Bill's old friends for a private get together because I knew they would want to get a few minutes to wish him well and congratulate him. I originally started out thinking we would do this in our room but quickly realized that would not work, so I talked to our saviors at Grey Fox, these folks know the 'ins & 'outs' of throwing a party at IBMA and they not only offered the use of their suite, but they arranged and provided refreshments for the morning get together. I worked on getting out invitations to all I could contact, twisted some arms of friends to pass the word on to those I didn't have access to, sent out reminders, and the morning came when we were to meet. Walking down the hall to the Grey Fox Suite I recall being concerned that we would have enough people to make it proper, then I was concerned that we would have too many. When we walked in the door, the first face I saw was Happy Traum and my heart sank. I had no idea Happy and Jane would be at IBMA (yeah, I'm an idiot) and I had not invited them. Fortunately, somebody had my back and made sure they were there. I was so glad but still felt like a fool to not invite two people that had been Bill's friends for over 40 years. I wondered who else I forgot. The room was filled to a comfortable level and conversations abounded, stories flowed and everybody was relaxed and enjoying themselves. I stood in the corner and pretty much drooled a lot. In the room was a 'who's who' of our music world and I was so pleased that Bill enjoyed it the way I had hoped. A lot of those folks came up and thanked me for putting it together, but I felt, and still do, that I didn't do much, it was the Grey Fox folks, Mary, Mary, Lisa, Rousby, Caroline, and Joe that made it happen for us all. I don't want to single anybody out but I have to say that Bela made a point of being there the whole time. When I sent out the first round of invites, his invitation went through a friend we have in common because I didn't have a direct contact for him ( and I understand, and respect why that is). Bela was one of the first to answer me (directly) and he made it a priority. We stayed in contact while things were in flux and firmed things up as time went along. Bela had even planned on joining us for a field trip the next day, but rehearsal schedules made that impossible.
It was only noon on Wednesday and the week was already a huge success. We still had the rest of the day, then Awards day (Thursday) and beyond ahead of us.
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| The one (fuzzy) photo I took at Bill's reception, from left to right Bill Keith, Bela Fleck, Jonny Cody, Rex McGee, Ryan Cavanaugh. In the background on the left is Jame Reams and Happy Traum on the right. Direcxtly behind Bela is Alan Munde. You could not swing a stick in this room without hitting at least 5 world class musicians. (if it was a short stick.) |
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