Best of the Welcome Columns


Best of the Welcome Columns

Author: Alston, Ed
Ever Going Back to Nashville?

Today’s welcome column is submitted with a heavier than usual dose of humility. It’s humbling enough to have one’s journalistic act follow Bruce Campbell’s weekly gem. But today I have the temerity to write about IBMA and Nashville – subjects Bruce has covered for three (3!) straight Wednesdays. I hope – ever so humbly -- to provide a perspective that complements Bruce’s keen, Tocquevillesque insights. He and I, like every other member of our IBMA contingent, would love to have more CBA folks participating at the annual Nashville gala in future years. Bruce’s literary trinity should inspire many to do so. What I hope to add mostly is nuts-and-bolts info that helps readers plan future trips to IBMA. First, let me say that after four trips to IBMA, my mind is made up: It’s bluegrass heaven! While the experience defies objective analysis, I’d offer this quantification: Take the fun you usually have at your favorite bluegrass festival, and add that to the fun you usually have at your favorite camp-out or jam-fest. Then multiply that sum times ten. That’s a fair approximation of how much fun you’ll have at IBMA. And that result is guaranteed (where Rick Cornish stands ready to deplete his IRA account to refund whatever expenses you incur in attending). Just what is “IBMA”? That acronym denotes the annual convention hosted by the International Bluegrass Music Association, which brings together the worldwide bluegrass community. Since 2005, IBMA has been held in Nashville, at the co-joined Renaissance Hotel/Convention Center complex. It begins on Monday, and runs seven days, so as to end on the first Sunday in October. Monday morning through Thursday afternoon features the annual business conference for the bluegrass music industry. Dry as this description may sound, it’s anything but. In fact, there’s an incredible superabundance of intriguing activities….so many that prioritizing them becomes a daunting task. If ever there’s an embarrassment of bluegrass riches, it happens every day (and night) at IBMA. From about 10 AM to afternoon hours, you can attend lectures, seminars and educational labs of varied descriptions, many oriented to band development and promotion and/or to festival producers. Around 8 PM, big-name artist showcases begin, and run for about three hours. Shortly after 11 PM, the “after hours” show cases commence – they feature something like a dozen different 100-seat venues in which both famous and less well known artists simultaneously perform 30-to-45 minute sets, with the final sets ending at 2 AM. Then the fun really starts, especially in designated jamming areas, like CBA’s own 18th floor. It’s not unusual for those jams to continue until dawn. Sleep deprivation poses a daily concern. Still, most CBA folks manage to arise in time for the daily 10 AM “team meeting” in our hospitality suite. As the week progresses, yes, mid-day naps become more frequent. Thursday evening is reserved for the annual IBMA awards show, held this year at the historic Ryman Auditorium just across the street. No artist showcases that evening. However, upon the awards show’s conclusion, jams erupt everywhere throughout the hotel….in designated jamming areas, the hotel lobby, and even on elevators. Friday through Sunday wraps up the week with “Fan Fest,” essentially an indoor festival, during which some five dozen of the bluegrass world’s best bands perform. On Friday and Saturday those performances run from mid-day to an hour or two past mid-night….with as many as a dozen different bands performing simultaneously during the late evening. Throughout the week -- Monday through Saturday, from early evening to about 3 AM -- CBA holds forth in both its 18th floor hospitality suites. This means CBA staffs each suite with members who’ve graciously volunteered to work assigned shifts. We make beverages and light snacks available to the hundreds of visitors who flock to the hotel’s perennially most popular hospitality venue. In addition, we provide jamming space up to our suites’ capacity – normally each suite can accommodate a dozen or more jammers at a time. And most evenings our main suite temporarily supplants jams with a couple of mini-concerts featuring exceptionally talented bands (which quite willingly play for free). Most CBA members stay in double-occupancy rooms on the hotel’s 18th floor. That puts them near our hospitality suites. But it also puts them close, real close, to round-the-clock jam sessions. Year-in, year-out, the 18th floor is one of three the hotel designates as “jamming floors” – which means jams can be conducted anywhere thereon at any hour. And at any volume. In fact, if you’ve reserved a room on the 18th floor, you must sign a waiver documenting you won’t mind jamming noise during your stay. A little bit o’ heaven, no? Organizational expenses? CBA’s annual outlay (after off-set by IBMA-dedicated raffles) averages something less than one-half of one percent of its total operating budget. The substantial good will we realize from IBMA participation may be intangible, true. But I doubt anyone would argue that CBA gets its money’s worth…and then some. It’s not that good will ordinarily comes so cheap. What keeps the cost so low for CBA is the generosity of numerous members who donate time and money so selflessly, and without expectation of any recognition. In fact these stalwarts generally prefer to remain anonymous. So I won’t mention any names other than Larry Kuhn’s. Much as Larry likes maintaining a low profile, his invaluable contributions as our long-time IBMA coordinator are evident to even the most casual observers. How about participant expenses? Well, that amount can vary. At the upper end, the amount you’d spend attending IBMA – to include air travel from the west coast, host-hotel lodging, daily meals and IBMA event fees – is about what you’d spend to attend a half-dozen California festivals. Or roughly what you’d shell out for a week-long bluegrass ocean cruise. However, with a few convenience trade-offs – especially in air travel, lodging, and dining -- one’s expenses can be reduced by as much as one half, to wit: Reserve airline tickets well in advance, check low-cost carriers (esp. Southwest), and don’t insist on a non-stop itinerary. Look into internet lodging reservations with budget motel chains, many of which have accommodations within a 5-to-10 minute rental-car commute to/from the host hotel (where room rates run about four times those advertised for budget motels). Similarly, plan to eat somewhere other than the hotel or pricy downtown restaurants. Whatever the expense, I’d submit that every bluegrass lover should make the IBMA pilgrimage at least once. With careful budgeting over the next 11-plus months, most every CBA member should be able to afford it. Talk to anyone who’s ever been to IBMA. S/he will probably tell you a lot more than I can in a 750-word column. But s/he will surely concur with my conclusion: Do yourself right, and head to Nashville on or about next September 26. Should you be interested in attending some future IBMA convention, by all means contact Larry Kuhn, or any of us who were there this year. We’ll gladly share all you need to know to plan for that trip. Hoping to see you at some future IBMA.

Posted: 10/15/2009