NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, August 22, 2019 – The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) has announced that GRAMMY-winning banjoist – and IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award recipient – Alison Brown will deliver the Keynote Address at this year’s IBMA Business Conference, Tuesday, September 24, at the Raleigh Convention Center in downtown Raleigh, NC. The keynote kicks off IBMA’s week-long annual World of Bluegrass event, brought to you by Chiesi USA and taking place September 24-28 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
In her scheduled address, “Four and a Half Things I’ve Learned,” the Compass Records co-founder will share insights she’s gained over the past 25 years at the helm of one of roots music’s most successful independent labels: “I had the honor of giving the IBMA keynote address 17 years ago. Although we weren’t aware of it at the time, we were in the waning days of the record business as we knew it,” said Brown. “Since then, the music industry has undergone a radical transformation in the way music is sold and consumed. All of the players in the ecosystem – from the record labels to the retailers to the artists and the fans – have been affected. I look forward to sharing some of my thoughts about where we are at this juncture and how to keep bluegrass music healthy and thriving in the current landscape.”
“When we think about leaders in the bluegrass community who have contributed powerfully to the music in multiple ways, Alison Brown immediately stands out,” says Paul Schiminger, Executive Director of the
IBMA. “Her experiences and success as an artist and label head amidst one of the major transformations of the music industry speak to the heart of this year’s conference theme: ‘Roots and Routes: Plotting Your Course,’ where the focus will be on mapping those new paths to success when many of the tried and true have been erased or considerably altered.”
Alison Brown has taken an unlikely path in establishing herself as one of the most critically acclaimed banjoists in the world. One of the more multi-faceted minds in roots music, Alison is a former investment banker (with an AB from Harvard and an MBA from UCLA), a Grammy winner, USA Artists fellow and co-founder of Nashville-based Compass Records Group which is home to the Compass Records, Red House Records, Green Linnet and Mulligan Records catalogs.
In 2015, Alison received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association for the furtherance of bluegrass music. In 2019 she will become the newest inductee into the American Banjo Museum’s Hall of Fame for Five String Banjo Performance. Alison’s current album, The Song of the Banjo, has been described as a love song to her chosen instrument with Alison “shining thanks to her skilled playing, imagination and purity of heart.” (Downbeat Magazine)
Business Conference registration is required to attend the Keynote Address. Those wishing to attend the IBMA Business Conference can purchase a pass online at www.worldofbluegrass.org, or can call 1-800-514-3849. First-time conference attendees receive a $25 discount. IBMA Awards Show tickets, Wide Open Bluegrass festival tickets, and hotel reservation info can also be found on the site.
More info about IBMA’s World of Bluegrass
IBMA’s World of Bluegrass, whose Principal Sponsor is Chiesi USA, is a five-day annual bluegrass music homecoming and convention. World of Bluegrass encompasses four events: the IBMA Business Conference, September 24-26; the Bluegrass Ramble, an innovative series of showcases, taking place September 24-26 in downtown Raleigh and at the Raleigh Convention Center; the 30th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards, scheduled for Thursday evening, September 26; and PNC presents Wide Open Bluegrass, September 27-28, a two-day festival. Wide Open Bluegrass features the best of the best in bluegrass today, benefiting the IBMA Bluegrass Trust Fund—a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that assists bluegrass professionals during financial emergencies—and introducing the music to thousands of new fans every year.
As in years past, events during World of Bluegrass will take place at the Raleigh Convention Center, the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, the Red Hat Amphitheater and at various venues in town.
Volunteer for Wide Open Bluegrass and other World of Bluegrass events:
https://worldofbluegrass.org/participate/volunteer/
Learn more about accessibility efforts that are part of the whole World of Bluegrass, including Wide Open Bluegrass: https://worldofbluegrass.org/accessibility/
The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau reported that last year’s World of Bluegrass events generated $12.7 million in direct visitor spending for that region, with total attendance for the week’s activities estimated to be a record-breaking 223,000 people. Over 220 acts performed throughout the entire week of World of Bluegrass.
###
About Chiesi USA
Chiesi USA, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company committed to research, development, and commercialization of innovative products in the areas of cardiovascular, neonatology, respiratory, rare disease and special care therapeutics. Our primary focus is on people: the people we serve in the healthcare community; the people whose lives are touched by our products and services; and the people who work at Chiesi USA, as they strive to build their company, their family and their community. Chiesi USA, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.
About PNC Bank
PNC Bank, National Association, is a member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). PNC is one of the largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States, organized around its customers and communities for strong relationships and local delivery of retail and business banking including a full range of lending products; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. For information about PNC, visit www.pnc.com.
About IBMA
IBMA – the International Bluegrass Music Association – is the nonprofit professional organization for the global bluegrass music community. The organization’s successful run in Raleigh is the product of their partnership with The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Raleigh Convention Center, PineCone—The Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, the City of Raleighand a local organizing committee.
###
Press Info:
Judy McDonough, JEMMedia
[email protected], (615) 243-5994
General Info:
Abby Lee Hood, IBMA [email protected] (615) 256-3222
