IBMA World of Bluegrass 1998
Chicago Tribune
Friday, October 30, 1998
Tempo
Arts Watch roundup
International Bluegrass Music Association Awards
By David Duckman [David Royko]
The International Bluegrass Music Association's convention, awards
ceremony and music fest took place last weekend at the Galt House in
Louisville, and headliners and perennial award winners such as Del
McCoury and IIIrd Tyme Out gave riveting performances for huge crowds.
However, the intimate "Roots and Branches" stage provided some of the
most engrossing moments. The duet of Missy Raines, IBMA's 1998 Bass
Player of the Year, and guitarist Jim Hurst wove bits of bluegrass into
jazz, blues and swing, followed by an intense set by ex-New Grass
Revivalist John Cowan, while guitarist David Grier and mandolinist Matt
Flinner delivered inspired improvising. Friday's Mainstage finale was a
blockbuster of bluegrass classics by Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder,
recipient of the 1998 Album of the Year award. Chris Thile sat in for
two numbers, and watching Skaggs, a former child prodigy, and Thile,
just now entering adulthood, engage in a searing mandolin duel on "Get
Up John" augured well for the music's future.
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