From The Desk Of Allen Dresser

I am learning the bluegrass community is deep AND wide. I would like to share some of my favorite blogs and sites that share the love through news, tips and humor.

First up is The Bluegrass Blog. This blog is a great clearinghouse for bluegrass folks with a unique feature called “The B”. The B is a page on the  blog where anyone registered can post as long as the post is about bluegrass. This is a great way of promoting your band, latest CD project or an event. The site is authored by John Lawless and Brance Gillihan. There bios are available on the blog. John’s company is AcuTab Publications, a source of quality bluegrass training materials.  Brance has a audio/video production called Clear Blue Productions, an audio/video production company.  It is obvious they love bluegrass music and The Bluegrass Blog is a great resource. In a recent rating of the Top 100 Music Web Sites “The Bluegrass Blog” was rated 97 which is quite a feat for a bluegrass music site to be on the lists with pop, rock and rap music.

The oldest bluegrass site on the web is Cybergrass. Bob Cherry is the owner/operator of the site. Here is a quote on its origins “Bob Cherry created the first bluegrass web site on September 9, 1992 while working on an electronic documentation project. This was the world’s 7th web site. It got the name Cybergrass in 1995 thanks to Karen Quick.” This site is updated frequently and is a top source for bluegrass news. Check out the Top Ten tab for popular articles and postings. Today the Top Ten range from “How to rip your vinyl records to CD’s or mp3′s” to “The Story of the Martha White Bus”.  This site also provides code for several ways of posting bluegrass music news on your own blog or business site. The site is packed with information and the adverstising in relevant to the bluegreass community.

The epicenter of the bluegrass world-wide community is the International Bluegrass Music Association, known as the IBMA. This organization is the authority on the subject of all things bluegrass and of course the IBMA hosts the most prestigious award ceremony for bluegrass, the annual IBMA Awards – The International Bluegrass Music Awards.  Bluegrass Music is alive and well and growing now and programs from the IBMA like “Discover Bluegrass” are leading the way.

Do you have a favorite site or blog? Leave a comment and let us know!