THROUGH THE LENS: IBMA’s World of Bluegrass Bids Farewell to Raleigh, North Carolina

This week’s column looks at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) 2024 World of Bluegrass that was recently held in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a multi-headed beast of a roots music festival that’s comprised of four components:

1) Conference (September 24-26)
2) IBMA Bluegrass Ramble (September 24-26), with 76 performances at six different venues
3) IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards (September 26)
4) IBMA Live! Festival (September 27 & 28), with select showcases on five stages.

The Awards, perhaps, best sum up the ever-fluctuating, continually invigorating state of bluegrass. Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway took home Album of the Year for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, elder statesman and direct link to Bill Monroe, Del McCoury and his band were awarded Entertainer of the Year. Rising stars East Nash Grass won New Artist of the Year, and their young Dobro savant Gaven Largent won Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year. Bridging the generations were banjo great Tony Trischka (who, ironically, was at the forefront of the new wave in bluegrass in the 1970s) teaming up with Billy Strings to win Collaborative Recording of the Year for “Brown’s Ferry Blues.” (Full list of winners.)

However, it was also a bittersweet time for performers and fans alike as the IBMA will move its World of Bluegrass to Chattanooga, Tennessee, next year. While we wait to see what 2025 brings, ND had three of its crack photographers in Raleigh to cover the action: Todd Gunsher, Willa Stein, and Rob Laughter. Wherever the action was — on the Red Carpet, backstage, on the Awards stage, or all around town — at least one of them was there to catch it.

The gallery below features the most expansive set of IBMA photos anywhere. Long live bluegrass!

Click on any photo below to view the gallery as a full-size slideshow.