International Bluegrass April 2015 by International Bluegrass Music Association

April 2015

Bless Your Heart The State of Women i n Blu egra ss Leadership Bluegrass

2015

Special Awards info

International Bluegrass

Vol. 30 | No. 4 | April 2015

Editor: Taylor Coughlin taylor@ibma.org

Designer: Erin Faith Erdos erinfaitherdos@gmail.com

STAFF

Nancy Cardwell Consultant

board

Taylor Coughlin Communications and Professional Development Director

Eddie Huffman Convention Services and IT Systems Director

Jon Weisberger/Board Chairperson

Alan Bartram/Director, Artists/Composers/Publishers Becky Buller/Director, At Large D.A. Callaway/Director, At Large Danny Clark/Director, At Large Jamie Deering/Director, Merchandisers/Luthiers Regina Derzon/Director, Associations, Secretary John Goad, Print/Media/Education William Lewis/Director, At Large

Steve Martin/Director, Broadcasters Stephen Mougin/Director, At Large Joe Mullins, Director, Artists/Composers/Publishers Leah Ross/Director, Event Producers Ben Surratt/Director, Recording/Dist./Marketing Tim Surrett/Vice Chair/Director, Artists/Composers/Publishers Angelika Torrie/Director, International

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International Bluegrass

The monthly emailed publication of the International Bluegrass Music Association

(ISSN #1095-0605) IBMA: IBMA is the trade association

608 W. Iris Drive, Nashville, TN 37204 USA 615-256-3222 | 888-GET-IBMA Fax: 615-256-0450 Email: info@ibma.org Website: www.ibma.org

that connects and educates bluegrass professionals, empowers the bluegrass community, and encourages worldwide appreciation of bluegrass music of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Statement of fact and opinion are made on the responsibility of the writers alone and do not imply an opinion on the part of the officers, directors, staff or members of IBMA. Portions of International Bluegrass may be reprinted provided that explicit citation of the source is made: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Reprinted with permission from International Bluegrass, the publication of the International Bluegrass Music Association, www.ibma.org.â&#x20AC;?

April Table of CONtENTs Cover photo by Alane Anno

04 06 08 12 23 24 26 28

EDITORIAL: We Get By with a little help from you! Special Awards Nomination info Leadership Bluegrass Class of 2015: A Recap Bless your heart: The State of Women in Bluegrass IBMA Job Posting

Tim Surrett Q&A

Fresh sounds

Industry News New Members

Editorial

We get by

with a help from you! little by Taylor Coughlin

here are many good secrets about what happens at Leadership Bluegrass each year that I simply cannot share, lest any of you future LBG alums are reading and I give something away. But there is one portion of the program that I can, and will, share with you today. At each Leadership Bluegrass class, there is a talk that is given explaining how to get involved with IBMA, and within your own bluegrass community. It lights a fire in all who attend, leaving them feeling motivated, inspired, and ready to take action. IBMA was started by a passionate group of people who wanted to see the genre grow and thrive and succeed. They weren’t paid, they were just working hard for the love of it. They pulled the right group of people together with different backgrounds to be well-rounded, and came up with a plan. The IBMA staff currently consists of three full time folks (usually it’s four). All other work that is done is with the help of a select few contractors for World of Bluegrass, volunteers (such as committee members) and two interns.

This organization could not exist without those who take initiative to get involved, roll up their sleeves, and make stuff happen for the good of the community, without getting paid. We could use help in many different areas, be it on a committee or simply taking on different projects like updating database lists on a more frequent basis. If you find you have a skill you can apply to help IBMA, let us know at Taylor@ibma.org or Eddie@ibma. org and we’ll do our best to help plug you in somewhere. If you’re local to Nashville, we occasionally have opportunities to help around the office. Just give us a shout! If you see an opportunity to improve your own bluegrass community on a more regional or constituency-specific level, reach out and talk to people! Engage, and connect. Don’t wait for anyone else to make a difference – YOU be the difference, and help others help you in the process. Find resources that will aid you, learn from others so that you become well-rounded yourself. Start something big by doing something small.

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As we head into festival season, look into volunteering at a nearby festival. Get involved in your local association, or if you’re already involved, see how else you could help. Tell your friends about IBMA, and invite them to come to World of Bluegrass with you in the fall. Help to make our bluegrass community grow! This year’s Leadership Bluegrass class was a special one that saw one of the biggest snowfalls Nashville has seen in years. For you non-southerners, it was about 4”…go ahead and laugh! Read a recap about this year’s class along with a list of graduates later in this issue. We get by with a little help from our friends – and that’s you! Taylor C.

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Special awards open May 1st nominations online Nominations for Special Awards, including: Songwriter of the Year, Broadcaster of the Year, Print/Media Person of the Year, Event of the Year and Best Graphic Design/Liner Notes will be accepted via online submission at IBMA.org beginning May 1, the same day that official ballots will be sent to current professional IBMA members for the IBMA Awards. The IBMA Special Awards will take place during the IBMA Business Conference during a special luncheon during World of Bluegrass, Sept. 29-Oct 1 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The eligibility period for Special Awards is April 1, 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; March 31, 2015. Broadcasting and print/media accomplishments during this time frame should be considered by those writing letters of nomination. Bluegrass events nominated need to have taken place during this time frame, and writers/designers nominated

for the Liner Notes and Graphic Design awards should have their work included on CDs released for the first time commercially during the eligibility period. The Bluegrass Songwriter of the Year Award recognizes contributions to bluegrass songwriting during the eligibility period. Established in 2013, the process for special awards nominations are thus: If you want to nominate someone other than yourself, please notify Taylor Coughlin at Taylor@ibma.org with their name and award category.

International Bluegrass

Those nominated will then be contacted to fill out an online submission form to ensure the awards committees are obtaining all of the relevant and important criteria for the nominee to be considered for the award. We ask that the nominees themselves fill out the form because they will know more accurately what their achievements are, and can better highlight them. You are welcome to nominate yourself and fill out the online submission form without informing Taylor.

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IBMA news

The online submission form will be found through a link on the IBMA website beginning Friday, May 1. The deadline to submit a nomination will be Monday, June 1. To nominate a Distinguished Achievement Award recipient, please email Taylor a letter of recommendation for consideration by the committee. Five nominees per award will be determined by small committees of individuals with expertise in the various areas represented. The final recipients will be determined by a larger panel of electors, drawn from the professional membership of IBMA. Panel of Elector members also vote on the Bluegrass Hall of Fame ballots, and all have more than ten years of experience in the bluegrass industry.

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SEPT 29-OCT 1: IBMA BUSINESS CONFERENCE OCT 1 : : : : : : : 26 TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS MUSIC AWARDS OCT 2-3 : : : : : WIDE OPEN BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL

International Bluegrass

IF BLUEGRASS MUSIC MOVES YOU, COME TO THE EVENT THAT MOVES BLUEGRASS MUSIC!

Leadership Bluegrass 2015: A Recap By Cameron Matthews

After five hours on the icy tarmac at LaGuardia airport in Queens, NY I assumed that I wasn’t going to make it to Nashville for Leadership Bluegrass 2015. The first class would begin bright and early at 9AM the next day, and I was sure I’d be taking the M60 bus back home to Astoria. However, after some kind of weatherbased miracle, the snow and slush outside abated, the plane was deiced and I found myself suddenly in mid-air over the US of A. I arrived at the beautiful BMI headquarters the following morning armed with nothing but a pen, and absolutely no idea what I was in for.

Multiple former class members told me “It is amazing!” and “I’d do it again in a heartbeat” so my expectations were pretty high. And I’m happy to say that the pros at IBMA exceeded all of my preconceptions, and then some. Want to know what Leadership Bluegrass is really all about? Well here’goes: LBG is a three day thinktank where 25 strangers and industry professionals solve problems, get educated in modern music business practices and become well-informed disciples of the bluegrass community. That sounds kind of intense -- and it was. The classes you partake in last

International Bluegrass

all day long and are followed by jam sessions and maybe a few beers. This year was a pretty odd one for Leadership Bluegrass. On our second day, Nashville was billy-clubbed by a winter ice storm that impressed even this Northeasterner. (Side note: where are that city’s salt trucks? And why can’t you people drive in snow? You have to figure that out, Nashville). Anyway, we all piled into the Best Western on Music Row and made the best of our circumstances. And I’m pretty sure that brought all of this year’s attendees even closer together.

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LGB Recap Every classmate, no matter their age or background, had the same exact concerns about bluegrass as a genre and as a community. We discussed our community’s outward facing appearance, questioned our ability to be inclusive and to serve, debated our genre’s value, talked diversity and -- maybe, just maybe -- paved the way for a brighter future in bluegrass. We tore down divisions between “trad-ordie” and progressive, and ultimately answered the question “what is bluegrass?” And that’s what’s so amazing about LBG. You actually make gears move. You’ll meet amazing people, and realize that no other music community has this much heart and grassroots ability. My colleagues Bree Tucker-Myers and Hank Smith were both chosen to represent our class at the upcoming

World of Bluegrass festival in Raleigh, NC. It was the first time in Leadership Bluegrass history that two people were chosen -- so, yeah, I guess that makes us kind of special. So I offer this to future members: go in gung-ho, make friends, eat as much of the delicious free food as possible, and help push bluegrass forward. You’ll return from Leadership Bluegrass invigorated and ready to move your career, or your company, your band or your own self to do incredible things. Since returning, I’ve recommitted to this wild and always-changing music village through my work at The Bluegrass Situation. As a recovering indie-rocker, it’s pretty damn nice to feel so included. Long live bluegrass! Cameron Matthews is the Managing Editor for The Bluegrass Situation. He lives in Astoria, New York.

Congratulations to our graduates: Amy Gallatin, Amy Gallatin & Stillwaters, Connecticut

Heidi Herzog, Red Dress Productions, Tennessee

Maria E. Nadauld, Above The Bay Booking, California

Bree Tucker-Myers, DVT Marketing Enterprises Inc., California

Jacob Groopman, Front Country, California

Mark Panfil, Foundation for Bluegrass Music & musician, New York

Cameron Matthews, The Bluegrass Situation, New York

Jeff Westerinen, artist and producer, Maryland

Mitch Collman, Robust Records Inc., North Carolina

Debbie Hall, Rhode Island Bluegrass Alliance, Rhode Island

Joe Mullins, Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers, Ohio

Paul Schiminger, High Strung Bluegrass, Maryland

Eddie Huffman, IBMA, Tennessee Emily Epley, Executive Director of The Earl Scruggs Center, North Carolina

Judy McDonough, JEMMedia, Tennessee

Reuben Shetler, Boston Bluegrass Union, Massachusetts

Kathy Chiavola, Artist, Tennessee

Ron Raxter, PineCone, North Carolina

Gary Loeser, The Event Company, Kentucky

Laura Boosinger, Blue Ridge Music Trails of NC, North Carolina

Thomm Jutz, artist, Tennessee

Hank Smith, musician and teacher, North Carolina

Laurie Greenberg, Tall Pines Media, New Jersey

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Tori Gold, Gold Heart Band, Virginia Wendy Tyner, Wintergrass, Washington

LGB Recap

Thanks to our sponsors for Leadership Bluegrass 2015:

The Leadership Bluegrass planning committee this year included Emilee Warner (Chair), Alan Tompkins, Jean Spivey, Nolan Lawrence, Dan Keen, Beth Fortune, Trisha Tubbs (facilitator), and Taylor Coughlin (staff liaison). Chris Keenan (EBMA) was the facilitatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s assistant. The Leadership Bluegrass Selection Committee this year included Alan Tompkins, Nolan Lawrence, Nate Lee, and Shannon Turner. Leadership Bluegrass applications are available in the fall with a deadline in November. Stay tuned to IBMA.org for more information.

Presenting: Wintergrass, BMI Platinum: Richard Spratt Gold: Bluegrass Heritage Foundation Silver: Denise Jarvinen, Megan Brugger, John & Trisha Tubbs, Anonymous. Patron: Deborah Durant, Archie & Priscilla Warnock, Bob Altshuler, Nancy Cardwell, Lee Michael Dempsey, Walt Michael, Nick Barr, Jean Spivey, Kitsy Kuykendall, Arnie Fleisher, Fred Bartenstein, Bill Foster, MerleFest, Louis Meyers. Supporter: Matt Merta, Claire Ratliff, Mary Burdette, Greg Cahill, Jon Weisberger, Lynda Dawson, Ethan Burkhardt, Barry Mazor.

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Editor’s Note: This feature originally appeared in The Smoky Mountain News, based out of Waynesville, North Carolina. www.smokymountainnews.com. All counties in the article are in North Carolina.

Danielle Bishop only cries when she’s mad. “And was I mad,” she said.

Sitting in a booth at the Papertown Grill in downtown Canton, North Carolina, Bishop’s eyes light up when asked if her aspirations of becoming a touring musician were ever influenced by the fact that she was a woman. Already an acclaimed fiddler at only 20 years old, she has spent most of her life in pursuit of a dream of taking to the open road and sharing her talents with the world. Recently, a popular regional bluegrass out-

fit was in need of a fiddle player who could also play mandolin and guitar. Bishop is well versed in all three instruments and decided to call for a tryout. “They just said they wanted a guy,” she shrugged her shoulders. “They figured it’d be more appropriate. I guess it just wouldn’t be convenient for them. So, I hung up the phone and cried — it was frustrating that it wasn’t an equal opportunity.”

Like so many women in bluegrass — in any field of work for that matter — Bishop has had to

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prove herself in a male-dominated industry. Some women have had better luck than Bishop at breaking through, though at 20 she still has a long career ahead of her. Bishop’s story of rejection isn’t unique or dime-a-dozen, but another stitch in the rich and vibrant melodic fabric women in string music have put together from sheer will and determination. “If you keep pushing, eventually people can’t ignore you anymore,” Bishop said. “They can’t keep looking over the fact that you’ve got talent, you’ve got guts and the same drive that any other guy playing music has.”

Different set of challenges

That sentiment of hard work and preparation leading to opportunity for female musicians is something that permeates all levels of the industry. Name almost any famous female bluegrass performer, and they can tell you about the particular challenges women face.

Not only one of the biggest female names in string music, Rhiannon Giddens is also one of the modernday torchbearers of old-time roots and mountain music. Lead singer of the Grammy-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, a North Carolina African-American string group, Giddens also hit the national spotlight with her recent record “Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes,” which was a modern interpretation of never-before-released Bob Dylan songs that included collaborations with Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Jim James and T-Bone Burnett.

As a touring musician, she has seen her share of judgment taking the microphone as the only female onstage. “‘Come on up here, little lady,’ they’d say to me,” Giddens chuckled over the phone last week while on vacation in Ireland. “I know when I was with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, I’d try to resist the whole, ‘Oh, there’s a girl playing fiddle, let’s go see that’ type of thing. You have the tools like anybody else, and maybe being a female will get people initially there, but it’s your talent that has to keep them there. We were also a black string band, and people thought that was interesting, but if we weren’t any good, it wouldn’t have worked.”

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While currently recording a new album in the Virginia mountains, Sylva, North Carolina-based Mountain Faith singer/fiddler Summer McMahan has also dealt with the challenge of being a female bluegrass musician. When on the road performing, she does notice a lack of women onstage.

“I think there’s more men than women in bluegrass because of families,” the 21-year-old said. “I couldn’t imagine being a wife and mom and having to leave my family at home every weekend. I’m single, so that isn’t something I’ve had to deal with yet. The road life is very hard. It wears and tears on you, for sure. I can’t imagine this lifestyle being very appealing after getting married and starting a family.”

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Aunt Samantha The earliest recording of the fivestring banjo actually came from the skilled fingertips of a woman, and a Western North Carolina woman at that. “Aunt” Samantha Bumgarner from Dillsboro was a renowned early country and folk performer. Born in 1878, she garnered a reputation around Southern Appalachia as a musical force to be reckoned with. In 1924, she and guitarist Eva Davis headed to a studio in New York City to put together songs for Columbia Records. “I mean, for our region, you wouldn’t have a lot of the mountain music to begin with, without Samantha Bumgarner and Eva Davis,” said well-known Western North Carolina banjoist Laura Boosinger. “They recorded those songs in New York before anybody did. Nobody recorded the five-string banjo until Samantha Bumgarner did — period.”

Bumgarner’s notoriety only rose as the years went along. In 1939, she was one of the musicians invited by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to perform for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England at the White House. Pete Seeger, the late legendary folk icon and political activist, pointed to Bumgarner as the initial influence on him to pick up the five-string banjo. She also became a mainstay at Bascom Lamar Lunsford’s Mountain Dance & Folk Festival from 1928 until her death in 1960. Now entering its 88th year, the festival takes places over the first weekend in August in the Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place in downtown Asheville. 14

International Bluegrass

“Especially in our region, women have always had such a strong influence and been on the local scene here,” Boosinger said. “Yes, there’s very few girls in the scene when compared to the number of men playing, no doubt about it. But, there’s a lot of bands fronted by women that are major players these days, and also these young string bands with female leads that are coming up.”

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Bless your heart

Though a lifelong musician, it wasn’t until Boosinger came to Western North Carolina as a teenager that she truly connected the beauty of sound and those who played and danced to it. Attending Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa in the late 1970s, she found herself right at the source of real mountain culture and music. At that time, iconic bluegrass musician/storyteller David Holt began to develop and direct the Appalachian Music Program at the college. The program was ahead of its time in terms of preserving the old-time music and also bringing forth legendary musicians from their front porches to the stage. “I didn’t really know anything about mountain music. The music was incredible, but it was the people that fascinated me,” she

said. “Why did these people do this? Why were these traditions in their families? I mean, I didn’t have any traditions that were generations old.”

An acoustic guitarist since she was 12, Boosinger fell in love with the banjo when banjoist Marc Pruett (of Balsam Range) gave her one to take home, look at and learn to play. It was at that moment when she began her journey down the rich tradition of mountain music history and the faces behind the instruments. “The folks that grew up with this music here, the places I went to hear and play it, the old-timers were just glad that anybody wanted to play music,” she said. “And they saw me, this girl coming along with a banjo — they were all about it.”

Alongside her decades of performing and perpetuating the craft of bluegrass and old-time mountain music, Boosinger is also a consultant for the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina, an entity partnering the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and the North Carolina Arts Council. Encompassing 29 counties in Western North Carolina, the trails were created to preserve, interpret and promote these pockets of music and dance that have had a profound impact on American culture and beyond. “My hope is that this music will still remain a cultural treasure,” she said. “These families continue for generations, and this music needs to stay in people’s focus because it’s still evolving.”

Forging her own path

When she was 3 years old, Bishop was given her first fiddle. Since then, you wouldn’t cross paths with her without a fiddle in hand. “I’ve never been able to put it down,” she laughed. Raised in Fairview, North Carolina, her father — an accomplished player in his own right — owned a music store filled with instruments and curious musicians. As a kid, Bishop remembers going to trade shows with her dad. It was that early influence which ultimately led her to take lessons from

renowned Western North Carolina fiddler Arvil Freeman, who taught or influenced seemingly every young player in this region. “Bluegrass is what I was raised on,” she said. “I like that there’s not a lot of structure with what you can do, but at the same time there is. I like being able to make my own style within something that’s already established.”

For the last few years, Bishop has been front and center onstage with the Whitewater Bluegrass Company, a well-known blue-

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grass group that includes Steve Sutton, an International Bluegrass Music Association award winner and Grammy-nominated banjoist who has worked with the likes of Jimmy Martin, Rhonda Vincent and Alicia Nugent. Recently, Bishop sat in with Balsam Range, the 2014 IBMA “Entertainer of the Year,” when lead singer/fiddler Buddy Melton was unable to play. Balsam Range mandolinist Darren Nicholson also invites her to play from timeto-time in his successful solo band. 15

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“Steve and Darren, they don’t see me as a kid or a girl,” Bishop said. “They’ve always treated me as an equal, as a musician who can pull their part.” But, the road to this point in her career hasn’t always been so smooth. As a kid, Bishop entered and won numerous contests. Though obviously talented, she does, however, point to the fact she felt like more of a novelty, one who maybe wasn’t taken as seriously as she should have been.

“I got tired of the cute factor, and it happened all the time,” she said. “It would just drive me crazy with all these people going, ‘Oh my goodness, she’s cute and plays a fiddle — here’s a ribbon.’” Bishop said she’d like to interact with other professional female musicians. But she rarely comes across others with whom she can collaborate and connect to talk about what it means to be a woman in bluegrass.

“To be honest, I don’t really know any other females,” she said. “They’re out there, but I don’t

cross paths with them often enough to have that type of conversation about it.”

Pushing through all of the background noise, Bishop looks at her journey as maybe taking a little longer than expected, where dialing into the ideal situation comes with perseverance and tough skin. “I think what’s important right now is making the right connections and not relying on anybody’s reputation but my own,” she said. “And that might take longer, but this is my dream.”

Let the music speak for itself Giddens, a Greensboro, North Carolina native, studied opera at the Oberlin Conservatory but grew up around bluegrass and traditional music. Both her uncle and grandfather played in string bands. After college, she discovered roots music and had an epiphany as to what she wanted to do with her life.

“I picked up the banjo and dove in with both feet,” she said. “That sound of the clawhammer banjo just drew me in. I fell in love with the music, with the history — that was it, I was a goner.”

Giddens started to wander around North Carolina, attending bluegrass/roots festivals and other avenues while meeting like-minded musicians. Once the Carolina Chocolate Drops formed in 2005, she began to hit the road, only to notice there weren’t as many females as one would expect in her same position. “In terms of bluegrass, it always seems to be dominated by dudes, but there’s always going to be those notable women out there. As far as how many, I don’t know?” she said. “And the instrumental side has been a guy’s game for a long time. There have

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always been female instrumentalists, but in terms of sheer numbers, and at festivals, there’s not as many as I’d like to see.” Giddens points to bluegrass icon Alison Krauss and old-time legend Abigail Washburn as leading the charge for females breaking into the genre. Add in the likes of young bluegrass phenoms Sierra Hull, Brittany Haas and Brooke Aldridge, and you have the outlines of a new dawn for women in string music. “This cadre of women will only continue to inspire more girls,” Giddens said.

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Bless your heart

Tell it from the mountain Forming nearly 15 years ago, the Mountain Faith quintet includes Summer’s father, Sam, and brother, Brayden. Like Bishop, Summer’s love of bluegrass also emerged at a very early age.

“I started playing when I was 4 years old. I went to Mountain Heritage Day in Cullowhee (North Carolina) and saw the Fiddlin’ Dill Sisters perform. Two weeks later, I had a fiddle and was taking lessons from Amanda Dills,” she said. “I think what stuck out most to me in bluegrass was all of the raw talent. My bluegrass heroes have spent their lives perfecting their raw talent. That blew my mind and sparked my interest.”

Mountain Faith has spent countless nights on the road, all in an effort to spread their music and message. And it’s being on the road that Summer enjoys the most when not performing. “It’s absolutely exhausting, but nothing is more fun,” she said. “It’s like a family camping trip that never ends. Yes, the [boys] are messy and smell, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

And as a female touring musician, McMahan is grateful for the support and respect she’s received thus far in the industry. “Thankfully, I’ve never been in a situation where I was treated negatively because I’m a woman,” she said. “Most people have gone

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International Bluegrass

out of their way to make me comfortable.” So, what does it mean to be an influence on other women trying to break into bluegrass?

“I’m the happiest when I’m onstage. It’s such an honor to be part of women in bluegrass. The most rewarding part is talking with the kids after shows and being a positive role model that they can look up to,” she said. “The few women I do see out on the road absolutely love what they do. Rhonda Vincent has the most passion for music and fans that I’ve ever seen — that’s what it takes. [You’ve got to] make sure this is what you really want. If you do want it, put your heart into it. It takes a lot of hard work and passion.”

Feature Forming nearly 15 years ago, the Mountain Faith quintet includes Summer’s father, Sam, and brother, Brayden. Like Bishop, Summer’s love of bluegrass also emerged at a very early age.

So, what does it mean to be an influence on other women trying to break into bluegrass?

Can you have it all? As women try to mold and sustain long-term careers in bluegrass, the question arises — can you have it all, the career and the family? A wife and mother, Giddens takes to the road with her husband and children in tow. With her undying passion for music and performance, she’s been able to find the ideal balance in having a career and a family.

being able to put things together to make it work. I’ve been mentoring other women musicians, and it seems to be a growing idea — that it doesn’t have to be either or, that you can be a musician and a mother.”

“I definitely have thought about my future of hopefully being a wife and mom,” McMahan added. “My dream would be to have my “That’s a huge piece of it, in terms family on the road with me. I of turning professional,” she said. know that would be nearly im“I have a lot of people asking me possible living on a bus. I guess how we did it, how we were able I’ll cross that bridge when I come to take the family on the road. It to it.” takes a supportive partner and 18

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Looking around the current bluegrass and string music genres in Western North Carolina and beyond, one can see numerous young girls participating in the popular Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) camps and workshops. But then, somewhere around post-college, those numbers seem to drop off dramatically, whether it be at the hands of marriage, children or simply just focusing on navigating daily life rather than pursuing a career in music.

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“I kind of like my life the way it is right now,” said Emma McDowell Best. “I’m married. I like to come home at night, make dinner and hangout. I like playing on the weekends, but besides the occasional trip somewhere, I wouldn’t want to tour and play full-time.” A Haywood County, North Carolina native, Best, 26, came about as a bluegrass prodigy. She started taking fiddle lessons at age 8, eventually also getting instruction from Freeman a few years later. Alongside her kid brother Bryan, the fiddlin’ siblings played every weekend growing up in

the McDowell Family Band. Best became a professional musician, ultimately giving fiddle, mandolin and guitar lessons of her own. “I played everywhere, all over the South. I played the Shindig on the Green and Mountain Dance & Folk Festival in Asheville (North Carolina),” she said. “And I was encouraged so much to play music and have a career. I loved playing bluegrass, something about that style and lonesome sound that’s so honest, natural and comfortable.”

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Best had high hopes of making a career as touring musician, but those thoughts slowly fell to the wayside when she got married, her military husband (grandson of legendary Haywood County banjoist Carroll Best) relocating the couple to Upstate New York amid his deployments. She also felt burned out from constant playing and performing over the years. She even stopped giving lessons, with her personal playing time dwindling, too.

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“Then I heard an interview Carol Rifkin (WNCW) did with Arvil Freeman and it inspired me to go back to teaching and playing again — I almost felt guilty for stopping,” Best said.

These days, besides giving lessons around Western North Carolina, Best performs throughout the region when called upon by other musicians and bands. And with that, she does point out times where maybe she wasn’t taken as seriously being a female musician. “I know occasionally when I want to get a date booked at a venue, I sometimes get the feeling that the venues don’t take me seriously, where they might look at me as not being able to play to the level of difficulty as men do,” she said. Regardless, Best isn’t deterred from playing the music she loves. Next month, she will make her first appearance at Merlefest, a long-time beloved bluegrass/roots festival in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, alongside Boosinger. Through she’s slowly getting her feet wet again, Best finds it hard to track down other professional female bluegrass players, let alone balance performing and having a family.

“Locally, I actually have a hard time finding other women to play with,” she said. “And just finding time to rehearse can be difficult, especially when other female musicians have kids. Then, you have the regional and national levels, and those people have committed so much time and life to learning and playing, which I think they’re more willing to sacrifice a little bit more than someone who may just go out and only play a Friday night.”

On the flip side, Best’s brother, Bryan, is currently a national touring musician, playing fiddle and mandolin in the Claire Lynch Band, one of the top tier groups in all of bluegrass.

“He really enjoys performing, traveling and meeting new people,” she said. “When I was younger I wanted to be a touring musician, to do what Bryan is doing right now — that’s all I wanted to do. I would have liked to have know what it was like, to be a touring musician, even if it was just for a couple of years.”

In regards to the small numbers of touring females in bluegrass, Best points back to the societal expectations of women and the families they’re part of. “You get sidetracked with family and obligations, with life, and maybe you pick it up again after the kids have grown up,” she said. “I think it just has become more acceptable for men to go off on the road than for a girl to leave the home, leave their families and hit the road. They say ‘Oh, well it’s my job.’ Yeah? Well, I’d like that job, too.”

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Even the playing field As a teenager in Alabama, Claire Lynch began searching for new music, people and places. She eventually found herself at a bluegrass festival in 1973. It was there she laid her eyes on the power of string music, and also her future husband, who opened the show. The couple began collaborating together, with Lynch coming into her own. Her words found their way onto recordings by Kathy Mattea and Patty Loveless, while her voice backed greats like Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris.

Now 60, Lynch has garnered quite a successful career as a leading lady in bluegrass. She is a three-time IBMA “Female Vocalist of the Year” winner (1997, 2010 and 2013) and also took home “Song of the Year” in 2014 for “Dear Sister.” “I’m beginning to see a pretty even playing field these days — I think it’s wide open for women in bluegrass,” she said over the phone while on tour in California last week. “Today is nothing like it was back then. I think the women I came up with in the 1970s, and the ones before that, did a lot of plowing, pushing our way into leadership roles.” Though female musical acts and influences were rare in her early days, Lynch also said that whatever negativity or prejudice may have been directed at her for being a woman in bluegrass either didn’t faze her or she simply wasn’t going to pay attention to it.

“I was kind of young. I didn’t know any better,” she laughed. “Even before I was in a band, I was dating Larry [Lynch] and he covered me when we were out traveling on the road. When I was in the band, I was innocent. I was just doing my job. I was used to the male dominance in the scene and it was no skin off of my back. I knew a lot of women who entered the bluegrass world when I did that were offended, but I didn’t feel that way. I think the audience thought we were a breath of fresh air because I was a girl. There were definitely people behind our backs who said we weren’t part of bluegrass, but I didn’t get any of that from people in our scene and those at the festivals.”

publicists, festival promoters and business personnel.

“I had secretarial skills, so all the administration stuff gravitated towards me,” she said. “I learned how to handle things, I studied up, learning about the music business, publishing, writing, managing a band, touring.”

“I’ve found as being the only woman with a bunch of dudes for a while quite a funny life, in being a touring musician,” Giddens added. “The key is to find people you’re willing to be with, on and off stage. If they don’t want to tour with a girl, then they’re probably not the people you want be around — go find your people, go find the people that inspire you, go find your pack, and practice your butt off.”

Lynch noted how her ever-evolving skills in the music industry came in handy when stepping up to the plate when it came to business and professional decisionmaking.

In terms of modern bluegrass, Lynch says there’s still a long way to go for total equality even though the female presence is rapidly changing. She pointed to all the positions held by women in the genre, from former IBMA Executive Director Nancy Cardwell to the innumerable

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“In society, women are one of the last minorities to find freedom, and I think sometimes we’re not considered a minority because we’ve been visible all these years,” she said. “There are some men who may belittle my presence, but that’s not true of all men. The men I’ve played with have given me nothing but respect and power — I’m not a man hater, I’m a man lover.” What about the idea of a woman touring on the road with men?

“Not all women are willing to share a restroom facility with several other hairy-legged guys — it can be an uncomfortable thing,” Lynch said. “And I can see why a band might just grab another guy musician and hit the road, because men tend to know where they stand with each other.”

Bless your heart

Holding your own Giddens sees the place of females in bluegrass, roots and string music as one where the music will always win out. No matter what gender you are, if you can play, and play well, the best talents will rise to the top. “You learn as a woman, and as a Southern woman, that you’re in survival mode,” she said. “If you want to be taken seriously, you have to have respect for yourself. You have to figure out where are the mountains for you to die on? What are the things that you want to push forward? How do I shape my reality to my purpose?”

Besides, Giddens said, the music industry in general can be a rough place to carve out a career, no matter if you’re male or female.

“In this industry, you’re going to have to push through a whole bunch of things anyways, and if being a woman in all of this is your first lesson, that’s great, because it’ll help you deal with all the other crap, no matter what,” she said. “You create your own reality, bit by bit. I’ve sacrificed a lot to do what I love, and it means so much to me that other women find inspiration in that — if we don’t support each other, nobody will.” 22

Finishing up her cup of coffee at the Papertown Grill, Bishop is readying herself to enter into the impending day. There are upcoming performances and new band prospects on the horizon. It is another morning for her to prove herself and her talents to a bluegrass community full of fresh ears awaiting the next thing to turn their heads and get their bodies moving.

“It’s good sometimes to think the music industry is all rainbows and unicorns, but it’s not very productive for me to do so,” she said. “Thinking about myself in the respect of inspiring others makes me want to do my best, not only to be someone worth following, but to also make it easier for those who come after me.”

“I would have probably told myself to toughen up soon, because I didn’t think I had to,” she said. “I came up being the cute little fiddle girl, and I got used to people praising that instead of my ability. In having that, I put my guard down to what was actually going on. It all has changed as I’ve gotten older.” She takes another big gulp of coffee and again makes direct eye contact.

“Then again, it’s character building — what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” she said with the trademark grin of someone destined to achieve their wildest dreams, come hell or high water. “So, I’m not too upset about it.”

When asked if there was anything, perhaps advice, she would have told her younger self, Bishop takes a sip of coffee and pauses. She places the cup down on the table, slowly gazing out the window and back to the question posed. It is an extended pause, one with enough space to recall her lifelong memories of performance and sound.

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Bookkeeper & Member Services Manager Sought: The International Bluegrass Music Association, a 501 (c) 6 non-profit trade association, is accepting resumes for the position of Bookkeeper/ Member Services Manager. Based in Nashville, TN with around 2700 members in all 50 states and 30 countries, IBMA is the trade association that connects and educates bluegrass professionals, empowers the bluegrass community, and encourages worldwide appreciation of bluegrass music of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Skills, experience & qualities needed:

• Proficient in QuickBooks Accounting or bookkeeping experience (CPA not required)

• Experience with ETix or other online event ticketing service • Proficient with Excel and PowerPoint

• Proficient with Access, experience with cloud-based data storage programs • Calm, organized, accurate, ethical, honest Ability to meet deadlines and be consistent about routine jobs • Team player

• Courtesy & good follow-up skills in dealing with the public

Compensation based on experience Probation period: 6 months IBMA is an equal opportunity employer.

Email resume and cover letter to info@ibma.org or mail to following address. No telephone calls. IBMA Staff Search 608 W. Iris Drive Nashville, TN 37204

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Shake Getting to Know & your IBMA Board howdy

Tim Surrett - Bass player for Bal-

sam Range, and a co-founder of Mountain Home Music Company. Proud to serve as vice-chair of the IBMA board, having served as a member for three years.

In brief, what brought you to bluegrass music?Â -My dad played bluegrass and country music. I got away from it in my teenage years, but once I heard JD Crowe and The New South, it was all over! Â

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Board Q&A

What do you hope to bring to the bluegrass community by serving on the board of directors?

What projects are you working on for the future of bluegrass music right now?

-Bluegrass music has given so much to me and my family. If I can somehow help others with my experience, or further the music in any way, that would be my goal.

-The board is working on a myriad of things every day to try to improve the situation of the music and everyone involved. I personally enjoy helping young bands make records that can hopefully further their careers. We’ve been blessed to watch some of What is your advice to them really get things off the someone fresh to the blueground.

How have you seen the bluegrass industry change in your time working in it? -The industry has changed, but for the better, in my opinion. I think there are more opportunities for national exposure than ever before. I’ve watched the Grascals on Leno, and The Lonesome River Band on Lettermen. I think bluegrass music has come a long way from the stereotypes that have plagued it for years. Bands like The Steep Canyon Rangers and The Stringdusters have made it cool with young people to play and listen to bluegrass. I think the sky is the limit.

What is your favorite (bluegrass) album and why? -Wow, that’s hard! BluegrassThe World’s Greatest Show. That live record was the one that really made me want to play bluegrass music. The Seldom Scene, The Country Gentlemen, and especially JD Crowe and the New South. Tony Rice just blew my mind.

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Give us the top three best festivals you’ve attended. -Tough one here. We play so many great ones. As an attendee, I used to love to go to the Old Frontier Ranch Festival in Ohio. I saw so many great bands there. It was a great thrill to go back there a few years later with Tony Rice.

grass industry?

-Play as much as you can. With Balsam Range, we played 4 or 5 nights a week at a little place in Asheville, NC called the Fiddlin’ Pig. Not very glamorous, but it made a band out of us. Don’t expect overnight success. Be humble, be grateful for every note you get to play! Don’t neglect the audience. They pay money to hear you. It’s my honor to play for them, not their honor to get to hear me. Make friends - not fans!

April 2015

Fresh Sounds

Annabelle Watts Forward Motion www.annabellewatts.com

Natalya Zoe Weinstein & John Cloyd Miller Equinox www.zoeandcloyd.com

Adkins & Loudermilk Adkins & Loudermilk www.adkinsloudermilk.com

Foghorn Stringband Devil in the Seat www.foghornstringband.com

Snyder Family Band Wherever I Wander www.snyderfamilyband.com

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Pharis and Jason Romero A Wanderer Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll Stay www.pharisandjason.com

Ronnie Reno Lessons Learned www.ronniereno.com

“AirPlay Direct is an incredibly valuable tool for artists and their teams to utilize in efforts to promote their music to radio,” said IBMA Consultant Nancy Cardwell. “And for broadcasters, it’s a convenient, free, online service where they can download new music for their terrestrial, satellite and internet-based radio programs. If you’re not already taking advantage of this service, I urge you to check it out at ”

Industry news

April 2015

On the charts - as reflected at press time Billboard: The Phosphorescent Blues, Punch Brothers at number one; Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions, Robert Earl Keen at number two; Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn, Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn at number three.

Bluegrass Unlimited Albums: ‘Tween Earth and Sky by Becky Buller (Dark Shadow) at number one; Earls of Leicester by Earls of Leicester (Rounder) at number two; Turn on a Dime by Lonesome River Band (Mountain Home) at number three.

Bluegrass Unlimited Songs: “HonkyTonked to Death,” by Junior Sisk and Ramblers Choice (written by Bill Castle) at number one; “Fiddlin’ Joe,” by Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper (written by Mark ‘Brink’ Brinkman) at number two; “Her Love Won’t Turn on a Dime,” by Lonesome River Band (written by B. Butler, T. Johnson, S. Minor) at number three.

Bluegrass Today songs: “Leaving CrazyTown” by Steve Gulley and New Pinnacle (written by Steve Gulley and Tim Stafford) at number one; “Roll Big River” by Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver (written by Dustin Pyrtle, Eli Johnston) at number two; “Tennessee Flat Top Box,” by Darin and Brooke Aldridge (written by Johnny Cash) at number three.

Singing News songs: “Pull Your Savior In,” by Larry Stephenson Band at number one; “Healed” by Locust Ridge at number two; “Stacking Up the Rocks,” by Balsam Range at number three. Roots Music albums: Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions, Robert Earl Keen at number one; Brotherhood by Gibson Brothers at number two; When I’m Free by Hot Rize at number three.

Standing o! The Stetson Family of Australia is pleased to announce that their video feature on Balcony TV was “Editor’s Choice” on the international Balcony TV site. The fivepiece acoustic band creates unique vibrations by incorporating the sounds of Americana folk and bluegrass into their Australia-based music. Read more about the feature at www.cybergrass.com. Donna Hughes, the award winning Singer-Songwriter and Animal Rights Activist has won the 2015 Canine Freedom Award. The award was presented by the nonprofit organization Dogs Deserve, which has been freeing chained dogs since 2002.

The European Bluegrass Music Association has recently announced the 2015 recipients of the Bluegrass Pioneers and Personalities Awards. This award serves as a hall of fame of sorts as it notes musicians, journalists, and various experts who have significantly contributed to the world of bluegrass music in Europe. The 2015 Bluegrass Pioneers are as follows: French banjoist Jean-Marie Redon Richard Weise of Germany’s Bear Family Records Czech banjoist Dalibor Cidlinsky Rainer Zellner has been highlighted as Bluegrass Personality of the Year.

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Industry news For the record - need to know Participants of World T.E.A.M. Sport’s annual Face of America bicycle and hand cycle ride will be greeted with pleasant sounds of bluegrass music during the afternoon of April 25 in Frederick, Maryland. Flower Hill String Band of Gaithersburg will play a free concert for all riders participating in the 55-mile journey.

and therefore must let go of her radio personality at this time.

the Time Jumpers. Ticket prices are $75/person or $1500 for a VIP table.

Bluegrass Today is reissuing a couple of CDs that are surprisingly recent. Dailey and Vincent Sing the Statler Brothers, a record released by Cracker Barrel in 2010, and Nathan Stanley’s The Legacy Continues are CDs that are both being re-released later this year.

MerleFest is pleased to announce the return of the Acoustic Kids Showcases in 2015. This showcase allows the next generation of pickers, singers, and traditional dancers to present their talents to fans at the four-day festival in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on April 23-26.

Record Store Day is a newly celebrated holiday due to the rising trend in vinyl record sales. To celebrate, Doc Watson, Dolly Parton, and Lee Ann Womack are among some artists who will be reissuing their albums on vinyl. You can celebrate too on April 18. For more details, head on over to www. recordstoreday.com.

Country Summer, a major music festival held in Santa Rose, CA, has teamed up with Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to sponsor the Fender Contender Challenge, a brand new band competition. Artists and bands will enter for a chance to will $5000 and an opportunity to open the festival on June 5. Wouldn’t it be great for a new up and coming bluegrass artist to win the challenge?

Jessica Stiles, creator of Stiles of Bluegrass, a radio show that aired on the Bluegrass Country broadcast feed, has announced that she is signing off from the regular show. Stiles claims she needs more time for personal projects

The International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, KY has announced its gala event at the Owensboro Convention Center on April 17. The event will feature Vince Gill and

The Society of the Four Arts will be hosting their 10th annual bluegrass concert at 3pm on April 13, 2015 in Palm Beach, FL. This event will feature music from the award winning bluegrass duo Dailey and Vincent. For more information, visit www.fourarts. org/event/dailey-vincent/.

In Remembrance Wade Jessen of Billboard magazine passed away on March 5 at the age of 53. Jessen was the head of several of Billboard’s music charts, including the bluegrass charts. Jessen worked in radio from age 16 up until 1994. He was promoted to senior chart manager at Billboard soon after. Jessen was a big supporter of IBMA and he had just celebrated his 20th anniversary as the head of Billboard’s bluegrass, country, Christian, and Gospel charts.

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Arthur Robinson passed away on March 6 due to complications from a seizure he suffered in early February. Robinson was a British bluegrass star who drew inspiration from American bluegrass artists like Stanley Brothers, Larry Sparks, Laurie Lewis, Special Consensus and the Bluegrass Patriots. Robinson formed his own bluegrass band called King Arthur and the Knights of Bluegrass. Together, the band made many successful appearances throughout the UK. Robinson was honored with a lifetime associate membership of the British Bluegrass Music Association in 2006.

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Industry news Association news

The Central Texas Bluegrass Association has announced the dates for the 2015 Old Settlers Music Festival. The event will be on April 16-19 in Driftwood, Texas. The artist line-up includes The Mavericks, Robert Earl Keen, Sam Bush, and Rising Appalachia, among many others. The Seven Mountains Bluegrass Association has proudly announced the new “Showcase Series” concerts. Beginning on November 7 at 7pm in Mechanicsburg, PA, each concert series will feature two local bands. Remington Ryde and Marc Ashby & High Octane will kick off the first concert of the series. For more information, please visit www.sevenmountainsbluegrass.org.

The Missouri Area Bluegrass Committee is happy to announce the dates for the 4th Annual Back Forty Bluegrass Festival. This year, the festival will be May 21-24 in Curryville, MO. Headlining acts include Rhonda Vincent, Josh Williams, and Lori King & Junction 63, among others. For more information about this event, please visit www.backfortybluegrasspark.com. The Kansas Bluegrass Association recently announced the KBA 2015 Hall of Fame Inductees. Congratulations to Frances Bong, Larry Welch, and Mike Theobald for their exciting new induction!

IBMA is proud to welcome a new intern, Molly Slemp. In her own words: Hi there! I am currently a Junior Music Business major at Belmont University and I am beyond thankful for the opportunity to intern at IBMA! I am a native of beautiful Wise County, Virginia, a rich musical community as well as the home of some wonderful bluegrass. I’ve been told that I displayed a passion for music at a very young age, perhaps because it was all around me while I was growing up. Through the years, I have stayed true to my Southwest Virginia roots by singing mountain ballads and bluegrass music. A few years ago, I picked up the banjo and never looked back! This internship will bring me closer to home here in Nashville, and I look forward to learning and growing with this great group of people.

Welcome, Molly! We’re so happy to have you on board!

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New members: March Graham Harvey

Fentress Munden

Larry Williams

Leslie Robinson

Janis Blocker

Charles Vollmer

Don Wilson

Zachary Morowitz

Zachary Bruce

Thomas Spencer

Mark Sahlgren

Breana Myers

Scott Madden

Larry Wallace

Donna Hughes

Candice Harp

Joseph Vitosky

Christine Weinmeister

Alex Nicholson

Warren Winborn

James Dulaney

Tarrel Laubach

Barbara Winborn

Paul Lyttle

John Napier

Jonathan Owens

Thomas Warlick

Gerald Monaco

Jerry Leonard

Addie Levy

Rachel Roca

Robert Byrd Jr

William Elmore

Grizelle Fearing

Robert Mcevoy

Jeff Russell

Helen Matheny

Lawrence Norfleet

Charles Matheson

Pete Denahy

Jeffery Echerd

Eric Howell

Ed Stokes

Chris Neeley

Stella Vollmer

Frank Nelson

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