President's Message

February 2023

Hello Bluegrass Family!

The first month of 2023 is in the books and the year is already off to a great start. We are seeing more festivals being held, and from the picturesand videos I am seeing, it looks like they are being well attended. The success and failure of a festival is based on some key components. 

These key components are: 
The entertainment that is paid for by the promoter, the vendors who also pay a portion of their sales. The main component is the attendance. With out paying customers to the festivals the promoter ends up paying the difference. The musicians have to get paid. The vendors will lose money, but still have to pay the promoter. So, you see how important you are to this process. I understand that not everyone can get out to attend a festival, but those of us that can, we should. Please take a few minutes and look over the flyers that are listed in our newsletter and plan on attending one or more of the upcoming festivals. A great big hearty Thank You to those of you who have had the opportunity and the means to attend. Some of the best jam sessions I have attended were are festivals. 

Enough about festivals, we are seeing a small rise in the numbers and locations of monthly and weekly jams. This is great news. The best way to Preserve and Promote Bluegrass Music is to take it somewhere and show it off. These jams are a great way to introduce people to the music we love. Just the other day I received an email from someone asking me questions about where they could find local places to listen and learn to play bluegrass music. They said that a friend took them to a festival. She had never heard bluegrass music before and fell in love with it. Now she cannot get enough of it. You never know what kind of seed you are planting and the outcome there of if you don't invite your friends and family or even someone you just met. I was sitting in my office just last week and one of my coworkers came in and we just started talking. He heard that I play a little music and he shared with me that he is wanting to play bluegrass. It's a conversation that I didn't start but I was sure glad it came up. Just imagine the possibilities... 

I want to publically, again, Thank our Board of Directors for their continued support and everything they do for our great association. Without them, we would have closed our association doors during the pandemic. And, Please KNOW that with out YOU, all the MEMBERS of our association, we would not exist. Thank you all for your continued support. I hope to see you all soon at a jam near you.

V/r 
Paul Drummond