The new Executive Director for the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), Paul Schiminger, has put together an educational video that explains the entire process for the association's annual awards and the voting process that ultimately decides the winners. Held annually since 1986, today almost two dozen awards are handed out to recognize the top achievements across the industry. The awards feature new professionals through the Momentum Awards through the normal music awards and finally the Hall of Fame inductions. Some awards are voted on by the professional membership and some are determined by select committees without voter input.
Paul Schiminger explains in this video about the three balloting procecurds and how the results of each stage of the election are tabulated by an independent accounting firm. Only the responsible employees of that accounting firm will know the results of the final tabulations until the winners are announced at the International Bluegrass Music Awards that year.
The International Bluegrass Music Awards Show is the highlight of the bluegrass year and takes place at the end of the annual World of Bluegrass trade show and convention that takes place in Raleigh, North Carolina during late September or early October. This year's International Bluegrass Music Association’s 26th International Bluegrass Music Awards will be held on Thursday, October 1 at 7:30 p.m. EST at Raleigh, North Carolina’s Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts Memorial Auditorium.
This year the performers during the Awards Show include all five Entertainer of the Year nominees: Balsam Range, The Del McCoury Band, Hot Rize, The Earls of Leicester, and The Gibson Brothers. Eric and Leigh Gibson are also slated to host the October 1 Awards Show. As fits the themes of family and community that run through this year’s Awards Show, presenters will include brothers Ronnie and Rob McCoury, sisters Charli Robertson and Kelsi Robertson Harrigill (Flatt Lonesome), and husband and wife Kenny and Amanda Smith, as well as Sam Bush, Woody Platt, Shawn Camp, Jerry Douglas and Sierra Hull.
We hope that this video will be the first of many that describe the operation of the IBMA and help members better understand their organization.