The lineup for the 2026 IBMA Bluegrass Live!® in Chattanooga was revealed by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)

By Steven Brodsky

… in this IBMA news release:

What extremely impactful song was recorded 64 years ago (on July 9, 1962)?

By Steven Brodsky

… The answer to this question isn’t being left to blow in the wind: The song is Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

The recording session took place at Columbia Recording Studios. The recording was released on the A-side of a single on August 13, 1963 (the B-side is “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”). It appears on a track of the album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, released on May 27,1963.

 

Posted 7-9-26

The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) revealed the names of the 30 bands selected as 2026 IBMA Bluegrass Ramble Official Showcase Artists 

By Steven Brodsky

The following news release was issued by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA):

NASHVILLE, TN (June 24, 2026) – The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) has just revealed the 30 bands selected as 2026 IBMA Bluegrass Ramble Official Showcase Artists.

Taking place October 20-21 as part of IBMA World of Bluegrass®, IBMA Bluegrass Ramble, presented by Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED-CHATTANOOGA, is a series of evening showcases featuring juried artists selected through a competitive application process. Official showcases are widely regarded as a premier platform for introducing new music and emerging talent in bluegrass, offering a launchpad for both rising artists and established acts to present new material or new personnel.

Chosen by the IBMA Showcase Selection Committee from more than 100 submissions, the selected artists represent a wide spectrum of bluegrass music, from traditional roots to progressive and globally influenced sounds.

The 30 selected artists are Country Gongbang, Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band, Dave Adkins & Mountain Soul, John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Kristy Cox, Lonesome Ace Stringband, Missy Raines & Allegheny, NEWGRASSLANDS, Nick Chandler & Delivered, Nick Dumas & Branchline, Pickers Anonymous, Pitney Meyer, Ralph Stanley II & The Clinch Mountain Boys, Rick Faris Band, Rock Hearts, Seth Mulder & Midnight Run, Stillhouse Junkies, The Amanda Cook Band, The Cleverlys, The Litch Brothers, The Price Sisters, The Slocan Ramblers, Thunder and Rain, Tonewood String Band, Tony Kamel & Kym Warner, Water Tower, Weary Ramblers, Williamson Branch, Wood Belly String Band, and Wood Box Heroes.

Each artist will perform twice during IBMA Bluegrass Ramble, once at the Chattanooga Convention Center and once at an official Ramble venue in downtown Chattanooga, offering valuable exposure to fans, talent buyers, media, and industry professionals. Official venues include Barrelhouse Ballroom, Hi-Fi Clyde’s, Songbirds, Feed Table & Tavern, and Stratus Rooftop at Caption.

IBMA Bluegrass Ramble, presented by Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED-CHATTANOOGA is just one part of IBMA World of Bluegrass®, which runs October 20-24, 2026. The week, the most important in bluegrass, encompasses four events: the IBMA Business Conference, Oct. 20-22 at the Chattanooga Convention Center; the IBMA Bluegrass Ramble, Oct. 20-21 in downtown Chattanooga venues; the 37th Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards, presented by Get It Played, Oct. 22 at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium; and IBMA Bluegrass Live!®, Oct. 23-24, a two-day festival of live performances and fan experiences.

Access to IBMA Bluegrass Ramble is included with IBMA Business Conference registration for the days registered. Conference registration is now open at worldofbluegrass.org. Single and two-day Ramble passes will be available soon.

Additional details about the Ramble schedule will be available soon on worldofbluegrass.org and the IBMA World of Bluegrass app, available in early October.

Posted 6-24-26

Summer 2026 has arrived today (June 21st) in the Northern Hemisphere

By Steven Brodsky

… Best wishes go out to readers of the Entertainment, Culture and More column in the Northern Hemisphere for a wonderful summer!

Some of this column’s readers are enjoying boardwalks as I’m writing these words and will be enjoying boardwalks when you’ll be reading this post.

Regardless of whether you will or will not be having fun on or under a boardwalk this summer, you’ll likely enjoy listening to these two boardwalk-themed iconic recordings:

 

Posted 6-21-26

When letter writing was common

By Steven Brodsky

… and text messaging and email were innovations of the future, it wasn’t an uncommon practice to seal letters with kisses.

This recording of “Sealed With A Kiss” is embedded here for column readers who have ever received or sent a letter that was sealed with a kiss, and for any reader who is or will be apart from a romantic partner because of a summer vacation in 2026, and for all other readers:

Posted 6-11-26

On the 87th birthday of Gary U.S. Bonds

By Steven Brodsky

Gary U.S. Bonds was born on June 6, 1939. Happy birthday wishes go out to Gary U.S. Bonds!

Readers of this column can celebrate his birthday by listening to this exuberant, iconic recording:

Posted 6-6-26

Happy 80th birthday wishes go out to Eddie Holman

By Steven Brodsky

… Eddie Holman was born on June 3, 1946.

In celebration of Eddie Holman’s birthday, let’s enjoy this recording:

Posted 6-3-26

On Eric Burdon’s 85th birthday

By Steven Brodsky

… Eric Burdon was born on May 11, 1941.

Let’s celebrate Eric Burdon’s birthday, by enjoying Burdon’s lead vocal performance on a record track that has much resonance for people who “gotta get out” of a place or situation and for those who’ve gotten out of a dire place or situation:

Happy birthday wishes go out to Eric Burdon.

Posted 5-11-26

On the 114th anniversary of the RMS Titanic’s collision with an iceberg

By Steven Brodsky

The RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912; the ship sank on April 15, 1912.

More than 1,500 people perished.

To commemorate the anniversary of this tragedy, I’m sharing a video embed and a song link.

Harry Chapin’s “Dance Band on the Titanic” is the title track of Harry Chapin’s seventh studio album (the album was released in 1977): Harry Chapin – Dance Band on the Titanic – YouTube.

Posted 4-14-26

One doesn’t need to be a grammarian

By Steven Brodsky

… to recognize the verity indicated by the double negative in this song’s title, and by the inclusion of the title’s words in the dialogue of the song’s speaker/character:

Though “I Don’t Think Much About Her No More” has no connection to Valentine’s Day, I’ll make a tie-in here to the upcoming unofficial holiday.

It’s easy to surmise that the song’s speaker/character could find Valentine’s Day to be especially difficult.

Same for many others.

It’s not always kind to wish people: “Happy Valentine’s Day.” These words can be hurtful to some people who won’t be having a happy Valentine’s Day.

Let’s be kind.

Posted 2-7-26

It’s magic

By Steven Brodsky

… when a song exceptionally and effectively conveys an emotionally charged inflection point.

That kind of magic kind is evident in “This Magic Moment,” a song penned by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman.

The Drifters recorded “This Magic Moment” on December 23, 1959, 66 years ago, with Ben E. King singing lead.

In commemoration of that recording session, enjoy the magic:

Posted 12-23-25

There’s a correlation between dusty Bibles

By Steven Brodsky

… and how people feel.

This post originally appeared at: Conversations About Faith – delcoculturevultures.com.

Posted 10-22-25, Revised and Reposted 11-8-25

On Art Garfunkel’s 84th birthday

By Steven Brodsky

… happy birthday wishes go out to Art Garfunkel!

Art Garfunkel was born on November 5, 1941 in New York City.

Posted 11-5-25

With up to 20 inches of snow in weather forecasts for a number of states in the U.S.

By Steven Brodsky

… memories related to literal and metaphorical cold fingers come to mind.

I’m acquainted with the discomfort of literal (very) cold fingers, having experienced fingers-numbing conditions while ice fishing, snow shoveling, etc.

And I’m not lacking experience with metaphorical cold fingers.

Most of us can recall personal experiences with cold fingers.

Whatever our experiences have been or are with cold fingers, we can be grateful that Bill Morrissey addressed the cold fingers theme with great artistry and vulnerability:

Posted 10-27-25

‘I’m just a long-haired son of a sinner’

By Steven Brodsky

… sings Jelly Roll in “Son of a Sinner” (one of my favorite Jelly Roll songs):

We’re all children of sinners.

And all of us have sinned.

Nonetheless, God loves us.

Romans 5:8 KJV: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

This post appeared at: Conversations About Faith – delcoculturevultures.com.

Posted 8-20-24, Revised and Reposted 12-6-24

Paul Simon heard Jessy Dixon perform ‘The Wicked Shall Cease Their Troubling’

By Steven Brodsky

… in Radio City Music Hall in 1972, which prompted Paul Simon to invite Jessy Dixon to sing with him on Saturday Night Live. The two would go on to tour together in the U.S. and overseas for eight years.

Enjoy this video of Jessy Dixon singing “The Wicked Shall Cease Their Troubling” at The Dome:

 

Job 3:17: ^“There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.”

Jessy Dixon passed away on September 26, 2011 at age 73. This post appeared in the Conversations About Faith section of the Entertainment, Culture and More column. 

Posted 1-10-21, Reposted and Revised 8-19-24

How meeting Livingston Taylor at a concert affected the career of John Flynn

By Steven Brodsky

John Flynn has been interviewed several times for this column. In a 2011 radio interview, John and I spoke about Livingston. We did so again last year in this interview for this column.

John, where and when did you first meet Livingston Taylor and how old were you at the time?

Gene Shay introduced me to Livingston back in the ’80s. It was prior to one of his appearances at the old Bijou Café in Philadelphia. I was in my early twenties and just starting out. I was a big fan of Livingston’s and I had just appeared on Gene’s radio show on WMMR. I heard Gene mention that he was going to host Livingston’s show, so I asked for an intro. Gene was just too nice to say no.

What was going on in your life?

I was playing some bar gigs, writing songs and mailing demos to Nashville. This was a few years before I got signed to my first publishing deal down there.

Describe what took place. What did Livingston tell you?

To begin with, Livingston was incredibly gracious. As a performer, I really see that now in hindsight, because usually the last thing I want to do before a show is to meet new people and have them sing their songs to me. Actually, I don’t think I’ve met anyone before or since who would have extended themselves in this way to a stranger. But that’s exactly what happened. Gene apparently bragged about me enough to get Livingston to hand me his guitar and sit down directly in front of me. He asked me to play him a song and listened with an almost unnerving, totally focused attention. When I was done he asked if I had any more. I did a second song and he asked for another. I was only too happy to oblige, figuring that if he’d listen to three songs he must be hearing something he liked. When I finished singing, Livingston kind of scrunched up his face and got real thoughtful. There was a long pause. Then he said, “John, there are so many wonderful ways to spend your time in this life. Take a walk, read a good book, spend some time with someone you love. Please do ANY of these things rather than write any more mediocre songs.” The rest was a little bit of a blur. He talked about Cole Porter and Yip Harburg, writers I didn’t really know much about at that point. He really challenged me to study the greats. He spent like ten minutes talking about song structure, and he played me these long-forgotten but really beautiful introductions to popular old standards. – Unknown (at least to me) musical salutations from bygone eras, that had been intended by their composers to set the mood and put the listener in the proper frame of mind to receive the coming song. He even explained that he would be doing relatively few of his own songs in his show that evening because great songs are rare, and a song should be great if you’re gonna sing it. That was the bottom line. If you weren’t going to try to write a great song, then why write one at all?

How did you respond to this at the time?

I guess I was disappointed. But disappointment wasn’t all I took away from the encounter, because Livingston could have easily tossed me a few compliments. He was probably never gonna have to see me again so that would have been the easy thing to do. But I sensed that he respected songs and songwriters too much for that. He chose the harder path and told the truth. He threw down the gauntlet. And, in my way, I accepted the challenge that night. I determined to work much harder at my craft. To really try to write great songs. I’m not saying that’s what I’ve always accomplished. But he got me to aim there. I’ve always been grateful for that.

How did the encounter impact your life?

I’m here forty years later answering questions about music.

Author’s note to readers: Livingston Taylor is a professor at Berklee College of Music.

John Flynn’s website address is: http://johnflynn.net/.

Posted 3-29-19, Reposted 8-6-24

Thinking about Solomon Burke

By Steven Brodsky

… after recalling this morning that the City of Philadelphia had honored Solomon Burke by having declared that July 19, 2002 would be “Solomon Burke Day.”

Solomon Burke (March 21, 1940 – October 10, 2010) was born in Philadelphia.

Posted 7-19-24

He was the ‘Jackie Robinson of television’; on his ‘show rode the hopes and fears and dreams of millions of people’; his show debuted nationally on November 5, 1956

By Steven Brodsky

… He was Nat King Cole, the first African American to host a television show on nationwide television. That show was The Nat King Cole Show. Today is the 66th anniversary of the national debut of the Nat King Show on NBC TV.

Nat King Cole ranks among the most acclaimed jazz and pop musicians of all time. Born as Nathaniel Adams Coles in Montgomery Alabama in 1919, he would go on to achieve recording and concert performance success that was nearly unmatched by others of his generation. “Mona Lisa,” “Unforgettable,” “The Christmas Song,” are among the nearly 700 songs that he recorded. Well over 100 of Nat King Cole’s records charted. He was a prominent presence on national television shows (he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on six occasions).

The Nat King Cole Show was popular and attracted some of the most sought-after entertainers, but it could not secure a national sponsor (other than a few sponsors for brief periods of time before the show expanded from 15 minutes to a half hour). There were 30 sponsors with cooperative arrangements supporting the show across the country on local stations, but nationwide—not one.

In an essay in the February 1, 1958 issue of Ebony titled “WHY I QUIT MY TV SHOW” by Nat King Cole (as told to Lerone Bennett Jr.), Nat King Cole said, “For 13 months, I was the Jackie Robinson of television… On my show rode the hopes and fears and dreams of millions of people.”

Posted 11-5-22