Quite By Accident!

By now I imagine that quite a lot of the bluegrass community has heard and already formed opinions on the current situation at the IBMA and the mass exodus of directors. I have my opinions too, but without knowing all of the facts or actually speaking with any of the board members on either side of the fence, I'll reserve them for another time.

What I found very interesting, though, came about quite by happenstance. This past weekend on our broadcast news program, heard on over 30 radio stations around the world, the lead story was the IBMA story. In the format of the news program, the sponsorship message always follows immediately after the lead story. For some time now, the California Bluegrass Assoc. (CBA) has been a regular sponsor of our Front Page Bluegrass News. As a good practice, we've had several different scripts recorded so that a better story of the CBA and all it entails can be told. We normally run the various scripts in a rotation pattern.

On this broadcast, the sponsorship script started out … remember now, it was right after the lead story about IBMA directors resigning their positions over a lack of confidence in the board and all the myriad other problems between the board and the membership … the script for the CBA Radio Spot started out with, “Why does the California Bluegrass Association have more members than any other bluegrass organization in the world?” And then it went on to list several of the CBA's accolades.

I assure you that the timing and position of the news story and the sponsorship message came together quite by circumstance and not by design, but I must admit that a small chuckle and smirk did occur when I realized the underlying message that may be carried by that combination. I also must admit to having a certain amount of pride in my association with the CBA, especially in light of the rumblings and tremors shaking up the IBMA.

Have a GREAAAATTTTT Bluegrass Day!!!