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RALEIGH, N.C. — Organizers of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass today revealed the full lineup of artists and nightly schedule of performances for PNC presents Wide Open Bluegrass. Wide Open Bluegrass is the free weekend festival that takes place at Raleigh’s Red Hat Amphitheater and on seven additional stages in downtown Raleigh Sept. 27-28. It was also announced that WRAL-TV, an NBC affiliate, is the exclusive media partner for the Main Stage performances at Red Hat Amphitheater as well as for the Wide Open Bluegrass festival.

The announcement included news about Sam Bush as a special guest of the Del McCoury Band,  performance; the debut of bluegrass supergroup The Ringers featuring Jerry Douglas, Ronnie McCoury, Todd Phillips, Christian Sedelmyer, and Dan Tyminski; and a special performance of "You Gave Me a Song: Celebrating the Music of Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard," featuring Alice Gerrard, Laurie Lewis, Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Justin Hiltner, Jon Weisberger, and Eliza Meyer. They join previously announced I'm With Her (Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, & Aoife O'Donovan), Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Balsam Range, Sister Sadie, and Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, and Molly Tuttle for Main Stage performances at Red Hat Amphitheater.

Performances at Red Hat Amphitheater will begin at 5pm each night, and will feature premier bluegrass acts for six hours. See bio information about the newly announced performers below.guest of the previously announced Del McCoury Band performance; the debut of bluegrass supergroup The Ringers featuring Jerry Douglas, Ronnie McCoury, Todd Phillips, Christian Sedelmyer, and Dan Tyminski; and special performance "You Gave Me a Song: Celebrating the Music of Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard," featuring Alice Gerrard, Laurie Lewis, Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Justin Hiltner, Jon Weisberger, and Eliza Meyer. They join previously announced I'm With Her (Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, & Aoife O'Donovan), Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Balsam Range, Sister Sadie, and Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, and Molly Tuttle for Main Stage performances at Red Hat Amphitheater for this year’s festival. Performances at Red Hat Amphitheater will begin at 5pm each night, and will feature premier bluegrass acts for six hours. See bio information about the newly announced performers below.

Beginning this year, the performances at Raleigh’s Red Hat Amphitheater will be open to the public for free, subject to venue capacity. A limited number of reserved seats in prime sections of the venue are available for purchase to ensure admittance for every performance. Reserve tickets for PNC presents Wide Open Bluegrass

“This year, we are raising the bar on our ‘wide open’ brand of bluegrass in Raleigh,” says William Lewis, executive director of PineCone, the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, and producer of Wide Open Bluegrass. “The new model in Red Hat Amphitheater – coupled with seven other stages of free musical performances and a wide array of accessibility services – is an intentional effort to take bluegrass to the masses by reducing barriers to participation. All are welcome. We sincerely appreciate our sponsors for helping make this dream a reality.”

The following is the schedule for the Main Stage performances at Red Hat Amphitheater for the 2019 Wide Open Bluegrass festival (gates open at 4 p.m. both days):

Friday, Sept. 27
5:00    Sister Sadie
6:05    Balsam Range
7:15    Molly Tuttle
8:25    I'm With Her — Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarsoz, Aoife O'Donovan
9:45    The Ringers featuring Jerry Douglas, Ronnie McCoury, Todd Phillips, Christian Sedelmyer, and Dan Tyminski

Saturday, Sept. 28
5:00    "You Gave Me a Song: Celebrating the Music of Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard" featuring Alice Gerrard, Laurie Lewis, Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Justin Hiltner, Jon Weisberger, and Eliza Meyer
6:10    Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
7:15    Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
8:30    Del McCoury Band with Sam Bush and Other Special Guests (to be announced)

Schiminger offered additional comments on today’s lineup additions: “We are excited to announce more of this year’s incredible Red Hat Amphitheater Main Stage performers. When it is all said and done, bluegrass fans will get to enjoy artists ranging from Hall of Famers to award winning rising stars to special collaborations with amazing guests. This stage is the festival’s crescendo each day, and this year we are so pleased to offer free and open admission for more than half of the seats, while still giving the most devoted fans a chance to reserve prime seating both days. Don’t miss the world’s biggest bluegrass celebration!”

“Working with WRAL-TV to elevate our outreach is an important new step for us,” added Schiminger. “Partnering with such a respected media company in the region is a great way to make sure the music fans in the Triangle are aware of the many ways they can experience bluegrass during this year’s festival.”

“We are thrilled to join IBMA, PineCone, and the City of Raleigh as the exclusive media partner for Wide Open Bluegrass,” said Joel Davis, WRAL-TV/FOX 50 Vice President and General Manager. “Unique events like Wide Open Bluegrass are among the many reasons we are so proud to call this place home! Because of that, this partnership is a natural fit with our commitment to serve this community and our company’s long history of supporting the arts.”

Wide Open Bluegrass will continue to be a fundraising vehicle for the IBMA Bluegrass Trust Fund, which provides direct financial assistance to bluegrass artists and other industry professionals in times of emergency need. (To date, the Trust Fund has given more than $800,000 in direct aid.)   

Information about Red Hat Amphitheater limited reserved seating, Bluegrass Ramble Showcase passes, IBMA Business Conference registration, IBMA Award Show tickets and hotel reservations are available at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass website, WorldofBluegrass.org.

More information about the additional artists/performances announced today:

Sam Bush — an International Bluegrass Music Award “Entertainer of the Year” nominee in 2019 — is one of the best known, and globally lauded, performers in contemporary bluegrass and acoustic music. He’s released seven albums and a live DVD over the past two decades; his innovative work with New Grass Revival, a myriad of top artists (including Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett), and as a solo artist has caused artists and groups such as the Punch Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, and Greensky Bluegrass to claim him as a major influence. His performances are annual highlights of the festival circuit, with Bush’s joyous perennial appearances at the town’s famed bluegrass fest earning him the title, “King of Telluride.”

The Ringers’ performance at Wide Open Bluegrass will be mark the worldwide debut of this newly formed supergroup. In their bio, the musicians explain their formation, and their name: “In many ways, performing bluegrass music is like a team contact sport. Sometimes you need to push the team beyond ordinary boundaries, therefore you call in a ‘ringer’ — that is, one with special talents — to push the team’s performance over the top.” The idea of bringing highly proficient, deeply soulful, and historically rooted musicians rang true and subsequently spurred calls from iconic dobroist Jerry Douglas to critically acclaimed, globally celebrated musicians Ronnie McCoury (the Del McCoury Band, The Travelin’ McCourys), Todd Phillips (The Bluegrass Album Band), Christian Sedelmyer (The Jerry Douglas Band) and Dan Tyminski (Union Station). As their bio states, “these musicians are not simply great players — they are The Ringers.”

“The duo of Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard literally changed the DNA of bluegrass music, opening opportunities for women to see themselves in the leading role of bands, as songwriters singing about their lives, and as tradition bearers who needed a connection to this music that spoke for them,” said artist Cathy Fink, bandleader for "You Gave Me a Song": Celebrating the Music of Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard. “Our tribute features multiple generations of women whose music has been influenced by this powerful duo: Alice Gerrard herself will be front and center; Laurie Lewis, Marcy Marxer and I have worked and sung with Alice for many years; Tatinana Hargreaves & Allison de Groot are influencing a brand new generation of Alice & Hazel fans along with their own powerful take on old-time and bluegrass; Eliza Meyer at 16 shows that this influence continues to permeate and grow. The band is filled out by Justin Hiltner on banjo and Jon Weisberger on bass. This is a one time special event not to be missed.”

IBMA’s World of Bluegrass, whose Principal Sponsor is Chiesi USA, is a five-day annual bluegrass music homecoming and convention. World of Bluegrass encompasses four events: the IBMA Business Conference, Sept. 24-26; the Bluegrass Ramble, an innovative series of showcases taking place Sept. 24-26 in downtown Raleigh and at the Raleigh Convention Center; the 30th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards, scheduled for Thursday evening, Sept. 26; and PNC presents Wide Open Bluegrass, Sept. 27-28, a two-day festival. Wide Open Bluegrass features the best of the best in bluegrass today, benefiting the IBMA Bluegrass Trust Fund — a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that assists bluegrass professionals during financial emergencies — and introducing the music to thousands of new fans every year. 

As in years past, events during World of Bluegrass will take place at the Raleigh Convention Center, the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, the Red Hat Amphitheater and at various venues in town.

The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau reported that last year’s World of Bluegrass events generated $12.7 million in direct visitor spending for that region, with total attendance for the week’s activities estimated to be a record-breaking 223,000 people. Over 220 acts performed throughout the entire week of World of Bluegrass.

This project is supported by Come Hear North Carolina, a program of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and the North Carolina Arts Council. www.comehearnc.com

About Chiesi USA:
Chiesi USA, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company committed to research, development, and commercialization of innovative products in the areas of cardiovascular, neonatology, respiratory, rare disease and special care therapeutics. Our primary focus is on people: the people we serve in the healthcare community; the people whose lives are touched by our products and services; and the people who work at Chiesi USA, as they strive to build their company, their family and their community. Chiesi USA, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.

About PNC Bank:
PNC Bank, National Association, is a member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). PNC is one of the largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States, organized around its customers and communities for strong relationships and local delivery of retail and business banking including a full range of lending products; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. For information about PNC, visit www.pnc.com.

About WRAL-TV:
WRAL is Raleigh’s go-to station for up to the second breaking news, critical weather updates, and in-depth information every morning, day, and night. Members of WRAL’s News and Weather teams are dedicated to the viewers, who’ve come to depend on them for outstanding journalism and point of difference weather coverage. WRAL's news is on 10.5 hours every weekday, covering significant stories and community events across central North Carolina.

Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. is a diversified communications company which owns and/or operates WRAL-TV, WRAL Digital, WRAZ-TV, WRAZ Digital, WRAL-FM, WRAL-HD2, WCMC-FM, WCMC-HD1, WDNC-AM, WCMC-HD2, WCMC-HD3, WCLY-AM, WCMC-HD4, Microspace, CBC New Media Group and Wolfpack Sports Properties (a joint venture with Learfield) in Raleigh; WILM-TV, WILT-LD and Sunrise Broadcasting in Wilmington; The Durham Bulls Baseball Club, Bull City Hospitality, and the American Underground startup hub in Durham, and real estate interests including the American Tobacco Historic District in Durham, and Rocky Mount Mills in Rocky Mount; and Professional Builders Supply (an equity partnership) in Morrisville.

About IBMA:
IBMA  — the International Bluegrass Music Association — is the nonprofit professional organization for the global bluegrass music community. The organization’s successful run in Raleigh is the product of their partnership with The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Raleigh Convention Center, PineCone — The Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, the City of Raleigh and a local organizing committee.

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CONTACT:

Judy McDonough
mcdonoughmedia1@yahoo.com
(615) 243-5994

Abby Lee Hood
abbylee@ibma.org
(615) 256-3222