Thirty artists and bands have been selected to participate in the Bluegrass Ramble series of showcases slated to take place at select venues throughout downtown Raleigh, North Carolina during the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s World of Bluegrass 2015, Sept. 29-Oct. 3.

Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys

Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys

The following artists/bands were chosen by the IBMA’s showcase selection committee from among 150 who applied: April Verch, Ash Breeze Band, Big Virginia Sky, Blue Mafia, Bradford Lee Folk and the Bluegrass Playboys, Caribou Mountain Collective, Charm City Junction, Chris Henry and The Hardcore Grass, Detour, Donna Hughes, Front Country, Gold Heart, Greg Blake, Hank Smith & Lindsey Tims, Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys, Mipso, Rex McGee, Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, Ryan Cavanaugh, Songs of the Fall, Steve Gulley & New Pinnacle, Taarka, The Lonesome Ace Stringband, The Missy Werner Band, The Original Five, The Steel Wheels, The Tyler Williams Band, Unspoken Tradition, Vickie Vaughn Band, and Wood & Wire. (Photos and artist website links may be found online in the Bluegrass Ramble section on the IBMA website.)

Besides these “official” showcase performers, other artists will be added to the Bluegrass Ramble via co-sponsored shows at the venues along with privately hosted “After Hours Showcases” (Tuesday-Friday) at the Marriott. The “Wide Open After Hours” showcase format introduced last year also is on the docket (Friday-Saturday, Oct. 2-3).

Both IBMA Business Conference attendees (with ID) and the general public (with wristbands that can be purchased online) will be admitted to the Bluegrass Ramble showcases. Although the IBMA is adding afternoon showcases this year to its business conference from Tuesday-Thursday, these will be open only to conference registrants/attendees — affording artists an opportunity to showcase their talents before talent buyers, labels, agents and “tastemakers” in the bluegrass community.

IBMA’s World of Bluegrass is considered bluegrass music’s annual industry gathering and family reunion. This is its third year in Raleigh, having uprooted from its Nashville base in 2013. IBMA has partnered with The Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau, PineCone – The Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, the City of Raleigh and a local organizing committee to extend its outreach to the roots music community and local bluegrass music fans in the Carolinas.

Featuring a wide array of professional development seminars, meetings and forums, a keynote speaker to be announced, artist showcases and late-night hospitality functions, an exhibit hall, and plenty of networking and relationship-building opportunities, the business conference portion of World of Bluegrass 2015 will extend from Tuesday, Sept. 29 trough Thursday, Oct. 1. The 26th annual International Bluegrass Music Awards, a centerpiece of the week, will be presented on Thursday evening, Oct. 1, while the festival portion of World of Bluegrass 2015 will take place Friday and Saturday, Oct. 2 and 3. Featuring free stages and ticketed performances, the Wide Open Bluegrass music festival will afford conference attendees and the general public opportunities to hear a wide variety of bluegrass music and enjoy a street fair with music stages, vendors of all sorts, and youth activities.

For more information and to register and/or purchase tickets for World of Bluegrass 2015 or any of its individual events, visit www.ibma.org/world-of-bluegrass or call (888) GET-IBMA.