We often say bluegrass is a small community but once assembled in one place it looks a lot bigger. The annual industry pow-wow is probably the one place everyone in the industry can meet and greet, renew acquaintances and build bonding relationships.

This year, the conference featured a never-before-tried “Happy Hour” as a bridge between the day’s workshops and the evening’s showcase entertainment. Some of the first in the door were our friends from last year, Elaine and Lee Roy, the brother/sister duo who came to the event last year with nothing but a demo of their new CD on an MP3 player with earbuds.  But obviously that was enough for them at the time as the demo (their debut CD – “Lonesome Whistle”) they were sharing went on in just the next few months to soar up the bluegrass charts and cause the bluegrass world to sit up and take notice.

We said whirlwind because no sooner than we had a laugh or two over the “earbud sessions”did they get whisked off for a radio interview just outside the door. Their interview was with former Johnson Mountain Boys fiddle player, now broadcast veteran Eddie Stubbs.