2019 IBMA Recap

Guitar - Guitarist

Each year, we take a trip to Raleigh, NC for the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) World of Bluegrass Festival to experience one of the largest Bluegrass Music events in the world. While we never come empty handed, displaying our guitars is just a small part of why we continue to attend this event.

To us, IBMA is the essence of Bluegrass culture. Bourgeois’ involvement with the event stems from a burning desire to support the bluegrass community and the musicians that exist within it. Between awards ceremonies, live performances, as well as the attendance of thousands of die-hard musicians and fans from all over the world, IBMA is perhaps the most important bluegrass event of the year. As a result, it is only natural that IBMA has become a place for many of our artists to congregate. This year, Josh Williams was nominated for guitar player of the year, and performed twice at the IBMA Awards Ceremony. Kristy Cox Band took part in several performances throughout the week including their D’addario showcase which can be streamed here, and a casual performance in our booth. Trey Hensley closed out the weekend with a debut performance of his new Bourgeois Slope D 35. You can catch a glimpse of his performance here. (link to video) Sierra Hull, The Gibson Brothers, Sara Watkins (I’m With Her), Cody Kilby, and Eric Lindberg (Nefesh Mountain) were also there to perform throughout the week. With so many of our artists present, we feel as though our true purpose at IBMA is to represent, support, and rally for those that bring life to the instruments we make.

When it came down to selecting a collection of guitars for IBMA, we wanted to be very intentional with which types of guitars were on display at the show. So for this year’s collection, we selected 10 of our artists, most of which were performing at IBMA, and recreated their guitars. In doing this, we were able to provide our audience, as well as our artists’ fan base, with the opportunity not only to play a guitar from the same brand as artists performing at IBMA, but a guitar exactly like the ones on stage that weekend. In doing this, we were able to offer a glimpse into the individual character of the instruments our artists choose to play, and help bring their fans closer to the experience each of these artists has when interacting with their instrument.

Here’s to a fantastic 2019 IBMA Show, and we hope to see you again next year!

 

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