Months ago I began this adventure of following Kenny Lee and his league of helpers as they worked out the details of the 2010 International Newgrass Festival. I chased my quarry with endless hours of research, developed an addiction to Facebook, got every penny I’ve ever spent on Rhapsody listening to music, and ventured into East Nashville more once for interviews. As days clicked off heading into INGF time, I found Kenny Lee and all still hard at work.

    The line-up for this year’s festival has been posted and finalized for weeks now and even with the sad news that John Cowan would not be returning this year, the INGF recovered with hardly a hiccup and filled the slot with Dread Clampitt. Ever the sly fox, Kenny Lee completely dodged my inquiry about Cowan and simply stated that, ‘We’ve got a great lineup of artists from all over the map that we are thrilled to present… award winning bands are returning from last year that people can’t get enough of..  plus great new bands that are amazing.’

    The most amazing addition to this year’s festival is without doubt Missy Raines & the New Hip. The number of awards, recognitions, and accolades that the members of this band have collectively could quite possibly stretch from downtown Bowling Green to the INGF’s stage.  Among those returning are The Farewell Drifters and The Greencards. True that so many fans come to see Sam Bush and Curtis Burch, the additions of artists like Mountain Heart and Bearfoot have driven tickets sales up from last year. In fact Kenny says, “Ticket sales are ahead where we were at this time last year.”

    Kenny added that, “As far as promotion… the big difference is… last year it was Curtis Burch, myself and few others telling people that it was going to be a great thing.  This year… we have everyone who was there telling people how great it was.  Because the Newgrass Festival became something people could experience for themselves last year and make their own judgment on… and all who were there were glad they came.   Due to word of mouth alone, we feel that the festival can only get better.”

    “Internet wise… the festival Facebook page has over 1500 fans so far and growing.  People from all over the world.  A lot of the Newgrass fans are downloading flyer graphics from our website and putting out flyers where they live.   Facebook has really helped us this year as far as connecting with the world of Newgrass music fans.  We didn’t have a Facebook site last year.”

    “We have TV ads on WBKO and radio ads on D-93…already running.  Andy Stahl did the voiceover… and helped us out again.  The same ads we are sending via the internet to different outlets.  Print wise… we’ll be doing some ads in Nashville and Louisville this year… hoping to bring in more from those large nearby cities.  As well as advertising in local publications.  We advertised in the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival Program again.  Grey Fox in New York State has been very helpful to us.  We are patterned in a lot of ways around what they have been doing successfully with Sam Bush for 30 years.”

    Though some of the acts on the INGF’s bill aren’t nationally known like rising star Sierra Hull, but what acts like Hazel Johnson and Bob Lucas add is like whip cream or ice cream on the pie, adding flavor and texture to an already fantastic treat. It doesn’t stop with the music though Kenny pointed out by saying, “John Ballance is doing a lot of work to add to the quality of his site.  After seeing what it was about last year and getting feedback from people from all over who go to these types of festivals… John has been adding to his facility to make Year Two an even better experience than last year.  Also, Disc Golf Shop and More is setting up an 18 hole Disc Golf course on the track portion of the site which a lot of people will enjoy.”

    With the help of the Bowling Green Area Convention & Visitor’s Bureau the INGF has reached even more people across the globe by placing information into markets that the festival committee would not have been able to do on its own.

    Finishing up with still a month to go from the festival Kenny wanted everyone to know that, “The bottom line for the long run though is… we know that our festival will depend heavily on local community support.   We believe that if people from our area come to Newgrass Festival 2010 they will see how wonderful it is to have an art form recognized for its high quality and innovation that originated in Bowling Green, KY.  Our community couldn’t have a better musical ambassador for the quality of our musical arts than Sam Bush and Newgrass music.  Our underlying message is… Bowling Green may not be a large community but we are a quality community.  It lifts our community up in the eyes of the world to be known as the home of Newgrass music.  We have something wonderful that originated here… and in the long run it will be a community decision to do something wonderful with it—just as it is in every community in the world that is known for its artistic contributions.”

    With that said, I’ll confess that this is my first coverage of a major festival and being dazzled by it all. To use the phrase fellow writer Pennman has handed me, I’ll still be shaking my pom-poms long after this year’s festival has ended as I’ll be waiting for next year.

    Please come and join us in this celebration of Kentucky’s unbridled spirit.