"I started working across Europe in 2022 when I networked with other festival organisers. Every few months, we met in video chats and exchanged ideas," says Christopher Howard-Williams, chairman of the EBMA board and one of the organisers of the Bluegrass Summit in Prague. In May 2024 – after Christopher and other board members rescued the dissolving EBMA – the idea came up to meet again. "The EBMA hosted annual events 15 years ago. So we knew that it made sense in terms of networking and dynamics to meet regularly."
Panels and Networking
In various panels, topics such as concert and tour organisation, the networking of the Bluegrass community, or the offerings regarding workshops and lessons in Europe were discussed. At one of the panels, Signe reported on the small Danish Bluegrass scene, which has been carried by the heroes of the 1970s folk scene in recent decades. She organises 10 concerts a year in Copenhagen and says that jams are held regularly in Denmark. Herbert from Ulm also came to Prague for networking purposes; he runs a successful Americana club in Ulm.
There were also discussions in small groups, the results of which were presented to the plenary. Live music was also enjoyed: 9 bands from across Europe performed on Friday evening – a highlight was the first-time performance of Kids On Bluegrass Europe together.
2 US Bands at Dlabačov Kino
The Saturday evening program featured two great US bands at Dlabačov Kino: first, John Reischman & The Jaybirds with a full Bluegrass set.
Next up were the fantastic Southern Legacy, who moved between Bluegrass, Country, and Blues. In the end, both bands stood on stage and played together – fantastic! This supplementary part of the Bluegrass Summit was organised by the instrument maker family Čapek, who also appeared as a sponsor and celebrated their first 40 years of existence this year – yet another anniversary.
Here is a report on the summit on Czech television: LINK
Back to the content discussions at the summit: Lilly Pavlak is an old hand in the European Bluegrass community. She has a Czech-Swiss background and has spent several decades with concerts, booking, band management – in short, music work – in this genre. Lilly is still a big fan: "I am considering living in the Czech Republic again because there are simply more Bluegrass bands, more concerts, and more festivals here than in Switzerland." As soon as she is in the Czech Republic, she attends as many concerts and festivals as possible. The problems discussed at the summit are all familiar to her. No wonder: today, as in the past, musicians face the same questions. For example: how do I get gigs? How do I organise a tour? How do I promote my band, tour, or both?
Bluegrass Museum in Europe?
"I am here because of the Bluegrass Museum," says Lilly Pavlak, who also came to Prague to see old friends and meet new people. Her children could eventually just throw away her collected Bluegrass objects, Lilly says. That’s why she wants a museum; maybe modeled after the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum, a Bluegrass museum in Owensboro, Kentucky. The museum, whose representative joined the Summit, has interactive exhibits, posters, costumes, live instrument demonstrations, and the Hall of Fame of the International Bluegrass Music Association.
From Franconia comes Thomas Kärner: "We are an international trio, and I am the bassist. Martino Coppo is an Italian mandolinist and John Lowell is from Montana. He is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist and a long-time 'veteran' of the scene." Actually, they are just the rhythm section of a Bluegrass band, Kärner says. Therefore, they are not always classified as Bluegrass. Lowell writes many songs, but they are delivered with three-part harmony. The Bluegrass approach is always there with Kärner’s trio, whether you call their music Bluegrass or Americana is ultimately irrelevant to the Franconian.
Fans at the Summit
And the fans, without whom no scene would function? Heinrich Heine ("I don't write") came from Germany to Prague and is a fan of the community: "I have been a Bluegrass fan since 1973. I used to attend festivals frequently, in recent years, I was less active; that changed in the last 6 months, and now I wanted to get an overview of the European scene here." Heinrich came to Bluegrass via Johnny Cash to country music; radio broadcasts were particularly important for his socialisation in the scene, such as the BFBS (British Forces Broadcasting Service), which was set up for the British soldiers stationed in Germany. BFBS was freely receivable via FM and often presented current Americana bands in the 1970s. Otherwise, like in Austria, Americana was rarely heard on the radio: Deutschlandfunk, according to Heine, had scheduled half an hour of programming every 2 weeks. By the way, around 10 percent of the summit participants were fans, and about 50 percent were musicians.
Bluegrass in Europe: The Future
A suggestion and a brief summary of impressions from an outsider are allowed at this point to all musicians and music workers in the genre: in today's world, maintaining one's own network is part of a musician's life – excluding stars. The EBMA website provides an initial overview of festivals and jams.
To be able to offer even more to its members, the EBMA would need a stronger financial base, similar to the IBMA, which would enable permanent employees working daily on all problem areas. As long as this is not given, the EBMA will remain an association of volunteers, who – and this is the good news – learning from the best practice example of the IBMA, would not have to reinvent the wheel or constantly start things from scratch. A handful of well-managed Facebook pages could probably help with many questions (jams, concerts, locations, festivals, etc.).
EBMA Summit 2026?
The often mentioned networking was successful in Prague and was thus certainly a good idea. Whether a recording studio, more rooms for jamming, and workshops on the basic work of musicians are really needed at such a meeting, as suggested in the last feedback round, is another matter. As mentioned: the EBMA cannot cover everything. But dreaming is, of course, allowed – and maybe this first meeting will eventually lead to a kind of fair with showcase stages that can cover all of this. Whether the small Bluegrass scene in Europe is big enough for this? Whether there are enough fans for it? Questions that remain open. Therefore, there might be another European Bluegrass Summit next year, perhaps again in Prague, the European capital of Bluegrass. Anyone who becomes a member of the EBMA for free will be informed via newsletter. The event is also aimed at fans and interested parties, in short, the colorful range of the Bluegrass community.
On behalf of the dedicated team that ensured the smooth running of the summit, chairman Christopher Howard-Williams draws a positive balance of the 2025 EBMA Summit: "We did not expect over 100 people to come to Prague!" (jm, pics: red/jm)
>> www.ebma.org
>> https://www.facebook.com/ebma.org
>>
https://ibma.org
>>
https://www.bluegrasshall.org
>> http://www.capek.us
>> https://www.pruchabanjos.cz
>> CMR Nashville
>> "Quincy's Classic Country Show", jeden So 16-18h, countrymusic24.com
>> www.larochebluegrass.org
>> www.france-bluegrass.fr
>> Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival
>> hetgasthuis.be
>> www.bacr.cz
>> kids on bluegrass europe
