Collin Peterson Photography

The Del McCoury Band brought down the house New Years Eve at the Ryman Auditorium!  Wow!  They were the first band of the night to play unplugged and they sounded fantastic!  It was refreshing to hear the instruments without pickups for the first time of the night.  After a full set the band was joined by The Infamous Stringdusters, The Emmit-Nershi Band, Ronnie Bowman, Chris “Critter” Eldridge, Don Reno and a great deal of friends and family.

Sarah Jarosz played a few songs in between headliners… Ronnie joined her on a few tunes.

The Infamous Stringdusters kicked off the New Years celebration… I would have liked to hear them without pickups on the instruments, but a great set to start off the night.  They were joined by Del for “Little Cabin Home on the Hill” sung by Del and Travis.  Ronnie stayed for a few additional tunes.  Playing a good part of the show was Chris Eldridge, known to all as “Critter,” who was right at home with his old band mates.  Check out more of what Critter is doing at PunchBrothers.com.

Another amazing show down in the Volcano Room of Cumberland Caverns.  The Stringdusters sounded incredible!

Ronnie and Rob McCoury played another spectacular show at the Station Inn with the help of a few friends… Jason Carter, Alan Bartrum, Jeff White, Casey Driessen, Alison Krauss, Ronnie Bowman, Josh Williams, and Chris Stapleton.

Sierra’s mandolin playing is amazing!  I would have liked to see her win mandolin player of the year, even though Adam Steffey is extremely deserving.

Dailey and Vincent won nearly every award this year at IBMA.

• Entertainer of the Year
• Vocal Group
• Male Vocalist (Jamie)
• Album of the Year
• Gospel Recorded Performance
• Recorded Event of the Year
• Emerging Artist of the Year

What an amazing treat!  IBMA was fortunate enough this year to have the legendary Tony Rice accompany Mountain Heart for after hours and official showcases.   Between the 2 sets, a good number of classic Tony tunes were covered such as Manzanita, Old Train, Blue Railroad Train, and Nine Pound Hammer.  Mountain Heart is an amazing band and Tony seemed to be having a blast… definitely the highlight of the entire IBMA conference!

Very deserving!

Josh took home IBMA guitar player of the year and all of his showcases were packed… watch out for this guy!

The Yonder Mountain String Band — City Hall in Nashville, TN. February 22, 2008

Tim O’brien playing his nugget a-style mandolin at the Station Inn… Early 2008. kodak bw400cn pushed 2 stops courtesy Chromatics in Nashville.

Tim was in classic form for this show…. as if I’ve ever seen a bad performance. He played all the usual instruments, even played Bryan’s martin guitar a few times. It was a special treat to see not only Bryan Sutton in the band, but Darrell Scott as well… Awesome!!!

Casey Driessen, Kenny Malone, and Dennis Crouch were spectacular as always. Casey is simply one of the most unique fiddle players in the world. His grammy nominated solo debut on Sugar Hill is amazing, btw. You should buy it!

Tim invited a special friend he met in Japan to sing and play a few songs as a duet, as well as with the full band before the night was over. This guy, I wish I remembered his name, was extremely nervous but sounded great. Everyone really enjoyed the unique style he brought to the station.

All in all, Tim put on another wonderful show!

Best I could do from the very last row.  The special guest jams were amazing… you could definitely feel the tension between Chris, Sara, and Sean the entire night.  It was time to take a break.  11-29-07

In this pic you will find Sean Watkins, Chris Thile, Tim O’brien, Bela Fleck, Sara Watkins, Mark Schatz, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings.

Andy Leftwich and Dave Pomeroy playing another spectacular Three Ring Circle show at The Station Inn.  This was for Rob Ickes’ Reso Summit November 2007.  First time I saw Dave Pomeroy without a beard. Might have made him play even better!

The Cherryholmes Band put on a spectacular show at IBMA… we were pretty worn out and almost missed this show, but we came back and caught Cherryholmes and The Grascals… lucky for us that we did!  10-5-2007

The Punch Brothers played a fantastic show their 2nd night at The Station Inn… 9-22-07.  I hate that Critter isn’t a Stringduster anymore, but the reasons are definitely understood when you listen to these guys play together.