It needn't be all that hard

The BIB editor writes:

On 30 June I announced that I will be stopping work on the BIB not later than 18 September - earlier, if any person (or persons) should come forward to take on the task of providing a news medium for bluegrass and related music in this island. For anyone who may be thinking of doing so, I want to point out that there's no need for anyone to try to copy the way the BIB has been conducted.

The only essential function of such a news medium is to let readers know as much as possible of what's happening, where, and when. All that's needed for this is people who care enough about bluegrass to take the time to find the news and post it.

The laborious form that the BIB has taken is the result of choices I made which are not essential to this core function. I wanted the BIB to be a shop window, showing that the scene here is active and of high quality. I also wanted readers to feel that something new is always going on to the BIB, so it's worth looking at frequently. I wanted to share the kind of gossip about pickers and instruments that I'd be glad to hear myself. I wanted to remind people here that there's a wider world of bluegrass, with which Ireland already has many points of contact. I didn't want the bother of discussion and argument, so (taking a lead from the original Bluegrass Blog in the USA) I avoided giving it any 'forum' element. This may have been a mistake; if it was, no one else need make the same mistake.

Ideally, the news should come from contacts with everyone who is active on the scene here, and such contacts need to be made and cultivated. The ability to do this is much more useful than a show of knowledge of bluegrass history.

Richard Hawkins