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Chattanooga’s Bluegrass Bonanza: IBMA’s 2025 Triumph

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Chattanooga, Tennessee, transformed into Bluegrass Central, the ultimate destination for pickers, stars, and fans. The city buzzed with the ring of banjos and a sawing of fiddles as the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) brought its World of Bluegrass to its new home at the Chattanooga Convention Center for a five-day celebration. Unless they were performing elsewhere, musicians of all ages flocked to seminars, jam sessions, shows, and lessons covering every facet of bluegrass.

Billy Strings visits with attendees in the exhibit hall.

Every day, attendees and locals spotted icons like Steve Martin, Billy Strings, Del McCoury, Doyle Lawson, and newly inducted Hall of Famers Hot Rize and the Bluegrass Cardinals grabbing a bite at local eateries or strolling between events. The energy was electric—riding up an escalator, I overheard a young fiddler excitedly recount jamming with a legend the night before, a moment that captured the festival’s magic.

The IBMA World of Bluegrass was a resounding success in its 2025 debut at the Chattanooga Convention Center. The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium hosted the annual Bluegrass Awards, emceed by Steve Martin and Alison Brown, featuring unforgettable performances. Standout winners included Fiddle Player of the Year Maddie Denton with East Nash Grass, and Jason Carter and Michael Cleveland, who swept Song of the Year and Collaborative Recording of the Year for Outrun the Rain, plus Album of the Year. Authentic Unlimited won Vocal Group of the Year, The Traveling McCourys took Instrumental Group of the Year, and Jaelee Roberts earned Gospel Song of the Year for He’s Gone. Kristin Scott Benson, Gena Britt, and Alison Brown claimed Instrumental Recording of the Year for Ralph’s Banjo Special.

Jam sessions were the heart of the event, with the convention center’s hallways alive with music. Every twenty feet, young players—from toddlers clutching tiny fiddles to teens wielding banjos—jammed alongside seasoned pros, their melodies echoing through the halls. After 9:30 p.m., when the convention center closed, diehards like members of the Tennessee Bluegrass Band migrated to the nearby Marriott, jamming into the early hours.

The Tennessee Bluegrass Band

Across the city, venues showcased talents like Wyatt Ellis, Becky Buller, Little Roy and Lizzy Long, and The Kody Norris Show, which won Video of the Year for The Auctioneer. Fans mingled with heroes, snapping photos and shaking hands.

Exhibit halls hosted global band showcases and youth performers debuting skills honed in dedicated workshops. Seminars highlighted bluegrass history, including a tribute to Hazel Dickens and a panel with legends Paul Williams, Doyle Lawson, and Male Vocalist of the Year Greg Blake. Dom Flemons led a session on African American Hall of Fame inductee Arnold Shultz’s influence on pioneers like Bill Monroe.

Billy Strings, Entertainer of the Year, wondered through the exhibit hall, picking up guitars and whipping out a tune including on Jimmy Martin’s guitar—available for anyone to strum, thanks to Martin’s son—and joining Junior Sisk and New Artist of the Year Red Camel Collective for a tune before his keynote address.

On Friday and Saturday, thousands filled Miller Plaza, where four stages, including one for youth talent, showcased acts like The Infamous Stringdusters, Carter and Cleveland, and Sister Sadie. Local Chattanooga stars, including Mountain Cove Bluegrass, the Landon Fitzpatrick Band, Carl Towns and Upward Road, and Emerald Butler dazzled international audiences with their homegrown flair.

Mike Bub and Randall Franks

I was honored to direct the Special Industry and Distinguished Achievement Awards alongside producer Chris Keenan and an amazing production staff, spotlighting talents like Missy Raines and Ron Thomason. Five-time Bass Player of the Year Mike Bub served as our host for the show. One unforgettable moment was watching a young guitarist, barely taller than his instrument, beam with pride as he played alongside a bluegrass legend, a reminder of the genre’s vibrant future.

Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the IBMA has made Chattanooga its home for the next three years. If you love bluegrass—or want to discover your new favorite band—mark your calendar for October 20–24, 2026, and October 19–23, 2027. Visit IBMA.org to plan your trip and join the celebration!

The Road to Nashville

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Randall Franks
The Road to Nashville

International Bluegrass Music Museum Legend and America’s Old Time Country Music Hall of Famer Randall Franks , hosts a documentary “Road to Nashville” taped live in Nashville in 2015. Franks returned to his Grand Ole Opry roots on its radio home of Nashville’s WSM to share an appearance on The Allnighter with Marcia Campbell.   / marciacampbellradio   . Franks brought several Share America Scholars to Nashville to tour TV and music businesses and organizations, meet with executives, music legends and learn more about the industry they wish to share their talents within. Among those seen in this video are Grand Ole Opry star Jesse McReynolds (www.jimandjesse.com) and the late Country Music Hall of Famer Mac Wiseman. This performance including Mountain Cove Bluegrass Band of Chattanooga, Tenn. – Cody Harvey, Chris Brown, Eli Beard and Tyler Martelli features several songs including a 2006 bluegrass hit written by Franks and popularized by David Davis and the Warrior River Boys.  Mountain Cove has fostered four Pearl and Floyd Franks Scholars, named for Franks’s late parents, receiving support from the Share America Foundation, Inc. while pursuing their college degrees.(www.mtncovebluegrass.com)

The show also features Share America Scholar Pianist Ryan Stinson of Ringgold, Ga. is a Share America Scholar and he graduated from Luther Rice University with a degree in Religion/Ministry and he lives in Ringgold. He has played piano since the age of 10 and began singing about three years ago. His talents have allowed him to perform on WSM and theaters around the south including special appearances at the Texas Troubadour Theater in Nashville, the Tribute Theater, Country Tonite Theater, and Smoky Mountain Opry Theater in Pigeon Forge, Graceland in Memphis, festivals, concerts and churches. Road to Nashville was directed by Randall Franks with the talents of camera operators Tommy Barnes and Share America scholar Ryan Stinson.

It originally aired at a ticketed event at the Ringgo Theater at the Ringgold Depot in Ringgold, Ga. November 13, 2015 and was submitted to film festivals.

Share America Foundation, Inc., a 501-C-3 of Georgia, fosters the arts and preserves the history of Appalachia through the presentation of the Pearl and Floyd Franks Scholarship to youth who continue traditional music styles of the region. It also hosts special events and creates projects that perpetuate the Appalachian experience. It operates with a five-member volunteer board, currently including Chairman Gary Knowles, Vice Chairman Jimmy Terrell, Secretary James Pelt, President Randall Franks, and Vice President Jerry Robinson, and a task force of volunteers. The organization has assisted 30 college scholars thus far and numerous other youth in aspiring towards their musical goals through entertainer mentors, live performances, and creating opportunities for learning and success. Among the partners of the Share America Foundation are AirPlay Direct, Hillbilly Love, Round Up Grant from the North Georgia Electric Membership Corporation Foundation, Kiwanis Club of Ringgold, and the Wes and Shirley Smith Charitable Endowment and numerous individual donors. “Black Eyed Suzy” & “Filling the River with Tears” (Randall Franks/Peach Picked Pub./BMI) Based on a poem by Evelyn Rose Brock.

To Support Programs Like This Please Donate to the

Share America Foundation, Inc. 

P.O. Box 42, Tunnel Hill, Ga. 30755

To donate to Share America, click here:


Copyright 2015 Randall Franks Media in association with Share America Foundation, Inc.

Actor/Entertainer/Author Randall Franks gains momentum with Randall Franks TV on YouTube

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Bluegrass Music: Filling the River with Tears Randall Franks and Mountain Cove Bluegrass (Randall Franks/Peach Picked Publishing/BMI)

Actor/Entertainer/Author Randall Franks launched his YouTube channel www.youtube.com/user/randallfranks beginning with his early folk music footage; and the channel now nears a half million viewers from around the world.

“When we began, I never imagined how folks interested in what I do from around the world would find us there,” Franks said. “From the fiddling folk music of Doodle and the Golden River Grass, my bluegrass and country songs, to my most recent gospel music videos with legends such as the Florida Boys, there is something to appeal to everyone.”

Franks, who is best known as “Officer Randy Goode” from the TV series “In the Heat of the Night,” starred in three TV series and 15 films. Musically, he is recognized as an International Bluegrass Music Museum Legend and Independent Country Music Hall of Fame inductee.

“It is amazing the legendary entertainers who have joined us on my stage show through the years and many are seen performing with me,” he said.


Christian Music: Peace in the Valley: Randall Franks with the Florida Boys

Randall Franks TV www.youtube.com/user/randallfranks highlights dozens of Franks’s music performances from folk, bluegrass, country and Southern gospel as well as interviews from numerous television appearances.

Many of Randall Franks’s recordings may be downloaded at http://www.nimbitmusic.com/randallfranks.

Appalachian Fiddlin’: Down Yonder: Randall Franks with Raymond Fairchild (Randall Franks/Peach Picked Publishing/BMI)

The channel is most popular in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Japan, Ireland, Sweden, Netherlands, Mexico, Czech Republic and Brazil.

“Folks from around the world stop by and check out our vintage interviews and performances featuring some of America’s greatest music and TV legends and stars who have been part of my life and career. These rare videos cannot be found anywhere else,” he said. “I have also created impromptu interview and music features that I have shot on set from many of my movies.”

Franks became a country music personality as a youth beginning appearances at major country, folk, bluegrass and gospel events such as Country Music Association Fan Fair, National Folk Festival, National Quartet Convention, National Black Arts Festival and for the Grand Ole Opry. With 24 career albums in four genres, his latest is “Keep ‘Em Smilin’” He has performed to over 145 million fans around the world.  He is a syndicated newspaper columnist featured across the Southern and Midwestern U.S. and an author with eight books including his “Encouragers III: A Guiding Hand” released in Sept. 1.

“It is amazing to see that the music I created is popular among all ages,” Franks said. “I am honored by all the folks who spend a little time with me on the channel each day. I hope you will join them and drop by, sit a spell, and subscribe today. With your help we will make Randall Franks TV a great success allowing us to keep adding more and more entertaining content.”

Vintage Interview with Country Song: I Know Cause I’ve Been There Randall Franks (Randall Franks/Peach Picked Publishing; and Dottie Moore/LogRhythm Music/BMI)