David Crow Resigns IBMA Post

In the wake of a politically loaded programming snafu during Thursday night's IBMA Awards, Nashville lawyer David Crow resigned his posts as president and board chair of the International Bluegrass Music Association. Many in the bluegrass community have responded with sadness over the move by a veteran in the job whom they say has been nothing but an asset to the IBMA. It's a fascinating case study (and one that's still developing) in how a very successful music trade group accomodates its diverse constituency.

In an open letter prepared for the bluegrass community, Crow said he was quitting out of a sense of responsibility for a controversial musical salute to the service branches of the American military that went on in defiance of what he had been promised by the show's producers and the U.S. Navy's bluegrass band Country Current. Essentially, a compromise that Crow brokered in advance of the awards was broken on-stage during the show. In a pure case of 'buck-stops-here' accountabilty, Crow believes he let down the IBMA, even though it seems as though his commitments and good-faith efforts at compromise were undermined by somebody who has yet to reveal themselves. THE FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER, WHICH INCLUDES A CLEAR SEQUENCE OF EVENTS, FOLLOWS...

An Open Letter to the Membership

For those of you who may not know, I resigned as the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors following the awards show last Thursday night. I will start with a bit of background information for those of you who are not familiar with the issues regarding this year’s awards show.

Approximately two weeks prior to the 2006 IBMA awards show, a press release was emailed from the IBMA office that stated:

Expected to be one of the highpoints of the show is a special patriotic themed
production involving Rhonda Vincent and the Rage and the US Navy Band
Country Current Bluegrass Unit. . . .

This press release generated substantial member discussion on-line (via IBMA-L) and prompted many IBMA members to contact their board representatives to question: (i) the appropriateness of a “patriotic” themed presentation for an international trade organization whose stated mission is the “success of the worldwide bluegrass music community” and (ii) the lack of board oversight with respect to the production of the awards show. Prior to this press release, the IBMA board of directors had no knowledge of the content of the upcoming awards show. After receiving this email and hearing from concerned members, I went to the IBMA offices and had Dan Hays give me a copy of the proposed outline for the show.

On September 19, 2006, the IBMA Executive Committee met (at my request) to discuss the concerns raised by some members regarding the 2006 awards show. Prior to such meeting, the 2006 awards show outline was emailed to the entire board of directions (along with the planned agenda for the Executive Committee meeting) with a request that IBMA board members contact a member of the Executive Committee if they had any specific concerns. The Executive Committee reviewed the awards show outline and carefully considered the issues raised by various members for approximately 90 minutes.

The Executive Committee revised two aspects of the show in light of the concerns raised. In reviewing and debating what actions to take given that the show was less than two weeks away, key factors in the Executive Committee’s discussion included:

· A desire to be sensitive to and respectful of the opinions and concerns expressed by international members (and U.S. members).
· A desire to avoid any appearance of censorship.
· A desire to honor commitments to bands that have been invited to perform on the awards show.

Specifically, the Executive Committee directed that the Navy Band not play the U.S. service anthem medley (and we left it up to the Navy Band and the producers to select another song that showcased the Navy Band’s amazing vocal and instrumental chops). The key factor in my vote on this action was that the Navy Band was not nominated for any awards and was not playing any material nominated during the eligibility period (unlike 3 Fox Drive and Rhonda Vincent). In addition, I noted that this show was for the International Bluegrass Music Association and that a U.S. military band playing U.S. service anthems had no relationship to songs or artists nominated for awards would likely make our international members uncomfortable. [To those members who suggest that the opinions of our international members are not a valid factor to be considered, I can only reply that as the President, I felt a duty to be faithful to the organization’s mission statement and values statement, both of which strongly suggest otherwise.] I believed that the focus of the show should be the music, the artists that are nominated and the material that was nominated. I was concerned that a performance of this nature could shift the focus away from the most important part of the night and the thing that brings us all together—the music. As I have said on numerous occasions, reasonable people could disagree with how the issue was handled and the values that were applied in analyzing the issue. What I hope to do is to shed some light on what actions were taken prior to the awards show.

The decision of the Executive Committee was communicated to the awards show producers and the producers in turn communicated the decision to the Navy Band. At that time, the Navy Band indicated to the producers that they were fine with changing the material that they were to perform. Prior to the awards show, I spoke to both of the awards show producers and Wayne Taylor (of the Navy Band) and was satisfied that everyone was clear on the board’s directives and that they were going to be faithfully implemented. I was obviously surprised by the performance of the U.S. service anthems by the Navy Band in the awards show.

Throughout the 2006 World of Bluegrass, I stood at the microphone and communicated the Executive Committee’s decision on numerous occasions, including at the Town Hall Meeting, at Constituency Meetings and at the International Meeting. I made personal guarantees to the membership and I personally vouched for the content of the show based on assurances from the show producers and the Navy Band. In essence, I lied to the membership for a solid week. Although I suspect that most of the IBMA membership would not fault me for taking the Navy Band at their word (Wayne Taylor sat through the membership meeting and listened to me place my personal reputation and credibility on the line), my credibility to lead on this issue is gone. Why should anyone trust me to fix the problem for a second time--after all, I am the guy who promised that it was fixed the first time.

After meeting with the Navy Band and Wayne Rice (one of the producers) after the awards show and not getting a satisfactory answer from anyone, I had no other choice but to resign. Wayne Taylor insisted that the change in the show was "authorized" but was "not at liberty to say by whom." Wayne Rice stated that he never authorized the change in the show and Dan Hays says he doesn't know what happened. Somebody has to be in control and someone has to be accountable. As the President and Chairman of the board, it is my job to be in control and to be accountable.

To those who may want to read politics into my decision—please do not do so. My resignation is not a political statement, but rather is a statement about accountability. I do not feel that leadership can completely loose control over the awards show and claim that "I did not know" or that "there is nothing I can do." When you are the President, you are responsible. At the very least, I exercised poor judgment in who I trusted in this matter.

It has been an honor and a privilege to serve on the board of directors of the IBMA for the past 10 years. I remain committed to the IBMA and its mission. It is a great organization with a great mission. I am still a proud member of the organization and a supporter of the organization. I want to congratulate all of this years winners. We are fortunate to live in a time when we still have many of our music’s founders and great new acts like the Grascals and Cherryholmes. I want to thank Marty Stuart for a great job hosting the show. I look forward to seeing everyone at next year's World of Bluegrass events.

David Crow

Comments

[Lloyd Blake MD]

The real problem was IBMA caving in to political correctness. Bluegrass is as American as "apple pie". The IBMA request that the navy band not play a patriotic melody was absurd. I for one am glad they played the set and, oh my gosh, possibly offended some in the audience. There is definitely more to this story, and politics is a major part.

[Hugo]

I'm really happy that you've made your own web resource and have factually posted your thoughts. I love your work and feel I can relate to what you've done. A lot of folks can't even imagine having such talent. I hope that you know how lucky you are. :) Good luck to you in ALL your undertakings. :)