Hey guys. this all really sucks from all sides. Fans, artists involved, etc. It was a beautiful idea that was apparently not executed very well. Maybe it will work out that the principle pickers can do a get together for another event. I too was hoping for a big turn out for the fund raising to fight cancer, it got both my folks and my stepson, we lose to many to the disease daily.
Love the music not just the pickers. Hopefully we will hear these guys together in the future. SC
well said.
I’ve been watching this thread with some interest this past few days and my heart goes out to those of you who made the investment for tickets and lodging to an originally advertised Stellar show. I am supremely grateful that I did not dip into my TBF savings to attend.
As a show producer and concert promoter I stand in amazement that a promoter could not have practiced due diligence and obtained needed clearances prior to advertising such a headlining event. Did no one sign a contract in all of this? My standard operating procedure is to have signed releases and contracts in hand before promoting any event.
Now on to what can we do about all of this?
Number one we should not be dissing the American Cancer society, Galt House, or the individual artists. They all are incredible people working with an incredible amount of limitations in this economy; Especially those that are not for profit. I am struggling daily to deal with an almost 30% shortfall in our fundraising this year at my workplace.
Those that have confirmed tickets, should work with the promoter to get a full refund, they are not delivering anywhere near the services advertised. I would suggest those that used credit cards dispute any charges for those tickets.
Lodging and travel arrangements are a bit more sticky. My AAA membership gives me some travel interruptions service, perhaps there is some recourse through that?It might be worthwhile to contact your lodging providers and see if something can be worked out? It is after all a week before the booking, maybe you can recoup some of your pre payed deposits?
I would suggest we all vote with our feet as to the actual event. An all out boycott is not out of the question. Several our cadre who have been stiffed by this chain of events should contact the Louisville newspapers and media outlets to alert them to this developing story. The power of the media to shame unscrupulous activities is a very powerful thing indeed.
Finally a letter to the Better Business Bureau might do wonders to keep this from happening to any of us again.
Yours in solidarity.
:peace
I did some Google searching and think I found Bill Millet’s email address:
This aggression will not stand, man… 
Yes, I will still go… But… I have notified those of my distaste in the events and my main reason to continue the trip is to see my great grandson at this point.
I will do all in my power to recoup as much as I possibly can.
No promoter should get away with such a travesty! :mad
I think you may be fooling yourself that the Galt is not involved with this concert.
What a whacked out deal…glad I’m taking my pennies and going to Jazz Fest.
I’m not going to pretend to know Sam or Lynn Bush. I spoke to Lynn maybe 15 minutes in my life, Sam maybe 5. But they both strike me as solid people of their word.
I feel bad for ACS. They are a great organization and do honorable fundraising. They don’t deserve this either.
But I really feel the worst for my friends on this list who really got taken. Another avenue of recourse is the State Attorney’s office. You might want to band together and approach them. Sounds like a fraudulent deal to me.
Jess
Gotsta say here, that things happen for a reason and that this chain of events has reinforced my faith in Planet Bluegrass and the great flippin job they do… Honest and never drivin by just money… You can see this in the way they manage the ticket sales… they could cram us in like little sardiens but, NNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo,heres to the real deal !! :cheers
PBG ROCKS!!! :rock :rock :rock :rock :rock :rock :festivarian :rock :rock :rock :rock :rock :rock :rock :rock
[center]Sam Bush and John Hartford – Telluride Festival very early years
http://ia351407.us.archive.org/0/items/uploaded/dead-head_Monte-sam__bush_and_john_hartford.jpg
the King is on the left and the Godfather is on the right
LandShark is right-on
— to all the brothers and sisters —
Thank You Planet Bluegrass
http://ia351406.us.archive.org/0/items/uploaded/dead-head_Monte-telluride_2007.jpg
Well shake it up now Sugaree,
I’ll meet you at the jubilee
And if that jubilee don’t come,
Maybe I’ll meet you on the run
Just one thing I ask of you,
Just one thing for me
Please forget you knew my name,
My darling Sugaree
Shake it, shake it sugaree,
Just don’t tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it sugaree,
Just don’t tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it sugaree,
Just don’t tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it sugaree,
Just don’t tell them that you know me
Just don’t tell them that you know, oh, me
Hey,
John Cowan here. I shouldn’t be responding personally to this as law-suits are probably forthcoming. I just wanted to say that this whole thing started as a wonderful idea that we were all excited about. A project of this size and scope ie: concert, DVD, and at one time, talk of a recording takes, in this day and age legal protection for every side, the promoters, the artist’, and yes of course, the fans. There has been none, and when it became clear that there may never be, people started having second thoughts about participating. The response from the promoters to this was to start making personal attacks in emails and press releases. It was at this point that I decided to recuse myself from this deal. I have friendships and musical partnerships going back 30 years with the other artist’ involved and wasn’t about stand by and let people make personal venomous attacks based on dubious claims. That’s it. We (The Cow Band) are considering doing a free concert that night to honor the fans who are seemingly stuck in Louisville. It is not to conflict with the BG hotel Concert as some of our friends are still participating. More will be revealed. sincerely
cow
Thanks, John.
I was just about to edit my post above…
…simply to say:
Thanks Lynn and Sam for everything you’ve brought to us fans and music lovers.
[center]
http://www.sambush.com/client_images/sambush/755_4a21f4ad548f634fe06d2467a96298c5.jpg
Thanks a lot John! :flower
I figured the promoter wasn’t completely honest in his press releases.
I just wanted everyone here to see what was going on.
I’ll still be there, and look forward to whatever you have planned. :cheers
30 minutes ago…
From: Fred Bartenstein (emcee - Master of Ceremonies - for BG Hotel)
To: Bluegrass Hotel crew, friends, fans
Re: Bluegrass Hotel
"Dear friends,
I had a wonderful time working with you all in Nashville in September, and
at Curtis Burch’s House and in Louisville in December.
I am saddened by the fragmentation of the Bluegrass Hotel Project and have
decided not to participate further.
I hope to see you again under happier circumstances.
Sincerely,
Fred"
This whole thing seems to be imploding! I see where the Galt House is offering a certificate for lodging to those who asked for refunds, but that doesn’t do much for those of us who bought plane tickets that are non-refundable and were sharing a room.
John’s proposal of a concert that night is very generous, so for those of you who do end up going that will be a nice treat. He was great last week in Telluride, so if you go, don’t miss him.
I’m curious how is it that this stuff is now being duked out on the Festivarian Forum? I mean this deal isn’t a PB event…
don’t get me wrong, it’s a fascinating read, but I noticed that the Bluegrass hotel website actually has a link to this forum.
Damn.
Hey, if this ends up making TP tickets harder to get I’m gonna get cranky! :mad
It was me, Jess. I lived at BG Hotel in the mid-70s. Sam Bush and John Hartford are who they are. TBF is what it is. I moved to Colo in '79. Been to TBF several times. Worked backstage as video engineer on an 8-camera shoot, for Challenger Productions, at TBF in 1986.
I disagree with it being “duked out” here. It’s unravelling and imploding here, that’s for sure. But, the Truth and the Facts are coming out here. No one is fighting here. And, I might add, a charming backwater communications channel is developing here.
I had always intended for the Boys to eventually jump in the fray here, interacting with the Fans on this Project. Hey, I’m talking about the vision I was having months before this meltdown. I’ll take the heat for this if it was a bad idea.
Jess,
I totally understand where you’re coming from, 100%! :thumbsup
I think the main idea here is in the “General Discussion” area on this forum we can and do talk about all things Bacon and Bluegrass!
Many, Many Thanks to John Cowan for joining in the discussion and informing the Bluegrass Fans here in PBRanch syber-space!
To Jess and Johny C., You’re both a First Class Act in my book!
Auntie Hope :festivarian2 :green
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Louisville, KY, March 12, 2009 - The Bluegrass Hotel LLC is a film project about the Newgrass era in Kentucky of the 1970s, featuring the original members of The Bluegrass Alliance, New Grass Revival and J.D. Crowe & the New South bands. A segment of the Project involved a March 20 benefit concert for the American Cancer Society in Louisville, Kentucky. All of the participating artists in the film agreed to donate their performances for the benefit concert and to give all proceeds from ticket sales to the charitable organization, stating so at two Press Conferences on Dec. 13, 2008 and Feb. 13, 2009 at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville, KY. Sam Bush appeared at the Dec. 13 Press Conference with the Executive Director of the charity organization.
The Bluegrass Hotel Project has been negotiating agreements with Sam Bush and Tony Rice since Jan. 2008 to clear their appearance in the film. That is always a time consuming element for this type of project, so the Producers of the film and the participating artists have been operating in good faith on this Project since Sept. 2008 during the process. This included a major segment of filming and production in Kentucky Dec. 2008 with the artists, including Bush and Rice, at the Producers sole investment. However, paying the participating artists a fee to perform at the benefit concert for the American Cancer Society was never included in the agreement terms.
Therefore it came as a surprise to receive notification from Bush and Rice’s management companies recently informing the Project that unless they were paid fees of $10,000 and $3000 respectively, Bush and Rice would not perform at the benefit concert on March 20 at the Galt House Hotel. This 11th hour negotiating tactic negatively affects a major charitable organization and fans supporting the event. :mad
After consultation with our charitable partner, it was agreed that paying Bush and Rice fees to perform at the benefit concert would take a majority of the funds raised from ticket sales away from the organization that it expected to make from the event. Paying Bush and Rice, but not the other artists would also create an inequitable situation for all the other participating artists.
Sam Bush is a cancer survivor and his father recently passed away from the disease. New Grass Revival founder Courtney Johnson also died from cancer. And Tony Rice is ill and presently not in good health.
Based on the directive by the charitable organization, we have declined to pay Bush and Rice fees to perform at The Bluegrass Hotel benefit concert on March 20 in Louisville, KY.
John Cowan is an original member of the New Grass Revival, and an important part of the Newgrass era story. John Cowan was donating his performance to the March 20 benefit concert for the American Cancer Society, and did not demand an appearance fee like Bush and Rice. However, John is linked to Sam Bush via the legacy of the New Grass Revival, and due to the toxic atmosphere that Bush’s management company has recently created for a major charitable organization, it was decided that it would be in John’s best interest not to appear at the event. John Cowan is a gracious gentleman, a vital Newgrass era artist, and extends his apologies to guests and fans.
The Bluegrass Hotel concert on March 20 at the Galt House in Louisville, KY features the original members of Kentucky’s greatest Newgrass era bands, The Bluegrass Alliance, New Grass Revival and J.D. Crowe & the New South. All proceeds from ticket sales benefit the American Cancer Society.
For more info contact:
The Bluegrass Hotel LLC
www.thebluegrasshotel.com
210.745.5840
American Cancer Society
Ok, on a serious note, I’ve worked in marketing in the past, have written press releases, approved press releases, had press releases approved, etc (makes me think of Lloyd Dobler…but the other way).
The Bluegrass Hotel continues to write press releases using Sam Bush’s name, describing his family situation, etc - I can almost guarantee you that they did not let Sam or his management company approve the above release. And it is downright shameful how they try to intimate Sam’s agreement into their bogus production with statements like:
"Sam Bush is a cancer survivor and his father recently passed away from the disease. New Grass Revival founder Courtney Johnson also died from cancer. And Tony Rice is ill and presently not in good health. "
What does the above have to do with anything regarding Sam and his participation in their show? Their logic is flawed; their tactics shameless.
Bill Millet, give it a rest.
Wow, this is really interesting to me. First off, I don’t know the history; I just like the music. I had no idea that the Bluegrass Hotel was a place where people actually lived. I have not given this topic more than a cursory look. But now I do feel more engaged in it.
From an outside perspective it has the look and feel of a huge project, poorly managed and executed. Maybe the idea was too big. Perhaps it needed a more incremental development plan with much better attention to detail by the management team. Hard sayin’ not knowing, but having managed non-profits all my life (I currently run a rape crisis center) I have seen a lot of great ideas poorly executed by well meaning people. Unfortunately that scenario usually results in folks circling the wagons and pointing the guns inward.
Those that truly believe in the cause are left feeling really heartbroken and confused. Then everyone has to go away in a huff for a while. Then someone gets the balls to start the dialog. Then there is usually at least one more screaming match and then finally resolution.
Pretty typical.
Anyway, sounds like you have lived a very interesting life. Nice to “meet” ya here. Don’t beat yourself up too much for whatever part you played. Ya know it takes a village to really fuck things up good. Ask anyone in government.
Peace!
Jess :flower :cheers
P.s. Hi John Cowan…I freaking love your music! Thanks man!