Jerry Douglas

Bluegrass

Jerry Douglas has played at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass every year since PineCone welcomed the weeklong event to Raleigh. In that same time period Jerry Douglas recorded a Grammy nominated record with John Hiatt, played with Paul Simon, toured with Bela Fleck and even made an appearance on SNL. But all the while he and his family kept coming back to World of Bluegrass.

“We love Raleigh,” said Jerry in 2020 while recording a segment for the pandemic edition of the festival. “Raleigh is the first place that I remember (IBMA and bluegrass) being so lovingly embraced by a city. They just rolled out the red carpet for us and have been so nice to us through the years. It’s a great town.”

From the beginning, Jerry was a champion for Raleigh as a host city for IBMA’s World of Bluegrass. “North Carolina is the cradle of civilization for bluegrass music as we know it,” said Jerry in 2020.

Jerry Douglas has bee nominated for 32 Grammy Awards and has won 14. He’s been the Country Music Association’s “Musician of the Year” three times. He’s also won more IBMA Awards than most like to count including a staggering 10 Dobro Player of the Year Awards.

In Raleigh Jerry has played with his own band, in bluegrass super-groups like 2019’s The Ringers and is the consummate guest soloist on the mainstage at Red Hat Amphitheater. He makes everyone around him sound better and his presence is nothing short of magical.

Jerry Douglas and Odessa Settles’ set was one of the highlights of the 2020 (virtual) IBMA Bluegrass Live! powered by PNC.