The band performs live at 9 p.m.

Years of planning and months of courting by the City culminated Wednesday with the announcement that the International Bluegrass Music Association‘s awards show, conference and festival will come to Raleigh in 2013.

With North Carolina’s own The Grass Cats setting the mood, Mayor Nancy McFarlane took the stage on the Astroturf area adjacent to City Plaza to announce what she called a “major cultural event.”

That event is the IBMA’s World of Bluegrass, a week-long event that includes a four-day business conference, the International Bluegrass Music Awards and a three-day Bluegrass Fan Fest that features performance from more than 60 bluegrass bands.

The event is currently hosted in Nashville, Tenn., but will relocate to Raleigh Sept. 23-29, 2013. The City will also host the event Sept. 24 through Oct. 5, 2014, and Sept. 28 through Oct. 4, 2015.

“This is a monumental moment for Raleigh, Wake County and North Carolina,” said Denny Edwards, president and CEO of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. “This event really is the Super Bowl of bluegrass music, and we look forward to showcasing our area’s musical and cultural heritage to the thousands of fans, musicians and industry leaders coming to North Carolina’s capital city.”

IBMA board member and Kneedeep in Bluegrass radio host Cindy Baucom says Raleigh was a logical choice for the World of Bluegrass because of North Carolina’s bluegrass heritage that reaches far beyond the contemporary bluegrass music of the Steep Canyon Rangers, the Grass Cats, Jim Mills and David Holt.

“Some argue Bill Monroe might not have made it to the Opry to unveil this new genre of music had it not been for Raleigh, N.C.,” Baucom said. “That’s the place where he and his brother Charlie famously parted ways in 1938, which started a chain of events that would lead the younger brother, Bill Monroe, to form the Blue Grass Boys.”

She added, “My husband Terry Baucom and I are so proud to call North Carolina home, and we cannot wait to welcome our bluegrass friends from all over the world to enjoy IBMA World of Bluegrass in our beautiful capital city of Raleigh.”

As for the beautiful capital city, Jon Weisberger, vice chair of the IBMA board of directors, says the area surrounding the Raleigh Convention Center is the perfect venue for the IBMA’s events, saying it “looks like it was designed specifically for us to meet our needs.”

“If someone had designed a venue perfect for our events, the city of Raleigh could not have done a better job,” Chair Stan Zdonik said.

Weisberger, who served on the site selection committee, says he visited several cities and locations, including the World of Bluegrass’s current home in Nashville, but he says Raleigh’s Convention Center, the Performing Arts Center and “this meeting campus” seemed tailored fit for the IBMA’s needs.

The selection committee made its way to Raleigh in March, where a reception for the IBMA was hosted at the Marriott City Center with banjo player Jim Mills, mandolin player Tony Williamson, and Sugar Hill Records founders Barry Poss and Dave Freeman. But Edwards says plans to bring the IBMA to Raleigh date prior to the convention center’s opening in 2008.

“Our sales team has been working diligently on bringing this World of Bluegrass festival here to Raleigh for over five years,” Edwards pointed out. “We knew we had the perfect campus to host the event with the opening of the Raleigh Convention Center, the Raleigh Amphitheatre, City Plaza, [and] Fayetteville Street, along with the compliment of the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts.”

He added, “Combine our campus with North Carolina’s rich history of bluegrass music along with the strong support of our community, and we knew Raleigh was the ideal home of the World of Bluegrass festival and we’re thrilled the IBMA leadership agreed with us.”

When World of Bluegrass makes it way to Raleigh in 2013, Edwards says it is expected it will generate a direct economic impact of more than $9.9 million per year in Wake County. Along with that, he says the event will bring more 16,000 visitors to Raleigh, with more 8,500 from out of town.

“IBMA currently has blocked eight hotels just for the convention delegates alone, which will generate over 5,900 total room nights per year,” Edwards said.

In addition to highlighting the City and the accomplishments of former mayor Charles Meeker, McFarlane says the event will be an opportunity to showcase the arts and culture of the region.

“The rest of the world is going to start to discover what an incredible local music scene we have,” McFarlane said. “We have so much richness in arts and culture here, and so much of that is organic.”

IBMA Interim Executive Director Nancy Cardwell says the World of Bluegrass’s move to downtown Raleigh does not mean a complete move from Nashville. “The IBMA offices will continue to be located in Nashville, Tenn.,” she said.

Piedmont Council of Traditional Music Executive Director William Lewis was appointed to the IMBA Board of Directors during its spring 2012 meeting in Nashville. PineCone’s offices are located in downtown Raleigh, though its programs extend to more than 22 counties in the region.

Kicking off June 28, the Locally Grown series always features some of the best talent coming out of the area. In years past, that has included The Love Language, Lost in the Trees, Future Islands, The Old Ceremony and The Physics of Meaning.

This season will kick-off with Birds & Arrows along with Lizzy Ross Band and Mary Johnson Rockers & The Spark on June 28.

The music continues on July 26 with Mount Moriah, as well as Skylar Gudasz and the Ugly Girls.

And the series concludes Aug. 23 with Mipso Trio and Morning Brigade.

The series, which is held Thursday evenings in Wallace Plaza on top of the Wallace Parking Deck at 150 E. Rosemary Street, is a free event.

On July 12, the town will hold a screening of “The Muppets,” followed by “The Dark Knight” on July 19, “Back to the Future” on Aug. 2, “Gnomeo & Juliet” on Aug. 9 and “Vertigo” on Aug. 16.

Concert nights feature the New Belgium Brewing Company beer garden along with “a selection of food from some of Franklin Street’s favorite restaurants.”

“We’ve had a steady group of guys this go around,” vocalist and guitarist George Hage explained. “[On] the last album we were really adding members as we went, and this is the culmination of that progression. We even went so far as to add some members — we’ve got Ryan Chriscoe on saxophone and Kevin Schroeder on trombone.”

“Hopefully it’s bigger, hopefully better, a little more rocking.”

Hage says playing as a core five piece for more than a year has afforded the band the opportunity to learn about each other and build from what each of them brings to the table.

“Having all five of us playing shows together and figuring out who were are and what we can do as a band, I think definitely helped our song writing,” Hage said. “And hopefully A.C. [Hill] and I are better songwriters since the last album — at least lyrically and melodically.”

“That was the goal,” Hill added.

Bassist Chris Sayles, whose third show with the band was their Sessions at Studio B appearance in March 2011, says writing and recording Lowcountry was very much like being in a family.

“This is the first time we’ve all been like a family — it’s a family experience. So we all bring our own pieces and then bring it all together, and it seems to work,” Sayles said.

Of the writing process, Sayles explained, “A lot of times A.C. will come in with a neat little lick and some vocals to go with it. And we’ll take that, Brent [Francese] and I will come up with a groove, and Danny [Johnson] will do everything else.”

Lowcountry began coming together only a month after the release of Pretty Money, and was completed over five recording sessions with Al Jacob at Warrior Sound in Chapel Hill. But really, Johnson says the writing of the album began before Pretty Money hit the streets.

“I was really excited to record the next album before we were even selling Pretty Money because we had all of these other songs,” Johnson said. “We had a three-month spurt immediately after we put out the last album where we wrote six or eight songs that we really wished we could have put on Pretty Money.”

While Hage says he hopes that momentum continues, Jack the Radio’s focus is getting Lowcountry into people’s hands.

“We’ve been very ambitious with everything — we hand printed the 300 hundred sleeves for the vinyl and we’ve made 133 hand screen-printed posters for the release,” Hage said.

“We’re just really trying to push ourselves as much as we can with not just the music but the release show, some of the merchandise for fans. Just see what we can do.”

But sax and EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument) player Casey Cranford says he doesn’t like to think that the band “beat out” the others — including Lizzy Ross Band, LiLa and Mipso Trio – with whom he says they’ve enjoyed sharing a stage.

“We don’t look at music as a competition,” Cranford said. “Those are all good bands. We’ve played with most of those bands before and we enjoy them.”

Regardless, the win earned BIG Something $3,500 and the opening slot at Band Together, which this year benefits the Urban Ministries of Wake County. The six-piece alternative rock band will open the annual concert on May 12 at Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheatre.

Sharing the bill with BIG Something are North Carolina stalwarts Southern Culture on the Skids and Georgia-based new wave rock band The B-52′s.

“BIG Something rocked the house and we are excited they will be back for our main event,” said Jim Graves, event co-chair at Band Together NC. “All the bands — LiLa, Lizzy Ross Band, BIG Something and Mipso Trio — helped put on an amazing show and raise awareness for Urban Ministries and for Band Together.

“They highlighted the strength and diversity of our local music scene, and helped a great cause.”

Capturing the attention of the judges as well as the crowd at the Last Band Standing battle of the bands was BIG Something’s infectious blend of rock, pop, jazz and funk. Elements that are always sure crowd pleasers.

“I think that’s part of the reason why it’s called the ‘BIG Something,’ because we don’t really know how to categorize it,” guitarist and lead singer Nick MacDaniels explained. “We all come from very different backgrounds; we’re very different people but it comes together and works somehow.”

Also adding to the allure that is BIG Something is the band’s extravagant lives shows, which often incorporate intricate stage lighting, costumes and, of course, themes. The band’s recently released live album, for example, captures the band at Lincoln Theatre during a Halloween costume party that saw BIG Something dressed in mad scientist costumes as they brought Frankenstein to life.

“We spend a lot of time honing our craft in the studio, but we also know that the reality of the music industry is that you have to play live to succeed as a band,” Nick said. “So we try to make both [live shows and recorded music] equally strong.”

That hardworking mentality comes through on BIG Something’s debut album Stories from the Middle of Nowhere. The LP, released in June 2010, tells the story of a pimp named Pinky and earned the band the title 2010 New Band of the Year and 2010 Studio Album of the Year from Home Grown Music Network.

On the horizon for BIG Something is the follow-up to Stories from the Middle of Nowhere, an album the band says they are working on with producer John Custer (Corrosion of Conformity).

BIG Something is also curating its own music festival called The BIG What? The festival runs Aug. 9-11 in Prospect Hill, N.C. and features headliners BIG Something, Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band and Big Daddy Love.

Tickets for Band Together are still available through the event’s website.

Khalifa, 24, whose real name is Cameron Jibril Thomaz, performed Tuesday night before about 2,000 people at the Joel Coliseum.

Officer J.C. Renew of the Winston-Salem Police Department said in the search warrant that he had been assigned to the parking lot area of the Joel Coliseum where his job was to look out for people who might be selling or taking illegal drugs.

At 9:15 p.m., Renew approached Khalifa’s tour bus and “detected a strong odor of burnt or burning marijuana coming from the bus,” the search warrant said. No one was around the bus or within 40 feet of the bus, but Renew saw a man standing at the door of the bus. Renew asked the man to open the door, and when the door was opened, the smell got stronger, the search warrant said.

According to the search warrant, Renew seized a quantity of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia.

Khalifa was charged with possession of one-half ounce of marijuana or less. Lt. Tom Stevenson of the Winston-Salem Police Department declined to say how much marijuana police seized or what kind of other drug paraphernalia was found on the tour bus. He said that 18 to 19 people who either attended the concert or were part of Khalifa’s entourage were cited for marijuana possession.

One person was cited for felony possession of ecstasy, he said.

The incident is the second time in a week that Khalifa was cited for marijuana possession. The Nashville Tennessean reports that the rapper was charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession after hotel staff received complaints about marijuana use in his hotel room.

In November 2010, Khalifa was arrested and charged with trafficking marijuana after performing at East Carolina University. ECU Police initially entered Wiz Khalifa’s bus after detecting a marijuana smell.

The bust yielded more than 60 grams of the drug.

“Due to that strong smell of odor of marijuana an investigation ensued in which, at the end of the concert, resulted in Wiz Khalifa as well as nine of his band members to be arrested for possession of marijuana,” ECU Police Chief Dawn Tevepaugh said.

A court date on the Winston-Salem case is set for July 27.

Yep Roc Records today announced the signing of Triangle staples The Old Ceremony. The band will release its fifth studio album, Fairytales and Other Forms of Suicide, Aug. 21.

We are, of course, no stranger to The Old Ceremony, but Yep Roc aptly explains, “Through constantly evolving from album to album, The Old Ceremony has consistently carved out its own distinctive aesthetic, once described as ‘the Beatles meet the Bad Seeds.’”

Recently the band played at Kings alongside The Avett Brothers at the Racing the Cure benefit. On April 27, they will perform at Cat’s Cradle with blues legend John Dee Holeman.

“Downtown Live was created because what was needed was the bringing of population downtown for entertainment. The new amphitheater is filling that need right now,” Dave Rose, co-owner of Deep South Entertainment, said at the time.

While the amphitheater has certainly experienced some great successes in its two seasons, a void was left for a concert series during which downtown visitors could come and go as they pleased.

Enter Oak City 7, a seven-night series kicking off May 31 in City Plaza.

“Raleigh is a great place to live and work, and to attend concerts. This area is home to some of the most talented musicians in the world and Oak City 7 is a great showcase of this amazing talent,” Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane said. “Showcasing amazing local products, services, and artists is the foundation for Oak City 7, all the while providing the public with a comfortable and enjoyable free concert setting.”

Like Downtown Live, Oak City 7 will be completely free and is 100 percent sponsor-driven, meaning taxpayer money will not go into the productions. The event will live in City Plaza and be held every other Thursday through Labor Day.

Each of the seven shows will feature three bands, spanning genres from indie rock to bluegrass.

“We have some of most talented musicians and bands in the world right here in the Triangle,” Rose, a spokesman for the concert series, said. “Oak City 7 will feature the best of this amazing local talent pool.”

The full line-up of artists performing will be announced on April 30 at OakCity7.com.

The band’s manager, Adam Schlossman, told Independent Weekly that Delta Rae signed a contract with Warner Bros. VP Seymour Stein in New York before a show at the Mercury Lounge on Jan. 26.

Stein called Delta Rae “an important addition to our overall roster.”

“Their music, all original, is a mix of blues, country and gospel with a strong rock and roll influence,” Stein said. “I hate labels, but if forced I would have to call their music ‘Original Americana,’ not unlike what the English are sending over via Mumford & Sons and others.”

Now, a little more than two months after signing, Warner Bros. has announced that the band’s debut full-length, Carry the Fire, will be released June 19 through Sire Records.

The band describes the album as being “about growing up in America — from the South to California — the ghosts that haunt us, the loves we’ve left behind, and the hope we hold on to.”

Consisting of siblings Brittany, Ian and Eric Hölljes, as well as long-time family friend Elizabeth Hopkins, bassist Grant Emerson and drummer Mike McKee, Delta Rae will celebrate the release of the LP at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. A “hometown” release show will be hosted at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro on July 27.

Prior to heading west, the band has one local show on the books — April 21 at the N.C. Cuegrass Festival outside of The Pit in downtown Raleigh.

If you missed Delta Rae on Sessions at Studio B, check out their performance on the video’s landing page.