The IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) has announced this year’s inductees for their 25th annual International Bluegrass Music Awards. Founded in 1991, the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, housed in the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, KY, is an institution devoted to the recognition of noteworthy individuals for outstanding contributions to bluegrass music. Inductees this year include, influential bluegrass band The Original Seldom Scene and bluegrass historian Neil Rosenberg.

The Seldom Scene began playing regular shows in 1971 at the former Bethesda, Maryland music club the Red Fox Inn, before switching over to the Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria, Virginia, where they established a residency. Four decades later, throughout line-up changes and a Grammy nomination, The Seldom Scene continues to share its undeniable talent, progressive repertoire, and influence within the bluegrass genre, as evidenced by their 2014 Smithsonian Folkways release “Long Time... Seldom Scene.” During their induction into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, three founding members of the Seldom Scene – Ben Eldridge, John Starling, and Tom Gray along with current members Lou Reid, Dudley Connell, Ronnie Simpkins, and Fred Travers — paid tribute to two of the band’s former members, the late John Duffey and Mike Auldridge with a performance and speech at the induction ceremony.