About Us
SWBMAI promotes bluegrass music in Wisconsin and the Midwest. Since it’s founding as a non-profit organization in 1983, our membership has grown to several hundred pickers and fans from southern Wisconsin and neighboring states.
| President | George Reynolds | georgelreynolds [at] gmail [dot] com | |
| Vice-President | Ellis Bauman | ellisabau [at] aol [dot] com | 608-257-2431 |
| Secretary | Sharon Manion | smdw [at] charter [dot] net | |
| Treasurer | Jon Peik | jrpeik [at] yahoo [dot] com | |
| Membership | Catherine Rhyner | csrhyner [at] rhyn-rivet [dot] com | 608-835-8117 |
| Newsletter | TBD | swbmai [at] gmail [dot] com | |
| Webmaster | TBD | swbmai [at] gmail [dot] com | |
| Member | Jim Knobloch | knobhill [at] chorus [dot] net |
About the Site
This Website is powered by a web application called Wordpress. It has been heavily modified and aggressively massaged into submission by Brian Ray, who was responsible for the original development, custom code and design. Thanks to Elijah Cornell for his fantastic photo plugin FAlbum, Nick Brady for his great ad engine WPads, and Lester ‘GaMerZ’ Chan for his polls plugin!
Constitution and Bylaws
As amended, March, 1993; March, 2006
Article I: Name of Association
The name of this Association shall be Southern Wisconsin Bluegrass Music Association, Inc. (“SWBMAI”),a non-stock, not-for-profit, educational corporation, organized under Chapter 181 of the Wisconsin Statutes
in accordance with the rules and regulations of Section 501(c)(4) of the United States Internal Revenue
Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provisions of any future United States Internal Revenue Law).
Article II: Objectives
Section 1: Bluegrass Music Defined
SWBMAI views Bluegrass Music as a precious commodity and dedicates itself to preserving and promotingthe traditional spirit and art form of Bluegrass Music. SWBMAI defines Bluegrass Music as the music of
the style played by Bill Monroe and his band, The Bluegrass Boys, and the music played by former
members of The Bluegrass Boys using a similar format of acoustical stringed instruments with no direct
amplification of instruments with the exception that an electric bass guitar and amplifier may be used. The
instruments used in the performance of Bluegrass Music, as defined by SWBMAI, are five-string banjo,
flat-top guitar, mandolin, fiddle, dobro, and bass fiddle (or electric bass guitar). Hereinafter, the term
“Bluegrass” shall be taken to mean “Bluegrass Music”.
Section 2: Objectives
The objectives of SWBMAI shall be:- To promote Bluegrass and musicians who play it.
- To bring together persons of all ages who enjoy singing, playing, and listening to Bluegrass.
- To hold regular Bluegrass jam sessions.
- To publicize information about Bluegrass concerts and festivals.
- To promote family weekend camping with Bluegrass.
- To help beginners obtain instruments and instructions in Bluegrass.
- To introduce Bluegrass to new listeners.
Section 3: Purpose
SWBMAI is organized exclusively for educational purposes, including, for such purposes, the making ofdistributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provisions of any future United States Internal Revenue Law).
It shall be the purpose of SWBMAI to promote the education in and enjoyment of Bluegrass music and to
preserve the folk traditions from which this music was developed. [continued...] Download the complete SWBMAI Bylaws in pdf format.