RALEIGH -- North Carolina may or may not be the home of bluegrass. But for at least three years, it will be home of the World of Bluegrass.

As expected, the International Bluegrass Music Association announced on Wednesday that it will bring its weeklong convention and awards show to Raleigh for a three-year run starting in 2013. Russell Johnson and the Grass Cats opened and closed Wednesday's announcement ceremony on downtown's City Plaza by playing "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and other bluegrass classics.

But the big moment was mayor Nancy McFarlane unveiling a banner showing Raleigh's World of Bluegrass dates. Comprising a four-day business conference, an awards show and a three-day "Bluegrass Fan Fest" with more than 60 acts, next year's Raleigh edition of IBMA will be Sept. 23-29, 2013.

The 2011 convention's events in Nashville drew a reported 16,000 total visitors, more than half from out of town. Raleigh city officials project similar figures for next year's World of Bluegrass, estimating the local economic impact at more than $9.9 million.

On Wednesday, various speakers touted the event's bottom-line potential as well as North Carolina's illustrious bluegrass history. Earl Scruggs, Red Smiley, Doc Watson and George Shuffler are among the North Carolina natives who are in the IBMA's Bluegrass Hall of Fame, and Brevard's Steep Canyon Rangers shared the IBMA's artist-of-the-year award with Steve Martin last year.

Since 2005, the IBMA's World of Bluegrass has been in Nashville, where it's one of many awards shows. Seeking a higher profile, the IBMA board has been looking to relocate the show. More than a dozen cities made overtures, with Raleigh, Nashville, Cincinnati and Louisville, Ky., emerging as major contenders.

"One thing that really sold us on Raleigh was all the options here and how compact they are," said IBMA board member Jon Weisberger. "We don't have to choose whether or not to do shows indoors or outdoors, we can do both. And the convention center, amphitheater and other venues are all right here."

The Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts complex will also be a venue, along with other downtown nightclubs and Fayetteville Street. New IBMA board member William Lewis likened World of Bluegrass to Hopscotch, the successful rock festival that happens every September in Raleigh.

"We think this will be like a bluegrass version of Hopscotch," said Lewis, who is also executive director of Raleigh-based PineCone (Piedmont Council of Traditional Music). "It's an event that will seize the synergy of downtown and engage audiences and venues beyond just music -- photographers, artists, galleries. It could be a signature event for downtown."

Despite the weather, Saturday night's 25-year-anniversary PineCone show with Kris Kristofferson went on as scheduled because Kristofferson and the other artists on the bill made it into town. But the Sunday afternoon program with headliner Ricky Skaggs has been postponed and will be
rescheduled. Details about the new date should be available next week, along with a "special offer" for those who purchased advance tickets for the Kristofferson show but couldn't get there.

Kris Kristofferson is 73 years old, which means that he's been writing songs for 62 years. His latest album closes with an unlisted song that doesn't even have a real title -- he guesses it would be called "I Hate Your Ugly Face" -- and Kristofferson wrote it at the ripe old age of 11, complete with references to "cryin' in my beer" and "the happiest day of my unhappy life."

"I had not been drinkin' beer by that time," he said with a laugh in a recent phone interview. "I just knew the expression. I had cousins and relatives that always wanted to make a sing-along out of that one. But I've never actually performed that one live. I should do that someday."

Perhaps "someday" will turn out to be Saturday, when Kristofferson plays in Raleigh on a bill with Tift Merritt (assuming, of course, that it doesn't get snowed out). For more, see the interview in Friday's paper.

By the time Tift Merritt plays her next hometown show at the end of this month, things should be moving forward with the release of her new album. Titled "See You on the Moon," it's tentatively set for release in May, although it still awaits final mastering and tweaking. Merritt came home to North Carolina to record, doing the work in November at Durham's Overdub Lane with noted producer Tucker Martine. And while it's not as overtly conceptual as 2008's "Another Country," the album does have some thematic elements.

"Well, I didn't leave and go off to Paris this time, although I did spend some time there writing," Merritt says by phone from her New York City apartment. "The story is more in the music this time. Jay [Brown] and Zeke [Hutchins] and I all had grandmothers die last summer, within a week of each other. Those kinds of ties that bind each other and our families all made their way in there."

Merritt will probably offer up a song or two from "Moon" on Jan. 30, when she plays Raleigh's Meymandi Hall at one of Pinecone's 25-year-anniversary shows. She's opening for Kris Kristofferson, a longtime favorite that Merritt hopes to entice onto her radio show.

"I'm such a huge fan and he's done so many different creative things with integrity," she says. "I'm always a great admirer of people like that. I want to try and get him onto my  show. He doesn't know I'm gonna show up with my microphone!"

PineCone has announced its 2009-2010 concert series, a mighty fine lineup that includes a two-day blowout on Jan. 30-31 to highlight its 25-year anniversary -- and the return of one of the Crescent City's finest piano players. The full schedule goes like this:

Greencards (Sept. 12, Fletcher Opera Theater)
Travelin' McCourys (Nov. 13, Fletcher Opera Theater)
Kris Kristoferson, Tift Merritt with special appearance by Community Music School choir, Tony Rice Unit, Bearfoot (Jan. 30, Meymandi Concert Hall)
Ricky Skaggs, Dale Ann Bradley, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, Danny Paisley & Southern Grass (Jan. 31, Meymandi Concert Hall)
Allen Toussaint (Feb. 18, Meymandi Concert Hall)
Wailin' Jennys (April 15, Fletcher Opera Theater)
Phil Wiggins & Corey Harris (May 14, Fletcher Opera Theater)