The fourth annual No Shave November benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will officially begin on Saturday, Nov. 1. Many music industry and radio station professionals, along with some of today’s hottest Country stars, will put down their razors for the month and let their facial hair grow. Donations raised through November will help St. Jude continue to find cures and save children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Participants can register now at www.nsn4sjk.com, where they can compete for several different titles and rally friends to their team. Partakers will gather on Friday, Oct. 31, at the CMA building to photograph their freshly shaved faces before the competition gets underway. This year, Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood, who has been appointed as 2014 Chairman of the Beard, is ready to put his best beard forward.
“I’ve visited St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital many times and participated in No Shave November last year and loved it, so for me it was a no brainer to say yes to being Chairman of the Beard,” says Haywood.
Keifer Thompson, of the duo Thompson Square and last year’s Chairman of the Beard, hopes to defend his crown as the multi-year top fundraiser. “It’s another year and team Thompson Square, once again, is going to bring the beard baby!” Thompson added, “We’ve been blessed to raise the most money for the last two years and we plan on raising even more this year.”
No Shave November is using all platforms to encourage the music industry to recruit as many men (and dedicated women) as possible to join the team, and to donate at least $30 to St. Jude. In 2013, NSN raised an impressive $220,000 for the organization, with $396,000 raised over the past three years to support St. Jude.

Nancy Cardwell, executive director of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), has tendered her resignation with the organization, effective December 31, 2014. Cardwell has held the position of executive director at IBMA for the past two and a half years, and has worked at the organization for 20 years.
In a letter to members of the organization, Cardwell said, “When I agreed to take the interim ED position March 5, 2012—and later in August 2012 when I was asked to take on the full-time position, I let the IBMA Board of Directors know I intended to stay three to five years, to help the organization get through what I perceived as a crucially important transitional process following the tenure of longtime director Dan Hays… Bluegrass music is about passing tunes from one generation to another, and it’s also about passing leadership roles along to the next person on the industry side. Twenty years is a long time to do anything, and I know 2015 is the right time for me to pass the torch to the next executive director of IBMA.”
During her tenure as executive director, Cardwell oversaw the move of IBMA’s World of Bluegrass from Nashville to Raleigh, N.C. She also oversaw the establishment of a Nashville office in the Berry Hill area, a rise in IBMA membership, and more.
“When the Board began its search for an Executive Director to replace Dan Hays, we knew it was important to find one who was both familiar with and familiar to our members and our industry, as we moved forward in our efforts to build an IBMA capable of playing a leadership role in the industry for many years to come,” said Jon Weisberger, IBMA Board chair.  “During Nancy’s tenure, we have made significant strides in doing so, and her devotion to the IBMA, to its members, to bluegrass music and to the bluegrass community have been indispensible assets.  I am confident that the Board will find a successor capable of meeting the challenges that still lie before us, but I am equally confident that the value of the contribution she has made will be felt for many years to come.  We wish her success in whatever she chooses to do next, and on a personal note, I hope that I can continue to count on her counsel and knowledge for as long as I serve as Chair of the Board of Directors.”
Cardwell added in her letter: “It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve IBMA for 20 years, and to get to know and appreciate so many of you. I’m proud of what the organization has accomplished so far, and I’m excited about the future of both IBMA and bluegrass music.  I appreciate what I’ve learned from each of you, the music and the stories, and most of all, your friendship.”
The organization will begin its search for a new executive director in the coming weeks.