See All the Nominees for the 36th Annual IBMA Awards

Today, July 16, 2025, the nominees, inductees, and recipients of the 36th Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards were announced in Nashville, Tennessee at a special live event broadcast from SiriusXM’s studios co-hosted by Sierra Hull and Bluegrass Junction radio host and programmer Joey Black. The announcement broadcast also featured live on-air performances by Hull and the Travelin’ McCourys.

Alison Krauss & Union Station lead the nominations following the release of their first album in over a decade, Arcadia. Between Krauss, and Union Station’s band members, the group have amassed nine nominations, including Entertainer of the Year – for which their last win was in 1995 – Album of the Year, and Vocal Group of the Year. Billy Strings, who last took home an Entertainer of the Year trophy in 2023, received five nominations – for Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year, Instrumental Group of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, and Guitar Player of the Year.

Alison Brown & Steve Martin have racked up a handful of nominations between them this year, too, and Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland’s excellent new duo album – and the pair of fiddlers themselves – appear all across the nominees list, the duo collecting nine nominations together and separately.

And, for the first time in the nearly 40-year history of the IBMA, a Black person will be inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Arnold Schultz, a seminal figure in bluegrass, blues, and old-time credited with greatly influencing the Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe, will be the first non-white member of the genre’s hall of honor.

“Our mission is to inspire innovation by recognizing the great work done by artists this past year and to honor tradition by inducting new members into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame,” said Ken White, executive director of IBMA, via press release. “The early influence of Arnold Shultz on Bill Monroe continues to shine through in the playing of even the youngest member of Kids on Bluegrass.”

Joining Schultz in this year’s class of Hall of Fame inductees are the Bluegrass Cardinals and Hot Rize. Additionally, IBMA announced 2025 recipients of their Distinguished Achievement Award, including Alan Arthur Knoth, Penny Parsons, Ron Thomason, Sidney Austin, LLP, and Missy Raines.

IBMA’s annual conference, World of Bluegrass, the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards, and the organization’s annual festival, IBMA Bluegrass Live! will take place this year in a brand new host city, Chattanooga, Tennessee. The conference will run September 16-18 at the Chattanooga Convention Center; the IBMA Bluegrass Ramble, the event’s showcase series, will also run Sept. 16-18 in local venues. The 36th Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards, where the winners, recipients, and inductees will be honored by their peers and fans, is scheduled for Thursday evening, Sept. 18; IBMA Bluegrass Live! will be held Sept. 19-20.

Find more information on IBMA and all of this year’s World of Bluegrass events in Chattanooga here and find the full list of nominees, recipients, and inductees below.

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR 

Alison Krauss & Union Station
Appalachian Road Show
Billy Strings
East Nash Grass
The Del McCoury Band

SONG OF THE YEAR 

“5 Days Out, 2 Days Back” – Alison Brown, Steve Martin, Featuring Tim O’Brien
Songwriters: Steve Martin, Alison Brown
Producers: Alison Brown, Garry West
Label: Compass Records

“Big Wheels” – Authentic Unlimited
Songwriter: Jerry Cole
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Coal Dust Kisses” – The Grascals
Songwriters: Susanne Mumpower, Jerry Salley
Producer: The Grascals
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

“My Favorite Picture of You” – Darin & Brooke Aldridge
Songwriters: Darin Aldridge, Brooke Aldridge, Dennis Duff
Producers: Darin Aldridge, Mark Fain
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Outrun the Rain” – Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Songwriters: Terry Herd, Jimmy Yeary
Producers: Jason Carter, Michael Cleveland
Label: Fiddle Man Records

ALBUM OF THE YEAR 

Arcadia – Alison Krauss & Union Station
Producer: Alison Krauss & Union Station
Label: Down the Road Records

Carter & Cleveland – Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Producers: Jason Carter, Michael Cleveland
Label: Fiddle Man Records

Earl Jam – Tony Trischka
Producers: Tony Trischka, Lawson White
Label: Down the Road Records

Highway Prayers – Billy Strings
Producers: Billy Strings, Jon Brion
Label: Reprise Records

I Built a World – Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Producers: Brent Truitt, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Label: Sugar Petunia Records

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR 

Alison Krauss & Union Station
Authentic Unlimited
Blue Highway
Sister Sadie
The Del McCoury Band

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR 

Billy Strings
East Nash Grass
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
The Travelin’ McCourys

GOSPEL RECORDING OF THE YEAR 

“Blue Collar Gospel” – Jerry Salley Featuring The Oak Ridge Boys
Songwriters: Rick Lang, Bill Whyte, Jerry Salley
Producer: Jerry Salley
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Dear Lord” – Darin & Brooke Aldridge
Songwriter: Daniel Davis
Producers: Darin Aldridge, Mark Fain
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Even Better When You Listen” – Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers
Songwriters: Rick Lang, Mark BonDurant
Producer: Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers
Label: Billy Blue Records

“He’s Gone” – Jaelee Roberts
Songwriter: Kelsi Harrigill
Producer: Byron House
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

“Wings of Love” – Authentic Unlimited
Songwriters: Jesse Brock, Stephen Burwell, Jerry Cole, Eli Johnston, John Meador
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING OF THE YEAR 

“Bluegrass in the Backwoods” – Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Songwriter: Kenny Baker
Producers: Jason Carter, Michael Cleveland
Label: Fiddle Man Records

“The Drifter” – Danny Roberts
Songwriter: Danny Roberts
Producers: Danny Roberts, Andrea Roberts
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

“A Drive at Dusk” – Authentic Unlimited
Songwriter: Jesse Brock
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Kern County Breakdown” – Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Songwriter: Buck Owens, Don Rich
Producers: Jason Carter, Michael Cleveland
Label: Fiddle Man Records

“Ralph’s Banjo Special” – Kristin Scott Benson, Gena Britt, Alison Brown
Songwriter: Ralph Stanley
Producer: Alison Brown
Label: Compass Records

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR 

AJ Lee & Blue Summit
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Jason Carter
Red Camel Collective
Wyatt Ellis

COLLABORATIVE RECORDING OF THE YEAR 

“5 Days Out, 2 Days Back” – Alison Brown & Steve Martin Featuring Tim O’Brien
Songwriters: Steve Martin, Alison Brown
Producer: Alison Brown, Garry West
Label: Compass Records

“A Million Memories (A Song for Byron)” – Darin & Brooke Aldridge Featuring Vince Gill
Songwriter: Vince Gill
Producers: Darin Aldridge, Mark Fain
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Cora Is Gone” – Bobby Osborne & C.J. Lewandowski Featuring Rob McCoury, Billy Strings
Songwriter: Mac Odell
Producer: C.J. Lewandowski
Label: Turnberry Records

“Outrun the Rain” – Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland, Jaelee Roberts, Vince Gill
Songwriters: Terry Herd, Jimmy Yeary
Producers: Jason Carter, Michael Cleveland
Label: Fiddle Man Records

“Ralph’s Banjo Special” – Kristin Scott Benson, Gena Britt, Alison Brown
Songwriter: Ralph Stanley
Producer: Alison Brown
Label: Compass Records

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR 

Billy Strings
Dan Tyminski
Del McCoury
Greg Blake
Russell Moore

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR 

AJ Lee
Alison Krauss
Brooke Aldridge
Jaelee Roberts
Sierra Hull

BANJO PLAYER OF THE YEAR 

Alison Brown
Gena Britt
Kristin Scott Benson
Ron Block
Tony Trischka

BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR 

Barry Bales
Mike Bub
Missy Raines
Todd Phillips
Vickie Vaughn

FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR 

Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Jason Carter
Maddie Denton
Michael Cleveland
Stuart Duncan

RESOPHONIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR 

Andy Hall
Jerry Douglas
Justin Moses
Matt Leadbetter
Rob Ickes

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR 

Billy Strings
Bryan Sutton
Cody Kilby
Molly Tuttle
Trey Hensley

MANDOLIN PLAYER OF THE YEAR 

Alan Bibey
Jesse Brock
Ronnie McCoury
Sam Bush
Sierra Hull

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR 

“5 Days Out, 2 Days Back” – Alison Brown & Steve Martin Featuring Tim O’Brien
Songwriters: Steve Martin, Alison Brown
Producer: Alison Brown, Garry West
Videographer: Joseph Spence
Label: Compass Records

“A Million Memories (A Song for Byron)” – Darin & Brooke Aldridge Featuring Vince Gill
Songwriter: Vince Gill
Producer: Jenny Gill
Videographer: Travis Flynn
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Big Wheels” – Authentic Unlimited
Songwriter: Jerry Cole
Producers: Bryce Free, Kyle Johnson
Videographer: Bryce Free
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Gallows Pole” – Appalachian Road Show
Songwriter: Traditional, arr. Barry Abernathy, Jim VanCleve, Darrell Webb
Producer: Steve Kinney
Videographer: Steve Kinney
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Tennessee Hound Dog” – The Grascals
Songwriter: Felice Bryant, Boudleaux Bryant
Producer: Ty Gilpin
Videographer: Nate Shuppert
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

“The Auctioneer” – The Kody Norris Show
Songwriters: Leroy Van Dyke, Buddy Black
Producer: James Gilley
Videographer: Nate Wiles
Label: Rebel Records

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Hot Rize
The Bluegrass Cardinals
Arnold Schultz

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS

Alan Arthur Knoth
Penny Parsons
Ron Thomason
Sidney Austin, LLP
Missy Raines


The 36th Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards will be held September 18, 2025 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Tickets and more information here.

Photo Credit: Alison Krauss by Randee St. Nicholas; Billy Strings by Dana Trippe.

See the Winners of the 35th Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards

Last night, the International Bluegrass Music Association announced the winners of their 35th Annual Bluegrass Music Awards in Raleigh, North Carolina, the final awards show held in Raleigh before IBMA’s move to Chattanooga, Tennessee next year. The star-studded, three-hour awards show was hosted by bassists John Cowan and Missy Raines and featured performances by many nominees and featured special guests and collaborations.

Billy Strings, Sister Sadie, Authentic Unlimited, and Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway lead the nominations going into the evening. Authentic Unlimited walked away with the most trophies, with the group as a whole landing three awards – including a tie for Music Video of the Year with Special Consensus. Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway took home the honor for Album of the Year, while Billy Strings’ sole win of the night was for his feature on Tony Trischka’s collaborative Earl Jam track, “Brown’s Ferry Blues.”

Also honored during the event were this year’s Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees. Entered into the Hall of Fame – the highest honor awarded by IBMA and its membership – were Jerry Douglas, Katy Daley, and Alan Munde.

Find the full list of winners and recipients of this year’s IBMA Awards below. Congratulations to all of the nominees, bands, artists, labels, and industry stakeholders represented at this year’s awards.

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Billy Strings
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
Del McCoury Band
Sister Sadie
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Authentic Unlimited
Sister Sadie
Blue Highway
Del McCoury Band
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Billy Strings
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
Travelin’ McCourys
East Nash Grass
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

SONG OF THE YEAR
“Fall in Tennessee” – Authentic Unlimited
Songwriters: John Meador/Bob Minner
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Willow” – Sister Sadie
Songwriter: Ashley McBryde
Producer: Sister Sadie
Label: Mountain Home

“Too Lonely, Way Too Long” – Rick Faris with Del McCoury
Songwriter: Rick Faris
Producer: Stephen Mougin
Label: Dark Shadow Recording

“Forever Young” – Daniel Grindstaff with Paul Brewster & Dolly Parton
Songwriters: Jim Cregan/Kevin Savigar/Bob Dylan/Rod Stewart
Producer: Daniel Grindstaff
Label: Bonfire Music Group

“Kentucky Gold” – Dale Ann Bradley with Sam Bush
Songwriters: Wayne Carson/Ronnie Reno
Producer: Dale Ann Bradley
Label: Pinecastle

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
City of Gold – Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
Producers: Jerry Douglas/Molly Tuttle
Label: Nonesuch

Last Chance to Win – East Nash Grass
Producer: East Nash Grass
Label: Mountain Fever

Jubilation – Appalachian Road Show
Producer: Appalachian Road Show
Label: Billy Blue Records

No Fear – Sister Sadie
Producer: Sister Sadie
Label: Mountain Home

So Much for Forever – Authentic Unlimited
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

GOSPEL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
“When I Get There” – Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out
Songwriter: Michael Feagan
Producer: Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out
Label: Independent

“Thank You Lord for Grace” – Authentic Unlimited
Songwriter: Jerry Cole
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Just Beyond” – Barry Abernathy with John Meador, Tim Raybon, Bradley Walker
Songwriters: Rick Lang/Mike Richards/Windi Robinson
Producer: Jerry Salley
Label: Billy Blue Records

“God Already Has” – Dale Ann Bradley
Songwriter: Mark “Brink” Brinkman/David Stewart
Producer: Dale Ann Bradley
Label: Pinecastle

“Memories of Home” – Authentic Unlimited
Songwriter: Jerry Cole
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
“Rhapsody in Blue(grass)” – Béla Fleck
Songwriter: George Gershwin arr. Ferde Grofé/Béla Fleck
Producer: Béla Fleck
Label: Béla Fleck Productions/Thirty Tigers

“Knee Deep in Bluegrass” – Ashby Frank
Songwriter: Terry Baucom
Producer: Ashby Frank
Label: Mountain Home

“Panhandle Country” – Missy Raines & Allegheny
Songwriter: Bill Monroe
Producer: Alison Brown
Label: Compass Records

“Lloyd’s of Lubbock” – Alan Munde
Songwriter: Alan Munde
Producer: Billy Bright
Label: Patuxent

“Behind the 8 Ball” – Andy Leftwich
Songwriter: Andy Leftwich
Producer: Andy Leftwich
Label: Mountain Home

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
East Nash Grass
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
AJ Lee & Blue Summit
Wyatt Ellis
The Kody Norris Show

COLLABORATIVE RECORDING OF THE YEAR
“Brown’s Ferry Blues” – Tony Trischka featuring Billy Strings
Songwriters: Alton Delmore/Rabon Delmore
Producer: Béla Fleck
Label: Down the Road

“Fall in Tennessee” – Authentic Unlimited with Jerry Douglas
Songwriters: John Meador/Bob Minner
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Forever Young” – Daniel Grindstaff with Paul Brewster, Dolly Parton
Songwriters: Jim Cregan/Kevin Savigar/Bob Dylan/Rod Stewart
Producer: Daniel Grindstaff
Label: Bonfire Music Group

“Bluegrass Radio” – Alison Brown and Steve Martin
Songwriters: Steve Martin/Alison Brown
Producers: Alison Brown/Garry West
Label: Compass Records

“Too Old to Die Young” – Bobby Osborne and CJ Lewandowski
Songwriters: Scott Dooley/John Hadley/Kevin Welch
Producer: CJ Lewandowski
Label: Turnberry Records

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Dan Tyminski
Greg Blake
Del McCoury
Danny Paisley
Russell Moore

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Molly Tuttle
Jaelee Roberts
Dale Ann Bradley
AJ Lee
Rhonda Vincent

BANJO PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kristin Scott Benson
Gena Britt
Alison Brown
Béla Fleck
Rob McCoury

BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Missy Raines
Mike Bub
Vickie Vaughn
Todd Phillips
Mark Schatz

FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jason Carter
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Michael Cleveland
Stuart Duncan
Deanie Richardson

RESOPHONIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Justin Moses
Rob Ickes
Jerry Douglas
Andy Hall
Gaven Largent

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Billy Strings
Molly Tuttle
Trey Hensley
Bryan Sutton
Cody Kilby

MANDOLIN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Sierra Hull
Sam Bush
Ronnie McCoury
Jesse Brock
Alan Bibey

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
“Willow” – Sister Sadie
Label: Mountain Home

“Fall in Tennessee” – Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records (TIE)

“The City of New Orleans” – Rhonda Vincent & The Rage
Label: Upper Management Music

“I Call Her Sunshine” – The Kody Norris Show
Label: Rebel Records

“Alberta Bound” – Special Consensus with Ray Legere, John Reischman, Patrick Sauber, Trisha Gagnon, Pharis & Jason Romero, and Claire Lynch
Label: Compass Records (TIE)

BLUEGRASS MUSIC HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
Alan Munde
Jerry Douglas
Katy Daley

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS
Cindy Baucom
Laurie Lewis
Richard Hurst
ArtistWorks
Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival


Photo Credit: Authentic Unlimited with special guest Jerry Douglas perform at the IBMA Awards show. Shot by Dan Schram.

35th Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards Nominations Announced

Earlier today, the International Bluegrass Music Association announced their nominees, recipients, and inductees to be honored at the 35th Annual Bluegrass Music Awards show to be held on September 26 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The nominations and honorees were revealed at a radio broadcast at SiriusXM in downtown Nashville, Tennessee that featured live performances by nominees Missy Raines & Allegheny and Authentic Unlimited.

Billy Strings, Sister Sadie, Authentic Unlimited, and Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway lead the nominations. Also announced during the event were this year’s Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees and Distinguished Achievement Awards Recipients. Entering the Hall of Fame – the highest honor awarded by IBMA and its membership – are Jerry Douglas, Katy Daley, and Alan Munde.

Find the full list of nominees, inductees, and recipients below and make plans now to attend the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards on Thursday, September 26, at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina during IBMA’s headline event of the year, their World of Bluegrass business conference and Bluegrass Live! festival.

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Billy Strings
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
Del McCoury Band
Sister Sadie
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Authentic Unlimited
Sister Sadie
Blue Highway
Del McCoury Band
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Billy Strings
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
Travelin’ McCourys
East Nash Grass
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

SONG OF THE YEAR
“Fall in Tennessee” – Authentic Unlimited
Songwriters: John Meador/Bob Minner
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Willow” – Sister Sadie
Songwriter: Ashley McBryde
Producer: Sister Sadie
Label: Mountain Home

“Too Lonely, Way Too Long” – Rick Faris with Del McCoury
Songwriter: Rick Faris
Producer: Stephen Mougin
Label: Dark Shadow Recording

“Forever Young” – Daniel Grindstaff with Paul Brewster & Dolly Parton
Songwriters: Jim Cregan/Kevin Savigar/Bob Dylan/Rod Stewart
Producer: Daniel Grindstaff
Label: Bonfire Music Group

“Kentucky Gold” – Dale Ann Bradley with Sam Bush
Songwriters: Wayne Carson/Ronnie Reno
Producer: Dale Ann Bradley
Label: Pinecastle

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
City of Gold – Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
Producers: Jerry Douglas/Molly Tuttle
Label: Nonesuch

Last Chance to Win – East Nash Grass
Producer: East Nash Grass
Label: Mountain Fever

Jubilation – Appalachian Road Show
Producer: Appalachian Road Show
Label: Billy Blue Records

No Fear – Sister Sadie
Producer: Sister Sadie
Label: Mountain Home

So Much for Forever – Authentic Unlimited
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

GOSPEL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
“When I Get There” – Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out
Songwriter: Michael Feagan
Producer: Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out
Label: Independent

“Thank You Lord for Grace” – Authentic Unlimited
Songwriter: Jerry Cole
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Just Beyond” – Barry Abernathy with John Meador, Tim Raybon, Bradley Walker
Songwriters: Rick Lang/Mike Richards/Windi Robinson
Producer: Jerry Salley
Label: Billy Blue Records

“God Already Has” – Dale Ann Bradley
Songwriter: Mark “Brink” Brinkman/David Stewart
Producer: Dale Ann Bradley
Label: Pinecastle

“Memories of Home” – Authentic Unlimited
Songwriter: Jerry Cole
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
“Rhapsody in Blue(grass)” – Béla Fleck
Songwriter: George Gershwin arr. Ferde Grofé/Béla Fleck
Producer: Béla Fleck
Label: Béla Fleck Productions/Thirty Tigers

“Knee Deep in Bluegrass” – Ashby Frank
Songwriter: Terry Baucom
Producer: Ashby Frank
Label: Mountain Home

“Panhandle Country” – Missy Raines & Allegheny
Songwriter: Bill Monroe
Producer: Alison Brown
Label: Compass Records

“Lloyd’s of Lubbock” – Alan Munde
Songwriter: Alan Munde
Producer: Billy Bright
Label: Patuxent

“Behind the 8 Ball” – Andy Leftwich
Songwriter: Andy Leftwich
Producer: Andy Leftwich
Label: Mountain Home

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
East Nash Grass
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
AJ Lee & Blue Summit
Wyatt Ellis
The Kody Norris Show

COLLABORATIVE RECORDING OF THE YEAR
“Brown’s Ferry Blues” – Tony Trischka featuring Billy Strings
Songwriters: Alton Delmore/Rabon Delmore
Producer: Béla Fleck
Label: Down the Road

“Fall in Tennessee” – Authentic Unlimited with Jerry Douglas
Songwriters: John Meador/Bob Minner
Producer: Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Forever Young” – Daniel Grindstaff with Paul Brewster, Dolly Parton
Songwriters: Jim Cregan/Kevin Savigar/Bob Dylan/Rod Stewart
Producer: Daniel Grindstaff
Label: Bonfire Music Group

“Bluegrass Radio” – Alison Brown and Steve Martin
Songwriters: Steve Martin/Alison Brown
Producers: Alison Brown/Garry West
Label: Compass Records

“Too Old to Die Young” – Bobby Osborne and CJ Lewandowski
Songwriters: Scott Dooley/John Hadley/Kevin Welch
Producer: CJ Lewandowski
Label: Turnberry Records

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Dan Tyminski
Greg Blake
Del McCoury
Danny Paisley
Russell Moore

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Molly Tuttle
Jaelee Roberts
Dale Ann Bradley
AJ Lee
Rhonda Vincent

BANJO PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kristin Scott Benson
Gena Britt
Alison Brown
Béla Fleck
Rob McCoury

BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Missy Raines
Mike Bub
Vickie Vaughn
Todd Phillips
Mark Schatz

FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jason Carter
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Michael Cleveland
Stuart Duncan
Deanie Richardson

RESOPHONIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Justin Moses
Rob Ickes
Jerry Douglas
Andy Hall
Gaven Largent

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Billy Strings
Molly Tuttle
Trey Hensley
Bryan Sutton
Cody Kilby

MANDOLIN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Sierra Hull
Sam Bush
Ronnie McCoury
Jesse Brock
Alan Bibey

MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
“Willow” – Sister Sadie
Label: Mountain Home

“Fall in Tennessee” – Authentic Unlimited
Label: Billy Blue Records

“The City of New Orleans” – Rhonda Vincent & The Rage
Label: Upper Management Music

“I Call Her Sunshine” – The Kody Norris Show
Label: Rebel Records

“Alberta Bound” – Special Consensus with Ray Legere, John Reischman, Patrick Sauber, Trisha Gagnon, Pharis & Jason Romero, and Claire Lynch
Label: Compass Records

BLUEGRASS MUSIC HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
Alan Munde
Jerry Douglas
Katy Daley

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS
Cindy Baucom
Laurie Lewis
Richard Hurst
ArtistWorks
Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival


Photo Credit: Billy Strings by Jesse Faatz; Sister Sadie by Eric Ahlgrim.

My Friend Dawg: Three Musicians on the Real David Grisman

To complete our Dawg in December Artist of the Month series, we asked several musicians who have worked with and made music with the inimitable David Grisman what it’s like to really know him.

A mythological figure in American roots music, the Dawg remains remarkably accessible and embedded in the scene, despite his unofficial role as a sort of guru-meets-mentor-meets-hermit. He’s been a teacher and encourager of multiple new generations of pickers and mandolinists, from Grammy-nominated Ronnie McCoury to young, impressive upstarts like Teo Quale – who, with his brother Miles and band, Crying Uncle, performed for Dawg’s Bluegrass Hall of Fame induction at IBMA’s annual awards show in September. Others, like fellow Hall of Famer Alice Gerrard, began their friendships with Grisman long ago, before his skyrocketing notoriety and impact.

We asked these three pickers and friends of Dawg – Gerrard, McCoury, and Quale – to reflect on their relationships with the man, who despite being placed high upon a pedestal by many in bluegrass, new acoustic, and old-time music, remains a grounded and down-to-earth mandolin player with an extraordinary legacy.

Alice Gerrard

Alice Gerrard: “I remember sort of my first impression of David – I think it also was Hazel’s too, because he was this very young looking kid from New York, but he played this great mandolin. It was kind of, “What’s going on here?” you know, but the thing that really stands out in my mind is when we were riding to New York [once]. I don’t remember, it might have been my van, but it was a van, and we were going there to record the second Folkways album.

“I think that’s the one that had, ‘The One I Love is Gone.’ We were on our way to record that album in New York and Peter Siegel – who is a friend of David’s and I think Peter was the one who suggested that David play mandolin on the album, because we didn’t really know David at that point. But we did trust Peter. So, David is in the band with us and and we were practicing that song as we were driving up to New York from D.C.

“Hazel was singing the tenor, and I was singing the lead, and there was a problem. Because, you know, often those Bill Monroe harmonies are kind of a mix of major against minor and stuff like that. Hazel was having a hard time getting it, but I’m not. (I’d have to go back and really think about whether she had it right and Peter and David had it wrong.) But it ended up with David lying on the floor of the van between the front and back seats. I don’t know why he was doing that, but he was lying on the floor and singing it with Hazel, trying to get her to find this particular note.

“It was just hilarious! I mean, it was like, I don’t know, two or three hours worth of David’s face, singing ‘The One I Love Is Gone,’ and him fairly well convinced that she did not have the right note. I don’t remember. I mean, I don’t remember the specifics of that, but it was hilariously funny, and of course, what she ended up with was great, but I’m not sure whether he was trying to get her to hit a minor note or what.

“He was just this little kid, you know? From New York. And played this great mandolin. It was beautiful what he did on that song.

“I had to think about how we first met him and how we first decided to record. So I called Peter Siegel on the phone and he told me that he was the one– I mean, David was a friend of his in New York. [Peter] came down to D.C. with David. They were going to go to this bluegrass show, but that got rained out, so they didn’t go. They canceled the show. They [both] heard about this party. I remember where it was. It was at my cousin’s house, who at that time was living sort of on the edge of Georgetown.

“And so, according to Peter, they just came to the house and Hazel and I were sort of sitting somewhere singing together. It was Peter’s idea to use David. And I’m so happy that we did because yeah, he’s amazing.”

Ronnie McCoury

Ronnie McCoury: “When I started playing music, I started playing the mandolin with my dad. I was 14 ‘81– like ‘82 or ‘80, somewhere around there, either before I started playing or right after. My dad got this package in the mail and David had gotten a hold of him and said, ‘I found these tapes of a show we did in Troy, New York in 1966.’ And it was my dad, David, Uncle Jerry [McCoury], and Winnie Winston. [Dawg] said, they sounded pretty good and he’d like to put them out. So he did. It’s called Early Dawg on Sugar Hill. It was half this live stuff and the other half was studio. Along with that package he sent a couple albums of his stuff.

“I mean, that’s just how he is, you know? He just sent this along. He didn’t even really know that I was playing music at the time. I had no idea he was a California guy. I found these albums [he had sent], I had never heard anything like that played on a mandolin, because I was just [getting started]. You know, I’m a child of bluegrass. I was born into it. My dad started a band in ‘66. I was born in ‘67. [It’s] always been a part of me.

“This new music I was hearing, I couldn’t even grasp it. I didn’t know what it was, but I went to bed at night all through my teens putting his albums on and it would play one side and I’d be usually asleep by that time. I did that basically every night to David’s records.

“When I was probably 18 or so, David called my dad and said, ‘Hey, I want to do some bluegrass and I want to do this thing called the David Grisman Bluegrass Experience and we’ll do some shows.’ Basically, it was my dad’s band [backing him up]. We did that quite a bit, for a year or two – just on and off.

“I got to know David and every time we go west, we always were basically playing Northern California and either Grass Valley, California – for the festival – or touring out there playing with my dad. It was just starting for my dad a lot more in the West. He’d been going there for years, but sporadically, and we’d always wind up going to the Dawg’s house. I had been playing a Kentucky mandolin, and he told me, ‘Hey, I got a mandolin at my house for you.’ And I never thought anything about it, and I surely wouldn’t ask about it.

“My dad went out, while we were still in Pennsylvania, and he recorded with David for what is called Home is Where the Heart Is. Dad did a show at the Great American [Music Hall], I think, with Dawg, and he came home with this Gilchrist mandolin. The neck was coming out of it at the time and I had a guy repair it – Warren Blair, who was playing the fiddle.

“He laid that mandolin on me, I believe I was probably 19 or 20, and it’s the same one I play today. I’m 56. I got a Loar 10 years ago and played it a little while, but David and Sam Bush and all my peers said, ‘Hey man, stay on that Gilchrist.’ So I stuck with it. I owe him such a debt. He gave me something that is such a part of me, it defines me, I guess. I’ll tell you, it’s his giving heart. He has a huge heart.”

“My dad met David in 1963. He was playing with Bill Monroe and Ralph Rinzler was his manager at the time– Bill’s first manager. He played in New York somewhere and they stayed at David’s house. David’s father passed when he was 10 and his mother, I can’t remember if his mother was even there, but my dad would have been 24. [Dawg] would have been six years younger than my dad. He was a teenager, you know. I don’t know if Monroe did, but my dad wound up staying with David, because Ralph put him there. He and my dad go back to when he was a teenager. There’s such a long friendship there.

“One time, we were at Grass Valley and Dawg said, ‘Have you heard of this kid?’ He comes riding up on a little bicycle with his mandolin on his back and I said, ‘Well, I’ve heard the name Nickel Creek, but I didn’t really know much.’ He says, ‘Chris Thile’s his name.’ He comes riding up, you know, and he jumps off his bike and he wants to play for David.

“We’re standing around picking and [Chris] sings, ‘Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms’ – super high, you know – and he’s playing. David said, ‘Hey, man, do you know this tune?’ And he starts playing ‘Big Mon.’ Or ‘Monroe’s Hornpipe,’ I think it was. [Thile] didn’t know it, so David’s playing it and he starts showing him it. And [Chris is] just like a sponge. He starts just running it real slow, then he’s like, ‘Oh, that’s neat!’ And he hops on his bike and he’s off. Like an hour or so later, he comes riding up, jumps off his bike, and he’s got it down. It was pretty neat to see David show him.

“The first time I ever heard or met Jake Jolliff was with David. The first time I ever met Julian Lage was with David. Both of those guys, probably at the time, were 10 and 11, something like that.”

Teo Quale

L to R: Teo Quale, David Grisman, and Mile Quale. (Photo courtesy of the Quales and Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band).

Teo Quale: “I first met Dawg as a young kid at a Manning Music event when I was about 6 or 7 – so about 10 years ago. Actually, the first time I was around David was when I was still a baby, but I don’t really remember that!

“Anyway, he jammed a bit with us and Tracy played bass. He and Chad [Manning] played later on. At the time, I was playing fiddle and I really wanted to start learning the mandolin, but my fingers weren’t strong enough yet. So, my mother got me a ukulele and replaced the strings with ones tuned in fifths. Then about a year later, I finally started on the mandolin.

“David has been an inspiration to me ever since meeting him. Over the years, I’ve also had the opportunity to take some lessons with him and he’s always been really generous with his time and his knowledge, but always in that relaxed Dawg way. His music has influenced the way I approach every aspect of my playing, from improvisation to composition.

“Most of my other heroes were also greatly influenced by David – Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, Ric [Robertson] and [Dominick Leslie]. I’m thankful that I get to call him a friend and that I’m also around so many musicians who were touched by him. I don’t get to see him as often as I’d like, but we keep in touch.

“He was born on the same day and year as my grandfather, both two really special people in my life. I play one of his old mandolins now (made in 2006, the same year I was born!), and I am thankful each time I pick it up, knowing that a part of Dawg will always be in this instrument.”


Photo Credit: Courtesy of Acoustic Disc.

With These Women Inducted Into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, Who Should Be Next?

For the first time in the thirty year history of the International Bluegrass Music Association a class of Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees includes a woman in every act. The Hall of Fame, helmed by the IBMA and housed inside the Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky, infamously lacks women. Before this year’s class it included ten women, total, and only one woman — Louise Scruggs — had ever been inducted as an individual. All others had been inducted as members of bands, duos, or organizations. 

This year Alison Krauss and Lynn Morris join the rarest rank of individual female inductees, alongside influential manager Louise Scruggs. The Stonemans — including Patti, Donna, and Roni — join the likes of songwriter Dixie Hall, who was inducted with her husband, Tom T.; Polly, Miggie, and Janis of the Lewis Family; Marion Leighton Levy of the Rounder Records founders; Sara and Maybelle of the Carter Family; and Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard.

To mark the occasion, we’re celebrating women in bluegrass who certainly deserve induction into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, beginning with this year’s inductees. The point is, there is no dearth of women in bluegrass, from way back in its earliest days before the genre even had a name to the big-tent-bluegrass present, and many of whom are more than qualified for inclusion in this hall of honor — as innovators, ambassadors, creators, pickers, and forebears, all.

Alison Krauss 

Arguably the most well-known bluegrass musician to achieve mainstream success, Alison Krauss is a no-brainer addition to the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. With her stellar collaborations — with Robert Plant, James Taylor, T Bone Burnett, and so many others — her bluegrass bona fides, her technical prowess as a fiddler, her crystalline and influential vocals, and her unparalleled skill for song interpretation she’s the perfect multi-hyphenate bluegrasser to demonstrate to veteran fans or the uninitiated passers-by what the Hall of Fame is all about. Because, no matter how far Alison Krauss may stray from bluegrass, everything she does remains firmly rooted in her ‘grassy foundations.


Lynn Morris

Lynn Morris remains a criminally underappreciated figure in bluegrass, partly due to her career being prematurely ended by a near-fatal stroke in the late 1990s. In the decades prior, this IBMA Award winner was a powerful and influential banjo player, bandleader, and community-builder, carving out a pathway to success in roots music for herself — given that no pathways were being made available to women like her. Morris’ brand of bluegrass was unflinching, driving, and gritty, and to this day it continues to defy stereotypes about what women can contribute to a music that often holds up maleness and horse race-style competition as currency. While at the same time, she retained a level of tenderness and openness rare in masculine-centered bluegrass. Hopefully this induction will spotlight Morris’ important role in bluegrass’ golden age during the ‘80s and ‘90s. “Love Grown Cold,” a semi-viral hit for Morris on many a bluegrass social media page, is merely the tip of the iceberg of what will be this Hall of Famer’s long-lasting legacy in this music.


The Stoneman Family

Ernest “Pop” Stoneman, father and figurehead of country’s legendary Stoneman family, was the man who started it all. No, literally. Pop is credited with being a keystone picker, performer, and pseudo-producer of 1927’s Bristol sessions, which later came to be considered as the “big bang of country music,” the beginning of the genre’s commercial fortunes. His family of pickers, including Donna, Roni, and Patti, became stars of stage and screen thanks to their showmanship, homespun vibes, and blistering-fast picking. The impact of this musical family on country, bluegrass, and Americana music — as a unit and as individuals — can simply not be overstated. From Hee Haw to the Grand Ole Opry to winning a CMA Award to international tours with their own group and as side musicians, the fingerprints of the Stoneman Family are all over American roots music across the globe.


Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper

At one point, Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper were perhaps the most famous bluegrass act in the world, landing several singles and tracks in Billboard’s Hot Country Chart in the ‘50s and ‘60s — notably landing four songs in the Top 10. Not on a bluegrass chart, because such a thing did not yet exist, but on the country chart! Granted, at that time bluegrass was still considered simply a subgenre of country and hillbilly music, but imagine not just one “Wagon Wheel”-level hit to their name, but a handful! And somehow, in modern times, Wilma Lee & Stoney are at best relegated to footnotes and asides. Bluegrass has always been a commercial genre and the commercial success of this pair is alone worth induction into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, all their other achievements and accolades notwithstanding.


Ola Belle Reed

Ola Belle Reed is more than “I’ve Endured” and more than “High on the Mountain.” A Western North Carolina songwriter and picker, Reed typified the politically- and environmentally-conscious, subversive, and grounded style of musicmaking by Appalachian women who lived through the many upheavals and uncertainties within the region and around the world during the twentieth century. Her songs, like “Tear Down the Fences,” highlight that the south, Appalachia, and the people who live there are not monoliths. Just as Reed’s catalog of influential music is not a monolith, either. Truly a glaring omission from Bluegrass’s hall of honor.


Sally Ann Forrester

Born Wilene Russell, “Sally Ann” or “Billie” Forrester — wife of fiddler Howdy Forrester — was one of only two women to have ever been members of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys. (The other being Bessie Lee Maudlin, another prime candidate for Hall of Fame induction and inclusion in this list.) With the band, Forrester played accordion and sang as well as “keeping the books.” Inducting the women who were Blue Grass Boys, members of THE titular band of bluegrass, just makes sense! But with Forrester, it also represents an all-too-rare opportunity to canonize a bluegrass accordionist for the ages. Why wouldn’t we want to do that!? Take a listen to her accordion fills on “Rocky Road Blues” and just try to come up with a reason why bluegrass accordion isn’t more popular nowadays. Besides the obvious reasons.


Rose Maddox

Rose Maddox is traditionally credited as the first woman to cut a bluegrass album, recording Rose Maddox Sings Bluegrass in 1962 for Capitol Records and including many a bluegrass hit, like “Footprints in the Snow.” Maddox also marked the beginning of a series of women vocalists and musicians in bluegrass who could accomplish the high lonesome sound for which men like Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, the Osborne Brothers, and others were famous. Women who sang old-time and country up to this point often had rounder, more full, resonant, and rich voices, where men in bluegrass were seemingly attempting to shout tenor to dog whistles. Sexists weren’t sure women could replicate that testicles-in-a-vise-grip sound, but Maddox’s powerful voice immediately commands the same attention – and respect – of the highest and most lonesome. To think there used to be a time when people actually thought (or pretended to think) women couldn’t sing bluegrass!


Elizabeth Cotten

A pillar of American folk music, Elizabeth Cotten’s influence and impact knows no bounds, reaching far from downhome blues, ragtime, and old-time and into bluegrass, folk, Americana, rock, pop, and beyond. Her songs and her playing style continue to influence bluegrass today, but Cotten’s true legacy, one that will stretch on into infinity, is that her existence stands as permission for the Other – for marginalized folks like herself, a Black, working class artisan and musician from the South – to exist and to take up space within these historically white and often forbidding and exclusive roots music communities. Elizabeth Cotten is proof positive that the contributions of Black folks to American roots musics, including if not especially bluegrass, were truly seminal, essential, and vital to the music growing and developing into the entity we all love today. Elizabeth Cotten would be an excellent and unimpeachable first Black and African American inductee into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. Let’s make it happen.


Buffalo Gals

In the 1970s the group considered to be the first bluegrass lineup of all women was Buffalo Gals, including Martha Trachtenberg, Susie Monick, Carol Siegel, Sue Raines, and Nancy Josephson. Their first and only record, First Borne, is finally available digitally and via online streaming platforms, but up until recently was largely forgotten. We featured First Borne in our list of the 50 Greatest Bluegrass Albums by women and retold a now-infamous story about the Buffalo Gals performing in their sleeping bags when a festival promoter gave them a set early in the morning because, you guessed it, who would want to see women perform bluegrass!? Hearing this whimsical, zany mash-up of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” and “Loco-motion” we’d make this group headline. Just sayin’. With bands like Della Mae and Sister Sadie enjoying success and acclaim at all levels of the IBMA, perhaps it’s time to pay tribute to the all-women lineups like the Buffalo Gals who came before and blazed the trail.


Gloria Belle

A woman for a Sunny Mountain Boy! Gloria Belle is most famous as a member of Jimmy Martin’s backing band, but it would almost be an insult to reduce her career to having spent time in the shadow of the King of Bluegrass. She was a fantastic picker, multi-instrumentalist, and singer and the first woman to ever release an album on longtime bluegrass label Rebel Records. In 1999 she received IBMA’s Distinguished Achievement Award after a handful of decades of nonstop recording, touring, and performing in bluegrass. She even made an appearance on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s fantastically popular Will the Circle Be Unbroken album. Another case of an underrated woman who is constantly referred to on the back end of an ampersand after a man or men, Gloria Belle is a perfect example of a woman who deserves induction into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame on her own merits first and foremost.


Dolly Parton

Though she’ll often refer to it simply as “mountain music,” Dolly Parton is as bluegrass as they come. Albums like The Grass Is Blue, Heartsongs, and Trio demonstrate this fact to an obvious degree, but it’s worth pointing out — especially within the context of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame — that Parton’s bluegrass runs deeper than just being an offshoot of her musical expression. With the shows and festivals at Dollywood, her collaborations with artists like the Grascals, Rhonda Vincent, and Alison Krauss, and her longtime commitment to philanthropy in her home region of East Tennessee and abroad, Dolly is the perfect example the Hall of Fame could utilize to communicate the importance and value of taking bluegrass ideals and spreading them around the world. Plus, who wouldn’t want a ticket to the IBMA Awards show at which Dolly Parton would be inducted? (Pro tip: Dolly has actually attended the IBMA Awards and performed once before, when The Grass Is Blue was nominated in 2000 and Marty Stuart hosted. Let’s please recreate that show. Please.)

We could continue this list into infinity, and that’s exactly the point. Artists and bands like Alison Brown, Laurie Lewis, Missy Raines, Kathy Kallick, Blue Rose, Emmylou Harris, The Whites, Patty Loveless, and so many others are waiting in the wings, qualified, ready, and willing to step up and thrive under the mantle of Bluegrass Hall of Fame induction. And plenty of young women, femmes, and non-binary folks are waiting to have examples to look up to, to signal to them that bluegrass can be a place where they can also make a home. The concept of a Hall of Fame may seem like an unimportant or inconsequential or self-serving enterprise at times, but it can be so much more than that! We can supply those examples. Let’s do it.


IBMA Awards 2020: See the Full List of Winners

The winners of the 31st annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards were announced Thursday night via video awards show, hosted by Sierra Hull, Tim O’Brien, Joe Newberry, and Rhonda Vincent.

The “biggest night in bluegrass” was well-adapted to its virtual setting and boasted three Hall of Fame inductions, guitar and banjo tributes to Doc Watson and J.D. Crowe, a continent-spanning collaboration by Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley and Taj Mahal, and celebrations of the 20th anniversary of O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the 75th anniversary of the birth of bluegrass. Marking the occasion, Del, Ronnie, and Rob McCoury opened the evening from an empty Ryman Auditorium, regarded as the birthplace of bluegrass and a former home for the show.

Special performances were shot live at home, in studios, and at various small venues — as well as the Station Inn and the Ryman. Billy Strings paid tribute to Hall of Famer and Male Vocalist of the Year nominee, Larry Sparks, with a cover of “John Deere Tractor” — with double pickguards, to boot. In the Doc Watson tribute, each of the five Guitar Player of the Year nominees (Trey Hensley, Billy Strings, Bryan Sutton, Molly Tuttle, and Jake Workman) took their turn virtually swapping solos on “Black Mountain Rag,” with T Michael Coleman, Watson’s longtime friend and bandmate, holding them all together through the webcams and headphones. Many other unique collaborations, tributes, and performances were peppered throughout the award announcements. The most stunning performances, though — like Vocal Group of the Year and Entertainer of the Year winner Sister Sadie’s “900 Miles” — were from the mother-church setting of the Ryman, where in a pandemic twist, the bands each performed not facing an audience, but with the auditorium’s empty pews as a background.

As IBMA Executive Director Paul Schiminger put it in his speech from the Ryman stage, in a virtual conference year and a pandemic, returning to the birthplace of the genre was “an unexpected gift through it all.” 75 years of bluegrass were poignantly brought together beneath the rafters of the hallowed, though empty, Ryman Auditorium.

Here are the winners of the 2020 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards, in the order they were announced:

New Artist of the Year

Mile Twelve

Instrumental Group of the Year

Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper

Gospel Recording of the Year

“Gonna Rise and Shine”
Artist: Alan Bibey & Grasstowne
Label: Mountain Fever Records
Producer: Mark Hodges

Banjo Player of the Year

Scott Vestal

Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year

Justin Moses

Fiddle Player of the Year

Deanie Richardson

Bass Player of the Year

Missy Raines

Mandolin Player of the Year

Alan Bibey

Guitar Player of the Year 

Jake Workman

Collaborative Recording of the Year

“The Barber’s Fiddle”
Artists: Becky Buller with Shawn Camp, Jason Carter, Laurie Lewis, Kati Penn, Sam Bush, Michael Cleveland, Johnny Warren, Stuart Duncan, Deanie Richardson, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Jason Barie, Fred Carpenter, Tyler Andal, Nate Lee, Dan Boner, Brian Christianson, and Laura Orshaw
Label: Dark Shadow Recording
Producer: Stephen Mougin

Instrumental Recording of the Year

“Tall Fiddler”
Artist: Michael Cleveland with Tommy Emmanuel
Label: Compass Records
Producers: Jeff White, Michael Cleveland, and Sean Sullivan

Vocal Group of the Year

Sister Sadie

Song of the Year

“Chicago Barn Dance”
Artist: Special Consensus with Michael Cleveland & Becky Buller
Writers: Becky Buller, Missy Raines, Alison Brown
Label: Compass Records
Producer: Alison Brown

Album of the Year

Live in Prague, Czech Republic
Artist: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Label: Billy Blue Records
Producers: Doyle Lawson and Rosta Capek

Female Vocalist of the Year

Brooke Aldridge

Male Vocalist of the Year

Danny Paisley

Entertainer of the Year

Sister Sadie

 

Also honored during the broadcast were three inductees into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame: owner of the Station Inn, J.T. Gray, The Johnson Mountain Boys, and New Grass Revival.

The Industry Awards were held on Wednesday, September 30. Hosted this year wittily and absurdly in video format by Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn, the Industry Awards recognize outstanding professional work within the many arms and branches of the bluegrass industry at large. 

The Industry Awards recipients:

Broadcaster of the Year

Michael Kear

Event of the Year

Augusta Heritage Center Bluegrass Week, Elkins, WV

Graphic Designer of the Year

Michael Armistead

Liner Notes of the Year

Katy Daley, Live at the Cellar Door – The Seldom Scene

Writer of the Year

Derek Halsey

Sound Engineer of the Year

Stephen Mougin 

Songwriter of the Year

Milan Miller

The recipients of the Distinguished Achievement Awards, honoring lifelong contributions by forerunners and ambassadors for bluegrass music, were honored with presentations on Wednesday as well: 

Norman & Judy Adams, Adams Bluegrass Festivals

Darrel & Phyllis Adkins, Musicians Against Childhood Cancer

Darol Anger, fiddler/educator

Wayne Rice,  San Diego’s KSON “Bluegrass Special” host

and Jack Tottle, band leader and educator at East Tennessee State University.

The Momentum Awards, handed out via video ceremony on Tuesday, September 29, focus on artists and industry professionals who are in the early stages of their bluegrass careers and the mentors who have helped them reach their young success.

The Momentum Awards recipients:

Industry Involvement

Kris Truelsen

Mentor

Annie Savage

Instrumentalist (2 recipients in this category)

Thomas Cassell

Tabitha Agnew

Vocalist

Melody Williamson 

Band

The Slocan Ramblers