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Black Pumas and Brittany Howard Blur Lines At The 2021 Grammy Nominations

Lyza Renee

Black Pumas, the three-year-old Austin soul-funk duo that earned two Americana Award nominations this year, made a splash on Tuesday with three Grammy Award nominations, including Best American Roots Performance and Record of the Year for “Colors” and an overall Album of the Year nod for their debut Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition). The highly danceable band is the brainchild of Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada, who met through colleagues only in 2017.

Other roots music nominations blurred lines, particularly Alabama Shakes founder and lead singer Brittany Howard, who scored a remarkable five nominations across four genres: Best American Roots Performance for “Short And Sweet,” Best Rock Song and Rock Performance for “Stay High,” Best R&B Performance for “Goat Head” and Best Alternative Music Album for Jamie, which was released on Sept. 20. Americana favorite Brandy Clark netted two nominations in Country: Your Life Is A Record for album and “Who You Thought I Was” for solo performance. Grace Potter’s Daylight and Sturgill Simpson’s Sound & Fury were among the nominees in the Best Rock Album category.

The coveted Americana Album nominations went to the wide-ranging contingent of Hiss Golden Messenger, Lucinda Williams, Sarah Jarosz, Courtney Marie Andrews and Marcus King. While Bluegrass Album hopefuls were revealed as Billy Strings, the Steep Canyon Rangers, Thomm Jutz, Danny Barnes and the various artists behind the John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Vol. 1. Best Folk Album nominees are Laura Marling, The Secret Sisters, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, the collaboration Bonny Light Horseman and the late Leonard Cohen.

John Prine received two nominations for his posthumous release “I Remember Everything,” namely American Roots Song and American Roots Performance. Others in the Song category are “Cabin” by the Secret Sisters, “Ceiling To The Floor” by Sierra Hull, “Hometown” by Sarah Jarosz and “Man Without A Soul” by Lucinda Williams.

The 63rd annual Grammy Awards show will air Sunday, Jan. 31. A complete list of roots-related nominees compiled by the Americana Music Association follows:

Best Americana Album:

Old Flowers — Courtney Marie Andrews

Terms of Surrender — Hiss Golden Messenger

World On the Ground — Sarah Jarosz

El Dorado — Marcus King

Good Souls Better Angels — Lucinda Williams

Best American Roots Performance:

"Colors" — Black Pumas

"Deep in Love" — Bonny Light Horseman

"Short and Sweet" — Brittany Howard

"I'll Be Gone" — Norah Jones & Mavis Staples

"I Remember Everything" — John Prine

Best American Roots Song:
(Artist names appear in parentheses.)

“Cabin” — Laura Rogers & Lydia Rogers, songwriters (The Secret Sisters)

“Ceiling to the Floor” — Sierra Hull & Kai Welch, songwriters (Sierra Hull)

“Hometown” — Sarah Jarosz, songwriter (Sarah Jarosz)

“I Remember Everything” — Pat McLaughlin & John Prine, songwriters (John Prine)

“Man Without a Soul” – Tom Overby & Lucinda Williams, songwriters (Lucinda Williams)

Best Bluegrass Album:

Man On Fire — Danny Barnes

To Live in Two Worlds, Vol. 1 — Thomm Jutz

North Carolina Songbook — Steep Canyon Rangers

Home — Billy Strings

The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Vol. 1 — Various Artists

Best Traditional Blues Album:

All My Dues Are Paid — Frank Bey

You Make Me Feel — Don Bryant

That's What I Heard — Robert Cray Band

Cypress Grove — Jimmy "Duck" Holmes

Rawer Than Raw — Bobby Rush

Best Contemporary Blues Album:

Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? — Fantastic Negrito

Live at the Paramount — Ruthie Foster Big Band

The Juice — G. Love

Blackbirds — Bettye LaVette

Up and Rolling — North Mississippi Allstars

Best Folk Album:

Bonny Light Horseman — Bonny Light Horseman

Thanks for the Dance — Leonard Cohen

Song for Our Daughter — Laura Marling

Saturn Return — The Secret Sisters

All the Good Times — Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Best Regional Roots Music Album:

My Relatives "Nikso Kowaiks" — Black Lodge Singers

Cameron Dupuy and The Cajun Troubadours — Cameron Dupuy and The Cajun Troubadours

Lovely Sunrise — N? Wai ?Eh?

Atmosphere — New Orleans Nightcrawlers

A Tribute to Al Berard — Sweet Cecilia

Best Rock Performance:

"Stay High" — Brittany Howard

"Daylight" — Grace Potter

Best Rock Song:

"Stay High" — Brittany Howard, songwriter (Brittany Howard)

Best Rock Album:

Daylight — Grace Potter

Sound & Fury — Sturgill Simpson

Best Alternative Music Album:

Jaime — Brittany Howard

Best R&B Performance:

"Goat Head" — Brittany Howard

Best Country Solo Performance:

"Who You Thought I Was" — Brandy Clark

Best Country Song:

"Bluebird" — Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby & Miranda Lambert, songwriters (Miranda Lambert)

"Crowded Table" — Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby & Lori McKenna, songwriters (The Highwomen)

Best Country Album:

Your Life Is a Record — Brandy Clark

Best Song Written for Visual Media:

"Carried Me With You [From Onward]" — Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)

Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package:

Ode to Joy — Lawrence Azerrad & Jeff Tweedy, art directors (Wilco)

Best Album Notes:

The Bakersfield Sound: Country Music Capital of The West, 1940-1974 — Scott B. Bomar, album notes writer (Various Artists)

Best Historical Album:

Throw Down Your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions — Béla Fleck, compilation producer; Richard Dodd, mastering engineer (Béla Fleck)

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical:

Black Hole Rainbow — Shawn Everett & Ivan Wayman, engineers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer (Devon Gilfillian)

Expectations — Gary Paczosa & Mike Robinson, engineers; Paul Blakemore, mastering engineer (Katie Pruitt)

Jaime — Shawn Everett, engineer; Shawn Everett, mastering engineer (Brittany Howard)

25 Trips — Shani Gandhi & Gary Paczosa, engineers; Adam Grover, mastering engineer (Sierra Hull)

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical:

Dan Auerbach

Dave Cobb

Best Music Film:

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice — Linda Ronstadt; Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman, video directors; Michele Farinola & James Keach, video producers

Craig Havighurst is WMOT's editorial director and host of The String, a weekly interview show airing Mondays at 8 pm, repeating Sundays at 7 am. He also co-hosts The Old Fashioned on Saturdays at 9 am and Tuesdays at 8 pm. Threads and Instagram: @chavighurst. Email: craig@wmot.org