A feeling of déjà vu pervades the nominations for the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, with only one new entrant out of five for the top prize of Entertainer of the Year. Like 2022, Billy Strings (the reigning, two-time EOY), Molly Tuttle, the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys and the Del McCoury Band (nine-time winners) were named as nominees, with Appalachian Road Show slipping for its first ever nomination in the category. The IBMA candidates were announced Wednesday morning in Nashville.
Strings and Tuttle also enjoyed nominations for Album of the Year, Strings for the intimate Me/And/Dad (an album cut with the artist’s father, who guided him into music years ago in Michigan) and Tuttle for Crooked Tree, which was able to be nominated for a second year thanks to rules that allow for “significant chart activity” during the eligibility period. Rounding out the album category are two top fiddlers – Jason Carter’s disc Lowdown Hoedown and Michael Cleveland’s Lovin’ Of The Game, as well as Sam Bush’s tribute Radio John: The Songs Of John Hartford.
New Artist of the Year is the one category where one can reliably find fresh names and indicators of bluegrass music’s trajectory. The 2023 nominees are Authentic Unlimited, largely the reconfigured Quicksilver following the road retirement of leader Doyle Lawson; East Nash Grass, the six-piece house band from Dee’s Lounge in Madison, TN; Henhouse Prowlers, a Chicago band with deep experience in global touring and musical diplomacy; The Tennessee Bluegrass Band, a classically traditional band from the eastern part of the state with one album; and repeat nominee Tray Wellington, the North Carolina banjo player who is the first African American to be nominated in this IBMA category.
There’s a lot to love in this year’s Collaborative Recording category, which celebrates the fondness of bluegrass musicians for sitting in and swapping ideas. “Alberta Bound” is a joyful cover of Gordon Lightfoot featuring the Chicago band Special Consensus and guests. Mandolin masters Andy Leftwich and Sierra Hull offered their take on Bill Monroe’s classic instrumental “Big Mon.” Compass Records owner Alison Brown joins her famous colleague Steve Martin in composing and playing “Foggy Morning Breaking” from Brown’s On Banjo album. Jeff White sings while Billy Strings and Michael Cleveland slay on Joe Ely’s song “For Your Love.” And last year’s new Hall of Fame inductee Peter Rowan brought in Molly Tuttle and Lindsay Lou for his song “From My Mountain (Calling You)” on his 2022 Rebel Records album.
Speaking of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, IBMA Interim Executive Director Paul Schiminger announced this year’s inductees, including two of the most famous mandolinists of all time. The elder is David “Dawg” Grisman, a New Jersey Jewish kid who grew up around folklorist Ralph Rinzler and who moved to California to pioneer a whole school of instrumental jazz/grass hybrid he calls Dawg music. His collaborations with Peter Rowan, Jerry Garcia, Tony Rice, Doc Watson and others are credited with luring armies of new fans into bluegrass and new acoustic music. Also named, Kentucky native Sam Bush, founder of the New Grass Revival (already in the Hall) and a musical partner of the new Nashville generation that expanded bluegrass music from the 1980s onward. “It’s pretty overwhelming,” said Bush, who was on hand to perform at Wednesday’s ceremony. “Because bluegrass has given me everything. Friends for life.”
In the historic pioneers category, Wilma Lee Cooper was also named to the Hall of Fame. A West Virginia native, Cooper performed bluegrass and country music for decades with her husband Stoney Cooper and then as a solo artist before her 2001 retirement. She passed away in 2011.
Winners of the IBMA Awards will be announced at the annual ceremony at World of Bluegrass on Thursday, Sept. 28 at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The complete list of nominations:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Appalachian Road Show
Billy Strings
Del McCoury Band
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Authentic Unlimited
Balsam Range
Blue Highway
Del McCoury Band
Sister Sadie
INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Billy Strings
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
The Infamous Stringdusters
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
The Travelin’ McCourys
SONG OF THE YEAR
“Blue Ridge Mountain Baby”
Artist: Appalachian Road Show
Songwriters: Barry Abernathy/Jim VanCleve
Label: Billy Blue Records
Producer: Appalachian Road Show
“Crooked Tree”
Artist: Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
Songwriters: Molly Tuttle/Melody Walker
Label: Nonesuch Records
Producers: Jerry Douglas and Molly Tuttle
“Diane”
Artist: Sister Sadie
Songwriters: Jeffrey Nath Bhasker/Samuel Tyler Johnson/Cameron Marvel Ochs
Label: Mountain Home
Producer: Sister Sadie
“Heyday”
Artist: Lonesome River Band
Songwriters: Barry Huchens/Will Huchens
Label: Mountain Home Music Company
Producer: Lonesome River Band
“Power of Love”
Artist: Rick Faris
Songwriters: Johnny Colla/Huey Lewis/Christopher Hayes
Label: Dark Shadow Recording
Producer: Stephen Mougin
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Crooked Tree
Artist: Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
Label: Nonesuch Records
Producer: Jerry Douglas and Molly Tuttle
Lovin’ of the Game
Artist: Michael Cleveland
Label: Compass Records
Producers: Jeff White, Michael Cleveland, and Sean Sullivan
Lowdown Hoedown
Artist: Jason Carter
Label: Fiddle Man Records
Producers: Jason Carter and Brent Truitt
Me/And/Dad
Artist: Billy Strings and Terry Barber
Label: Rounder Records
Producers: Billy Strings and Gary Paczosa
Radio John: The Songs of John Hartford
Artist: Sam Bush
Label: Smithsonian Folkways
Producer: Sam Bush
GOSPEL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
“The Glory Road”
Artist: Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers
Songwriters: Paul Martin/Harry Stinson/Marty Stuart
Label: Billy Blue Records
Producers: Joe Mullins and Adam McIntosh
“Jordan”
Artist: Darin & Brooke Aldridge with Ricky Skaggs, Mo Pitney and Mark Fain
Songwriter: Fred Rich
Label: Billy Blue Records
Producer: Darin Aldridge and Mark Fain
“The Scarlet Red Lines”
Artist: Larry Sparks
Songwriter: Daniel Crabtree
Label: Rebel Records
Producer: Larry Sparks
“Take a Little Time for Jesus”
Artist: Junior Sisk
Songwriter: David Marshall
Label: Mountain Fever Records
Producers: Junior Sisk and Aaron Ramsey
“Tell Me the Story of Jesus”
Artist: Becky Buller with Vince Gill and Ricky Skaggs
Songwriter: Fanny Crosby, arrangement by Becky Buller
Label: Dark Shadow Recording
Producer: Stephen Mougin
INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
“Contact”
Artist: Michael Cleveland with Cody Kilby, Barry Bales, and Béla Fleck
Songwriter: Michael Cleveland
Label: Compass Records
Producer: Jeff White, Michael Cleveland, and Sean Sullivan
“Foggy Morning Breaking”
Artist: Alison Brown with Steve Martin
Songwriters: Alison Brown/Steve Martin
Label: Compass Records
Producers: Alison Brown and Garry West
“Gold Rush”
Artist: Scott Vestal’s Bluegrass 2022
Songwriter: Bill Monroe
Label: Pinecastle Records
Producer: Scott Vestal
"Kissimmee Kid”
Artist: Jason Carter
Songwriter: Vassar Clements
Label: Fiddle Man Records
Producers: Jason Carter and Brent Truitt
“Scorchin’ the Gravy”
Artist: Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
Songwriter: Frank Solivan
Label: Compass Records
Producer: Frank Solivan
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Authentic Unlimited
East Nash Grass
Henhouse Prowlers
The Tennessee Bluegrass Band
Tray Wellington
COLLABORATIVE RECORDING OF THE YEAR
“Alberta Bound”
Artist: Special Consensus with Ray Legere, John Reischman, Tisha Gagnon, Claire Lynch, Pharis & Jason Romero
Songwriter: Gordon Lightfoot
Label: Compass Records
Producer: Alison Brown
“Big Mon”
Artist: Andy Leftwich with Sierra Hull
Songwriter: Bill Monroe
Label: Mountain Home Music Company
Producer: Andy Leftwich
“Foggy Morning Breaking”
Artist: Alison Brown with Steve Martin
Songwriter: Alison Brown/Steve Martin
Label: Compass Records
Producer: Alison Brown and Garry West
"For Your Love”
Artist: Michael Cleveland with Billy Strings and Jeff White
Songwriter: Joe Ely
Label: Compass Records
Producer: Jeff White, Michael Cleveland, and Sean Sullivan
“From My Mountain (Calling You)”
Artist: Peter Rowan with Molly Tuttle and Lindsay Lou
Songwriter: Peter Rowan
Label: Rebel Records
Producer: Peter Rowan
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Greg Blake
Del McCoury
Danny Paisley
Larry Sparks
Dan Tyminski
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
BrookeAldridge
Dale Ann Bradley
Jaelee Roberts
Molly Tuttle
Rhonda Vincent
BANJO PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kristin Scott Benson
Alison Brown
Béla Fleck
Ned Luberecki
Scott Vestal
BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Mike Bub
Todd Phillips
Missy Raines
Mark Schatz
Vickie Vaughn
FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jason Carter
Michael Cleveland
Stuart Duncan
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Deanie Richardson
RESOPHONIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jerry Douglas
Andy Hall
Rob Ickes
Matt Leadbetter
Justin Moses
GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Chris Eldridge
Trey Hensley
Billy Strings
Bryan Sutton
Molly Tuttle
MANDOLIN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Alan Bibey
Jesse Brock
Sam Bush
Sierra Hull
Ronnie McCoury
