Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle and a certain family named McCoury retained their dominant spots atop bluegrass music with multiple nominations for the 35th annual International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, which were announced Wednesday in Nashville. At the same time, fast-emerging bands East Nash Grass and AJ Lee & Blue Summit made surprising inroads with nominations in major categories as well as New Artist of the Year. The all-woman band Sister Sadie also stood out with eight total nominations, including for top Entertainer, Album, Song, Vocal Group, Female Vocalist, and Music Video, as well as nods in two instrumentalist categories.
Besides this year’s award nominees, which were announced by veteran duo Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent, IBMA Executive Director Ken White disclosed the IBMA’s newest inductees to the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. They are dobro player and frequent Grammy Award-winner Jerry Douglas, banjo innovator Alan Munde, and veteran bluegrass DJ Katy Daley. They will be formally inducted at the awards ceremony, coming up on Thursday, September 26, at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, NC.
Guitarist, songwriter and band leader Billy Strings, winner of the last three Entertainer of the Year awards, also might win Instrumental Group of the Year, Collaborative Recording (with Tony Trischka) and another solo Guitar Player trophy, which he’s won twice before. Molly Tuttle’s nominations are largely shared with her band Golden Highway - Entertainer, Vocal Group, Instrumental Group, and Album, plus her individual nod as Female Vocalist, which she’s won twice in a row. The two artists, both just over 30 years old, have shaken up bluegrass music fundamentally in the past five years, bringing the genre to new audiences.
Other Entertainer of the Year nominees are the Po’ Ramblin' Boys (nominated four times in four years) and the Del McCoury Band, one of the industry’s top draws since the 1990s and winner overall of eight EOY trophies. The Travelin’ McCourys, basically the Del band without Del, picked up an Instrumental Group nomination as well.
Mandolinist/singer/songwriter AJ Lee grew up in California playing in a family band with Tuttle, and now her own band AJ Lee & Blue Summit has been making its own waves in the past two years. Their nomination as Best New Artist wasn’t unexpected, but her inclusion as a top Female Vocalist, along with Tuttle, Dale Ann Bradley, Rhonda Vincent and Sister Sadie’s Jaelee Roberts, is a coup. Lee and her band made their debut on the Grand Ole Opry this week and will release their new album City Of Glass on Friday. Tuttle’s brother Sullivan plays guitar in Blue Summit.
Meanwhile Nashville’s role as a hub for the genre got a new lift as East Nash Grass was nominated as a top emerging act, on the strength of a sound honed over six years playing Mondays at Dee’s Lounge in Madison and their sophomore release Last Chance To Win, which was nominated as Album of the Year. The band’s resophonic guitarist Gavin Largent earned his first nomination in his instrumental category. Other new acts on tap for the award are fiddler Bronwyn Keith-Hynes of Golden Highway and a solo artist, teenage mandolin phenom Wyatt Ellis, and the fashionably traditional Kody Norris Show.
A complete list of nominees follows:
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
