Bluegrass Music Award Nominations Announced

Bluegrass Music Award Nominations Announced

Nominations for the 19th annual International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards were announced at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Thursday. On hand to reveal the nominees were Kathy Mattea and the host of this year's show, nine-time IBMA Entertainer of the Year Del McCoury.

For Mattea, whose critically-acclaimed album 'Coal' is a return to her West Virginia mining-town roots, the opportunity to share a stage with bluegrass artists was a sort of homecoming, serving as a reminder of the sense of connection she first felt when playing with bluegrass musicians in college.

"We would play ten hours straight just sitting on the porch," Mattea told The Boot. "So many people would gather in the street that the cops would come along and say, 'Can you just go into one of the bars and become a band, because we can't keep blocking off the street like this!'"

Prior to the announcement of the nominees, hot new bluegrass duo Dailey & Vincent, comprised of Jamie Dailey and Darren Vincent, treated the crowd to a spellbinding performance, hinting at why they find themselves leading the list of award hopefuls with an impressive total of 10 nods, including Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group, Male Vocalist (Dailey), Emerging Artist, Bass Player (Vincent), and Album of the Year for their self-titled debut on Rounder Records. The duo also earned two Song of the Year nominations, for 'By the Mark' and 'More Than a Name on a Wall,' along with a Gospel Recorded Performance nomination for 'By the Mark' and a nod for Recorded Event of the Year for Vincent's work on 'Everett Lilly & Everybody and Their Brother.'

Other multiple nominees include supergroups Blue Highway, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder and the Dan Tyminski Band, who are each vying for six awards.

This year's IBMA Awards will be presented live on stage at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium on October 2. The show is the centerpiece of the World of Bluegrass Week, including the industry's Business Conference and Bluegrass Fan Fest, slated for September 29 – October 5 in Nashville.

THE 2008 INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS MUSIC ASSOCIATION (IBMA) AWARD NOMINEES

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(album, artist, producer(s), record label)

'Dailey & Vincent'
Dailey & Vincent
Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent
Rounder Records

'Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass - Tribute to 1946 and 1947'
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
Ricky Skaggs
Skaggs Family Records

'Lovin' Pretty Women'
Steep Canyon Rangers
Ronnie Bowman
Rebel Records

'The SteelDrivers'
The SteelDrivers
Luke Wooten and the SteelDrivers
Rounder Records

'Through the Window of a Train'
Blue Highway
Blue Highway
Rounder Records

SONG OF THE YEAR
(song, artist, songwriter(s))

"More Than a Name on a Wall"
Dailey & Vincent
Jimmy Fortune and John Rimel

"Through the Window of a Train"
Blue Highway
Tim Stafford and Steve Gulley

GOSPEL RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
("song" or 'album,' artist(s), producer(s), label)

'Be Still Moses"
Steep Canyon Rangers
Ronnie Bowman
Rebel Records

"By The Mark"
Dailey & Vincent
Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent
Rounder Records

'Help Is on the Way'
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Doyle Lawson
Horizon Records

'Salt of the Earth'
Ricky Skaggs and the Whites
Ricky Skaggs and the Whites
Skaggs Family Records

'Where No One Stands Alone,'
Paul Williams and the Victory Trio
Paul Williams
Rebel Records

INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(album, artist(s), producer(s), label)

'Live at the Linda'
David Grier
David Grier
Dreadnought Records

'Sound of the Slide Guitar'
Andy Hall
Andy Hall
Sugar Hill Records

'Stepping Out'
Jason Davis
Jason Davis and Greg Luck
Pinecastle Records

'The Past Is Present'
Jason Barie
Jason Barie
Pinecastle Records

'When at Last'
Russ Barenberg
Russ Barenberg
Compass Records

RECORDED EVENT OF THE YEAR
(album, featured artists, producer(s), label)

'Salt of the Earth
Ricky Skaggs and the Whites
Ricky Skaggs and the Whites
Skaggs Family Records

'Standard Songs for Average People'
John Prine & Mac Wiseman
John Prine and David Ferguson
Oh Boy Records

INSTRUMENTAL PERFORMERS OF THE YEAR

BANJO PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kristin Scott Benson
J.D. Crowe
Jim Mills
Earl Scruggs
Ron Stewart

BLUEGRASS BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR
Kyle Cantrell; Bluegrass Junction, XM Satellite Radio
Katy Daley, WAMU's bluegrasscountry.org
Terry Herd; Into the Blue, Bluegrass Radio Network

BLUEGRASS EVENT OF THE YEAR
The Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival; Ancramdale, New York; July 2007
The River City Bluegrass Festival; Portland, Oregon; January 2008
29th Annual Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival; Thomas Point Beach, Maine; Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2007

PRINT MEDIA PERSON OF THE YEAR
Stephanie P. Ledgin, freelance writer and author
Craig Shelburne, CMT.com and freelance writer/reviewer
Chris Stuart, freelance writer for Bluegrass Unlimited

BEST GRAPHIC DESIGN FOR RECORDED PROJECT
(designer, album, artist, label)

Smay Vision Graphic Design
'The Stanley Brothers: The Definitive Collection (1947-1966)'
The Stanley Brothers
Time Life

Loren Witcher
'Punch'
The Punch Brothers
Nonesuch

BEST LINER NOTES FOR RECORDED PROJECT
(writer, album, artist, label)

Frank & Marty Godbey
'Bluegrass Holiday'
J.D. Crowe
Rebel Records

Gary Reid
'The Stanley Brothers: The Definitive Collection (1947-1966)'
The Stanley Brothers
Time Life

Ron Thomason
'Good News'
The Charlie Sizemore Band
Rounder Records

For more information visit www.ibma.org

Filed Under: Kathy Mattea, KathyMattea
Categories: Bluegrass, Legends

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