IBMA 2014 Award Nominees Announced!

Nominees for the 2014 International Bluegrass Music Awards were announced today at a press conference in Nashville, Tennessee, with The Boxcars leading the pack with ten nominations for the band and their individual members.

The Boxcars are followed by Blue Highway with nine nominations, and The Del McCoury Band with six nominations. (A full list of nominations appears at the end of this post.)

Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), the trade association for the bluegrass music industry. Results of the balloting will be revealed at the International Bluegrass Music Awards on Thursday, October 2, hosted by artists Lee Ann Womack and Jerry Douglas. The Awards Show is the centerpiece of World of Bluegrass event, to be held September 30-October 4 in Raleigh, NC.

Individually and as an ensemble, The Boxcars received ten nominations, including Instrumental Group, Album of the Year (It’s Just A Road), two for Song of the Year (“It’s Just A Road” and “You Took All the Ramblin’ Out of Me”), Gospel Recorded Performance (“When Sorrows Encompass Me Around”) and Instrumental Recorded Performance (“Skillet Head Derailed”). Ron Stewart received two nominations, one as Banjo Player of the Year and one as Fiddle Player of the Year. For his work with the Boxcars, band member Adam Steffey earned a nomination for Mandolin Player of the Year; as a solo artist, Steffey received a nomination for Instrumental Recorded Performance (“Johnny Don’t Get Drunk”).

Blue Highway captured nine nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group, Instrumental Group, Song of the Year (“The Game”) Album of the Year (The Game), Recorded Event of the Year and nominations for member Tim Stafford (Guitar Player of the Year, and Bluegrass Songwriter of the Year) and Rob Ickes (Dobro Player of the Year.)

The Del McCoury Band received six nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, Instrumental Group, Album of the Year (Streets of Baltimore), Recorded Event of the Year and nominations for members Del McCoury (Male Vocalist) and Jason Carter (Fiddle Player of the Year).

North Carolina’s own Balsam Range was the only other artist besides Blue Highway to be nominated in the prestigious Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group and Instrumental Group categories; band member Buddy Melton received a nomination for Male Vocalist, as well.

The IBMA Awards Show will be broadcast live on Sirius XM Satellite Radio (Bluegrass Junction), streamed live by Music City Roots and available at ibma.org and musiccityroots.com, and syndicated to more than 300 U.S. markets and 14 foreign networks, thanks to the sponsorship of Deering Banjos, John Pearse Strings, Compass Records, the International Bluegrass Music Museum, Yep Roc, BluegrassToday.com and Music City Roots. Program directors and station managers may sign up to be affiliates online at www.ibma.org in the coming days.

World of Bluegrass, an annual bluegrass music homecoming and convention, consists of four parts: the IBMA Business Conference, September 30 – October 2; the 25^th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards, scheduled for Thursday evening, October 2; Wide Open Bluegrass, October 3-4 (which includes both free stages and ticketed festival performances) and the Bluegrass Ramble, an innovative series of showcases, taking place September 30 – October 2 in downtown Raleigh and at the Raleigh Convention Center.

A complete list of nominees, this year’s Hall of Fame inductees, and the recipients of the Distinguished Achievement Award are listed below. IBMA Momentum Award nominees will be announced later this month in a separate release.

2014 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

• The Original Seldom Scene
• Neil Rosenberg

2014 DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

RECIPIENTS

• Deering Banjo Company
• The Delmore Brothers
• European Bluegrass Music Association
• Hillbilly at Harvard
• Bill Keith

2014 International Bluegrass Music Award Nominations Announced August 13, 2014

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

• Balsam Range
• Blue Highway
• Dailey & Vincent
• The Gibson Brothers
• The Del McCoury Band

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

• Balsam Range
• Blue Highway
• Dailey & Vincent
• The Gibson Brothers
• Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

• Balsam Range
• Blue Highway
• The Boxcars
• The Del McCoury Band
• Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen

SONG OF THE YEAR

• “Dear Sister” - Claire Lynch (artist), Claire Lynch and Louisa Branscomb (writers)
• “Grandpa’s Way of Life” - The Spinney Brothers (artist), Mark ‘Brink’ Brinkman (writer)
• “It’s Just a Road” - The Boxcars (artist), William Keith Garrett (writer)
• “The Game” - Blue Highway (artist), Shawn Lane and Barry Bales (writers)
• “You Took All The Ramblin’ Out of Me” - The Boxcars (artist), Jerry Hubbard (writer)

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• Hall of Fame Bluegrass - Junior Sisk and Joe Mullins (artist), Junior Sisk and Joe Mullins (producers), Rebel Records
• It’s Just A Road - The Boxcars (artist), The Boxcars (producer), Mountain Home
• Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe - Noam Pikelny (artist) Gabe Witcher (producer), Compass Records
• Streets of Baltimore - The Del McCoury Band (artist), Del McCoury (producer),  McCoury Music
• The Game - Blue Highway (artist), Blue Highway (producer), Rounder Records

GOSPEL RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

• “Love Does” - Darin and Brooke Aldridge (artist), Flying (album), Jamie Johnson, Suzanne M. Johnson and Jenee Fleenor (writers), Darin and Brooke Aldridge (producers), Organic Records
• “The Day We Learn to Fly” - Volume Five (artist), The Day We Learn To Fly (album), Stacy Richardson and Leroy Drumm (writers), Volume Five (producers), Mountain Fever
• “Wait A Little Longer Please Jesus” - Donna Ulisse (artist), I Am a Child of God (album), Hazel Marie Houser (writer), Bryan Sutton and Donna Ulisse (producers), Hadley Music Group
• “When Sorrows Encompass Me Around” - The Boxcars (artist), It’s Just A Road (album), Paul Edgar Johnson (writer), The Boxcars (producer), Mountain Home
• “Won’t It Be Wonderful There” - Dailey & Vincent (artist), Brothers of the Highway (album), Mildred Styles Johnson (writer), Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent (producers), Rounder Records

INSTRUMENTAL RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

• “Five Miles to Milan” - The Grascals (artist), When I Get My Pay (album), Danny Roberts (writer), The Grascals (producer), Mountain Home
• “Graveyard Fields” - Steep Canyon Rangers (artist), Tell The Ones I Love (album), Mike Guggino (writer), Larry Campbell (producer), Rounder Records
• “Johnny Don’t Get Drunk” - Adam Steffey (artist), New Primitive (album),  Public Domain, Adam Steffey (producer), Organic
• “Skillet Head Derailed” - The Boxcars (artist), It’s Just a Road (album), Ron Stewart (writer), The Boxcars (producer), Mountain Home
• “Thank God I’m A Country Boy”- Special Consensus with Buddy Spicher, Michael Cleveland and Alison Brown (artists), Country Boy: A Bluegrass Tribute to John Denver (album), John Martin Sommers (wrtier), Alison Brown (producer), Compass Records

RECORDED EVENT OF THE YEAR

• “American Pickers”- The Grascals with Dierks Bentley (artists), The Grascals (producer), Mountain Home
• “Keepin’ It Between the Lines (Old School)” - Peter Rowan with Bobby Osborne, Jesse McReynolds, Ronnie McCoury and Del McCoury (artists), Alison Brown (producer), Compass Records
• “Martha White, Lester & Earl” - Terry Baucom with Marty Raybon & Buddy Melton (artists), Terry and Cindy Baucom (producers), John Boy and Billy Records
• “Wild Montana Skies” - Special Consensus with Claire Lynch & Rob Ickes (artists), Alison Brown (producer), Compass Records
• “Wild Mountain Honey” - Junior Sisk and Joe Mullins (artists), Junior Sisk and Joe Mullins (producers) Rebel Records

EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• Detour
• Flatt Lonesome
• The Spinney Brothers
• Town Mountain
• Volume Five

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

• Del McCoury
• Buddy Melton
• Tim O’Brien
• Frank Solivan
• Dan Tyminski

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

• Dale Ann Bradley
• Alison Krauss
• Claire Lynch
• Amanda Smith
• Rhonda Vincent

INSTRUMENTAL PERFORMERS OF THE YEAR

BANJO

• Jens Kruger
• Mike Munford
• Noam Pikelny
• Sammy Shelor
• Ron Stewart

BASS

• Barry Bales
• Mike Bub
• Missy Raines
• Mark Schatz
• Darrin Vincent

FIDDLE

• Jason Carter
• Michael Cleveland
• Stuart Duncan
• Bobby Hicks
• Ron Stewart

DOBRO

• Jerry Douglas
• Andy Hall
• Rob Ickes
• Randy Kohrs
• Phil Leadbetter

GUITAR

• Tony Rice
• James Alan Shelton
• Kenny Smith
• Tim Stafford
• Bryan Sutton

MANDOLIN

• Sam Bush
• Sierra Hull
• Frank Solivan
• Adam Steffey
• Chris Thile

2014 International Bluegrass Music Special Award Nominations

Announced August 13, 2014

BLUEGRASS BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR

• Kyle Cantrell, Bluegrass Junction, Sirius XM
• Steve Fisher, Bluegrass Sessions at Ironwood Stage & Grill (Calgary, AB, Canada)
• Chris Jones, Bluegrass Junction, Sirius XM
• Al Weekly, KRVN; musicchartsmagazine.com
• Tim White, Song of the Mountains, PBS

BLUEGRASS EVENT OF THE YEAR

• Bloomin’ Bluegrass Festival, Farmers Branch, Texas
• Bluegrass Underground, McMinnville, Tennessee
• FreshGrass 2013, North Adams, Massachusetts
• Jenny Brook Bluegrass Festival 2013, Tunbridge, Vermont
• Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Festival 2013, Richmond, Minnesota

BEST GRAPHIC DESIGN FOR A RECORDED PROJECT

• Lou Everhart (designer), Lonely Comes Easy, Chris Jones & The Night Drivers, Rebel Records
• Josh Gibson, Keesha Dickel (designers), No More Rain, The Steel Wheels
• Josh Gibson, Dough Seymour (designers), Echo Sessions, The Stray Birds 
• Josh Gibson, Scott Simontacchi (designers), Carnival, Nora Jane Struthers, 
• Blue Pig Music
• Lynn Weathers (designer), Flying, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Organic Records

BEST LINER NOTES FOR A RECORDED PROJECT

• David Freeman, Hall of Fame Bluegrass!,Junior Sisk and Joe Mullins, Rebel Records
• Fred Jasper and Derek Halsey, TheDefinitive Doc Watson, Doc Watson,
• Sugar Hill Records and Vanguard Records
• Randy Pitts, Three Chords and the Truth, James King, Rounder Records.
• Neil V Rosenberg, Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe,
• Noam Pikelny, Compass Records
• Dave Royko, Country Boy: A Bluegrass Tribute to John Denver, Special Consensus & Friends, Compass Records

BLUEGRASS PRINT/MEDIA PERSON OF THE YEAR

• Derek Halsey, writer for the Herald Dispatch in Huntington, West Virginia, Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, and The Bluegrass Situation.
• Chris Jones, writer for Bluegrass Today
• John Curtis Goad, writer for Bluegrass Today
• Daniel Mullins, writer for Bluegrass Today
• Ted Lehmann, blogger for Ted Lehmann’s Bluegrass, Books & Brainstorms

BLUEGRASS SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

• Becky Buller
• Mark ‘Brink’ Brinkman
• Jerry Salley
• Tim Stafford
• Donna Ulisse

Special Awards, including the Distinguished Achievement Awards, will be presented at a luncheon on Thursday, October 2 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the World of Bluegrass Business Conference in Raleigh, NC.