Nashville, TN. (IBMA)--IBMA is proud to announce the nominees for the 19TH Annual International Bluegrass
Music Awards, to be hosted by Del McCoury on Thursday, October 2, 2008, at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
The list of nominees continues a trend of elevating a new wave of stars, as well as honoring the ongoing contributions of the genre's legends.
The explosion of relatively new acts on the national bluegrass scene is highlighted by multiple nominations for The Grascals, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, The Infamous Stringdusters and The Steep Canyon Rangers, along with first-time nominees Dailey & Vincent, Grasstowne, The SteelDrivers and Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass. Voting colleagues also continue to recognize pioneering talent making highly relevant contributions, as evidenced by nominations for no less than five Hall of Fame members--Earl Scruggs, Mac Wiseman, Everett Lilly, J.D. Crowe and The Lewis Family.
Dailey & Vincent burst onto the scene just last year. The group's leaders (Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent) apprenticed under Doyle Lawson and Ricky Skaggs and find themselves with the most nominations (10), including Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group, Male Vocalist (Jamie), Emerging Artist, Bass Player (Darrin) and Album of the Year for their self-titled debut on Rounder Records. The duo picked up 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 the Everett Lilly & Everybody and Their Brother project (Swift River Music).
Supergroups Blue Highway, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder and The Dan Tyminski Band will each vie for six IBMA awards.
A star who has made indelible marks in multiple genres of music, as well as being one of the premier ambassadors for bluegrass, Ricky Skaggs and members of his band Kentucky Thunder cut a wide path among the nominees. In addition to nods for Instrumental Group of the Year, they are finalists for Album of the Year for their Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass - Tribute to 1946 and 1947 (Skaggs Family Records) and for Gospel Recorded Performance and Recorded Event of the Year for Salt of the Earth (Skaggs Family), which is Skaggs' first full-length recorded collaboration with his wife's award-winning group, The Whites. Banjo player Jim Mills and guitarist Cody Kilby are nominated for excellence in their respective Instrumentalist of the Year categories. This is Kilby's first such nomination, while Mills owns six trophies for his banjo work.
Blue Highway took the producer and primary songwriting reins for their latest album, Through the Window of a Train, earning nods for both Album of the Year and Song of the Year for the title track, co-written by band member Tim Stafford and Grasstowne's Steve Gulley. The band also earned nominations for Vocal Group, Instrumental Group, Guitar (Tim Stafford) and Dobro (Rob Ickes). Ickes is the most awarded instrumentalist (nine trophies) in the history of the IBMA Awards.
Dan Tyminski, the singing voice of George Clooney in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? and longtime guitarist with Alison Krauss & Union Station, stretches out on his own with six nominations including Male Vocalist, an award he received in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The virtuosity of his band earns an Instrumental Group nomination, and members are individually highlighted: Barry Bales for Bass, Adam Steffey for Mandolin and Ron Stewart with a rare set of nominations for Banjo and Fiddle.
Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, The Del McCoury Band and Grasstowne all received four award nominations each.
The highest honors of the year go to the new members of the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. This year's inductees will be Bill Clifton, a pioneering artist, songwriter and international ambassador for bluegrass music, and the late author and historian, Charles K. Wolfe. (For complete information on this year's inductees, please visit https://www.ibma.org/ibma.awards/currentpress/HOFPress.asp.)
IBMA's Distinguished Achievement Award is an honor which recognizes individuals, groups and businesses for ground-breaking work and fostering the music's image and accessibility. This year's recipients are artist Bill Harrell, The Banjo Newsletter, The Ernest Tubb Record Shop, association leader and event producer Art Menius and Joe Carr & Alan Munde, known for their contributions to the genre as artists and educators. (For complete information on this year's recipients, please visit https://www.ibma.org/ibma.awards/currentpress/distachieve.asp.)
Ticket information for the 19th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards, bluegrass music's biggest night of the year, is available by calling 888-438-4262, (615) 256-3222 or online at www.ibma.org.
The awards show will be broadcast live on XM Satellite Radio ("Bluegrass Junction" Channel 14) and syndicated to more than 300 U.S. markets and 14 foreign networks, thanks to the sponsorship of Martha White, MerleFest, GAC-TV, GHS Strings, Pinecastle Records and Deering Banjos. Program directors and station managers may contact IBMA for affiliate information at the numbers listed above.
The International Bluegrass Music Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), which serves as the trade association for the bluegrass music industry. The IBMA Awards 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 NOMINEES for the 2008 INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS MUSIC AWARDS
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
* Dailey & Vincent
* The Grascals
* Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
* The Del McCoury Band
* Rhonda Vincent & The Rage
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
* Blue Highway
* Dailey & Vincent
* The Grascals
* The Isaacs
* Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
* Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass
INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
* Blue Highway
* Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
* The Infamous Stringdusters
* Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
* The Dan Tyminski Band
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
* Jamie Dailey
* Russell Moore
* Tim O'Brien
* Danny Paisley
* Dan Tyminski
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
* Dale Ann Bradley
* Sonya Isaacs
* Alison Krauss
* Claire Lynch
* Rhonda Vincent
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(album, artist, producer(s), label)
* Dailey & Vincent, Dailey & Vincent (artists), Jamie Dailey & Darrin Vincent (producers), Rounder Records
* Honoring The Fathers of Bluegrass -Tribute to 1946 and 1947, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder (artists), Ricky Skaggs (producer), Skaggs Family Records
* Lovin' Pretty Women, Steep Canyon Rangers (artists), Ronnie Bowman (producer), Rebel Records
* The SteelDrivers, The SteelDrivers (artists), Luke Wooten & The SteelDrivers (producers), Rounder Records
* Through The Window Of A Train, Blue Highway (artists & producers), Rounder Records
SONG OF THE YEAR
(song, artist, songwriter(s))
* "Alison's Band," Charlie Sizemore Band (artists), Charlie Sizemore & Buddy Cannon (songwriters)
* "By The Mark," Dailey & Vincent (artists), David Rawlings & Gillian Welch (songwriters)
* "Drinkin' Dark Whiskey," The SteelDrivers (artists), Mike Henderson & Chris Stapleton (songwriters)
* "More Than A Name On A Wall," Dailey & Vincent (artists), Jimmy Fortune & John Rimel (songwriters)
* "Through The Window Of A Train," Blue Highway (artists), Tim Stafford & Steve Gulley (songwriters)
GOSPEL RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
("song" or album, artist(s), producer(s), label)
* "Be Still Moses," Steep Canyon Rangers (artists), Ronnie Bowman (producer), Rebel Records
* "By The Mark," Dailey & Vincent (artists), Jamie Dailey & Darrin Vincent (producers), Rounder Records
* Help Is On The Way, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver (artists), Doyle Lawson (producer), Horizon Records
* Salt Of The Earth, Ricky Skaggs & The Whites (artists & producers), Skaggs Family Records
* Where No One Stands Alone, Paul Williams & The Victory Trio (artists), Paul Williams (producer), Rebel Records
INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(album, artist, producer(s), label)
* Live At The Linda, David Grier (artist & producer), Dreadnought Records
* Sound of the Slide Guitar, Andy Hall (artist & producer), Sugar Hill Records
* Stepping Out, Jason Davis (artist), Jason Davis & Greg Luck (producers), Pinecastle Records
* The Past Is Present, Jason Barie (artist & producer), Pinecastle Records
* When At Last, Russ Barenberg (artist & producer), Compass Records
RECORDED EVENT OF THE YEAR
(album, featured artists, producer(s), label)
* Christmas Grass, Vol. 3; Featuring 3 Fox Drive, Sonya Isaacs, John Cowan, Sarah Jarosz, Larry Sparks, Russell Moore and Charlie Daniels (artists); Greg Cole, Chuck Rhodes & 3 Fox Drive (producers); KOCH Records
* Everett Lilly & Everybody and Their Brother; Featuring Everett Lilly, Bea Lilly, Charles Lilly, Daniel Lilly, Mark Lilly, Marty Stuart, Rhonda Vincent, Billy Walker, Ronnie McCoury, Rob McCoury, David Ball, Charlie Cushman, Larry Stephenson, Joe Spivey, Eddie Stubbs, Jason Carter, Dickey Lee, Freddy Weller, Mike Bub, Rad Lewis, Andy May, Darrin Vincent, Marcia Campbell, Clay Rigdon, Eric Blankenship and Bill Wolfenbarger (artists); Charles Lilly & Bill Wolfenbarger (producers); Swift River Music
* Salt of the Earth, Ricky Skaggs & The Whites (artists & producers), Skaggs Family Records
* Standard Songs for Average People, John Prine & Mac Wiseman (artists), John Prine & David Ferguson (producers), Oh Boy Records
* We Are Family; Jeff & Sheri Easter, The Lewis Family & The Easter Brothers (artists); Jeff & Sheri Easter (producers); Daywind Records
EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR
* Cadillac Sky
* Dailey & Vincent
* Grasstowne
* Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass
* The SteelDrivers
INSTRUMENTAL PERFORMERS OF THE YEAR
BANJO PLAYER OF THE YEAR
* Kristin Scott Benson
* J.D. Crowe
* Jim Mills
* Earl Scruggs
* Ron Stewart
BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
* Barry Bales
* Mike Bub
* Missy Raines
* Darrin Vincent
* Marshall Wilborn
FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
* Hunter Berry
* Jason Carter
* Michael Cleveland
* Stuart Duncan
* Ron Stewart
DOBRO PLAYER OF THE YEAR
* Mike Auldridge
* Jerry Douglas
* Rob Ickes
* Randy Kohrs
* Phil Leadbetter
GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
* Cody Kilby
* Tony Rice
* Tim Stafford
* Bryan Sutton
* Josh Williams
MANDOLIN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
*Sam Bush
*Sierra Hull
*Doyle Lawson
*Ronnie McCoury
*Adam Steffey
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 & author
* Craig Shelburne, CMT.com & freelance writer/reviewer
* Chris Stuart, freelance writer for Bluegrass Unlimited
BEST GRAPHIC DESIGN FOR RECORDED PROJECT
(designer, album, artist, label)
* G. Carr & S. Holman, What The, Pete Wernick & Flexigrass, Niwot Records
* 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
