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
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), 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))
"Alison's Band"
Charlie Sizemore Band
Charlie Sizemore andBuddy Cannon
"By The Mark"
Dailey & Vincent
David Rawlings and Gillian Welch
"Drinkin' Dark Whiskey"
The SteelDrivers
Mike Henderson andChris Stapleton
"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)
'Christmas Grass, Vol. 3,'
3 Fox Drive, Sonya Isaacs, John Cowan, Sarah Jarosz, Larry Sparks,
Russell Moore and Charlie Daniels
Greg Cole, Chuck Rhodes and 3 Fox Drive
KOCH Records
'Everett Lilly & Everybody and Their Brother'
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
Charles Lilly & Bill Wolfenbarger
Swift River Music
'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
'We Are Family'
Jeff & Sheri Easter, the Lewis Family and the Easter Brothers
Jeff & Sheri Easter
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 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)
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
For more information visit www.ibma.org
