Song of the Year honors went to Dan Navarro and Janiva Magness’ recording of “$20 Bill (for George Floyd) by the late singer-songwriter Tom Prasada-Rao. In accepting the award, Navarro (a singer-songwriter and voice actor perhaps best known for co-writing the hit song “We Belong”) noted that more than 100 artists recorded a version of Prasada-Rao’s song in 2020 “but because of the impact and the challenges of the pandemic, it never really had a proper release and we decided we would do something about that.“ Dedicating the award to Prasado-Rao, who died last year, Navarro said: “This is not just the song of the year; it’s the song of the century and the song of a lifetime.”

Here’s a link to view a video of Dan Navarro and Janiva Magness performing “$20 Bill (for George Floyd)”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeHdq817B7Y

Susan Werner’s Halfway to Houston was named Album of the Year. A prolific and versatile singer-songwriter who accompanies herself on both guitar and piano and is known for her sassy wit and classy Midwest charm, Werner was unable to be in Montreal to accept the award and sent a short video, while fellow singer-songwriter Dar Williams picked up the award on her behalf.

In addition to these FAI member-voted awards – which were open to recordings released between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024 – a number of special awards and honors were presented.

The People’s Voice Award recognizing an artist who embraces social and political commentary in his/her songs was presented to Gina Chavez, an Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter who has helped to amplify the voices of the marginalized.

The River Roads Festival received The Clearwater Award, honoring a festival that — like its Pete Seeger-founded namesake –- exhibits sound leadership in environmental stewardship and sustainable event production. A one-day event presented by Dar Williams and held in Easthampton, Massachusetts for the past two years, the next River Roads Festival is set for July 5 at Heuser Park in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Williams said that she was “so excited” to accept the award. She noted that, like Seeger was, she is a resident of New York’s Hudson Valley and recalled being on Conan O’Brien’s late-night TV talk show with him in 1998. Said Williams: “Music is an incredible force … The culture around the music can be a powerful vehicle for justice.”

The Rising tide Award, which is bestowed on an emerging artist/act of an age, went to OKAN, a female-led, Afro-Cuban roots and jazz duo.

Spirit of Folk Awards recognizing people and organizations actively engaged in the promotion and preservation of folk music were presented to Annie Capps, Innu Nikamu festival, Tom Power, and Alice Randall. Capps is a Michigan-based singer-songwriter and a longtime leader with Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM), who has served as both its board president and conference director. Innu Nikamu is a Quebec-based festival of Indigenous music and culture that has taken place for more than 30 years. Power, best known as the host of CBC Radio One’s Q program, is also a musician who performs and records with The Dardanelles, a Canadian folk band. Randall is a hit-making country music songwriter who has been a trailblazer in folk and country music. She’s also a college lecturer and the author of My Black Country, which she describes as both a memoir and a history.

“I owe my sanity to folk music,” said Randall in accepting the award. “In My Black Country, I tell the story of climbing out of the hell of being raped by holding on to the sound of John Prine singing “Angel From Montgomery.” Prine’s label, Oh Boy! Records, also released a collection of songs entitled My Black Country. Randall noted that her book “is about the Black folk, including Black folk musicians, who made country country.”

2025 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients included the folk-rock duo Indigo Girls (whose eponymous debut album won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording 35 years ago), the late Black Appalachian musician Lesley Riddle, and the global roots magazine Songlines. During the awards show, singer-songwriters Rose Cousins and Mary Bragg performed “Galileo,” one of the Indigo Girls’ hit songs, in tribute to the duo, while Black indigenous Canadian singer-songwriter Julian Taylor performed “Red River Blues” in tribute to Riddle.

Accepting the Legacy Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Riddle, who died in 1980 at age 75, Randall referred to him as a founder of country music and a practitioner of folk who collected and taught the Carter Family a lot of songs. “Tonight, Folk Alliance corrects an almost 100 year-old wrong” by recognizing him.

“We need folk music now more than ever,” said the Indigo Girls’ Emily Saliers in a pre-recorded video. “This Folk Alliance is a group that honors diversity, equity, inclusion, and access for all. Folk music is the music of truth telling. Amy [Ray] and I are, especially in this time, particularly honored to accept this award.” Echoing her sentiments, Ray urged folks to “Please stand up with us and make your voices heard in these times … Day by day, song by song, we can make this world a better place.”

Accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Songlines, James Anderson-Hanney, its publisher, said: “I think we’re the last world music magazine on the planet.” The UK-based, glossy bimonthly that comes with CD is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary.Leading Quebecois folk ensemble Le Vent Du Nord, a 2023 Songlines award recipient, performed in honor of the magazine.

Five Inducted Into Folk Radio Hall of Fame

Eight years ago, Folk Alliance International established a Folk Radio Hall of Fame in order to recognize folk DJs and music directors for the vital role that they play by sharing the music with their listeners. Wanda Fischer, Longtime host of The Hudson River Sampler on WAMC Radio in Albany, New York and herself an inductee in the Hall of Fame, recognized this year’s inductees, while a video featuring visuals and information about them was also screened. The 2025 inductees include Taylor Caffery, Matthew Finch, Archie Fisher, MarySue Twohy, and Chuck Wentworth.

Taylor Caffery, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, has been the host Hootenanny Power of WRKF Public Radio in Baton Rouge, LA since it began airing in 1981. He’s also been recognized with WRKF’s Founder’s Award (2022) and with the Kari Estrin Founding President’s Award during the 2024 Southeast Regional Folk Alliance (SERFA) Conference.

Matthew Finch, who left our world unexpectedly in July 2024, was a beloved figure in New Mexico’s music scene, who devoted more than 20 years to KUNM in Albuquerque as its music director, and as a tireless advocate for local musicians. Through the programs Ear to the Ground and Studio 55, he created platforms for regional artists to share their music, showcasing live performances and celebrating the diversity of the state’s music community.

Archie Fisher hosted BBC Radio Scotland’s award-winning Traveling Folk program for 27 years – promoting artists and musicians of the folksong revival throughout the British Isles. A talented artist in his own right, he also hosted studio sessions and interviews with such notable American and Canadian artists as Joan Baez, Judy Collins, David Francey, and James Keelaghan. Queen Elizabeth II presented him with a MBE in 2006 for his services to music.

MarySue Twohy is a program director at SiriusXM, who currently manages The Village, its folk channel, among others. She conducts artist interviews and produces a wide array of radio programs. Formerly an artist herself, she moved into broadcasting by hosting a two-hour program 20 years ago and quickly rose to PD. She also served on the FAI board of directors for seven years and continues to serve on national music committees, and to participate in conference panels and as a songwriting contest judge.

Chuck Wentworth, who passed away last year, was a revered figure on the New England music scene – best known for his long-standing contributions as both a radio show host and a festival producer. He began hosting a folk radio show on WRIU-FM, the college radio station at the University of Rhode Island, while he was a student and Traditions aired for 38 years. He also served as the station’s folk and roots music director and expanded its folk programming from one show to five nights a week. Wentworth was also the founder and producer of the Rhythm & Roots Festival, a three-day music and dance festival in Rhode Island.

[Here’s a link to view the International Folk Music Awards Show, which also was livestreamed via YouTube and was available for viewing via Folk Alley and NPR Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVE29BZ6fBg

The International Folk Music Awards was just one part, albeit an important one, of the 37th annual Folk Alliance International Conference that extended from February 19-23 and drew nearly 2,500 attendees. In addition to more than 2,700 showcases featuring more than 700 acts (including 183 juried official showcases plus many more showcases extending into the early morning hours), the conference included a keynote conversation with Allison Russell and Ann Powers [see below], Black American Music and International Indigenous Music Summits, a one-day legal summit, 45 panel discussions and workshops, a number of affinity and peer group sessions, six film screenings and discussions, lobby jams, meetings of FAI’s regional affiliates, a town hall meeting on P2 Visas – Working Through Parity at the Canada/US Border, a popular Meet the Folk DJs session, morning yoga, an exhibit hall, agent-presenter speed networking sessions, and lots of other networking opportunities.

Artist & Activist Allison Russell Engages in Keynote Conversation with Music Journalist Anne Powers

Allison Russell — a widely acclaimed singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and activist –- returned to her hometown to engage in an hour-long keynote conversation with Anne Powers, a critic and correspondent for NPR Music. A soulful, Nashville, Tennessee-based, Montreal-born Scottish Grenadian Canadian, Russell is the recipient of more than a dozen awards. These include a Grammy Award for Best American Roots Music Performance for Eve Was Black,” a single off of her sophomore solo recording, Returner released in September 2023), Juno Awards for Contemporary Album of the Year (for her solo debut, Outside Child – 2022) and Music Video of the Year (for “Demons,” 2024), six UK Americana Music Awards, four Canadian Folk Music Awards, and two Americana Music Honors & Awards. In 2022, Folk Alliance International members voted Russell’s solo debut as Album of the Year and her as Artist of the Year. Outside Child was also named Contemporary album of the Year in the 2022 Canadian Folk Music Awards, while she was named Songwriter of the Year and New/Emerging Artist of the Year in recognition of the emotion-laden album featuring 11 original songs “about resilience and survival, transcendence and the redemptive power of art, community, connection, and chosen family.”

Russell has previously spoken of the abuse and trauma that she faced in her youth and the major role that music has played in helping her to overcome it .In her conversation with Powers, she recalled how, at age 15, while unhoused, she slept in the pews at a church just a few blocks from Le Sheraton Centre.

Asked about her latest album, 2023’s The Returner, she noted how she had been a challenged, broken yet brave girl. “”We come from long, broken lines of survivors. We’re all miracles. We’re all returners. We are all overcoming things.”

Much of her on-stage conversation with Powers focused on her recent portrayal of Persephone in Anais Mitchell’s award-winning Broadway musical, Hadestown. Russell noted that it was her first professional acting role and that she had not acted since performing in a Shakespearean play while in high school.

Sharing her reflections on Hadestown just days after she concluded her 50-week run as Persephone and in keeping with the “Illuminate” theme of the conference, she said: Persephone is Hades’ only source of light, of illumination in the underworld. She was the light in his life.”

Playing a mythic goddess in this time took on new connotations, she acknowledged, citing “the current fear-mongering administration in Washington” and “the bigotry and bias that can really harm communities.”

Referring to herself as “a geriatric millennial,” Russell said: “When I came up 24 years ago, there weren’t too many others who looked liked me.” Acknowledging that “our [folk] community is growing more diverse,” she spoke of being a curator during the 2021 Newport Folk Festival tasked with featuring Black and Black & queer women and their allies in the center of a 90-minute set focused on roots and revolution. ”What could be more beautiful than to be conscious, to be mindful [woke],” said Russell, noting that she’s “a queer woman who somehow married a white man with a guitar.”

Prior to embarking on her solo career, Russell was a co-founder of Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago and was part of Po’ Girl.

[Here’s a link to view a video recording of the keynote conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ne2-baY8g.]

Folk Alliance International (folk.org) is a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen, and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion.

Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), a nonprofit professional music organization that connects, educates, and empowers bluegrass professionals and enthusiasts, honoring tradition and encouraging innovation in the bluegrass community worldwide. Award recipients will be named during the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards Show on Thursday night, September 29, 2022 at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina. The awards show — a highlight of the IBMA’s World of Bluegrass — will also be broadcast on SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction and streamed via Facebook Live (as was the July 26 awards nominees announcement).

A complete list of nominees appears below, along with information about three Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees, five Distinguished Achievement Awards recipient, and the first recipient of the IBMA International Band Performance Grant.

Entertainer of the Year: Billy Strings, The Del McCoury Band. Po Ramblin’ Boys, Sister Sadie, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

Vocal Group of the Year: Balsam Range, Blue Highway, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver,
Del McCoury Band, Sister Sadie

Instrumental Group of the Year: Billy Strings, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper,
Béla Fleck’s My Bluegrass Heart, The Travelin’ McCourys, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

New Artist of the Year: Rick Faris, Fireside Collective, Laura Orshaw, Jaelee Roberts,
Tray Wellington

Song of the Year:

“Blink of an Eye”
Artist: Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass
Songwriter: Robert Amos
Label: Pinecastle Records
Producers: Bobby Lundy/Danny Paisley/Ryan Paisley/Wes Easter

“Deep River”
Artist: Rick Faris
Songwriter: Rick Faris/Brink Brinkman
Label: Dark Shadow Recording
Producer: Stephen Mougin

“I’ll Take the Lonesome Every Time”
Artist: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Songwriters: Glen Duncan/Jerry Salley
Label: Billy Blue Records
Producer: Doyle Lawson

“Red Daisy”
Artist: Billy Strings
Songwriters: Jarrod Walker/Christian Ward
Label: Rounder Records
Producers: Jonathan Wilson/Billy Strings

“Riding the Chief”
Artist: Chris Jones & The Night Drivers
Songwriter: Chris Jones/Thomm Jutz
Label: Mountain Home
Producer: Chris Jones

Album of the Year:

Bluegrass Troubadour
Artist: Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass
Label: Pinecastle Records
Producer: Wes Easter

Crooked Tree
Artist: Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
Label: Nonesuch Records
Producers: Molly Tuttle/Jerry Douglas

My Bluegrass Heart
Artist: Béla Fleck
Label: Renew Records
Producer: Béla Fleck

Never Slow Down
Artist: Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
Label: Smithsonian Folkways
Producers: Po’ Ramblin’ Boys/Dave Maggard

Renewal
Artist: Billy Strings
Label: Rounder Records
Producers: Jonathan Wilson/Billy Strings

Gospel Recording of the Year:

“A Little More Faith in Jesus”
Artist: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Songwriters: Jerry Cole/Doyle Lawson
Label: Billy Blue Records
Producer: Doyle Lawson

“He’s Gettin’ Me Ready”
Artist: Darin & Brooke Aldridge with The Oak Ridge Boys
Songwriter: Jimmy Fortune
Label: Billy Blue Records
Producers: Darin Aldridge/Mark Fain

“In the End”
Artist: Dale Ann Bradley
Songwriter: Jill Gilliam
Label: Pinecastle Records
Producer: Dale Ann Bradley

“In the Sweet By and By”
Artist: Dolly Parton with Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle, Bradley Walker, and Jerry Salley
Songwriters: S. Fillmore Bennett/Joseph Webster
Label: Billy Blue Records
Producer: Jerry Salley

“See You on the Other Side”
Artist: Rick Faris featuring Sam Bush
Songwriter: Rick Faris/Rick Lang
Label: Dark Shadow Recording
Producer: Stephen Mougin

“Traveling the Highway Home”
Artist: The Grascals
Songwriters: Frankie Bailes/Walter Bailes
Label: Mountain Home
Producer: The Rascals

Instrumental Recording of the Year:

“EMD”
Artist: Scott Vestal – Bluegrass 2022
Songwriter: David Grisman
Label: Pinecastle Records
Producer: Scott Vestal

“Happy Go Lucky”
Artist: Doyle Lawson & Alan Bibey
Songwriter: Doyle Lawson
Label: Billy Blue Records
Producer: Doyle Lawson

“Ice Bridges”
Artist: Billy Strings
Songwriter: William Apostol
Label: Rounder Records
Producer: Jonathan Wilson/Billy Strings

“Orange Blossom Breakdown”
Artist: Mike Compton
Songwriter: Bill Monroe
Label: Taterbug Records
Producer: Mark Howard

“Vertigo”
Artist: Béla Fleck featuring Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Bryan Sutton
Songwriter: Béla Fleck
Label: Renew Records
Producer: Béla Fleck

Collaborative Recording of the Year:

“Blackbird”
Artist: Special Consensus with Amanda Smith, Dale Ann Bradley, Rob Ickes, and Alison Brown
Songwriter: J.P. Cormier
Label: Compass Records
Producer: Alison Brown

“East Bound and Down”
Artist: Po’ Ramblin’ Boys featuring Jason Carter & Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Songwriters: Jerry Reed/Dick Feller
Label: Sound Biscuit Productions
Producer: The Po’ Rambling’ Boys/Dave Haggard

“Honky Tonk Nights”
Artist: Del McCoury Band featuring Vince Gill
Songwriter: Mike O’Reilly
Label: McCoury Music
Producer: Del McCoury/Ronnie McCoy

“In the Sweet By and By”
Artist: Dolly Parton with Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle, Bradley Walker, and Jerry Salley
Songwriters: S. Fillmore Bennett/Joseph Webster
Label: Billy Blue Records
Producer: Jerry Salley

“One By One”
Artist: Dale Ann Bradley with Danny Paisley
Songwriter: Jim Anglin/Jack Anglin/Johnny Wright
Label: Pinecastle Records
Producer: Dale Ann Bradley

Male Vocalist of the Year: Greg Blake, Rick Faris, Del McCoury, Danny Paisley, Larry Sparks

Female Vocalist of the Year: Brooke Aldridge, Dale Ann Bradley, Sierra Hull, Molly Tuttle, Rhonda Vincent

Banjo Player of the Year: Gena Britt, Bela Fleck, Rob McCoury, Kristin Scott Benson, Scott Vestal

Bass Player of the Year: Mike Bub, Jason Moore, Missy Raines, Mark Schatz, Vickie Vaughn

Fiddle Player of the Year: Jason Carter, Michael Cleveland, Stuart Duncan, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes. Beanie Richardson

Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year: Jerry Douglas, Andy Hall, Rob Ickes, Phil Leadbetter, Justin Moses

Guitar Player of the Year: Billy Strings, Trey Hensley, Cody Kilby, Bryan Sutton, Molly Tuttle

Mandolin Player of the Year: Alan Bibey, Jesse Brock, Sam Bush, Sierra Hull, Ronnie McCoury

Inductions into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame are also set to take place during the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards Show. Slated for induction are multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Norman Blake, a Grammy and Country Music Association Album of the Year award –winner whose prolific music career spans more than six decades; Paul “Moon” Mullins, a broadcast pioneer and recording artist whose work brought bluegrass music to tens of thousands in Ohio and beyond; and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and renaissance musician Peter Rowan who has been performing for nearly 60 years.

Five Distinguished Achievement Awards Will Also Be Presented

2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the release of the seminal album – Will the Circle be Unbroken.[/caption]Five organizations and individuals will receive Distinguished Achievement Awards in recognition of their significant contributions to the genre. The five, who will be recognized and presented with plaques during a luncheon at the IBMA business conference, are flatpicking innovator Dan Crary, cutting-edge roots music organization Freshgrass Foundation, revered banjo creator and musician Steve Huber, the legendary Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the landmark Will the Circle Be Unbroken album, and online education leaders Peghead Nation.

The IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards Show is the centerpiece of World of Bluegrass Week that is slated for September 27-October 1 in North Carolina’s capital city. IBMA World of Bluegrass also features a September 27-29 business conference (replete with a wide array of professional development programming, sponsored artist showcases and late-night hospitality functions, and plenty of networking and relationship-building opportunities), the IBMA Bluegrass Ramble (a series of official showcases in downtown Raleigh and the Raleigh Convention Center), and the two-day IBMA Bluegrass Live! festival, September 30-October 1, that draws throngs of music lovers to downtown Raleigh to enjoy more than 100 acts on different stages set up along Fayetteville Street –- from the state capitol to the Duke Performing Arts Center.
Considered the genre’s annual industry gathering and family reunion. IBMA’s annual World of Bluegrass week has taken place in Raleigh since 2013 – apart from 2020 when the trade and professional association for the global bluegrass community shifted to online presentation of its professional development seminars, artist showcases and awards in light of concerns surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.

Estonian Group Curly Strings Awarded IBMA’s First International Band Performance Grant

New for 2022, IBMA recently named the first recipient of its International Band Performance Grant. Curly Strings, an Estonia-based four-piece ensemble, was selected via a competitive process and will be featured as a part of this year’s IBMA World of Bluegrass. The band achieved mainstream recognition and success in its home country — winning national music awards and being the top selling artists in music stores for more than a year. Combining the familiar with the unfamiliar, Curly Strings its unique Baltic take to the acoustic music world.

IBMA (ibma.org) seeks to facilitate the growth and development of the bluegrass community – for professionals and enthusiasts who share a passion for the music.

Earlier this month, AcousticMusicScene.com published an article entitled Bluegrass Ramble and Songwriter Showcase Artists Chosen for IBMA World of Bluegrass.

Founded by Bobby Powell (guitar and vocals) and Tim Jones (mandolin and vocals) in 2007, Carolina Blue also features James McDowell (banjo and vocals), Reese Combs (upright bass and vocals), and Aynsley Porchak (fiddle). Powell has jokingly referred to the band as “a 12-year overnight success,” noting that just a few years ago Carolina Blue was playing local BBQ restaurants in and around its hometown of Brevard, NC, while it played some 120 shows across he U.S. in 2019 — at festivals and venues that he and his bandmates had previously only dreamed about.

Featuring lots of fiddlin’ and mandolin work, as well as three-part harmonies, Carolina Blue presents primarily original music in the style and format of Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass and the group’s biggest influence. Last year, Carolina Blue was nominated for three International Bluegrass Music Awards by the IBMA: Album, New Artist and Instrumental Recording of the Year. Porchak, its fiddle player, was a recipient of the IBMA’s Momentum Instrumentalist Award in 2018.

Here’s a link to view the official video for “Rusty Rails,” one of the songs on Carolina Blue’s award-winning album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2w48WJfdC4.

A complete listing of 2020 SPBGMA Bluegrass Music Award-Winners follows:

Bluegrass Album of the Year – I Hear Bluegrass Calling Me – Carolina Blue on Pinecastle
Song of the Year – “Next Train South” – Po’Ramblin’ Boys on Rounder Records
Entertainer(s) of the Year – Carolina Blue
Bluegrass Band of the Year – Carolina Blue
Instrumental Group of the Year – Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
Vocal Group of the Year – Carolina Blue
Bluegrass Gospel Group of the Year – The Farm Hands
Female Vocalist of the Year – Dale Ann Bradley
Male Vocalist of the Year – Russell Moore
Bluegrass Songwriter of the Year – Larry Cordle
Bluegrass Radio Station of the Year – Sirius XM 62
Bluegrass DJ of the Year – Kyle Cantrell – Sirius XM
Bluegrass Promoter of the Year – D.A. Callaway

Tim Graves, The Farm Hands’ Grammy Award-winning resophonic guitarist and a member of SPBGMA’s Hall of Greats, hosted the SPBGMA’s awards show and also was presented with a Masters Gold Award in recognition of his 13 previous wins as Dobro Performer of the Year.

A multi-award-winning Nashville-based quartet, The Farm Hands received four awards. Its fourth Pinecastle Records release, Colors, took home Album of the Year honors. Two of its previous recordings, Dig in the Dirt and In A Country Town, had been named Album of the Year in 2017 and 2014, respectively. “Rural Route,” one of the tracks on Colors, was named Song of the Year — an award the band also received last year for “Dig in the Dirt.” The Farm Hands also were named Bluegrass Band of the Year (Overall), while Tim Graves, the quartet’s Grammy Award-winning resophonic guitarist and a member of SPBGMA’s Hall of Greats, was named Dobro Player of the Year for the tenth consecutive year and the 13th time overall. Succeeding The Farm Hands as Bluegrass Entertainers of the Year were Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver – who also were named Bluegrass Vocal Group of the Year.

Rhonda Vincent regained the title of Female Vocalist of the Year after Charli Robertson of Flatt Lonesome ended her winning streak last year. A member of SPBGMA’s Hall of Greats since 2014, Vincent has won Entertainer of the Year honors multiple times. Rhonda Vincent & The Rage band members Hunter Berry and Josh Williams continued their winning streaks as Fiddle and Guitar Performer of the Year, respectively. Russell Moore was named Male Vocalist of the Year. Songwriter of the Year honors went to Donna Ulisse; the award had been bestowed on Daryl Mosely (The Farm Hands’ bass player) for the previous two years.

A complete list of the SPBGMA’s 2018 Bluegrass Music Awards winners follows:

Bluegrass Promoter of the Year: DA Callaway
Bluegrass Radio Station of the Year: Sirius XM 062 – Bluegrass Junction
Bluegrass DJ of the Year: Kyle Cantrell (Sirius XM 062)
Songwriter of the Year: Donna Ulisse
Album of the Year: Colors by The Farm Hands on Pinecastle Records
Bass Fiddle Performer of the Year: Mickey Harris
Dobro Performer of the Year: Tim Graves
Guitar Performer of the Year: Josh Williams
Mandolin Performer of the Year: Alan Bibey
Banjo Performer of the Year: Kristin Scott Benson
Fiddle Performer of the Year: Hunter Berry
Female Vocalist of the Year: Rhonda Vincent
Male Vocalist of the Year: Russell Moore
Bluegrass Gospel Group of the Year: Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers
Bluegrass Vocal Group of the Year: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Bluegrass Instrumental Group of the Year: Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
Bluegrass Band of the Year (Overall): The Farm Hands
Bluegrass Entertainer(s) of the Year: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Bluegrass Song of the Year: “Rural Route,” The Farm Hands on Pinecastle Records

Flatt Lonsesome was named both Band of the Year (Overall) and Vocal Group of the Year. Last year, the young band (both in its age and that of its members) also was named Band of the Year and had the Album of the Year (Runaway Train). Although Charli Robertson of Flatt Lonesome ended Rhonda Vincent’s winning streak as Female Vocalist of the Year, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage retained the title as Instrumental Group of the Year. Band members Hunter Berry and Josh Williams were named Fiddle Player of the Year and Guitar Player of the Year, respectively. Vincent, a 2014 inductee into SPBGMA’s Hall of Greats, had also been named Entertainer of the Year multiple times. Junior Sisk was named Male Vocalist of the Year, an honor that Russell Moore had received for the previous two years. Daryl Mosely was named Songwriter of the Year for the second consecutive year. Sirius XM’s Bluegrass Junction continued as Bluegrass Radio Station of the Year, while the satellite radio station’s Kyle Cantrell retained the title of Bluegrass DJ of the Year

A complete list of SPBGMA’s Bluegrass Music Awards winners follows.

Promoter of the Year: DA Callaway (for the second consecutive year)
Radio Station of the Year: Sirius XM 061-Bluegrass Junction
DJ of the Year: Kyle Cantrell Sirius XM 061
Songwriter of the Year: Daryl Mosely
Album of the Year: Dig in the Dirt by The Farm Hands on Pinecastle Records
Bass Fiddle Performer of the Year: Mickey Harris
Dobro Performer of the Year: Tim Graves
Guitar Performer of the Year: Josh Williams (for the second consecutive year)
Fiddle Performer of the Year: Hunter Berry
Banjo Performer of the Year: Aaron McDaris
Mandolin Performer of the Year: Larry Stephenson and Danny Roberts (tie!)
Female Vocalist of the Year (Overall): Charli Robertson
Male Vocalist of the Year (Overall): Junior Sisk
Bluegrass Gospel Group of the Year: The Farm Hands
Vocal Group of the Year: Flatt Lonesome
Instrumental Group of the Year: Rhonda Vincent & The Rage
Band of the Year (Overall): Flatt Lonesome
Entertainer(s) of the Year: The Farm Hands
Song of the Year: “Dig in the Dirt” by The Farm Hands on Pinecastle Records

Mary Sue Twohy (SiriusXM), chair of FAI’s advocacy committee, will moderate a panel discussion on copyright and royalties at the Westin Crown Center. Panelists include Michelle Conceison (Market Monkeys), Renee Bodie (Levitt Pavillions), David Hirshland (BMG Chrysalis), Dan Navarro (artist) and Tom Neff (Grassy Hill).

[During the 57th Grammy Awards telecast on Feb. 8, The Recording Academy announced the formation of a GRAMMY Creators Alliance to advocate on behalf of artists and songwriters for policies that provide for fair pay for all music creators across all platforms, while The Content Creators Coalition (c3), a membership-based, artist-run nonprofit advocacy group was launched in 2012 to press for economic justice in the digital domain and help ensure that current and future creators retain the rights needed to create and benefit from the use of their work.]

Besides issuing its white paper, FAI will further explore royalty and copyright issues during its conference, set for Feb. 18-22, with a keynote speech by David Israelite as part of its conference speakers series. Israelite is president and CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association, a trade organization representing American publishers and their songwriting partners. He will be speaking on Friday afternoon.

The FAI white paper can be viewed online at www.folkalliance.org/copyright, while the full schedule of conference panels appears at www.folk.org/schedule.

FAI is a Kansas City-based nonprofit organization that aims to nurture, engage and empower the international folk music community – traditional and contemporary, amateur and professional – through education, advocacy and performance.

Winter Music Camp and Music Fair Also Slated

Although Kansas City, Missouri may be better known for jazz, blues, barbecue chefs, football Chiefs and Baseball’s Royals, more than 3,000 people are expected to converge on this mid-western U.S. metropolis for the International Folk Alliance Conference and a Winter Music Camp and Music Fair that will run concurrently with it. The conference, which moved to Kansas City last year, attracts artists, presenters, managers, agents, and promoters, folk DJs and others engaged in folk music broadly speaking from throughout the U.S. Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. They come for the networking, professional development, a large exhibit hall, regional and peer group meetings, and hundreds of artist showcases. The international Folk Alliance Conference is ranked among the five largest music conferences in North America.

This year’s featured speakers, in addition to Israelite, include Commander Chris Hadfield (an astronaut and folksinger), two-time Grammy Award-winner Rita Coolidge, Dave Carroll (a singer and flyers’ rights advocate), and folk music legend Sylvia Tyson. Among a large array of workshops and panel discussions will be a Wisdom of the Elders session featuring veteran singer-songwriters Tom Paxton (who is celebrating his 50th year as a touring artist) and Peggy Seeger (who also will receive one of FAI’s three 2015 Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Awards).

Four evenings of artist performances — including special feature shows, 200 juried music showcases and hundreds of private in-room showcases that extend late into the night and early morning hours. Some daytime private in-room showcases also are scheduled throughout the weekend, as well as jam sessions and extended song circles.

Building on the success of last year’s inaugural Winter Music Camp, held concurrently at the adjoining Sheraton Crown Center, featuring instruction geared toward all styles and levels of roots music and songwriting, FAI launches its first Music Fair (www.folkalliance.org/music-fair) this year. The Music Fair and Winter Music Camp will extend for four days and nights and will feature 99 artists, more than 100 workshops, jam sessions, film screenings, a public trade show and an art gallery. Among the instructors and performing artists are Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, Sam Baker, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jimmy LaFave, David Amram, Red Molly, Howard Iceberg, Betse Ellis, Bob Walkenhorst & Jeff Porter, The HillBenders present TOMMY: A Bluegrass Opry, The Elders, Alan Munde, Byron Berline, Roland White, James Hill, Pops Bayless, Redd Volkaert, Bill Kirchen, Jeff Planenhorn, Chad Graves, and Ken Perlman. Tickets priced at $25 per day/night are available to the public and may be purchased in advance online at www.faimusicfair.eventbrite.com.

Also slated is a special Saturday morning Music Fair Kids’ Show (featuring Trout Fishing in America, Dan Bern, Chad Elliott, Kim Rausch and more) and a Kids’ Music Camp on Friday-Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Editor’s Note: An elected member of FAI’s board of directors, I will be moderating a panel discussion and doing some mentoring and showcase emceeing during the conference.

Rhonda Vincent, the reigning and multi-time SPBGMA Entertainer of the Year, again won that coveted honor, and also was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Greats. Vincent and her band, The Rage, also were named Instrumental Group of the Year, while band members Josh Williams and Mickey Harris were named Guitar Player of the Year and Bass Player of the Year, respectively.

The Gibson Brothers’ “They Called It Music,” written by Eric Gibson and Joe Newberry, took Song of the Year honors just as it did in the 2013 International Bluegrass Music Awards last September. The Gibson Brothers, who hail from upstate New York, also are the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s reigning Entertainers and Vocal Group of the Year.

Dailey & Vincent (featuring Rhonda’s brother Darrin) were honored as Vocal Group of the Year and Gospel Group of the Year (Contemporary), while Jamie Dailey was again named Male Vocalist of the Year (Contemporary). – adding to the bevy of awards the duo has received
since releasing its debut album in 2008 after apprenticing for years under Doyle Lawson and Ricky Skaggs, respectively.

Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice was feted as Bluegrass Band of the Year, while Nothin’ Fancy was named Entertaining Group of the Year.

A complete list of SPBGMA award winners follows:

Entertainer of the Year: Rhonda Vincent

Entertaining Group of the Year: Nothin’ Fancy

Album of the Year: In a Country Town – Farm Hands Quartet (Farm Country Music)

Song of the Year: “They Called It Music” – The Gibson Brothers (Compass Records)

Bluegrass Band of the Year: (Overall) Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice

Female Vocalist (Contemporary) of the Year: Sonya Isaacs

Female Vocalist (Traditional) of the Year: Dale Ann Bradley

Male Vocalist (Contemporary) of the Year: Jamie Dailey

Male Vocalist (Traditional) of the Year: James King

Vocal Group of the Year: Dailey & Vincent

Instrumental Group of the Year: Rhonda Vincent & The Rage

Gospel Group (Contemporary) of the Year: Dailey & Vincent

Gospel Group (Traditional) of the Year: Paul Williams & the Victory Trio

Songwriter of the Year: Tom T. and Dixie Hall

Top Instrumental Performers: Mickey Harris (bass fiddle), Tim Graves (dobro), Josh Williams (guitar), Danny Roberts (mandolin), Sammy Shelor (banjo), Michael Cleveland (fiddle)

Promoter of the Year: Bertie Sullivan

Radio Station of the Year: Sirius XM 061, Nashville, TN.

DJ of the Year: Kyle Cantrell – Sirius XM 061, Nashville, TN