Billy Strings, a Michigan-born and Nashville, Tennessee-based genre-bending flatpicking guitarist and singer-songwriter, was previously named Entertainer of the Year in 2021, 2022 and 2023. A two-time Grammy Award winner for Best Bluegrass Album — Live Vol. 1 (2025) and Home (2021) — he also was named Artist of the Year (2022 and 2023) in the Americana Music Honors & Awards presented by the Americana Music Association, as well as Pollstar’s Breakthrough Artist of the Pandemic. He was previously honored as both Guitar Player and New Artist of the Year in the 2019 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards and was named Guitar Player of the Year again in 2021, while his song “Red Daisy” was 2022’s Song of the Year. Billy Strings, who turns 33 on Oct. 3, grew up playing traditional bluegrass with his dad. In the years since, he has been among the artists who have helped to expand the boundaries of the genre, widening its appeal.

Jason Carter and Michael Cleveland’s “Outrun the Rain” won the coveted Song of the Year award and was also named Collaborative Recording of the Year, while the 2025 release on which it appears, Carter & Cleveland, was named Album of the Year. Carter, a five-time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year, has played with the Del McCoury Band for 30 years and is a founding member of the Travelin’ McCourys, winners of the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. The Kentucky native’s fiddling prowess can also be heard on albums by such notable artists as Asleep at the Wheel, Diercks Bentley, Charlie Daniels, Steve Earle, Vince Gill, and Ricky Skaggs. Southern Indiana-based Michael Cleveland, whose 2024 release, Tall Fiddler, won a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, was inducted into the National Fiddler Hall of Fame (2018) and was a recipient of a prestigious 2022 NEA National Heritage Fellowship, the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has been recognized 13 times as the IBMA’s Fiddle Player of the Year and six times for Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year, while Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper has been hailed as its Instrumental Group of the Year multiple times. And has also received awards from the society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPGMA). The subject of a 2019 biographical documentary film, Flamekeeper: The Michael Cleveland Story, the much sought-after musician has also performed with such noted artists as J.D. Crowe and the New South, Vice Gill, The Kruger Brother, Tim O’Brien, Andy Statman, and Mary Stuart, among others.

The IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association, a nonprofit trade organization that connects, educates, and empowers bluegrass professionals and enthusiasts, honoring tradition and encouraging innovation in the bluegrass community worldwide (ibma.org).

A complete list of 2025 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards recipients appears below, along with brief information about three Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees.

Entertainer of the Year: Billy Strings

Song of the Year: “Outrun the Rain” – Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland

Songwriters: Terry Herd & Jimmy Yeary

Producers: Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland

Label: Fiddle Man Records

Album of the Year: Carter & Cleveland – Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland

Producers: Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland

Label: Fiddle Man Records

Vocal Group of the Year: Authentic Unlimited

Instrumental Group of the Year: The Travelin’ McCourys

Gospel Recording of the Year:

“He’s Gone” – Jaelee Roberts

Songwriter: Kelsi Harrigil
Producer: Byron House
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

Instrumental Recording of the Year:

“Ralph’s Banjo Special” – Kristin Scott Benson
Songwriter: Ralph Stanley
Producer: Allison Brown
Label: Compass Records

Collaborative Recording of the Year:

“Outrun the Rain” – Jason Carter, Michael Cleveland, Jaelee Roberts & Vince Gill
Songwriters: Terry Herd & Jimmy Yeary
Producers: Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Label: Fiddle Man Records

New Artist of the Year: Red Camel Collective

Male Vocalist of the Year: Greg Blake

Female Vocalist of the Year: Alison Krauss

Banjo Player of the Year: Kristin Scott Benson

Bass Player of the Year: Vickie Vaughn

Fiddle Player of the Year: Maddie Denton

Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year: Justin Moses

Guitar Player of the Year: Trey Hensley

Mandolin Player of the Year: Sierra Hull

Music Video of the Year: “The Auctioneer” – The Kody Norris Show

Songwriters: Leroy Van dyke & Buddy Black
Producer: James Gilley
Videographer: Nate Wiles

Label: Rebel Records

Hot Rize (a pioneering bluegrass band), The Bluegrass Cardinals (known for its flawless harmonies, virtuoso playing, and original music), and Arnold Shultz (an influential African American musician) were inducted into Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame during the awards show.

The IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards Show is the centerpiece of World of Bluegrass that extended from September 16-20. Considered the genre’s annual industry gathering and family reunion, IBMA’s World of Bluegrass also featured a three-day 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 showcases at various Chattanooga venues), and the two-day IBMA Bluegrass Live! – a festival of live performances and fan experiences.

Poss frequently acknowledged that he didn’t have a very conventional career path. “I used to joke that I had the perfect qualifications for being in the music business,” Poss once wrote. “I had no business training; in fact, no formal music background either but I teach Sociology of deviant Behavior.”

After graduating from Duke, he took a position with County Records in Floyd, Virginia. Poss and its owner, Dave Freeman, launched Sugar Hill Records in 1978, embracing what Poss called “contemporary music grounded in traditional music roots.” A self-described “wayward academic in an entrepreneurial role,” Poss assumed full control of the label in 1980, and moved it to Durham. He operated the label from there until its sale to Welk Music Group 20 years later. He became the group’s chairman in 2002. It’s now part of Concord Music, which also owns Rounder Records.

Among the many artists of note who recorded for Sugar Hill Records during Poss’ tenure were Pat Alger, Byron Berline, Ronnie Bowman, Sam Bush, Guy Clark, Mike Cross, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Douglas, Sara Evans, Cathy Fink, Butch Hancock, Hot Rize, The Infamous Stringdusters, Chris Hillman, Wanda Jackson, Sarah Jarosz, Robert Earl Keen, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Lonesome River Band, Lyle Lovett, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Nickel Creek, Tim O’Brien, Dolly Parton, Dirk Powell, The Red Clay Ramblers, Peter Rowan, Ricky Skaggs, Darrell Scott, Marty Stuart, Bryan Sutton, Chris Thile, Townes Van Zandt, Doc Watson, and Jesse Winchester.

“The identity peg for Sugar Hill is having that traditional connection to contemporary music,” Poss Told Blue ridge Outdoors in 2008. “Some have taken to describing a ‘Sugar Hill Sound,” but I am not going to try to define that. To me, it’s what connect Doc Watson to Chris Thile, ricky skaggs to Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt to dolly Parton. They all exhibit a rootedness in their contemporary expressions of music. I like it because the music comes from a place. It’s not prefabricated or manufactured.”

Douglas and Skaggs had been part of a bluegrass group called Boone Creek, whose One Way Track album was Sugar Hill’s first release in 1978. In a May 18 Facebook post, Douglas wrote of Poss: “His dream was to have a label that mirrored the same idea as Sam Phillips and his famous Sun label, which catered to a specific audience and created a new genre, Rockabilly Plus. Barry knew an audience was there for a specific form of music (bluegrass) and there were certain bands who could grow that audience and the music would evolve with the growth of that audience.”

Douglas, who also produced a number of recordings for Sugar Hill Records, noted that he and Poss were “very close friends. Confidants really. He was like my wingman and brother at any event we collided with. We would spend hours talking about the direction of the music and the parameters he wanted his label to maintain no matter the current climate.” Poss was also godfather to Douglas’ daughter Nola. “Barry loved my family, and Jill and I, along with our children, will forever press his memory closer to our hearts.”

In addition to spending many years at the helm of Sugar Hill Records, Poss was a founding board member of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky and helped to launch the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA).

“Barry Poss was not just a champion of roots music and the artists that made it, but he was instrumental in the founding of our organization,” Ken White, IBMA’s executive director, said in a statement. “For that and so much more, we will always be grateful.”

Poss was a recipient of the IBMA’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 1998. The Americana Music Association also honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 in recognition of Sugar Hill’s pivotal role in both preserving and reinvigorating traditional music, while he was inducted into the Oak Ridge Music Hall of Fame in 2023.

Closer to home, Poss also served on the boards of the Carolina Theater, the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, MerleFest, the North Carolina, Folklife Institute, and WUNC-FM.

While many artists and others have shared tributes to Poss since his passing, for his part Poss once said: “It’s the artists who make the music to which I’m the most indebted. They had something important to say. They needed to be heard. And I wanted to be part of their creative lives – because it mattered.”

Called DelFest At Home and celebrating musical highlights from DelFests past that have taken place in western Maryland for more than a decade, the free online event will showcase the festival’s namesake and his family, along with notable bluegrass artists and jam bands such as the Trey Anastasio Band, Billy Strings, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck & Chris Thile, Greensky Bluegrass, Hot Rize, I’m With Her, The Infamous Stringdusters, Railroad Earth, Sierra Hull, Marty Stuart, The Wood Brothers, and more.

Like many festivals and other musical events this spring and summer, Delfest was cancelled due to public health concerns surrounding the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“We’ve heard from many folks how much it’s going to hurt not being at DelFest this Memorial Day weekend, so we hope this helps a little,” says Ronnie McCoy, a mandolinist with the Del McCoury Band and The Travelin’ McCourys “We’re grateful to have a dedicated crew that has captured some great moments of DelFest through the years, and are looking forward to reliving some of these great moments with you ourselves.” Adds Rob McCoury, his brother—and banjo-playing bandmate in both ensembles: “We are so excited about this. It’s just a small way we can all feel connected this weekend. … We are going to pop onto Facebook Live from time to time between sets to say ‘hello.’”

DelFest At Home starts Thursday, May 21, at 4:30 p.m. EST and can be viewed on Nugs.tv and via DelFest’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. Performances will air until 9:30 p.m EST. on May 21, and from 2:30-11:30 p.m. on May 22, 12:30 p.m. on May 23 – 1 a.m. on May 24, and from 11:30 a.m. on May 24 to 12:30 a.m. on May 25. Although there is no cost to view the virtual festival from the comfort of your own home, donations will be gratefully accepted throughout the holiday weekend that will go toward funding the DelFest Foundation, an organization that works with and supports nonprofit organizations throughout western Maryland.

Editor’s Note: Although I have not been to DelFest to date, I have had the pleasure of seeing Del McCoury perform live a few times — both with his sons and with David Grisman as Del & Dawg.

On his 40th recording, John McCutcheon, a much-revered folksinger-songwriter and a multi-instrumentalist, pays tribute to the music of his friend and mentor, the late folk icon Pete Seeger. McCutcheon calls To Everyone in All the World “an album I’ve been waiting over 50 years to make.” Also lending their musical talents to the recording are Beausoleil, Suzy Bogguss, Stuart Duncan, Finest Kind, Corey Harris, and Hot Rize.

Of his friend, Seeger had said: “John McCutcheon is not only one of the best musicians in the USA, but also a great singer, songwriter, and song leader. And not just incidentally, he is committed to helping hard-working people everywhere to organize and push this world in a better direction.”

McCutcheon, a performing and recording artist since the mid-1970s, is also a longtime labor and social activist. He is a founder and former president of Local 1000, the traveling acoustic musicians local of the American Federation of Musicians. He has keynoted conferences for several regional affiliates of Folk Alliance International. His previous release, Ghost Light, was the #2 album on folk radio in 2018 and also features three of last year’s 25 most-played songs (“This Road,” “She Just Dances,” and “The Machine”). McCutcheon’s classic “Christmas in the Trenches” tied for the most-played song on folk radio last December and has been among the most-played songs during the holiday season for years.

The February 2019 Top Albums, Songs and Artists charts are based on 13.656 airplays reported on 570 playlists submitted by 132 different DJs. The number of reported spins is shown below in parentheses. The charts are compiled by Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org), a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen, and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion.

The monthly top albums and songs charts are posted on AcousticMusicScene.com, with permission.

Top Albums of February 2019

1. To Everyone in All the World: A Celebration of Pete Seeger by John McCutcheon (119)
2. What Will We Do by Lula Wiles (97)
3. Time and Truth by Joel Mabus (77)
4. Common Chords by Robert Jones and Matt Watroba (76)
5. Facets of Folk by Mara Levine (69)
6. Songs of Our Native Daughters by Our Native Daughters (64)
7. Tides of a Teardrop by Mandolin Orange (57)
7. Off to Here Land by Ashley and Simpson (57)
9. October in the Railroad Earth by Tom Russell (55)
10. The Best of Live: 50 Years of Livingston Taylor by Livingston Taylor (54)
11. A New Story by J Wagner (47)
12. Sweet Creature by Sophie Buskin (45)
13. North Country by Danny Burns (43)
14. Unfortunate Point of View by Katherine Rondeau (42)
15. Valley of the Bones by Jane Kramer (41)
16. At Home in the Darkness by Mike P. Ryan (39)
17. Somewhere in the Middle by Wes Weddell (38)
17. Pseudomyopia by Rachael Sage (38)
19. Legacy of Love by Ellen Bukstel (36)
20. Tex by Terry Klein (35)
21. A List of Names by Karyn Oliver (34)
22. Game Changer by Rachael Kilgour (32)
23. Stay the Course by Same Latitude as Rome (30)
23. Rubies in the Dust by Terry Kitchen (30)
25. Tomorrow Will Be Yesterday Soon by Jon Shain and Fj Ventre (28)
25. The Point of Arrival by Carrie Newcomer (28)
27. Steel by Nell and Jim Band (27)
27. What It Is by Hayes Carll (27)
27. When You Go by Tiffany Williams (27)
30. Smoke and Ashes by The Lonely Heartstring Band (26)
30. Riverland by Peter Cooper and Thomm Jutz Eric Brace (26)
30. If You Can’t Stand the Heat by Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen (26)
33. Everyday Street by Lucy Kaplansky (25)
33. 1000 Miles by Bettman and Halpin (25)
33. Siren by Five Letter Word (25)
33. Live in L.A. by Ken Dunn (25)
33. Savoir Faire to Spare by Dashboard Hula Girls (25)
33. November Rain by Steve Sterner and Sundown (25)
39. See You Around by I’m With Her (23)
39. Wasted Love Songs by Bob Sumner (23)
39. Woven Waters by Tellico (23)
39. Father’s Son by Pierce Pettis (23)
39. Getaway by Abigail Lapell (23)
39. Tim O’Brien Band by Tim O’Brien (23)
45. The Butcher Shoppe EP by Della Mae (22)
45. Travelin’ Shoes by Marley’s Ghost (22)
47. Shine On by Steve Poltz (21)
47. A Good Dog Is Lost by Ken Tizzard (21)
47. The Hammered Dulcimer by Bill Spence and Fennig’s All-Star String
Band (21)
50. Territoires by Le Vent Du Nord (20)
50. The Tree of Forgiveness by John Prine (20)
52. Some People I Know by Brother Brothers (19)
52. Ready to Go by Reggie Harris (19)
52. Anyone Can See by The Honey Dewdrops (19)
55. Secularia by Eliza Gilkyson (18)
56. Give Up Your Ghosts by Rebecca Loebe (17)
56. Riding the Rooster by Evie Ladin (17)
56. High Road by Midnight Shine (17)
56. Grenades by Kaia Kater (17)
56. Land and Harbor by Shawn Lane and Richard Bennett (17)
56. Heart Songs by Tommy Emmanuel and John Knowles (17)
62. Up Against the Sky by Dave Gunning (16)
62. Black Cowboys by Dom Flemons (16)
62. Folk Alliance International 2019 Showcase Compilation CD by Various
Artists (16)
62. Over the Line by Jeff Scroggins and Colorado (16)
66. Small Brown Bird by Zoe Mulford (15)
66. The Long Road by Beth Wood (15)
66. The Broken Heart of Everything by David Francey (15)
66. Kid Bayonne by Ray Lambiase (15)
66. Thirty Years of Bluegrass by Various Artists (15)

Top Songs of February 2019

1. “Sailing Down My Golden River” by John McCutcheon (18)
2. “Good Friends” by Livingston Taylor (17)
2. “When I Need You Most of All” by Sophie Buskin (17)
4. “Thank a Teacher” by Joel Mabus (16)
5. “3 Chords, 5 Notes” by Robert Jones and Matt Watroba (15)
6. “Mind Your Own Business” by Robert Jones and Matt Watroba (13)
6. “Black Myself” by Our Native Daughters (13)
6. “Golden Embers” by Mandolin Orange (13)
6. “Sweet Creature” by Sophie Buskin (13)
6. “The Pain of Loving You” by Lula Wiles (13)
11. “Well May the World Go” by John McCutcheon (12)
11. “October in the Railroad Earth” by Tom Russell (12)
13. “Shaking as It Turns” by Lula Wiles (11)
13. “Everybody Wants to Hide” by J Wagner (11)
13. “Shady Grove” by Shawn Lane and Richard Bennett (11)
13. “Daughters and Sons” by Mara Levine (11)
13. “The Moon May Never Shine This Way Again” by Joel Mabus (11)
13. “Love Gone Wrong” by Lula Wiles (11)
13. “Sixteen Tons” by Della Mae (11)
13. “If I Had a Hammer” by John McCutcheon (11)
13. “What Will We Do” by Lula Wiles (11)
13. “Moon Meets the Sun” by Our Native Daughters (11)
23. “Living in the Country” by John McCutcheon (10)
23. “Lonely All the Time” by Mandolin Orange (10)
23. “Good Old American Values” by Lula Wiles (10)
23. “Garden” by Rachael Kilgour (10)
23. “Hymn” by Jane Kramer (10)
23. “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” by Mara Levine (10)
23. “In America” by Rachael Kilgour (10)
23. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Joel Mabus (10)
23. “February Face” by Wes Weddell (10)

Top Artists of February 2019

1. John McCutcheon (147)
2. Lula Wiles (99)
3. Joel Mabus (82)
4. Tom Russell (79)
5. Robert Jones and Matt Watroba (77)
6. Mara Levine (73)
7. Mandolin Orange (67)
8. Our Native Daughters (66)
9. Ashley and Simpson (57)
10. Livingston Taylor (56)
11. Bob Dylan (53)
12. J Wagner (47)
13. Sophie Buskin (45)
14. Katherine Rondeau (44)
15. Tim O’Brien (43)
15. Danny Burns (43)
17. Rachael Sage (42)
18. Jane Kramer (41)
19. Mike P. Ryan (39)
20. Wes Weddell (38)
21. Ellen Bukstel (37)
22. Terry Klein (36)
23. Joan Baez (34)
23. Karyn Oliver (34)
25. Lucy Kaplansky (33)
25. The Honey Dewdrops (33)
25. Joni Mitchell (33)
28. Rachael Kilgour (32)
28. Terry Kitchen (32)
28. Carrie Newcomer (32)
31. John Prine (31)
32. I’m With Her (30)
32. Pete Seeger (30)
32. Same Latitude as Rome (30)
35. Eliza Gilkyson (29)
35. Jon Shain and Fj Ventre (29)
35. Hayes Carll (29)
35. Tim Grimm (29)
39. Sweet Honey in the Rock (28)
39. Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen (28)
39. Nell and Jim Band (28)
39. Tiffany Williams (28)
39. The Lonely Heartstring Band (28)

Called one of the best singers of her generation by Christine Lavin, folksinger and jewelry designer Mara Levine has been creating beautiful interpretations of fine traditional and contemporary folk songs for many years. “Layering harmony line on top of harmony line, Levine creates rich tapestries of sound and emotion,” says noted folksinger and activist Si Kahn.
On Facets of Folk, Levine — joined by a number of her talented musician friends – explores some of the different facets of the folk genre. In selecting songs for it, Levine said: “I was inspired by the current political and social challenges facing us today, and thought a great deal about the importance of speaking out against injustice, both societal, and for people in our lives who are being wronged.”

Songs of social conscience – penned by popular contemporary songwriters as well as emerging talents — are prominently featured on Facets of Folk and are set among folk favorites and lesser-known songs. The opening track, Susan Shann’s “You Reap What You Sow,” recorded with several bluegrass luminaries, topped the Folk DJ songs chart in November 2017 when it was released as a single and was the third-most-played song last month. It also spent 22 weeks on the Bluegrass Today Grassicana chart. Levine’s rendition of Tommy Sands’ “Daughters and Sons” (featuring Kim & Reggie Harris and Gathering Time, a folk harmony trio with whom she frequently shares concert bills) was #1 last month, as was the album.

Levine had an official juried showcase at the 2014 Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference, after participating in the Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase years earlier. Her sophomore release, Jewels and Harmony, was #1 on the Folk DJ chart in January 2013 and sported that month’s two top two songs.

Of his friend, Seeger had said: “John McCutcheon is not only one of the best musicians in the USA, but also a great singer, songwriter, and song leader. And not just incidentally, he is committed to helping hard-working people everywhere to organize and push this world in a better direction.”

McCutcheon, who has been performing and recording since the mid-1970s, is also a longtime labor and social activist. He is a founder and former president of Local 1000, the traveling acoustic musicians local of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM). He has keynoted conferences for several regional affiliates of Folk Alliance International. His previous release, Ghost Light, was the #2 album on folk radio in 2018 and also features three of last year’s 25 most-played songs (“This Road,” “She Just Dances,” and “The Machine”). McCutcheon’s classic “Christmas in the Trenches” tied for the most-played song on folk radio last December and has been among the most-played songs during the holiday season for years.

The January 2019 Top Albums, Songs and Artists charts are based on 17,689 airplays reported on 736 playlists submitted by 133 different DJs. The number of reported spins is shownin parentheses. The charts are compiled under the auspices of Folk Alliance International (www.folk.org), a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen, and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion.

The monthly top albums, songs and artists charts are posted on AcousticMusicScene.com, with permission.

Top Albums of January 2019

Here’s a link to listen to Artie Martello’s Jan. 26, 2019 Mostly Folk podcast featuring a interview with Mara Levine and songs from her new release, Facets of Folk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9nVsWtjNTs