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.”

Chris Thile, one of the younger artists whom Rice influenced, expressed his thoughts on social media: “I’m beyond heartbroken to hear about the passing of Tony Rice. No one has had a more profound impact on my musical world. His playing, singing, writing, and arranging broke the bluegrass mold and will eternally attest to the fact that music can take you anywhere, from anywhere.”

Born in Danville, Virginia on June 8, 1951, Rice moved with his family to Los Angeles, California as a very young child. It was there that he first became acquainted with the bluegrass music scene – along with his brothers Larry, Wyatt and Ronnie, with whom he also performed during his career. Initially a mandolin player, Rice turned to the guitar and developed his own flatpicking style that melded elements of acoustic jazz, traditional country and folk with bluegrass.

In addition to playing with J.D. Crowe & The New South in the 1970s, Rice performed with the David Grisman Quintet, the Bluegrass Album Band, Tony Rice Unit (whose 1979 release, Manzanita, is widely considered to be his seminal recorded work), and Rice, Hillman & Pedersen (with brother Larry Rice, ex-Byrd Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen). Besides Skaggs, Rice also collaborated with such artists as Norman Blake, Bela Fleck, Jerry Garcia, and Peter Rowan over the years. A Grammy Award-winner for Best Country Instrumental Performance for The New South’s “Fireball” in 1983, Rice was also the recipient of a bevy of awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), including its highest honor – induction into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2013.

It was during the IBMA’s 2013 awards show in Raleigh, North Carolina that Rice last publicly performed on guitar. Arthritis and lateral epiconylitis (tennis elbow) had made playing his Martin D-28 both difficult and painful. Some 20 years earlier, a diagnosis of muscle-tension dysphonia, a vocal chord condition, prompted him to give up singing.

In addition to performing and recording music, Rice made instructional audiotapes beginning in the late 1970s. Happy Traum, who produced and recorded those tapes for his company, Homespun Tapes, hailed Rice as “indisputably, the most gifted and influential acoustic guitarist of our time.” In a post on his Facebook page, Traum, himself a noted guitarist and folksinger, wrote that Rice “was a genius of the flat-pick style, with an unmistakable touch, impeccable taste and incredible tone. In addition, Tony was a fine singer. He was able to bridge the gap between traditional country, bluegrass, folk and acoustic jazz styles with alacrity.”

Tony Rice will surely be missed, but his musical influence will be felt for years to come.

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.

Carlile, a folk-rock and Americana singer-songwriter, whose eighth album has more pop sensibilities, was recognized for Best Americana Album (By The Way, I Forgive You), while one of its tracks (“The Joke”) was named both Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song during ceremonies prior to the evening’s live broadcast. Carlile also was among the nominees for three of the major Grammy Awards — Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Awards were presented in 84 categories.

Here’s a link to view the official video for Brandi Carlile’s “The Joke”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r6A2NexF88

The Grammy Award for Best Folk Album went to Punch Brothers for the eclectic quintet’s fifth album, All Ashore. Chris Thile, the band’s mandolinist, describes the recording on Nonesuch as “a meditation on committed relationships in the present day, particularly in light of the current unsettled political climate—certainly the most unsettled one that anyone in the band has ever experienced.” He continues, “We were hoping we could create a thing that would be convincing as a complete thought, sort of a nine-movement or a nine-song thought, even though it’s rangy in terms of what it’s talking about and in the characters doing the talking.” Formed in 2006, the other members of Punch Brothers are Chris Eldridge (guitar), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Paul Kowert (bass), and Gabe Witcher (violin).

Named as Best Bluegrass Album was The Travelin’ McCourys by The Travelin’ McCourys. Although The Travelin’ McCourys have been playing together for decades, this is their eponymous debut album as a band featuring brothers Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (bass), who were raised on bluegrass as the sons of one of the genre’s most influential players and members of the Del McCoury Band. Rounding out The Travelin’ McCourys are Jason Carter (fiddle), Alan Bartram (bass), and newest member Cody Kilby (guitar). The band will celebrate Del McCoury’s 80th birthday on Feb. 13 at the “Grand DEL Opry,” along with Diercks Bentley, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Vince Gill, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Marty Stuart, among others.

Here’s the complete list of winners in the Grammy Awards’ American Roots Music Field:

Best Americana Album: By The Way, I Forgive You, Brandi Carlile
Best American Roots Performance: “The Joke,” Brandi Carlile
Best American Roots Song: “The Joke,” Brandi Carlile
Best Folk Album: All Ashore, Punch Brothers
Best Bluegrass Album: The Travelin’ McCourys, The Travelin’ McCourys
Best Traditional Blues Album: The Blues Is Alive and Well, Buddy Guy
Best Contemporary Blues Album: Please Don’t Be Dead, Fantastic Negrito
Best Regional Roots Music Album: No ‘Ane’I, Kalani Pe’a

On the afternoon prior to the Grammy Awards, Folk Alliance International, the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), and The Blues Foundation jointly hosted a celebration of the folk, bluegrass and blues nominees at Los Angeles’ No Name Bar. Among the names in attendance were Elvin Bishop Big Fun Trio, Fantastic Negrito, Dom Flemons, Mary Gauthier, Jaime Harris, MC Ed Helms from the TV show The Office, members of Punch Brothers, and Wood & Wire.

Also of note: Voices of Mississippi’s Artists And Musicians Documented By William Ferris was named Best Historical Album, while the 120-page hardback book by David Evans that accompanies the four disc-set was recognized for Best Album Notes. Voices features an album each of blues, gospel and storytelling, along with a DVD containing some of Ferris’ short films from the former University of North Carolina professor’s archives.

Each of the finalists will perform two original songs during a preliminary round at the free Elks Park Stage in downtown Telluride on Thursday, June 17, beginning at noon. Then the top five finalists will each perform two different original songs during a final round the following afternoon. The Troubadour winner performs a 15-minute set on the festival’s main stage on Saturday evening, June 20.

The finalists — recognized on the basis of the quality of their songs’ composition, vocal delivery and the overall performance — are Clint Alphin (Spring Hill, TN), Mary Bragg (Nashville, TN), Maria Brosgol (Albany, NY), Caitlin Canty (Pittsford, VT), Rob Drabkin (Denver, CO), Rachael Kilgour (Duluth, MN), Brennan Mackey (Denver, CO), Ryan Pickop (Fayetteville, AR), Carter Sampson (Oklahoma, OK) and Hadley Kennary (Nashville, TN). Connor Garvey (Portland, ME) and Wyatt Espalin (Hiawassee, GA) were named as first and second alternates, respectively, from among the more than 300 entries received.

Other artists slated to perform during this year’s Telluride Bluegrass Festival include Sam Bush Band, John Butler Trio, Cooder – White – Skaggs, Brett Dennen, Jerry Douglas Band, Robert Ellis, Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, Rhiannon Giddens, Greensky Bluegrass, Hot Rize, Robert Earl Keen, Lake Street Drive, Leftover Salmon, Kacey Musgroves, Noam Pikelny & Stuart Duncan, Punch Brothers, Peter Rowan’s Twang an’ Groove, Steep Canyon Rangers, Chris Thile & Edgar Meyer, Trampled By Turtles, Trout Steak Revival, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, and Yonder Mountain String Band, among others. A Telluride Band Contest is also slated. The roots-oriented music festival takes place amid Colorado’s rugged San Juan Mountains and coincides with the Summer Solstice.

Fort Collins, CO-based folk-rock singer-songwriter Michael Kirkpatrick was the winner of the 2014 Telluride Troubadour competition. Previous winners of the competitions, which has been held in conjunction with the Telluride Bluegrass Festival since 1991, include Larry Good (1991), Cosy Sheridan (1992), Dan Sheridan (1993), Catie Curtis (1994), LJ Booth (1995), Michael Lille (1996), Jonathan Kingham (1997), Eugene Ruffolo (1998), Libby Kirkpatrick (1999), Mary Coppin (2000), Kris Delmhorst (2001), Deb Talan (2002), Rachel Davis (2003), Brian Joseph (2004), Keith Greeninger (2005), Nels Andrews (2006), Gregory Alan Isakov (2007), Nathan Moore (2008), Mitch Barrett (2009), Robby Hecht (2010), Matt Harlan (2011), Reed Waddle (2012), and Reed Turner (2013).

More information on the festival and the Telluride Troubadour Competition can be found at www.bluegrass.com/telluride.

Cash’s latest release, The River & the Thread, a collection of songs that connect and re-connect the New York-based singer-songwriter to the American South where she was born and from which her family hails, was named Americana Album of the Year. Among the album’s tracks is “A Feather’s Not a Bird,” which was honored by The Recording Academy as both the Best American Roots Performance and the Best American Roots Song. The River & the Thread also was the most-played album on Americana radio during 2014, according to the American Music Association.

Below is a listing of all the Grammy nominees in the American Roots Music Field. The winners appear in boldface type.

BEST AMERICAN ROOTS PERFORMANCE

• “Statesboro Blues,” Gregg Allman and Taj Mahal
• “A Feather’s Not a Bird,” Rosanne Cash
• “And When I Die,” Billy Childs Featuring Alison Krauss & Jerry Douglas
• “The Old Me Better,” Keb’ Mo’ Featuring The California Feet Warmers
• “Destination,” Nickel Creek

BEST AMERICAN ROOTS SONG

• “A Feather’s Not a Bird,” Rosanne Cash
• “Just So Much,” Jesse Winchester
• “The New York Trains,” The Del McCoury Band
• “Pretty Little One,” Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers Featuring Edie Brickell
• “Terms of My Surrender,” John Hiatt

BEST AMERICANA ALBUM

• The River & the Thread, Rosanne Cash
• Terms of My Surrender, John Hiatt
• Bluesamericana, Keb’ Mo’
• A Dotted Line, Nickel Creek
• Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, Sturgill Simpson

BEST BLUEGRASS ALBUM

• The Earls of Leicester, The Earls of Leicester
• Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe, Noam Pikelny
• Cold Spell, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
• Into My Own, Bryan Sutton
• Only Me, Rhonda Vincent

BEST BLUES ALBUM

• Common Ground – Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play And Sing The Songs Of Big Bill Broonzy, Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin
• Promise of a Brand New Day, Ruthie Foster
• Juke Joint Chapel, Charlie Musselwhite
• Decisions, Bobby Rush With Blinddog Smokin’
• Step Back, Johnny Winter

BEST FOLK ALBUM

• Three Bells, Mike Auldridge, Jerry Douglas & Rob Ickes
• Follow The Music, Alice Gerrard
• The Nocturne Diaries, Eliza Gilkyson
• Remedy, Old Crow Medicine Show
• A Reasonable Amount Of Trouble, Jesse Winchester

BEST REGIONAL ROOTS MUSIC ALBUM

• Light The Stars, Bonsoir, Catin
• Hanu ‘A’ala, Kamaka Kukona
• Love’s Lies, Magnolia Sisters
• The Legacy, Jo-El Sonnier
• Ceremony, Joe Tohonnie Jr.

Also of note: The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album went to Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer for Bass & Mandolin. Thile also is part of Nickel Creek, which was among the nominees for Best Americana Album. Angelique Kidjo’s Eve was named Best World Music Album.

Best American Roots Performance

• “Statesboro Blues,” Gregg Allman and Taj Mahal
• “A Feather’s Not a Bird,” Rosanne Cash
• “And When I Die,” Billy Childs Featuring Alison Krauss & Jerry Douglas
• “The Old Me Better,” Keb’ Mo’ Featuring The California Feet Warmers
• “Destination,” Nickel Creek

Best American Roots Song

• “A Feather’s Not a Bird,” Rosanne Cash
• “Just So Much,” Jesse Winchester
• “The New York Trains,” The Del McCoury Band
• “Pretty Little One,” Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers Featuring Edie Brickell
• “Terms of My Surrender,” John Hiatt

Best Americana Album

• The River & the Thread, Rosanne Cash
• Terms of My Surrender, John Hiatt
• Bluesamericana, Keb’ Mo’
• A Dotted Line, Nickel Creek
• Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, Sturgill Simpson

Best Bluegrass Album

• The Earls of Leicester, The Earls of Leicester
• Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe, Noam Pikelny
• Cold Spell, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
• Into My Own, Bryan Sutton
• Only Me, Rhonda Vincent

Best Blues Album

• Common Ground – Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play And Sing The Songs Of Big Bill Broonzy, Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin
• Promise of a Brand New Day, Ruthie Foster
• Juke Joint Chapel, Charlie Musselwhite
• Decisions, Bobby Rush With Blinddog Smokin’
• Step Back, Johnny Winter

Best Folk Album

• Three Bells, Mike Auldridge, Jerry Douglas & Rob Ickes
• Follow The Music, Alice Gerrard
• The Nocturne Diaries, Eliza Gilkyson
• Remedy, Old Crow Medicine Show
• A Reasonable Amount Of Trouble, Jesse Winchester

Best Regional Roots Music Album

• Light The Stars, Bonsoir, Catin
• Hanu ‘A’ala, Kamaka Kukona
• Love’s Lies, Magnolia Sisters
• The Legacy, Jo-El Sonnier
• Ceremony, Joe Tohonnie Jr.

Among the nominees for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album are Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer for Bass & Mandolin. Thile also is part of Nickel Creek. Bass & Mandolin also is in the mix for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, as is Keb’ Mo’s Bluesamericana. Glen Campbell’s very moving/poignant “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” co-written with Julian Raymond and the final song recorded by the ailing country music legend, is among the nominees for Best Country Song of the Year.

The Grammy Awards will be presented by The Recording Academy on Sunday, February 8, 2015. A live broadcast of the major award presentations will air on CBS television stations from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Tickets for the tour – including dates in Nashville (April 18 and 19), New York City (April 29), Boston (May 1), Washington DC (May 3 and 4, sold out), Chicago (May 9) and Oakland, CA (May 19) – go on sale Feb. 7. Nickel Creek also is slated to perform during the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado, June 19-22. More tour dates may be added.

Here’s a link to a video of Nickel Creek performing “Destination” off its forthcoming album:

Nickel Creek was launched in 1989 by bluegrass child prodigies Chris Thile (mandolin and vocals), Sara Watkins (fiddle and vocals), both then eight, and Sara’s older brother Sean Watkins (guitar and vocals), who was 11 at the time. Thereafter, the band released five studio albums and one compilation recording — 2006’s Reasons Why (The Very Best) — and earned popular and critical acclaim. Time magazine dubbed the trio “music innovators for the new millennium” following the release of its self-titled debut album in 2000, while its 2002 follow-up, This Side, won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

Although the trio initially followed a bluegrass orientation, Nickel Creek evolved into an acoustic outfit with a wide array of musical influences — prompting USA Today to note “This acoustic trio moves farther and farther from anything Bill Monroe would have recognized as bluegrass.” Yet, Nickel Creek helped to stir renewed interest in bluegrass and acoustic music and appealed to millions of fans – including many young people.

Besides performing and recording as a band, Nickel Creek’s members also had been engaged in solo and other collaborative projects which they pursued even more during the trio’s seven-year hiatus. All three plan to continue to do so.

Chris Thile, a multi-instrumentalist and composer who delves in bluegrass as well as other musical genres – including folk, country, classical and jazz – was among 23 people in various fields who were awarded “Genius” grants last year from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in recognition of having “shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.”

Thile, who won the national mandolin championship at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas at the ripe old age of 12, released his first solo album of mostly original composition, Leading Off, the following year. In 1997, at age 16, he won both a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album and an International Bluegrass Music Award for album of the Year for True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe. He later won an International Bluegrass Music Award for Mandolinist of the Year (2001).

Over the years, Thile has released a number of solo albums and also has teamed up with such notable artists as mandolin player and multi-instrumentalist Mike Marshall, bassist Edgar Meyer (whom he has cited as one of his biggest musical influences), and cellist Yo-Yo-Ma. He recorded a well-received, Grammy Award-winning album entitled The Goat Rodeo Sessions with Yo-Yo Ma, Meyer and noted fiddle player Stuart Duncan; duo albums with Meyer and with guitarist Michael Daves; and has appeared on albums by such artists as Diercks Bentley, The Dixie Chicks, Scottish songbird Julie Fowlis, Sarah Jarosz, Dolly Parton, and Kate Rusby. His latest musical collaboration, Punch Brothers, sprung out of the How to Grow a Band, which he formed in 2006 and which also is the title of an independent documentary film that portrays Thile as he leaves the very popular Nickel Creek and launches an artistically ambitious new band. The five-member Punch Brothers has toured extensively, has released three albums and an EP, and is featured on the official soundtrack recording for the Coen brothers’ film Inside Llewyn Davis.

Sara Watkins, who has held an informal residency at the Los Angeles nightclub Largo, along with her brother Sean, actively pursued a solo career while Nickel Creek was on hiatus. Her self-titled debut album, produced by Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, was released by Nonesuch Records in 2009.

In the span of three years between it and her sophomore release, Sun Midnight Sun, she toured internationally both as a solo artist and as a guest fiddle player and vocalist with The Decemberists. She also has performed with Works Progress Administration, did a short tour of England and Scotland in with Jerry Douglas and Aly Bain, opened for and played with Jackson Browne during his 2012 acoustic winter tour (Browne also appears on Sun Midnight Sun), and toured with Donavan Frankenreiter, Robert Earl Keen and Tift Merritt as well. She also joined Garrison Keillor on his nationwide Summer Love performance tours and guest-hosted for him on A Prairie Home Companion. Sara also has accompanied her brother on two of his three solo albums.

Mumford & Sons joined Elton John, Mavis Staples, T Bone Burnett, Zac Brown and Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes in an all-star tribute to the late Levon Helm, performing his classic “The Weight.” They also were part of the Grammy Award-winning Best Long-Form Music Video for Big Easy Express (S2BN Films), along with Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show.

Most of the winners in more than 75 categories were announced by The Recording Academy during ceremonies held earlier in the day. Winners in the American Roots Music Field included:

Best Folk Album

The Goat Rodeo Sessions
Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile
[Sony Classical]

Best Americana Album

Slipstream
Bonnie Raitt
[Redwing Records]

Best Bluegrass Album

Nobody Knows You
Steep Canyon Rangers
[Rounder]

Best Blues Album

Locked Down
Dr. John
[Nonesuch]

Best Regional Roots Music Album

The Band Courtbouillon
Wayne Toups, Steve Riley & Wilson Savoy
[Valcour Records]

The Recording Academy also recognized the music of Woody Guthrie, whose 100th birthday was marked last year. Smithsonian Folkways’ Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection received the Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package (Fritz Klaetke, art director).

Recognized as the Best Spoken Word Album was Society’s Child: My Autobiography by Janis Ian (Audible, Inc.), while the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater album went to Once: A New Musical (Masterworks).

Besides being honored for Best Folk Album, The Goat Radio Sessions [Sony Classical] also captured the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

A complete list of winners in all categories appears online at www.grammy.com.

The nominations were announced on Dec. 5. Rootsy British band Mumford & Sons is among the top nominees with nods for Album of the Year, Best Americana Album and Best Rock Performance.

Of particular interest to readers of AcousticMusicScene.com are the nominees in the American Roots Music Field. The number of award categories in the field was reduced last year as part of a restructuring across all genres and fields by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, also known as The Recording Academy.

The nominees, by category, are:

Best Folk Album

Leaving Eden
Carolina Chocolate Drops [Nonesuch]

Election Special
Ry Cooder [Perro Verde/Nonesuch]

Hambone’s Meditations
Luther Dickinson [Songs of the South]

The Goat Road Sessions
Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile
[Sony Classical]

This One’s for Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark
Various Artists
Shawn Camp & Tamara Saviano, producers
[Icehouse Music]

Best Americana Album

The Carpenter
The Avett Brothers [Universal Republic]

From The Ground Up
John Fullbright [Blue Dirt Records]

The Lumineers
The Lumineers [Dualtone Music Group]

Babel
Mumford & Sons [Glassnote]

Slipstream
Bonnie Raitt
[Redwing Records]

Best Bluegrass Album

The Gospel Side of Dailey & Vincent
Dailey & Vincent [Rounder]

Life Finds a Way
The Grascals [Mountain Home Music Company]

Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail
Noam Pikelny [Compass Records]

Scratch Gravel Road
Special Consensus [Compass Records]

Nobody Knows You
Step Canyon Rangers [Rounder]

Best Blues Album

33 1/3
Shemekia Copeland [Telarc International]

Locked Down
Dr. John [Nonesuch]

Let It Burn
Ruthie Foster [Blue Corn Music]

And Still I Rise
Heritage Blues Orchestra [Raisin’ Music]

Bring It on Home
Joan Osborne [Saguaro Road]

Best Regional Roots Music Album

Malama Ko Aloha (Keep Your Love)
Keola Beamer [‘Ohe Records]

Shi Keyah – Songs for the People
Radmilla Cody [Canyon Records]

Pilialoha
Weldon Kekauoha [‘Ohelo Records]

Nothin’ But the Best
Corey Ledet with Anthony Dopsie, Dwayne Dopsie and Andre Thierry
[Corey Ledet]

The Band Courtbouillon
Wayne Toups, Steve Riley & Wilson Savoy
[Valcour Records]

In addition to Mumford & Sons’ sophomore release, Babel, receiving nods for Album of the Year and Best Americana Album, one of its tracks, “I Will Wait,” is among the nominated songs in the Best Rock Performance category. Fellow Best Americana Album nominees The Lumineers also received a nod for Best New Artist. East Nashville, TN-based singer-songwriter duo The Civil Wars, this year’s Grammy Award winners for Best Folk Album and Best Country Duo/Group Performance, were again nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance – this time with Taylor Swift for “Safe & Sound.” Multiple Grammy Award winner Alison Kraus was nominated in the same category, along with country legend Don Williams, for “I Just Came Here for the Music.”

The Recording Academy also recognized the music of Woody Guthrie, whose 100th birthday was marked this year. Little Seed: Songs for Children by Woody Guthrie [Smithsonian Folkways Recordings], as performed by Elizabeth Mitchell, is among the nominees for Best Children’s Album. Smithsonian Folkways’ Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection received nods for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package and Best Historical Album.

Also nominated in the Best Historical Album category is Old-Time Smoky Mountain Music: 34 Historic Songs, Ballads and Instrumentals Recorded in The Great Smoky Mountains by “Song Catcher” Joseph S Hall, a Great Smoky Mountains Association recording featuring various artists. Stephen Wade is among the nominees for Best Album Notes for Banjo Diary: Lessons from Tradition [Smithsonian Folkways].

Besides being nominated for Best Folk Album, The Goat Radio Sessions featuring Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile [Sony Classical], received a nod for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

A complete list of nominees in all categories appears online at www.grammy.com.