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.”

Hailed as “The songwriter laureate of modern city folk” (The Boston Globe), Lucy Kaplansky is a New York City-based contemporary folk singer-songwriter with a luminous voice whose recordings frequently topped folk and Americana radio charts. The Lucy Story, her 10th album, is a collection of mostly unreleased tracks that form a retrospective /history of her musical life. It features songs performed in a variety of musical styles — both self-penned and ones by Richard Shindell, Robbie Robertson, Townes Van Zandt, John Lennon, Lyle Lovett and Jack Hardy, as well as demos and album outtakes, and live recordings with some of her favorite collaborators (Shawn Colvin, Shindell, and Dar Williams among them).

Kaplansky, who began singing at Chicago folk clubs as a teenager, moved to NYC after high school, where she performed frequently with Shawn Colvin on and around the Greenwich Village folk scene during the early to mid 1980s. Before leaving the music scene to pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology. After earning her degree, she worked with chronically mentally ill adults at a New York hospital as well as in private practice. However, she continued to sing and was frequently asked to add harmony vocals to albums by friends including Colvin and Nanci Griffith and film soundtracks with Griffith and Suzanne Vega. Her voice could also be heard on Chevrolet’s popular “The Heartbeat of America” commercial jingle. She left her career as a psychologist in the 1990s after signing with Red House Records, which released her critically acclaimed debut album, The Tide (primarily produced by Colvin) in 1994. She signed with a booking agency and began touring extensively.

In addition to her solo recordings and tours since, Kaplansky has frequently collaborated with other singer-songwriters on recording projects and concert tours over the years. She joined with Shindell and Dar Williams in 1998 to form the folk trio Cry Cry Cry, recorded some of their favorite songs written by other songwriters, and toured nationally in support of it – as they did in 2017-2018 to celebrate its 20th anniversary. She and Shindell have also contributed harmony vocals to most of each other’s albums, recorded an album as The Pine Hill Project, and have frequently shared concert stages. In 2010, Kaplansky, John Gorka and Eliza Gilkyson teamed up to record an album as Red Horse on which they performed each other’s songs. The album topped the folk radio charts for several months that year. Kaplansky has also been part of a recurring On A Winter’s Night Tour with Gorka, Cliff Eberhardt and Patty Larkin.

“Which Side Are You On?” is a reworked and updated version of the famed folk and labor song originally penned Florence Reece in 1931. Artists for Action is an international folk supergroup comprised of 16 artists who teamed up to raise their voices in response to the global rise of far-right politics and the resurgence of fascism. Initially recorded in September 2022 and recently re-released, the track features Black Umfalosi (Zimbabwe), Ray Bonneville (Canada), Bruce Cockburn (Canada), Chris Corrigan (Canada), Guy Davis (U.S.), Ani DiFranco (U.S.), Maria Dunn (Canada), Adam Hill (Canada), Bob Jensen (Canada), James Keelaghan (Canada), Richard Knox (Canada), Lucy MacNeil (Canada), Tony McManus (Scotland/Canada), Moulettes (England), Oysterband (England), Richard Perso (Australia), Heather Rankin (Canada), Martin Simpson (England), and Jon Weaver (Canada).

Although the project’s primary goal is conveying its message and raising people’s consciousness, rather than raising funds, proceeds from the single – for which none of the artists were paid — will be donated to a registered charity in aid of Ukraine. For more information, visit whichsideareyouon.ca.

The March 2025 top albums, songs and artists charts are based on 11.385 airplays reported on 382 playlists submitted by 103 different folk DJs. The number of reported spins is shown below in parentheses.

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.

Top Albums of March 2025

1. The Lucy Story: Unreleased and Rare Tracks 1976-2023 by Lucy Kaplansky (94)
2. All I Got and Gone by Chris Walz (78)
3. Maybe New Mexico by Helene Cronin (76)
4. Alice Howe and Freebo (Live) by Alice Howe and Freebo (74)
5. So Much I Still Don’t See by Sam Robbins (58)
5. A Tip Toe High Wire by Sierra Hull (58)
7. Foxes in the Snow by Jason Isbell (52)
8. Remains to Be Scene by The Seldom Scene (49)
9. Field of Stars by John McCutcheon (46)
10. I Made It This Far by Deborah Holland (45)
11. Reclamation by Crys Matthews(43)
12. The Monkey in the Crown by HuDost (42)
13. Looking for the Thread by Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis, Karine Polwert (38)
14. Be Real With Me by Chatham Rabbits (37)
14. Daggomit by Max Wareham (37)
16. Beneath Your Skin by Kim Beggs (35)
17. I’m From Here by Rob Siegel (31)
17. Burnished by Amelia Hogan (31)
19. Arcadia by Alison Krauss and Union Station (28)
20. The Wind Will Change Again by The Twangtown Paramours (26)
21. Dear Meadowlark by The Wildwoods (25)
22. We Were Wood by Barry Oreck and Friends (24)
23. Spirits by The Devil Makes Three (23)
24. The Boy From Bluegrass by The Boy From Bluegrass (22)
25. Exploding Star by Heather Maloney (20)
25. Dark Country by Gary Louris (20)
25. Some Kind of Truth by Kora Feder (20)
25. To Fly So Low by Leo DiSanto (20)
29. Glimmer by Carol Crittenden (19)
30. Take It Easy Greasy by Jim Brewer (17)
30. Winterbirds by Boreal (17)
30. Gold in Your Pocket by Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms (17)
33. Sea Salt and Sawdust by Marian Mastrorilli (16)
34. The Purple Bird by Bonnie Prince’ Billy (15)
34. Life Is a Wonder by Kevin Whalen (15)
36. Waiting for Inspiration by Socks in the Frying Pan (14)
36. Racing Down the Valley by Sam Bergquist (14)
36. Paris by Louise Coombe (14)
36. Face the Day by Will Branch (14)
36. Silver Rounds by Olivia Wolf (14)
36. Hear My Call by Cristina Vane (14)
36. Songs of a Younger Man by Michael Melia (14)
36. Life Is Just a Vapor by Paul Thorn (14)
36. Cher Reve by Miss Tess (14)
45. Julia Belle: The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Vol. 2 by Various Artists (13)
45. Porcelain Angel by Rees Shad (13)
45. The Empathist by Stephen Fearing (13)
45. Besos Kisses by Colleen Kattau (13)
45. Cold Feet by Mark Freeman (13)
45. Peace With a Lion by David Lindes (13)
45. Red Camel Collective by Red Camel Collective (13)

Top Songs of March 2025

1. “Which Side Are You On?” by Artists for Action (30)
2. “Elephant” by Annie Gallup (23)
3. “Home by Bearna” by Amelia Hogan (22)
4. “Maybe New Mexico” by Helene Cronin (21)
5.”Come Out of My Blues” by Sierra Hull (19)
6. “Onward Through the Fog (America Is Bleeding)” by Rob Siegel (15)
6. “You Are Not God” by Emma’s Revolution (15)
8. “Piles of Sand” by Sam Robbins (14)
9. “Circling the Drain” by Deborah Holland (13)
9. “Wind Behind the Rain” by Jason Isbell (13)
9. “Man at the Crossroads” by The Seldom Scene (13)
12. “Fields of Athenry” by Carol Crittenden (12)
12. “Bury Me” by Jason Isbell (12)
12. “Granite Mills” by Alison Krauss and Union Station (12)
12. “Hard Times Come Again No More” by Chris Walz (12)
12. “Blue Ridge Mountain Blues” by Chris Walz (12)
17. “Dangerous Women” by Colleen Kattau (11)
17. “What a Little Love Can Do” by Sam Robbins (11)
17. “Angel From Montgomery” by Alice Howe and Freebo (11)
20. “Twilight” by Alice Howe and Freebo (10)
20. “Delia” by Chris Walz (10)
22. “Forget Me Not” by Lucy Kaplansky (9)
22. “Mother Tongue” by Jean Rohe and Sean Kiely (9)
22. “Copperhill” by Helene Cronin (9)
22. “Thankful (Thanksgiving (2023)” by Deborah Holland (9)
22. “Alabama Bound” by Chris Walz (9)
22. “Big Fish, Small Pond” by Chatham Rabbits (9)
22. “We Won’t Let It Die (Without a Fight)” by Len Seligman (9)

Top Artists of March 2025

1. Lucy Kaplansky (99)
2. Chris Walz (78)
3. Helene Cronin (77)
4. Alice Howe and Freebo (74)
5. John McCutcheon (63)
6. Sierra Hull (59)
7. Sam Robbins (58)
8. The Seldom Scene (55)
9. Jason Isbell (52)
10. Crys Matthews (51)
11. Deborah Holland (47)
12. Bob Dylan (45)
13. HuDost (44)
14. Amelia Hogan (38)
14. Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Fowlis, Karine Polwert (38)
16. Max Wareham (37)
16. Chatham Rabbits (37)
18. Kim Beggs (36)
19. Alison Krauss and Union Station (34)
20. Rob Siegel (31)
21. Artists for Action (30)
22. Jesse Colin Young (29)
23. The Twangtown Paramours (27)
23. Tim Grimm (27)
25. Chuck Brodsky (26)
26. Guy Clark (25)
26. Joni Mitchell (25)
26. The Wildwoods (25)
29. Barry Oreck and Friends (24)
29. Joan Baez (24)
31. Eliza Gilkyson (23)
31. The Boy From Bluegrass (23)
31. Annie Gallup (23)
31. The Devil Makes Three (23)
31. John Prine (23)
36. Emma’s Revolution (22)
37. Heather Maloney (21)
37. Colleen Kattau (21)
37. Gary Louris (21)
37. Karan Casey (21)

Born (Sept. 25, 1949) and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Taylor became a leading figure in the Texas singer-songwriter scene of the early 1970s after standing himself in Houston in 1970 while en route to California following a brief stint at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

“There were no lines drawn in the sand between musical genres back in those days,” recalled Taylor, whose contemporaries included the late Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. “You were just a musician. I believe so many great writers came out of that scene because you could learn from others. Just as Clark and Van Zandt influenced him and his narrative storytelling style of songwriting, so too did Taylor inspire others like Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett.

Although Taylor made his recording debut in 1976 as part of a Houston songwriters compilation entitled Through The Dark Nightly, and was a winner of the prestigious New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival in the Texas Hill Country in 1977, it wasn’t until 1981 that he released his first album, Shameless Love, which the Houston Chronicle named as one of the Top 50 Great Texas Singer-Songwriter Albums in January 2017. Following a hiatus of nearly 14 years, Taylor’s self-titled sophomore release came out on the Austin, TX-based Watermelon Records in 1995. He followed that three years later with Resurrect, which was named one of the “100 essential records of all-time” by the now-defunct Buddy magazine. Among his six albums to follow was Scuffletown, a 2001 release that prompted Taylor’s first headlining appearance on Austin City Limits. He previously appeared on the show a year earlier as a guest of on Lyle Lovett’s 25th season episode, during which Lovett paid tribute to Texas songwriters who inspired him.

Here’s a link to view a video of Eric Taylor performing “Hemingway’s Shotgun” with Lovett on Austin City Limits:
https://vimeo.com/396765167

In addition to these and other appearances on Austin City Limits with Guy Clark and Robert Earl Keen, Taylor also appeared on Late Night with David Letterman with Nanci Griffith, to whom he was married from 1976-1982 and who called him “the William Faulkner of songwriting in our time.” Griffith also recorded several of Taylor’s songs – including “Deadwood,” “Dollar Matinee,” “Storms,” and “Ghost in the Music” (which they co-wrote).

Taylor’s The Kerrville Tapes (2003) was his first live recording and captures performances during three years of appearances at the Kerrville Folk Festival. Over the years, he also played such notable U.S. music festivals as the Newport Folk Festival and the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, as well as a number of festivals in Europe and venues across the U.S. and Europe. He also taught at the Kerrville Song School, led songwriting workshops elsewhere, and created The Texas Song Theater in which he was joined by performing songwriters David Olney and Denice Franke on songs and spoken word.

The Great Divide, Taylor’s fifth studio album, reached #3 on the EuroAmericana Chart and was among the most-played releases on folk radio in 2006. That was followed in 2007 by the 10-song collection Hollywood Pocketknife and by Live At The Red Shack, a live recording before a studio audience and featuring some of his oldest friends and favorite musicians, in 2011. Among those who joined him on vocals during two nights of music at the Houston studio in May of that year were Franke, Griffith, Lovett, and Susan Lindfors Taylor.

Taylor’s 10th and final CD, Studio 10 (2013), also was recorded at The Red Shack. Among his nine original songs on it (in addition to a cover of Tim Grimm’s “Cover These Bones”) are two that were written for the Storyworks.TV documentary film Road Kid to Writer – The Tracks of Jim Tully, for which Taylor received an Emmy Award nomination for Music Composition in 2016.

In a Facebook post, Amy Rigby, a singer-songwriter who was sharing the stage with Olney and Scott Miller as part of a song swap, wrote:

“David Olney, a beautiful man, a legend, a songwriting poet died last night. I was sitting next to him in the round, had been so honored and looking forward to getting to trade songs with him and Scott Miller. Olney was in the middle of his third song when he stopped, apologized and shut his eyes. He was very still, sitting upright with his guitar on, wearing the coolest hat and a beautiful rust suede jacket we laughed about because it was raining like hell outside the boathouse where we were playing- I just want the picture to be as graceful and dignified as it was, because it at first looked like he was just taking a moment. Scott Miller had the presence of mind to say we needed to revive him. Doctors in the audience and 30A folks were all working so hard to get him to come to. It’s hard to post about this because I can’t really believe he’s gone. I am so sorry for his wife and family and friends and all the people who loved him and his music. Even those who never heard of him. We all lost someone important last night.”

Here’s a link to a nearly 30-minute Acoustic Interlude session featuring David Olney that was recorded during the 2020 30A Songwriters Festival:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxF6WXW4Hq0&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0ADwrIUBizMkjE2EbVfBGJEjcnVE1QI0CVPplVN9hyJlX1Vou3SClU8po

Based in Nashville since 1973, the Lincoln, Rhode Island native, who was born on March 23, 1948 and moved to Music City after briefly studying English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, had quickly become part of a like-minded group of songwriters that included Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Rodney Crowell. “Anytime anyone asks me who my favorite music writers are, I say Mozart, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Bob Dylan, and David Olney,” Van Zandt once said. “David Olney is one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard – and that’s true. I mean that from my heart.” That quote appears in the liner notes for Olney’s 1991 release, Roses.

After fronting a band, The X-Rays, who recorded two albums for Rounder Records, Olney released his first solo album, Eye of the Storm, in 1986. His 1988 sophomore release, Deeper Well, featured his song “Jerusalem Tomorrow” that Emmylou Harris covered on her 1993 album, Cowgirl’s Prayer; she also covered its title track on 1995’s Wrecking Ball. Of Olney, Harris had said: “David Olney tells marvelous stories, with characters who cling to he hope of enduring love, all the while crossing the deep divide into that long, dark night of the soul.”

Here’s a link to a video of David Olney performing “Jerusalem Tomorrow”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQcX_rv20dk

Olney, whose last album, This Side or the Other, was released in 2018, was a prolific songwriter and a mainstay of the Nashville music community. He also was a cinematographer and helped to produce a number of short films and documentaries.

Facebook, the online social network, was replete with online tributes to and remembrances of Olney, beginning shortly after his death.

“I’m in shock. Devastated that my friend, songwriter David Olney has passed away,” wrote singer-songwriter Abbie Gardner in a Jan. 19 post. “We were supposed to write together next week. I spent the morning watching videos of him just trying to turn back the clock and spend some more time listening to his stories and grumbly voice… I always tucked away ideas I thought he would like and saved them for our co-writes. I don’t know what I’ll do with the one I’d hoped to share with him next week. There’s one of our songs on his last record ironically called “Death Will Not Divide Us.” Listening to that now is heartbreaking and healing all at once. I hope you’re right, David, I really hope you’re right.”

Here’s a link to view the official music video for “Death Will Not Divide Us”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA2AEyo74ds

Dan Navarro, a fellow singer-songwriter, noted that he was on the same stage, The Boathouse at Watercolor, in a round just before Olney. “I greeted and hugged him as I came offstage, as he was prepping to go on,” Navarro posted. “I hadn’t seen him in a year… He was sweet and I thought he looked great, with his long white beard, which was not so long last year. I complimented him on his cool suede jacket, and he prepped to go on. About ten minutes later, he was seated onstage checking, and I went up to say bye bye. An hour later he was gone. What a shocking heartbreaking loss.”

Singer-Songwriter Amy Speace also posted on Jan. 19: “11 or 12 years ago I got an email from Mary Sack saying that David Olney had heard me at the Folk Alliance and wanted me to join him in a 9pm round at The Bluebird Cafe. It was my first time there. It felt like I’d been handed a secret key to a kingdom. He was one of my first calls when I moved to East Nashville and we had coffee at Bongo and talked about Shakespeare and folk music and touring in Holland. He was welcoming. He was unpretentious and kind. A true master. I saw him only a week or so ago at The Five Spot sounding on top of his game. Word spread quickly at this festival that he died on stage tonight and it doesn’t seem real. The last Bluebird Round I hosted, he was my first call and I got the chance to sit next to him and hear him play all those songs and thank him for graciously opening the door for me years ago. I hope he knew how much that invitation meant. I hope he feels that the tribe won’t sleep tonight. This is one of my favorites. My heart is with his family and his close friends.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxF6WXW4Hq0&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0ADwrIUBizMkjE2EbVfBGJEjcnVE1QI0CVPplVN9hyJlX1Vou3SClU8po

Olney was to have showcased his talents and been part of a Wisdom of the Elders panel discussion at the annual Folk Alliance International Conference in New Orleans later this week. In addition to an official juried showcase, he was slotted to play Acoustic Chaos: The Georgia Room on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 11 p.m. The room’s host, Jill Kettles, Olney’s ‘on-again and off-again publicist,’ has invited conference attendees to come to the room during that time and sing their favorite David Olney song or talk about him as a friend, a colleague, or as an inspiration.

Olney leaves behind his wife, Regine, daughter, Lillian, and son, Redding, as well as many friends in the music community. Memorial services have not yet been planned.

Citing the increasing growth of traditional music, the Academy’s board of trustees voted last year to split the category Best Contemporary Folk/Americana into two categories: Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Americana Album. In addition, the Folk Field was renamed American Roots Music and now also includes the Best Traditional Blues Album, Best Contemporary Blues Album and Best Bluegrass Album categories, along with Best Traditional Folk Album, Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album, Best Native American Album and Best Hawaiian Album.

Winners in the American Roots Music Field include:

Best Americana Album (Vocal or Instrumental)

Electric Dirt
Levon Helm [Dirt Farmer Music/Vanguard Music]

Best Bluegrass Album (Vocal or Instrumental)

The Crow / New Songs For The Five-String Banjo
Steve Martin [Rounder]

Best Traditional Blues Album (Vocal or Instrumental)

A Stranger Here
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott [ANTI]

Best Contemporary Blues Album (Vocal or Instrumental)

Already Free
The Derek Trucks Band [Victor Records]

Best Traditional Folk Album (Vocal or Instrumental)

High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project
Loudon Wainwright III [2nd Story Sound Records]

Best Contemporary Folk Album (Vocal or Instrumental)

Townes
Steve Earle [New West Records]

Best Hawaiian Music Album (Vocal or Instrumental)

Masters Of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Volume 2 (Various Artists)
Daniel Ho, George Kahumoku, Jr., Paul Konwiser & Wayne Wong, producers
[Daniel Ho Creations]

Best Native American Music Album (Vocal or Instrumental)

Spirit Wind North
Bill Miller [Cool Springs Music Group]

Best Zydeco Or Cajun Music Album (Vocal or Instrumental)

Lay Your Burden Down
Buckwheat Zydeco [Alligator]

In addition, awards were presented for:

Best Traditional World Music Album

Douga Mansa
Mamadou Diabate [World Village]

Best Contemporary World Music Album

Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3 – Africa Sessions
Bela Fleck [Rounder]

Best Tejano Music Album

Bordera Y Bailes
Los Texmaniacs [Smithsonian Folkways]

Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package

Neil Young Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972)
[Reprise]