The awards show – hosted by artists Ronnie Bowman and Dan Tyminki – was a highlight of the IBMA’s week-long World of Bluegrass. The show took place at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh North Carolina and also was broadcast on SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction and streamed via Facebook Live (as was the July 26 awards nominees announcement that was previously reported on by AcousticMusicScene.com.).

A Lansing. Michigan-born and Nashville, Tennessee-based genre-bending flatpicker and singer, Billy Strings received the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album (Home) last year and was named 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.

[Here’s a link to view the official video for Billy Strings’ recording of “Red Daisy”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmqr0GqnQoE.]

Billy Strings beat out Del McCoury Band, Po’ Ramblin Boys, Sister Sadie, and Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway for the coveted Entertainer of the Year award. Like him, McCoury, a Bluegrass Hall of Fame member, and Sister Sadie are previous recipients of the award. McCoury was named Male Vocalist of the Year, while Tuttle was honored as Female Vocalist of the Year.

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

A complete list of award winners appears below, along with brief information about three Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees.

Entertainer of the Year: Billy Strings
Vocal Group of the Year: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Instrumental Group of the Year: Béla Fleck’s My Bluegrass Heart
New Artist of the Year: Rick Faris
Song of the Year: “Red Daisy”
Artist: Billy Strings, Songwriters: Jarrod Walker/Christian Ward
Label: Rounder Records, Producers: Jonathan Wilson/Billy Strings
Album of the Year: My Bluegrass Heart, Artist: Béla Fleck
Label: Renew Records, Producer: Béla Fleck
Gospel Recording of the Year: “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
Instrumental Recording of the Year: “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: “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
Male Vocalist of the Year: Del McCoury
Female Vocalist of the Year: Molly Tuttle
Banjo Player of the Year: Béla FleckBass Player of the Year: Jason Moore
Fiddle Player of the Year: Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year: Justin Moses
Guitar Player of the Year: Cody Kilby
Mandolin Player of the Year: Sierra Hull

Norman Blake, the late Paul “Moon” Mullins, and Peter Rowan were inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame during the awards show. Blake is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist and a Grammy and Country Music Association Album of the Year award–winner whose prolific music career spans more than six decades. Paul “Moon” Mullins was a broadcast pioneer and recording artist whose work brought bluegrass music to tens of thousands in Ohio and beyond. Peter Rowan is a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and renaissance musician who has been performing for nearly 60 years.

The IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards Show is the centerpiece of World of Bluegrass Week that extends through October 1 in North Carolina’s capital city. IBMA World of Bluegrass also featured 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.

Hosted by Rhonda Vincent and Jim Lauderdale, Bluegrass Now! Pays homage to bluegrass across genre, gender and generations. Featured performers include Alison Brown, Becky Buller, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, Missy Raines, Larry Sparks, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, Molly Tuttle, and Dan Tyminski.

“This feels like a homecoming as many of today’s most prominent bluegrass artists make a pilgrimage back to he source of the music to document their own musical journey,” said Chris Joslin, executive director of the hall of fame & museum. “If bluegrass music is Kentucky’s gift to the world, Bluegrass Now! Feels like Christmas morning.”

Here’s a link to a 30-second trailer for the televised special:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B_4a0nCVqk

Produced by Todd Jarrell (Bluegrass Underground, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band 50th Anniversary, and Songwriting With Soldiers), Bluegrass Now! showcases individual artists/bands and also brings together co-host Rhonda Vincent with Brown, Buller, Raines and Tuttle on renditions of “Allegheny Town” and “Girls’ Breakdown,” while Vincent’s band The Rage accompanies Bluegrass Hall of Famer Larry Sparks on “Take Me Back to West Virginia.” Co-host Jim Lauderdale is joined by Brown and Buller on “I Feel Like Singing Today,” while Buller also accompanies Lauderdale on “Iodine.” The PBS special concludes with an all-star finale performance of “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.”

Bluegrass Now! will air on more than 300 PBS stations. Check your local TV listings or visit https://pbs.org to find out when it premieres in your area.

The half-hour music, entertainment and lifestyle show – set for a 26-episode run extending through August 2016 – will feature live performances by the duo and special guest artists (including Vince, Dan Tyminski and The Oak Ridge boys, among others), along with cooking and interview segments.

“Words can’t describe the joy and humbleness I feel as our TV show comes to life,” said Darrin Vincent. “We’ve been conceptualizing this show for years, and it brings happy tears to my eyes now that our dreams have come true.” Echoing his sentiments, Jamie Dailey noted: “As a teenager, I used to lie on the floor and watch my favorite TV shows, Nashville Now and The Statler Brothers Show, and dream about what it would be like to have my own TV show someday. That dream has come true, and I couldn’t be more excited or thankful.”

The duo’s latest studio album, Dailey & Vincent Sing The Statler Brothers, a bluegrass tribute to the legendary country music quartet, spent many weeks on Billboard Magazine’s Top Bluegrass Albums Chart and was named Album of the Year in the International Bluegrass Music Awards last year. More recently, Dailey & Vincent released Alive in Concert on both CD and DVD.

Dan Tyminski, who some may recall from his years with Alison Krauss & Union Station, and who was the singing voice of George Clooney in the popular film O Brother, Where Art Thou, was named Male Vocalist of the Year and also took home the Best Album of the Year award for Wheels. Dale Ann Bradley was named Female Vocalist of the Year, while Instrumental Group of the Year honors were bestowed on Michael Cleveland and his group, Flamekeeper, who also were the recipients of the Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year award for their rendition of Bill Monroe’s “Jerusalem Ridge.” Cleveland, who is still in his 20s, was named Fiddle Player of the Year for the seventh time.

The SteelDrivers emerged as the Emerging Artists of the Year. “Don’t Throw Mama’s Flowers Away,” written by Chris Stuart and Ivan Rosenberg and performed by Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass, was awarded Song of the Year. And the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, which takes place annually in upstate New York, was named Bluegrass Event of the Year.

The awards show is the centerpiece of the International Bluegrass Music Association’ (IBMA)’s “World of Bluegrass,” which continues through Oct. 4 and also features a business conference and fan fest [see article posted June 21 in the Awards & Contests, Bluegrass & Beyond and Conferences of Note sections]. Grammy Award-winning country artist Kathy Mattea and bluegrass band Hot Rize (the first recipients of the IBMA Entertainer of the Year Award in 1990) hosted the show that was broadcast live on Sirius XM Radio’s Bluegrass Junction channel.

In addition to awards in more than 20 categories that are voted on by the professional membership of the IBMA, which serves as a trade association for the bluegrass music industry, two notable groups were inducted into the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame. They are The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers (a string band launched in 1937 by Ezra, Ray and Ned Cline in West Virginia) and The Dillards (an influential band, best known to many from their television appearances on The Andy Griffith Show, who are credited with helping both blaze the trail on the West Coast for progressive bluegrass bands during the 1960s and helping lay the foundation for what’s known as country-rock.

Other award recipients included:

RECORDED EVENT OF THE YEAR
Proud To Be a Daughter of Bluegrass by the Daughters of Bluegrass for Blue Circle Records

INSTRUMENTAL PERFORMERS OF THE YEAR
BANJO
Kristin Scott Benson

BASS
Marshall Wilborn

DOBRO
Rob Ickes

GUITAR
Josh Williams

MANDOLIN
Jesse Brock

Distinguished Achievement Award Recipients
Hylo Brown
Pati Crooker
Jody Rainwater
Dick Spottswood
Joe Wilson

Bluegrass Broadcaster of the Year:
Katy Daley; HD Radio WAMU 88.5 Channel 2, 105.5 FM & www.bluegrasscountry.org; Washington, D.C.

Print Media Person of the Year:
Roger Siminoff; Siminoff’s Luthiers Glossary, Banjo Newsletter and Bluegrass Breakdown

Best Liner Notes for a Recorded Project:
Steve Martin (writer), The Crow, Steve Martin (artist), 40 Share Productions (label)

Best Graphic Design for a Recorded Project:
G. Carr & Salli Ratts (designers), The Crow, Steve Martin (artist), 40 Share Productions (label)

The awards show is the centerpiece of the International Bluegrass Music Association’ (IBMA)’s “World of Bluegrass,” September 28 to Oct. 4, that also features a business conference and fan fest [See article posted June 21 in the Awards & Contests, Bluegrass & Beyond and Conferences of Note sections]. Hosting the awards show will be Grammy Award-winning country artist Kathy Mattea and bluegrass band Hot Rize (the first recipients of the IBMA Entertainer of the Year Award in 1990). It will be broadcast live on Sirius XM Radio’s “Bluegrass Junction” channel 14 and syndicated to more than 300 U.S. markets.

Dan Tyminski, who some may recall from his years with Alison Krauss and Union Station, and who was the singing voice of George Clooney in the popular film “O Brother, Where Art Thou” (2000), and members of his band received nominations in nine categories, while reigning Entertainers of the Year Dailey & Vincent scored seven nods. Award-winning actor, musician and author Steve Martin – who burst onto the scene with his banjo in hand last year – secured six nominations, as did six-time Fiddle Player of the Year Michael Cleveland (who is still in his 20s) and his band Flamekeeper. The Grascals, the 2006 and 2007 IBMA Entertainers of the Year, and the subject of one of AcousticMusicScene.com’s first full-length interview-profile pieces in 2007, received five nominations.

In addition to awards in more than 20 categories that are voted on by the professional membership of the IBMA, which serves as a trade association for the bluegrass music industry, two notable groups will be inducted into the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame. They are The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers (a string band launched in 1937 by Ezra, Ray and Ned Cline in West Virginia) and The Dillards (an influential band, best known to many from their television appearances on “The Andy Griffith Show,” who are credited with helping both blaze the trail on the West Coast for progressive bluegrass bands during the 1960s and helping lay the foundation for what’s known as country-rock.

The complete list of nominees for the International Bluegrass Music Awards follows:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

• Dailey & Vincent
• The Grascals
• Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
• The Del McCoury Band
• Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out
• Dan Tyminski Band

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

• Blue Highway
• Dailey & Vincent
• The Isaacs
• Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
• Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

• Blue Highway
• Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
• The Infamous Stringdusters
• Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
• Dan Tyminski Band

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

• Jamie Dailey
• Russell Moore
• Danny Paisley
• Junior Sisk
• Dan Tyminski

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

• Dale Ann Bradley
• Sonya Isaacs
• Claire Lynch
• Alecia Nugent
• Rhonda Vincent

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Recording Title, Artist(s), Producer(s), Label

• Blue Side Of The Blue Ridge, Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice (artist), Ronnie Bowman (producer), Rebel Records
• Brothers From Different Mothers, Dailey & Vincent (artist), Jamie Dailey & Darrin Vincent (producers), Rounder Records
• Keep On Walkin’ , The Grascals (artist/producers), Rounder Records
• The Room Over Mine, Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass (artist), Ken Irwin & Danny Paisley (producers), Rounder Records
• Wheels, Dan Tyminski, (artist/producer), Rounder Records

SONG OF THE YEAR
Song Title, Artist (s), Songwriter(s)

• “Don’t Throw Mama’s Flowers Away,” Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass (artist), Chris Stuart & Ivan Rosenberg (writers)
• “Iron & Diamonds,” The Gibson Brothers (artist), Leigh & Eric Gibson (writers)
• “Leaving Baker County,” Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice (artist), Tom T. & Dixie Hall (writers)
• “Moneyland,” Del McCoury Band (artist), John Herald (writer)
• “Wheels,” Dan Tyminski (artist), Patrick McDougal (writer)
RECORDED EVENT OF THE YEAR
Song Title, Featured Artists, Producer(s), Label
• “After The Fire Is Gone;” Bobby Osborne, Rhonda Vincent & Darrin Vincent (artists); Glen Duncan & Bobby Osborne (producers); Rounder Records
• “Daddy Played The Banjo,” Steve Martin with Tim O’Brien & Earl Scruggs (artists), John McEuen (producer), 40 Share Productions (label)
• “Proud To Be A Daughter of Bluegrass,” Daughters of Bluegrass featuring Dale Ann Bradley, Heather Berry, Lisa Martin, Gloria Belle, Sierra Hull, Rhonda Vincent, Lisa Ray, Linda Lay, Sally Jones, Jeanie Stanley, Carol Lee Cooper, Sonya Isaacs, Becky Isaacs Bowman, Michelle Nixon, Jeanette Williams, Sophie Haislip, Louise Tomberlain, Mindy Rakestraw, Lizzy Long, Frances Mooney, Lorraine Jordan, Annette Kelley, Lily Lieux, Dixie Hall, Judi Marshall, Melissa Lawrence, Beth Lawrence, Rebecca Frazier, Donica Christensen, Lisa Manning & Jenni Lyn Gardner (artists); Dixie Hall, Paula Wolak & Frances Mooney (producers); Blue Circle Records
• “Sad Wind Sighs,” The Grascals with Vince Gill (artists), The Grascals (producers), Rounder Records
• “The Crow,” Steve Martin with Tony Trischka (artists), John McEuen (producer), 40 Share Productions (label)

GOSPEL RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Song Title, Artist(s), Songwriter(s), Producer, Label

• “Darkness Wept,” Lonesome River Band (artist/producers), Dee Gaskin & Rebecca Bowman (writers), Rural Rhythm Records
• “On The Other Side;” Dailey & Vincent (artist); Jimmy Fortune, Kevin Denney & Tom Botkin (writers); Jamie Dailey & Darrin Vincent (producers); Rounder Records
• “What A Journey,” Paul Williams & The Victory Trio (artist), Bret Bronson & Louise Gorman (writers), Paul Williams (producer), Rebel Records
• “When The Last Of Our Days Shall Come,” Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver (artist), Chris Stuart (writer), Doyle Lawson (producer), Rounder Records
• “Who’ll Sing For Me?;” Audie Blaylock & Redline (artist), Thomas J. Farris (writer), Audie Blaylock (producer), Rural Rhythm Records

INSTRUMENTAL RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Tune Title, Artist(s), Songwriter, Producer(s), Label

• “Angeline The Baker,” Rob Ickes & Andy Leftwich (artists), (public domain), Rob Haines (producer), Mel Bay Music
• “Don’t Tread On Me,” Kristin Scott Benson (artist/writer/producer), Pinecastle Records
• “Jerusalem Ridge,” Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper (artist), Bill Monroe (writer), Jeff White & Michael Cleveland (producers), Rounder Records
• “Struttin’ To Ferrum,” Lonesome River Band (artist/producer), arrangement by Gene Parker, Rural Rhythm Records
• “The Crow,” Steve Martin (artist/writer), John McEuen (producer), 40 Share Productions (label)

EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• Sierra Hull & Highway 111
• Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass
• Junior Sisk & Rambler’s Choice
• The SteelDrivers
• Josh Williams Band

INSTRUMENTAL PERFORMERS OF THE YEAR

BANJO
• Kristin Scott Benson
• J.D. Crowe
• Steve Martin
• Sammy Shelor
• Ron Stewart

BASS
• Barry Bales
• Mike Bub
• Missy Raines
• Darrin Vincent
• Marshall Wilborn

FIDDLE
• Hunter Berry
• Jason Carter
• Michael Cleveland
• Stuart Duncan
• Ron Stewart

DOBRO
• Mike Auldridge
• Jerry Douglas
• Andy Hall
• Rob Ickes
• Randy Kohrs
• Phil Leadbetter

GUITAR
• Jim Hurst
• Tony Rice
• Bryan Sutton
• Kenny Smith
• Josh Williams

MANDOLIN
• Jesse Brock
• Sam Bush
• Sierra Hull
• Ronnie McCoury
• Adam Steffey

BLUEGRASS EVENT OF THE YEAR
• Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival; Oak Hill, New York; July 2008
• 33rd Annual Tri-State Bluegrass Festival; Kendallville, Indiana; May 2008
• 2008 World Cultural Fusion Festival; Kawaguchi City, Japan; July 2008

BLUEGRASS BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR

• Kyle Cantrell, Sirius-XM Satellite Radio, Nashville, Tennessee
• Katy Daley; HD Radio WAMU 88.5 Channel 2, 105.5 FM & www.bluegrasscountry.org; Washington, D.C.
• Ned Luberecki, Sirius-XM Satellite Radio, Nashville, Tennessee

PRINT MEDIA PERSON OF THE YEAR

• Tom Adams, Banjo Newsletter
• Dan Miller, Flatpicking Guitar
• Roger Siminoff; Siminoff’s Luthiers Glossary, Banjo Newsletter and Bluegrass Breakdown

BEST LINER NOTES FOR RECORDED PROJECT
Writers, Album, Artists, Label

• Charlie Cushman, Marty Stuart, Eddie Stubbs & Johnny Warren (writers); A Tribute to Fiddlin’ Paul Warren; Johnny Warren & Charlie Cushman (artists); (no label)
• Eddie Dean (writer); Old-Time Pickin’: A Clawhammer Banjo Collection, Ralph Stanley (artist), Rebel Records
• Steve Martin (writer), The Crow, Steve Martin (artist), 40 Share Productions (label)

BEST GRAPHIC DESIGN FOR RECORDED PROJECT
Designer, Album, Artists, Label

• G. Carr & Salli Ratts (designers), The Crow, Steve Martin (artist), 40 Share Productions (label)
• Stumptown Printers (designer), Uncle Charlie Osborne: The June Appal Recordings, Uncle Charlie Osborne (artist), June Appal Recordings
• Loren Witcher (designer), Inside Out, Missy Raines & the New Hip (artist), Compass Records

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS

• Hylo Brown – an early bluegrass music pioneer
• Pati Crooker – longtime producer of the Thomas Point Bluegrass Festival in Maine
• Jody Rainwater – veteran performer and radio announcer
• Dick Spottswood – author, musicologist and radio broadcaster, who has cataloged and been responsible for the re-issue of thousands of recordings in the U.S. and was a founder and the first editor of Bluegrass Unlimited magazine
• Joe Wilson – a folklore advocate, NEA National Heritage Fellowship recipient (2001) and presenter, who currently chairs the National Council for the Traditional Arts and directs The Blue Ridge Music Center near Galax, Virginia

Both Brown and Rainwater also are former members of Flatt & Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Boys.