Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), a nonprofit professional music organization that connects, educates, and empowers bluegrass professionals and enthusiasts, honoring tradition and encouraging innovation in the bluegrass community worldwide (ibma.org). Award recipients will be named during the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards Show on Thursday night, September 30, 2021 at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina. The awards show will also be broadcast on SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction at 7:30 p.m. EDT and streamed via Facebook Live (as was the July 20 awards nominees announcement)
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A complete list of nominees appears below, along with information about three Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees and five Distinguished Achievement Awards recipients.

Entertainer of the Year:

Balsam Range
Billy Strings
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
The Del McCoury Band
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys

Vocal Group of the Year:

Darin & Brooke Aldridge
Balsam Range
Blue Highway
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Sister Sadie

Instrumental Group of the Year:

Appalachian Road Show
Billy Strings
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
The Infamous Stringdusters
The Travelin’ McCourys

New Artist of the Year:

Appalachian Road Show
Carolina Blue
Gina Furtado Project
High Fidelity
Merle Monroe

Song of the Year:

“Banjo Player’s Blues”
Artist: High Fidelity
Songwriter: Charlie Monroe
Producers: Jeremy Stephens, Brad Benge
Label: Rebel Records

“Hitchhiking to California”
Artist: Alan Bibey & Grasstowne
Songwriters: Wes Golding/Alan Bibey/Jerry Salley
Producers: Jerry Salley, Ron Stewart, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Just Load the Wagon”
Artist: Junior Sisk
Songwriter: J.R. Satterwhite
Producers: Amanda Cook, Junior Sisk, Mark Hodges
Label: Mountain Fever Records

“Leaving on Her Mind”
Artist: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Songwriter: Jack Clement
Producer: Rosta Capek
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Richest Man”
Artist: Balsam Range
Songwriters: Jim Beavers/Jimmy Yeary/Connie Harrington
Producer: Balsam Range
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

Album of the Year:

Bluegrass 2020
Artist: Scott Vestal, Patrick McAvinue, Cody Kilby, Dominick Leslie, Curtis Vestal
Producers: Scott Vestal, Ethan Burkhardt, Lonnie Lassiter
Label: Pinecastle Records

Distance and Time
Artist: Becky Buller
Producer: Stephen Mougin
Label: Dark Shadow Recording

Fall Like Rain
Artist: Justin Moses
Producer: Justin Moses
Label: Mountain Fever Records

Industrial Strength Bluegrass: Southwestern Ohio’s Musical Legacy
Artist: Various Artists
Producer: Joe Mullins
Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Load the Wagon
Artist: Junior Sisk
Producers: Amanda Cook, Junior Sisk, Mark Hodges
Label: Mountain Fever Records

Still Here
Artist: Steve Gulley & Tim Stafford
Producers: Steve Gulley, Tim Stafford
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

Gospel Recording of the Year:

“After Awhile”
Artist: Dale Ann Bradley
Songwriter: Public Domain
Producer: Dale Ann Bradley
Label: Pinecastle Records

“Grit and Grace”
Artist: Balsam Range
Songwriters: Ann Melton/Milan Miller/Beth Husband
Producer: Balsam Range
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

“Hear Jerusalem Calling”
Artist: Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers
Songwriters: Marty Stuart/Jerry Sullivan
Producers: Joe Mullins, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“In the Resurrection Morning”
Artists: Sacred Reunion featuring Doyle Lawson, Vince Gill, Barry Abernathy, Tim Stafford, Mark Wheeler, Jim VanCleve, Phil Leadbetter, Jason Moore
Songwriter: Mark Wheeler
Producers: Barry Abernathy, Jim VanCleve, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“When He Calls My Name”
Artist: Alan Bibey & Grasstowne
Songwriters: Alan Bibey/Ronnie Bowman
Producers: Alan Bibey & Grasstowne, Ron Stewart, Jerry Salley, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

Instrumental Recording of the Year:

“The Appalachian Road”
Artist: Appalachian Road Show
Songwriter: Jim VanCleve
Producers: Jim VanCleve, Barry Abernathy, Appalachian Road Show, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“Foggy Mountain Chimes”
Artists: Scott Vestal, Patrick McAvinue, Cody Kilby, Dominick Leslie, Curtis Vestal
Songwriter: Earl Scruggs
Producer: Scott Vestal
Label: Pinecastle Records

“Ground Speed”
Artists: Kristin Scott Benson, Skip Cherryholmes, Jeremy Garrett, Kevin Kehrberg, Darren Nicholson
Songwriter: Earl Scruggs
Producer: Jon Weisberger
Label: Mountain Home Music Company

“Mountain Strings”
Artist: Sierra Hull
Songwriters: Frank Wakefield/Red Allen
Producer: Joe Mullins
Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

“Taxland”
Artist: Justin Moses with Sierra Hull
Songwriter: Justin Moses
Producer: Justin Moses
Label: Mountain Fever Records

Collaborative Recording of the Year:

“Birmingham Jail”
Artists: Barry Abernathy with Vince Gill
Songwriter: Public Domain
Producers: Barry Abernathy, Jim VanCleve, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“In the Resurrection Morning”
Artists: Sacred Reunion featuring Doyle Lawson, Vince Gill, Barry Abernathy, Tim Stafford, Mark Wheeler, Jim VanCleve, Phil Leadbetter, Jason Moore
Songwriter: Mark Wheeler
Producers: Barry Abernathy, Jim VanCleve, Dottie Leonard Miller
Label: Billy Blue Records

“My Baby’s Gone”
Artists: Justin Moses with Del McCoury
Songwriter: Dennis Linde
Producer: Justin Moses
Label: Mountain Fever Records

“Tears of Regret”
Artists: High Fidelity with Jesse McReynolds
Songwriters: Jesse McReynolds/Lucille Hutton
Producers: Jeremy Stephens, Corrina Rose Logston, Brad Benge
Label: Rebel Records

“White Line Fever”
Artists: Bobby Osborne with Tim O’Brien, Trey Hensley, Sierra Hull, Stuart Duncan, Todd Phillips, Alison Brown
Songwriters: Merle Haggard/Jeff Tweedy
Producers: Alison Brown, Garry West
Label: Compass Records

Male Vocalist of the Year:

Ronnie Bowman
Del McCoury
Danny Paisley
Junior Sisk
Larry Sparks

Female Vocalist of the Year:

Brooke Aldridge
Dale Ann Bradley
Sierra Hull
Molly Tuttle
Rhonda Vincent

Banjo Player of the Year:

Gena Britt
Gina Furtado
Rob McCoury
Kristin Scott Benson
Scott Vestal

Bass Player of the Year:

Mike Bub
Todd Phillips
Missy Raines
Mark Schatz
Marshall Wilborn

Fiddle Player of the Year:

Jason Carter
Michael Cleveland
Stuart Duncan
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Deanie Richardson

Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year:

Jerry Douglas
Andy Hall
Rob Ickes
Phil Leadbetter
Justin Moses

Guitar Player of the Year :

Trey Hensley
Billy Strings
Bryan Sutton
Molly Tuttle
Jake Workman

Mandolin Player of the Year:

Jesse Brock
Sam Bush
Sierra Hull
Ronnie McCoury
Tristan Scroggins

Alison Krauss, Lynn Morris, Stoneman Family to be Inducted into Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame

Inductions into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame are also set to take place during the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards Show. Slated for induction are acclaimed artist Alison Krauss, trailblazing bandleader and banjoist Lynn Morris and early bluegrass influencers Stoneman Family. A winner of multiple Grammy Awards, a two-time IBMA Entertainer of the Year and four-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year; Krauss is the most commercially successful bluegrass-related artist since Flatt & Scruggs. Morris was named three times as IBMA ‘s Female Vocalist of the Year and was previously a two-time winner of the National Banjo Championship in Winfield, Kansas. She was also a recipient of an IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award in 2010. Stoneman Family, whose 1920s recordings have been equated by country music historians with those of the Carter Family (who also hailed from the Appalachian Mountains region of southwest Virginia), also received IBMA’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 2000.

Five Distinguished Achievement Awards Will Also Be Presented on Sept. 30

Five veteran bluegrass industry innovators will receive Distinguished Achievement Awards in recognition of their significant contributions to the genre this year. The five, who will be presented with plaques during a Sept. 30 luncheon at the IBMA business conference, are Nancy Cardwell Webster, Lee Michael Dempsey, Jaroslav Pruch, Cliff Waldron, and Stan Zdonik. Cardwell Webster has been a writer, educator, mentor, and formerly served as executive director of both the IBMA and its foundation. She was instrumental in developing such IBMA programs as Bluegrass in the Schools and Leadership Bluegrass. Dempsey, a mainstay at Bluegrass Country Radio, is a veteran Washington, DC area radio broadcaster who hosted a weekday afternoon contemporary bluegrass show daily on WAMU from 1982-2018 and was named IBMA Broadcaster of the Year in 1991. . He also has compiled Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine’s monthly National Bluegrass Survey for nearly 32 years. Pruch, a Czech luthier and performer who is viewed as one of the world’s finest contemporary banjo makers, has also helped to foster a love of bluegrass music in his native Czech Republic. Waldron was a performing musician for many years and was elected to the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America’s Hall of Greats in 2004. Zdonik helped to form the Boston Bluegrass Union in 1976 and served as the all-volunteer nonprofit organization’s first president. He has also been an emcee for the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, among others, and an IBMA board member.

The IBMA Bluegrass music Awards Show is the centerpiece of World of Bluegrass Week that is slated for September 28-October 2 in North Carolina’s capital city. IBMA World of Bluegrass also features a business conference (Sept. 28-30), the IBMA Bluegrass Ramble (a series of showcases taking place Sept. 28-30 in downtown Raleigh and the Raleigh Convention Center), and IBMA Bluegrass Live! (a two-day festival slated for Oct. 1-2). Considered the genre’s annual industry gathering and family reunion. IBMA’s annual World of Bluegrass week has taken place in Raleigh since 2013. Concerns surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic prompted the trade and professional association for the global bluegrass community to shift to online presentation of its professional development seminars, artist showcases and awards last fall.

The Earls of Leicester, which also was the top winner in the 2015 International Bluegrass Music Awards, pay homage to the musical legacy of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and their band, the Foggy Mountain Boys. Besides being named Entertainer of the Year again, the bluegrass supergroup’s bandleader, Jerry Douglas, was again named Dobro Player of the Year, while bandmate Barry Bales repeated as Bass Player of the Year and Charlie Cushman was named Banjo Player of the Year.

Last year, The Earls of Leicester also took home trophies for Album of the Year for its self-titled debut release, Instrumental Group of the Year and Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year, while member Shawn Camp was named Male Vocalist of the Year. Also in the group is Johnny Warren (fiddle).

Flatt Lonesome has been garnering considerable attention, accolades and radio airplay. Launched in 2011 by siblings Kelsi Robertson Harrigil (mandolin), Buddy Robertson (guitar), and Charli Robetrtson (fiddle), along with neighbor Dominic Illingworth (bass) and longtime friend Michael Stockton (dobro), and joined by Paul Harrigil (banjo) the following year, the band released its eponymous debut album in 2013.

During the awards show, members of Flatt Lonesome expressed thanks to their parents for teaching them how to sing. “We wouldn’t be Vocal Group of the Year without them,” said Charli Robertson, while twin brother Buddy remarked: “I’ve spent a lot of hours picking in the house with dad growing up and if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be who I am today.” Commenting on winning Album of the Year, older sister Kelsi Harrigill said: “This is our first album to have the majority of material to be all original and that is a huge deal to us. We want to pay tribute to those who came before us but we also want to show people what’s in our hearts…”

Earlier this year, Flatt Lonesome was named Best Overall Bluegrass Band and took home Album of the Year honors during the 42nd annual SPBGMA Awards.

A listing of all the award winners appears below.

2016 International Bluegrass Music Awards

Entertainer of the Year: The Earls of Leicester
Female Vocalist of the Year: Becky Buller
Male Vocalist of the Year: Danny Paisley
Vocal Group of the Year: Flatt Lonesome
Instrumental Group of the Year: Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
Song of the Year: “You’re the One,” Flatt Lonesome
Album of the Year: Runaway Train, Flatt Lonesome
Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year: “All Dressed Up,” Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers
Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year: “Fireball,” Special Consensus featuring Rob Ickes, Trey Hensley and Alison Brown
Emerging Artist of the Year: Mountain Faith
Recorded Event of the Year: Longneck Blues, Junior Sisk and Ronnie Bowman
Banjo Player of the Year: Charlie Cushman
Bass Player of the Year: Barry Bales
Dobro Player of the Year: Jerry Douglas
Fiddle Player of the Year: Becky Buller
Guitar Player of the Year: Bryan Sutton
Mandolin Player of the Year: Sierra Hull

Inductees into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame: Clarence White; the Rounder Founders: Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy and Bill Nowlin

Distinguished Achievement Awards: Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine, Boston Bluegrass Union, SiriusXM Radio’s Bluegrass Junction, Bill Emerson, Jim Rooney


The International Bluegrass Awards Show was a centerpiece of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s five-day World of Bluegrass, which is considered the genre’s annual industry gathering and family reunion. Held in Raleigh for the fourth consecutive year, World of Bluegrass also featured a wide array of professional development seminars, meetings and forums, artist showcases and late-night hospitality functions, an exhibit hall, plenty of networking and relationship-building opportunities, and the Wide Open Bluegrass Music Festival.

“It’s an incredible moment in time for us,” said Vincent. “The past few weeks have been a whirlwind, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon. We are so thankful for the support of our music; the promoters and venues [that] host our shows, and our friends who join us at the shows. We couldn’t do it without you. We appreciate each and every award.”

Pull Your Savior In by Larry Stephenson Band (Whysper Dream Music) was named Bluegrass Album of the Year, while “That’s Kentucky” by Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road (Pinecastle Records) took Song of the Year honors and Jordan was named Female Vocalist of the Year (Traditional). Pinecastle label-mates The Farm Hands were named Entertaining Group of the Year, while the quartet’s Tim Graves was named Dobro Performer of the Year for the 10th time. Graves also was inducted into SPBGMA’s Preservation Hall of Greats.

A complete list of SPBGMA award winners follows:

1. Bluegrass Promoter of the Year: Bertie Sullivan

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

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

4. Bluegrass Songwriter of the Year: Tom T. Hall & Dixie Hall

5. Bluegrass Album of the Year: Pull Your Savior In – by Larry Stephenson Band on Whysper Dream Music

6. Bass Performer of the Year: Butch Cooksey

7. Dobro Performer of the Year: Tim Graves

8. Guitar Performer of the Year: Tim Stafford

9. Mandolin Performer of the Year: Danny Roberts

10. Banjo Performer of the Year: Ben Greene

11. Fiddle Performer of the Year: Hunter Berry

12. Female Vocalist of the Year (Contemporary): Rhonda Vincent

13. Female Vocalist of the Year (Traditional): Lorraine Jordan

14. Male Vocalist of the Year (Contemporary): Russell Moore

15. Male Vocalist of the Year (Traditional): Marty Raybon

16. Gospel Group of the Year (Contemporary): The Gibson Brothers

17. Gospel Group of the Year (Traditional): The Farm Hands

18. Bluegrass Band of the Year (Overall): Rhonda Vincent & The Rage

19. Vocal Group of the Year: The Gibson Brothers

20. Instrumental Group of the Year: The Grascals

21. Entertaining Group of the Year: The Farm Hands

22. Entertainer of the Year: Rhonda Vincent

23. Song of the Year: “That’s Kentucky” – by Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road for Pinecastle Records

The nearly hour-long session was among a wide array of professional development workshops and forums at the global performing arts conference and marketplace that also featured more than 1000 artist showcases (including a few bluegrass-oriented ones), exhibition halls, daily plenary sessions and keynote speakers.

Citing a Simmons Market Research study, moderator Mike Drudge noted that there are more than 20 million bluegrass fans in the United States, and that more than 350 bluegrass festivals take place here annually. The president of Class Act Entertainment, a booking agency that celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, was reticent to define exactly what constitutes bluegrass music. “It’s American roots music, highly participatory, family-friendly, and a high percentage of fans also play an instrument,” he said. The bottom line, however, is that “folks will drive a long way and pay good money to see acts that they love.”

Echoing those sentiments, Howard Epstein, who launched a bluegrass concert series at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio decades ago and was among the first to present this music in a theater setting — rather than in a UFW hall or nightclub — expressed his belief that fans willingness to drive long distances “may stem in part from limited opportunities to see bluegrass artists live outside of festival season,” which generally extends from spring into summer. “There are people who are really gung-ho. We don’t see that [so much] with jazz and blues audiences. It’s fairly unique.”

Other unique aspects of presenting bluegrass cited by Drudge include:

* Accessibility of artists who are generally happy to present workshops (a mainstay at most festivals), outreach shows, in-school programs, and residencies.
* Youth interest and involvement is a big part of many festivals – with picking by some talented kids and teens that rivals that of some of the artists on stage.
* Symphonic collaborations; he noted that such artists as Cherryholmes, Bela Fleck and The Kruger Brothers have engaged in this.

Susan Newberry, former executive director of PineCone – Piedmont Council of Traditional Music in North Carolina, said that while there is “a built-in audience” for bluegrass music in North Carolina’s Triangle area, “you still have to cultivate and maintain that audience by bringing in a wide variety of bluegrass artists.” Fortunately, she continued, “there’s a huge breath and variety of the genre being played today.” She ticked off old-school, straight-ahead, progressive and newgrass, among other variants/variations. “It’s very, very high quality music. The biggest obstacle in our area was to get away from some of that old yee-hah image. Once you get past that, You’re hooked for life.”

PineCone is a nonprofit membership organization founded in 1984 to honor North Carolina’s unique traditional music heritage and sponsor concert series in the Triangle area. Newberry said PineCone has presented a broad range of artists over the years, from the old tried-and-true to younger and emerging ones. “It may not be your cup of tea, but it’s going to be the best quality artists we can put on stage.”

She expressed pride that the 2,800-member International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) opted to move its annual fall business conference, International Bluegrass Music Awards Show, five nights of Bluegrass Ramble evening showcases on seven stages, and two-day Wide Open Bluegrass Festival, to Raleigh last fall. “My hometown was totally abuzz with having the IBMA there,” she said. The week’s events reportedly drew an estimated cumulative attendance of 150,000, with the bulk of that for the festival and some 5,000 actual conference attendees.

After a long stint in Nashville beginning in 2005, the IBMA partnered with The Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau, PineCone, the City of Raleigh, and a local organizing committee to have the event in North Carolina’s capital city for the next several years. This year’s IBMA World of Bluegrass, slated for Sept.30-Oct. 4, will feature a talent-buyer track with special seminars for presenters, a reception, plenty of opportunities for networking and socializing, and lots of artist showcases scattered around town, she noted.

Panelists also briefly touched on the importance of sound. “Bluegrass fans are very, very picky about sound,” said Newberry. “You have to engage a good sound engineer — not a rock n’ roll guy – and have a hall with good acoustics.” Noted Drudge: “If the sound is great, people are going to come back and [also] will tell everybody how good the room sounded. People come to hear the banjos pop and the vocal harmonies. It’s true in any genre, [but] it’s really important in bluegrass.”

In response to a question from the audience about promotion, panelists mentioned the importance of presenters and artists partnering to get out the word and cited the importance of venue and band websites, email lists, state and local bluegrass music associations, and radio. Epstein noted that there’s less bluegrass programming on the radio today due to the loss of some public radio stations. Newberry opined that a lot of bluegrass fans were old-school country fans and suggested that presenters should seek to partner with mom-and-pop-oriented country music stations, in addition to public radio. Although not focused on promoting local gigs, Drudge cited SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction, Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine, and the online publications Bluegrass Today and The Bluegrass Situation as resources. Noting that “bluegrass fans appreciate virtuosic planning,” he also encouraged presenters to consider creating interesting combinations – such as an evening of all mandolins – as a way of building audience loyalty and attracting a new audience.