IBMA reveals Bluegrass Music Awards nominees and Hall of Fame inductees. Find out more.

Veteran bluegrass acts will face emerging artists in the Entertainer of the Year category of the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards this year.

The International Bluegrass Music Association announced its slate of nominees Tuesday as well as three Hall of Fame inductees and Distinguished Achievement Award recipients.

The five nominees for Entertainer of the Year are Balsam Range, Billy Strings, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, the Del McCoury Band and The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys.

The Del McCoury Band and Doyle Lawson are both members of the Hall of Fame, and Balsam Range and Del McCoury have both won the award in previous years.

It’s the second nomination for Strings, who is 28, and the first for Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, which formed in 2014.

The Hall of Fame inductees are Alison Krauss, Lynn Morris and the Stoneman Family.

The 2021 IBMA World of Bluegrass will be in Raleigh Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 and includes the organization’s convention, IBMA awards as well as concerts throughout downtown.

The IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards will be presented Sept. 30 at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts. The awards are voted on by the professional members of IBMA.

Doyle Lawson and Sierra Hull tied for the most nominations, both with five to their names, including collaborative works.

Awards also will be presented for Vocal Group of the Year, Instrumental Group of the Year, New Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, and Female Vocalist of the Year, among other awards.

Hall of Fame inductees

Krauss has been performing bluegrass music since her days as a child prodigy in Champaign, Illinois. Her first album was published in 1987. Since then, she has received 27 Grammys, earning the most Grammy Awards of any female artist until Beyoncé won her 28th Grammy in March. Krauss also has won two IBMA Entertainer of the Year awards.

She has performed in Raleigh multiple times, including a 2014 performance at Koka Booth Ampitheatre with Willie Nelson.

“With beautifully unique vocals, impeccable song choice and production taste, a top-flight touring band and a reputation for calling all the shots in her career since she was a teen, Krauss has brought immeasurable respect and recognition to the music and has introduced bluegrass to countless listeners,” IBMA said in a news release.

Morris, who has won IBMA’s Female Vocalist of the Year award three times, got her start playing the banjo after college. She won the National Banjo Championships and went on to build a career performing and recording. Her hits include “Mama’s Hand,” which won IBMA’s Song of the Year award in 1996.

IBMA notes she no longer performs but is still a fixture at bluegrass events.

“Morris was a trailblazer among women bandleaders in bluegrass,” said the press release.

The final inductee for IBMA Hall of Fame will be the Stoneman Family. Although Ernest V. “Pop” Stoneman stopped recording in the 1930s, his family band included his children: pioneering female artists Donna, Roni, and Patty, and their brothers Van, Jim and Scotty.

The Stoneman Family became the Stonemans and has had a varied history, including television deals and internationally distributed record labels. Patsy, Van and Jim Stoneman continued performing together in the 1980s, according to a news release. Ernest Stoneman died in 1968 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

IBMA’s Distinguished Achievement Awards

IBMA announced the five winners of the IBMA Distinguished Achievement Award, naming industry leader Nancy Cardwell Webster, broadcaster Lee Michael Demsey, Czech lutheir and performer Jaroslav Prucha, musician Cliff Waldron, and Stan Zdonik of Boston Bluegrass Union.

The awards will be presented during a luncheon at the World of Bluegrass Business Conference on Sept. 30.

The awards are presented to figures who have made significant contributions to bluegrass.

2021 IBMA Award Nominees

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” (High Fidelity), “Hitchhiking to California” (Alan Bibey & Grasstowne), “Just Load the Wagon” (Junior Sisk), “Leaving on Her Mind” (Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver), “Richest Man” (Balsam Range)

Album of the Year (Tie): “Bluegrass 2020” (Scott Vestal, Patrick McAvinue, Cody Kilby, Dominick Leslie, Curtis Vestal), “Distance and Time” (Becky Buller), “Fall Like Rain” (Justin Moses), “Industrial Strength Bluegrass: Southwester Ohio’s Musical Legacy” (Various Artists), “Load the Wagon” (Junior Sisk), “Still Here” (Steve Gulley & Tom Stafford).

Gospel Recording of the Year: “After Awhile” (Dale Ann Bradley), “Grit and Grace” (Balsam Range), “Hear Jerusalem Calling” (Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers), “In the Resurrection Morning” (Sacred Reunion featuring Doyle Lawson, Vince Gill, Barry Abernathy, Tim Stafford, Mark Wheeler, Jim VanCleve, Phil Leadbetter, Jason Moore), “When He Calls My Name” (Alan Bibey & Grasstowne).

Instrumental Recording of the Year: “The Appalachian Road” (Appalachian Road Show), “Foggy Mountain Chimes” (Scott Vestel, Patric McAvinue, Cody Kilby, Dominick Leslie, Curtis Vestal), “Ground Speed” (Kristin Scott Benson, Skip Cherryholmes, Jeremy Garrett, Kevin Kehrberg, Darren Nicholson), “Mountain Strings” (Sierra Hull), “Taxland” (Justin Moses with Sierra Hull).

Collaborative Recording of the Year: “Birmingham Jail” (Barry Abernathy with Vince Gill), “In the Resurrection Morning” (Sacred Reunion featuring Doyle Lawson, Vince Gill, Barry Abernathy, Tim Stafford, Mark Wheeler, Jim VanCleve, Phil Leadbetter, Jason Moore), “My Baby’s Gone” (Justin Moses with Del McCoury), “Tears of Regret” (High Fidelity with Jesse McReynolds), “White Line Fever” (Bobby Osborne with Tim O’Brien, Trey Hensley, Sierra Hull, Stuart Duncan, Todd Phillips, Alison Brown)

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.

IBMA is a non-profit music association seeking to connect, educate and empower bluegrass musicians by seeking to preserve tradition and encourage innovation in the global community.