For Immediate Release, August 14, 2008

Press Info: Karen Byrd, karen.byrd@gmail.com, (615) 595-1500

General Info: Nancy Cardwell, nancyc@ibma.org, (615) 256-3222

IBMA ANNOUNCES INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS MUSIC AWARDS NOMINEES

Dailey & Vincent, Blue Highway, The Dan Tyminski Band and

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder Top Nominee List

Nashville, TN….IBMA is proud to announce the nominees for the 19TH Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards, to be hosted by Del McCoury, on Thursday, October 2, 2008, at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

The list of nominees continues a trend of elevating a new wave of stars, as well as honoring the ongoing contributions of the genre’s legends. 

The explosion of relatively new acts on the national bluegrass scene is highlighted by multiple nominations for The Grascals, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, The Infamous Stringdusters and The Steep Canyon Rangers, along with first-time nominees Dailey & Vincent, Grasstowne, The SteelDrivers and Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass. Voting colleagues also continue to recognize pioneering talent making highly relevant contributions, as evidenced by nominations for no less than five Hall of Fame members - Earl Scruggs, Mac Wiseman, Everett Lilly, J.D. Crowe and The Lewis Family.

Dailey & Vincent burst onto the scene just last year.  The group’s leaders (Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent) apprenticed under Doyle Lawson and Ricky Skaggs and find themselves with the most nominations (10), including Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group, Male Vocalist (Jamie), Emerging Artist, Bass Player (Darrin) and Album of the Year for their self-titled debut on Rounder Records. The duo picked up two Song of the Year nominations for “By the Mark” and “More Than a Name on a Wall,” along with a Gospel Recorded Performance nomination for “By the Mark” and a nod for Recorded Event of the Year for Vincent’s work on the Everett Lilly & Everybody and Their Brother project (Swift River Music).

Supergroups Blue Highway, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder and The Dan Tyminski Band will each vie for six IBMA awards.

A star who has made indelible marks in multiple genres of music, as well as being one of the premier ambassadors for bluegrass, Ricky Skaggs and members of his band Kentucky Thunder cut a wide path among the nominees.  In addition to nods for Instrumental Group of the Year, they are finalists for Album of the Year for their Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass – Tribute to 1946 and 1947 (Skaggs Family Records) and for Gospel Recorded Performance and Recorded Event of the Year for Salt of the Earth (Skaggs Family), which is Skaggs’ first full-length recorded collaboration with his wife’s award-winning group, The Whites.  Banjo player Jim Mills and guitarist Cody Kilby are nominated for excellence in their respective Instrumentalist of the Year categories.  This is Kilby’s first such nomination, while Mills owns six trophies for his banjo work.

Blue Highway took the producer and primary songwriting reins for their latest album, Through the Window of a Train, earning nods for both Album of the Year and Song of the Year for the title track, co-written by band member Tim Stafford and Grasstowne's Steve Gulley.  The band also earned nominations for Vocal Group, Instrumental Group, Guitar (Tim Stafford) and Dobro (Rob Ickes).  Ickes is the most awarded instrumentalist (nine trophies) in the history of the IBMA Awards.

Dan Tyminski, the singing voice of George Clooney in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? and longtime guitarist with Alison Krauss & Union Station, stretches out on his own with six nominations including Male Vocalist, an award he received in 2001, 2002 and 2003. The virtuosity of his band earns an Instrumental Group nomination, and members are individually highlighted:  Barry Bales for Bass, Adam Steffey for Mandolin and Ron Stewart with a rare set of nominations for Banjo and Fiddle.

Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, The Del McCoury Band and Grasstowne all received four award nominations each.

The highest honors of the year go to the new members of the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.  This year’s inductees will be Bill Clifton, a pioneering artist, songwriter and international ambassador for bluegrass music, and the late author and historian, Charles K. Wolfe.  Click Here for complete information on this year’s inductees.
 

IBMA’s Distinguished Achievement Award is an honor which recognizes individuals, groups and businesses for ground-breaking work and fostering the music’s image and accessibility.  This year’s recipients are artist Bill Harrell, The Banjo Newsletter, The Ernest Tubb Record Shop, association leader and event producer Art Menius and Joe Carr & Alan Munde, known for their contributions to the genre as artists and educators.  Click Here for complete information on this year’s recipients.

Ticket information for the 19th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards, bluegrass music’s biggest night of the year, is available by calling 888-438-4262, (615) 256-3222 or online at www.ibma.org.

The awards show will be broadcast live on XM Satellite Radio (“Bluegrass Junction” Channel 14) and syndicated to more than 300 U.S. markets and 14 foreign networks, thanks to the sponsorship of Martha White, MerleFest, GAC-TV, GHS Strings, Pinecastle Records and Deering Banjos. Program directors and station managers may contact IBMA for affiliate information at the numbers listed above.

The International Bluegrass Music Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), which serves as the trade association for the bluegrass music industry. The IBMA Awards Show is the centerpiece of the World of Bluegrass week, including the industry’s Business Conference and Bluegrass Fan Fest, slated for September 29 – October 5 in Nashville.