Bluegrass & Beyond
SPBGMA Presents Bluegrass Music Awards

SPBGMA Presents Bluegrass Music Awards

The Farm Hands were the top winners in the 44th Annual Bluegrass Music Awards presented by The Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPBGMA) at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, February 4, 2018. Winners in 19 categories were honored during an awards show that capped the nonprofit organization’s 35th national convention. [To continue reading this article and see the complete list of winners, click on the headline.]

Winners Named in 60th Grammy Awards’ American Roots Music Field

Winners in the 60th Grammy Awards’ American Roots Music Field were recognized during a Premiere Ceremony that streamed online prior to The Recording Academy’s televised awards show on Sunday, January 28 from Madison Square Garden in New York City. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

Entries Sought for 2017 FreshGrass Awards

Online submissions are being sought through May 31 for the 2017 FreshGrass Awards and a new No Depression Singer-Songwriter Award. Unsigned bluegrass bands, banjo pickers, fiddlers and roots music-oriented singer-songwriters are invited to compete for more than $25,000 in cash prizes, instruments, recording sessions at Compass Records, and a spot on the main stage during FreshGrass 2018. Finalists will perform for a panel of music industry judges during this year’s festival, which is set for Sept. 15-17 on the grounds of MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

SPBGMA Presents Bluegrass Music Awards

The Farm Hands were the top winners in the 43rd Annual Bluegrass Music Awards presented by The Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America (SPBGMA) at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, February 5. Winners in 19 categories were honored during an awards show that capped the nonprofit organization’s 34th national convention. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]
Acts Sought for IBMA's 2017 Bluegrass Ramble

Acts Sought for IBMA’s 2017 Bluegrass Ramble

Applications will be accepted through February 28 for the 2017 Bluegrass Ramble, a series of artist showcases slated to take place September 26-28 at select venues throughout downtown Raleigh, North Carolina during the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s World of Bluegrass 2017. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

International Bluegrass Music Awards Presented

Entertainer of the Year honors went to The Earls of Leicester, while Flatt Lonesome was named Vocal Group of the Year and received awards for Album and Song of the Year during the 27th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards show, Sept. 29, 2016, at Raleigh, North Carolina’s Duke Energy Center for the Arts. [To continue reading this article and to see the complete list of award winners, click on the headline.]
DelFest 2016 Set for Memorial Day Weekend

DelFest 2016 Set for Memorial Day Weekend

DelFest 2016 takes place at the Allegany County Fairgrounds in Cumberland, Maryland over Memorial Day Weekend. Joining the Del McCoury Band and Del’s sons’ spin-offs, The Travelin’ McCourys and The McCoury Brothers, May 26-29, at the fairgrounds, nestled along the Potomac River in the Appalachian Mountains, 2.5 hours from Baltimore and Washington, D.C., will be a host of other artists. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

2016 Telluride Troubadour Finalists Named

Ten singer-songwriters have been named as finalists in the 2016 Telluride Troubadour Competition, held in conjunction with the 43rd Telluride Bluegrass Festival that takes place June 16-19 amid Colorado’s rugged San Juan Mountains. They will now vie for cash and other prizes, as well as the honor of being named the Telluride Troubadour. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

Winners Named in Chris Austin Songwriting Contest

Winners were named in the 24th Annual Chris Austin Songwriting Contest, hosted by MerleFest 2016, following performances by finalists on April 29 during the popular roots-oriented music festival held at the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

2016 IBMA Songwriter Showcase Application Deadline is March 31

Ten selected songwriters or songwriting teams will be afforded the opportunity to perform an original bluegrass song in front of some of the top bluegrass artists and producers in the industry as part of a Sept. 29 Songwriter Showcase during the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) World of Bluegrass in Raleigh, North Carolina. Online applications are due March 31. Judges will consider both the quality of submitted songs and their appeal to bluegrass audiences in making their selections. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]

Bill Keith, Banjo Player and Stylist, 1939-2015

Bill Keith, a noted five-string banjoist who introduced a melodic style of playing the instrument and designed a specialized type of tuning peg that bears his name, died Oct. 23 at age 75. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]
The Earls of Leicester Take Home a Bevy of International Bluegrass Music Awards

The Earls of Leicester Take Home a Bevy of International Bluegrass Music Awards

The Earls of Leicester were the big winners during the International Bluegrass Music Awards show, Oct. 1, at Raleigh, North Carolina’s Duke Energy Center for the Arts. The group –- which pays homage to the musical legacy of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and their band, the Foggy Mountain Boys -- took home Entertainer, Album (for its Grammy Award-winning self-entitled debut), Instrumental Group and Gospel Recorded Performance (“Who Will Sing For Me”) of the Year awards. [To continue reading this article and see the list of award winners, click on the headline.]