Nominees in 84 categories have been named for the 59th Annual Grammy Awards to be presented by The Recording Academy on Sunday, February 12, 2017. Of particular interest to readers of AcousticMusicScene.com are the nominees for awards in the American Roots Music Field that will likely be presented prior to the live broadcast airing on CBS television stations that evening from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Lori McKenna (Facebook profile photo)

Lori McKenna (Facebook profile photo)

Lori McKenna leads the nominees in the American Roots Music Field with three nominations. The Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter is up for Best American Roots Music Performance and Best American Roots Song for “Wreck You,” while her July 2016 release, The Bird & The Rifle, her 10th studio album, is among five nominated for Best Americana Album. The CD’s ten original tracks include “Humble and Kind.” Country music superstar Tim McGraw’s recording of McKenna’s song topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart earlier this year, and “Humble & Kind” is in contention for Best Country Song. McKenna co-wrote the 2016 Grammy Award-winning Best Country Song, “Girl Crazy,” which was a huge hit for Little Big Town. A 2015 and 2016 CMA Song of the Year winner (for “Girl Crazy” and “Humble and Kind”), McKenna also has penned songs that have been covered by such notable artists as Sara Evans, Faith Hill, Hunter Hayes, Alison Krauss and Keith Urban.

Here’s a list of the nominees for Grammy Awards in the American Roots Music Field:

Best American Roots Performance:

“Ain’t No Man” — The Avett Brothers
“Mother’s Children Have A Hard Time” — Blind Boys Of Alabama
“Factory Girl” — Rhiannon Giddens
“House Of Mercy” — Sarah Jarosz
“Wreck You” — Lori McKenna

Best American Roots Song:

“Alabama At Night” — Robbie Fulks, songwriter (Robbie Fulks)
“City Lights” — Jack White, songwriter (Jack White)
“Gulfstream” — Eric Adcock & Roddie Romero, songwriters (Roddie Romero And The Hub City All-Stars)
“Kid Sister” — Vince Gill, songwriter (The Time Jumpers)
“Wreck You” — Lori McKenna & Felix McTeigue, songwriters (Lori McKenna)

Best Americana Album:

True Sadness — The Avett Brothers
This Is Where I Live — William Bell
The Cedar Creek Sessions — Kris Kristofferson
The Bird & The Rifle — Lori McKenna
Kid Sister — The Time Jumpers

Best Bluegrass Album:

Original Traditional — Blue Highway
Burden Bearer — Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
The Hazel Sessions — Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands
North And South — Claire Lynch
Coming Home — O’Connor Band With Mark O’Connor

Best Traditional Blues Album:

Can’t Shake The Feeling — Lurrie Bell
Live At The Greek Theatre — Joe Bonamassa
Blues & Ballads (A Folksinger’s Songbook: Volumes I & II) — Luther Dickinson
The Soul of Jimmie Rodgers — Vasti Jackson
Porcupine Meat — Bobby Rush

Best Contemporary Blues Album:

The Last Days Of Oakland — Fantastic Negrito
Love Wins Again — Janiva Magness
Bloodline — Kenny Neal
Give It Back To You — The Record Company
Everybody Wants A Piece — Joe Louis Walker

Best Folk Album:

Silver Skies Blue — Judy Collins & Ari Hest
Upland Stories — Robbie Fulks
Factory Girl — Rhiannon Giddens
Weighted Mind — Sierra Hull
Undercurrent — Sarah Jarosz

Best Regional Roots Music Album:

Broken Promised Land — Barry Jean Ancelet & Sam Broussard
It’s A Cree Thing — Northern Cree
E Walea — Kalani Pe’a
Gulfstream — Roddie Romero And The Hub City All-Stars
I Wanna Sing Right: Rediscovering Lomax In The Evangeline Country — (Various Artists)

Also of note: Among the nominees for Best Historical Album is The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12 (Collector’s Edition). This Columbia Legacy release is a set of recordings by Bob Dylan comprised primarily of previously unreleased session demos and outtakes from recording sessions for his albums Blonde on Blonde, Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited.