Billy Strings was named Entertainer of the Year for a fourth time, while bluegrass fiddle virtuosos Jason Carter and Michael Cleveland received several awards during the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s 36th Annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards on September 18. The awards show – co-hosted by Steve Martin and Allison Brown – was a highlight of the IBMA’s five-day–long World of Bluegrass and took place at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Billy Strings, a Michigan-born and Nashville, Tennessee-based genre-bending flatpicking guitarist and singer-songwriter, was previously named Entertainer of the Year in 2021, 2022 and 2023. A two-time Grammy Award winner for Best Bluegrass Album — Live Vol. 1 (2025) and Home (2021) — he also was named Artist of the Year (2022 and 2023) in the Americana Music Honors & Awards presented by the Americana Music Association, as well as Pollstar’s Breakthrough Artist of the Pandemic. He was previously honored as both Guitar Player and New Artist of the Year in the 2019 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards and was named Guitar Player of the Year again in 2021, while his song “Red Daisy” was 2022’s Song of the Year. Billy Strings, who turns 33 on Oct. 3, grew up playing traditional bluegrass with his dad. In the years since, he has been among the artists who have helped to expand the boundaries of the genre, widening its appeal.
Jason Carter and Michael Cleveland’s “Outrun the Rain” won the coveted Song of the Year award and was also named Collaborative Recording of the Year, while the 2025 release on which it appears, Carter & Cleveland, was named Album of the Year. Carter, a five-time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year, has played with the Del McCoury Band for 30 years and is a founding member of the Travelin’ McCourys, winners of the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. The Kentucky native’s fiddling prowess can also be heard on albums by such notable artists as Asleep at the Wheel, Diercks Bentley, Charlie Daniels, Steve Earle, Vince Gill, and Ricky Skaggs. Southern Indiana-based Michael Cleveland, whose 2024 release, Tall Fiddler, won a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album, was inducted into the National Fiddler Hall of Fame (2018) and was a recipient of a prestigious 2022 NEA National Heritage Fellowship, the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has been recognized 13 times as the IBMA’s Fiddle Player of the Year and six times for Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year, while Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper has been hailed as its Instrumental Group of the Year multiple times. And has also received awards from the society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPGMA). The subject of a 2019 biographical documentary film, Flamekeeper: The Michael Cleveland Story, the much sought-after musician has also performed with such noted artists as J.D. Crowe and the New South, Vice Gill, The Kruger Brother, Tim O’Brien, Andy Statman, and Mary Stuart, among others.
The IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association, a nonprofit trade organization that connects, educates, and empowers bluegrass professionals and enthusiasts, honoring tradition and encouraging innovation in the bluegrass community worldwide (ibma.org).
A complete list of 2025 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards recipients appears below, along with brief information about three Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductees.
Entertainer of the Year: Billy Strings
Song of the Year: “Outrun the Rain” – Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Songwriters: Terry Herd & Jimmy Yeary
Producers: Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Label: Fiddle Man Records
Album of the Year: Carter & Cleveland – Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Producers: Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Label: Fiddle Man Records
Vocal Group of the Year: Authentic Unlimited
Instrumental Group of the Year: The Travelin’ McCourys
Gospel Recording of the Year:
“He’s Gone” – Jaelee Roberts
Songwriter: Kelsi Harrigil
Producer: Byron House
Label: Mountain Home Music Company
Instrumental Recording of the Year:
“Ralph’s Banjo Special” – Kristin Scott Benson
Songwriter: Ralph Stanley
Producer: Allison Brown
Label: Compass Records
Collaborative Recording of the Year:
“Outrun the Rain” – Jason Carter, Michael Cleveland, Jaelee Roberts & Vince Gill
Songwriters: Terry Herd & Jimmy Yeary
Producers: Jason Carter & Michael Cleveland
Label: Fiddle Man Records
New Artist of the Year: Red Camel Collective
Male Vocalist of the Year: Greg Blake
Female Vocalist of the Year: Alison Krauss
Banjo Player of the Year: Kristin Scott Benson
Bass Player of the Year: Vickie Vaughn
Fiddle Player of the Year: Maddie Denton
Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year: Justin Moses
Guitar Player of the Year: Trey Hensley
Mandolin Player of the Year: Sierra Hull
Music Video of the Year: “The Auctioneer” – The Kody Norris Show
Songwriters: Leroy Van dyke & Buddy Black
Producer: James Gilley
Videographer: Nate Wiles
Label: Rebel Records
Hot Rize (a pioneering bluegrass band), The Bluegrass Cardinals (known for its flawless harmonies, virtuoso playing, and original music), and Arnold Shultz (an influential African American musician) were inducted into Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame during the awards show.
The IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards Show is the centerpiece of World of Bluegrass that extended from September 16-20. Considered the genre’s annual industry gathering and family reunion, IBMA’s World of Bluegrass also featured a three-day business conference (replete with a wide array of professional development programming, sponsored artist showcases and late-night hospitality functions, and plenty of networking and relationship-building opportunities), the IBMA Bluegrass Ramble (a series of showcases at various Chattanooga venues), and the two-day IBMA Bluegrass Live! – a festival of live performances and fan experiences.
