News Capsules for the Acoustic Community
Roy Book Binder, a noted American country blues and ragtime guitarist, singer-songwriter and raconteur, died on March 3, 2026. He was 82. [Click on the headline or Read More to continue reading this article.]
Nominees have been named for the 68th annual GRAMMY Awards to be presented by the Recording Academy on Sunday, February 1, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Among the artists in the American Roots Music Field with multiple nominations are Jon Batiste, Sierra Hull, I’m With Her, Jason Isbell, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Molly Tuttle, and Jesse Welles.
Six singer-songwriters have been named as winners in the 2025 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. They were chosen by a panel of judges from among 24 finalists who performed two songs each during the New Folk Concerts on May 24 and 25 as part of the Kerrville Folk Festival, an 18-day event at the Quiet Valley Ranch in the Texas Hill Country near Austin and San Antonio. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article and to view videos of the New Folk Concerts.]
Barry Poss, co-founder and longtime owner of Sugar Hill Records –- an influential independent label whose roster included numerous notable bluegrass, Americana, old-time and roots music artists –- died on May 13, 2025. He was 79 and had been battling cancer for years.
Jill Sobule, 66, was groundbreaking and much revered and loved singer-songwriter and human rights activist best-known for her 1995 breakthrough hit single “I Kissed a Girl” (the first openly LGBTQ-themed song to crack the Billboard Top 20) and “Supermodel” from that year’s popular “Clueless” film soundtrack. Both songs appear on the first of her 12 albums. In the week since her tragic death in a Minnesota house fire on May 1, 2025 sent shockwaves through the folk and singer-songwriter communities, many of her fellow artists have expressed their grief and shared personal reflections on Facebook. A sampling follows. [Click on the headline to continue reading.]
Jesse Colin Young -- a noted singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and folk-rock & Americana pioneer who co-founded and fronted The Youngbloods -- passed away in Aiken, South Carolina on March 16, 2025 at age 83.
Sierra Ferrell was a big winner at the 37th annual Grammy Awards, taking home awards in all four categories in which she was nominated. The Nashville, Tennessee-based and small-town West Virginia-born singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist was honored for Best Americana Album (Trail of Flowers), Best American Roots Performance (“Lighthouse”), Best American Roots Song (“American Dreaming,” a co-write with Melody Walker), and Best Americana Performance (“American Dreaming”) during the February 2 premiere ceremony at Los Angeles, California’s Crypto.com Arena that preceded the evening telecast on CBS. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article and to view a video.]
Peter Yarrow -- the singer-songwriter and social activist best known as part of the seminal folk harmony trio Peter Paul & Mary -- died at his home in New York City on January 7, 2025 following a four year-bout with bladder cancer. He was 86.
Performances by some of Americana music’s biggest stars-- including Duane Betts, Blind Boys of Alabama, Fantastic Negrito, Sierra Ferrell, Emmylou Harris with Rodney Crowell, Sarah Jarosz, Noah Kahan, Larkin Poe, Jobi Riccio, Shelby Lynne, Waxahatchee with MJ Lederman, and Dwight Yoakam -- captured live during the 23rd annual Americana Honors & Awards show in September will air as an episode of Austin City Limits on PBS television stations throughout the U.S. beginning on Saturday, November 23.
Six singer-songwriters have been named as winners in the 2024 Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. They were chosen by a panel of judges from among 24 finalists who performed two songs each during the New Folk Concerts on May 25 and 26 as part of the Kerrville Folk Festival, an 18-day event at the Quiet Valley Ranch in the Texas Hill Country near Austin and San Antonio.
Winners in the 66th GRAMMY Awards’ American Roots Music Field were recognized during a ceremony that took place prior to The Recording Academy’s televised and livestreamed awards show from Los Angeles, California on Sunday, February 4, 2024. Brandy Clark, Jason Isbell and Allison Russell, who led the nominees with three nominations each, were among the winners. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article that includes a listing of winners in the American Roots Music Field and select other categories.]
Nominees have been named for the 66th annual GRAMMY Awards to be presented by the Recording Academy on Sunday, February 4, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Brandy Clark, Jason Isbell and Allison Russell lead the nominees in the American Roots Music Field with three nominations each. [Click on the headline to continue reading this article and to see the complete list of nominees in the American Roots Music Field, along with select others.]
