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.
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.]
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.]
Balsam Range, Allison Brown, DePue Brothers Band, The Gibson Brothers, Sierra Hull, The Kruger Brothers, Matuto, Mipso, Tim O’Brien, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, Bryan Sutton and The Travelin’ McCourys were among the bluegrass artists who showcased their talents during the 58th annual conference of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP), held in New York City, Jan. 9-13. [To continue reading this article, click on the headline.]
Nominees in 83 categories have been named for the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. Of particular interest to readers of AcousticMusicScene.com are the nominees in the American Roots Music Field. [To continue reading this article and see the list of nominees in the American Roots Music Field, click on the headline.]
Entertainer of The Year, the top honor in the 25th annual International Bluegrass Music Awards – presented Oct. 2 at Raleigh, North Carolina’s Duke Energy Center for the Arts – went to the Tar Heel State’s own Balsam Range. The acoustic quintet also was named Vocal Group of the Year, while member Buddy Melton was voted Male Vocalist of the Year. [To read the full article and see a listing of 2014 International Bluegrass Music Award winners, click on the headline.]
Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Brien has been making waves in bluegrass, country, folk and roots music circles for some time. His latest release, Chicken & Egg, is currently the #1 album on the Roots Music Report Folk Radio Chart (which is posted in the Acoustic Radio Waves section on AcousticMusicScene.com). And O’Brien is among the nominees for International Bluegrass Music Association‘s Male Vocalist of the Year, one of the awards and honors to be presented by the IBMA on Sept. 30 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. A two-time past recipient of that honor, O’Brien also has previously been recognized by the IBMA for Album of the Year and Song of the Year and received a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album (Fiddler’s Green) in 2005. The 56-year-old West Virginia native, a co-founder and lead vocalist for Hot Rize and Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers, has released 13 solo albums and also has collaborated with his sister, Mollie. Notable artists such as Dierks Bentley, Garth Brooks, Dixie Chicks, Kathy Mattea, New Grass Revival and the Seldom Scene also have recorded his songs. Kathy Sands-Boehmer posed a few questions to O’Brien recently. [To read Kathy's Quick Q & A with Tim O'Brien, click on the headline.]
