Los Angeles, CA -- Critically acclaimed singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Rhiannon Giddens is the recipient of the seventh annual Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. Described by T Bone Burnett as one of the “most profound musicians active today,” Giddens is the co-founder of the GRAMMY Award-winning string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, in which she sang and played banjo and fiddle. That group has long investigated and promoted the foundational role African-American performers and songwriters have played in folk-music history, while making recordings that are vital, contemporary, and exuberant.
The Grand Master Champion for 2016 is Maddie Denton of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Denton took home $1,200 in cash, a $500 gift certificate courtesy of D’Addario, a Grand Master Fiddler plaque, and will appear on the Grand Ole Opry. The two-day 45th annual Grand Master Fiddler Championship is the nation’s premier championship event held at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville on September 3 and 4, 2016.
ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, will present acclaimed bluegrass and country music songwriter-artist and Grand Ole Opry member Ricky Skaggs with its prestigious Founders Award at the 54thannual ASCAP Country Music Awards. The exclusive, invitation-only gala, which celebrates the songwriters and publishers of ASCAP's most performed country songs of 2015, will take place at the historic Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville, Tennessee on October 31st.
Entertainer Randall Franks, of Ringgold, was among the recent honorees at the 42nd annual Atlanta Society of Entertainers Awards receiving the Bluegrass Band of the Year Award with his Georgia Mafia Bluegrass Band. Franks, who is best known as “Officer Randy Goode” from the TV series “In the Heat of the Night,” starred in three TV series and 15 films. Musically, he is recognized as an International Bluegrass Music Museum Legend and Independent Country Music Hall of Fame inductee.
//Mandolin Cafe/ Nashville, TN -- The Monroe Mandolin Camp, a traditional roots based music camp offering world class instruction on the music of the Founder of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe, is proud to announce the winner of the 2nd Annual Video Scholarship Competition, generously underwritten by Intelometry.
Fall Branch, TN -- For the second year in a row, East Tennessee Mountain Gospel artist, The Knight Family will receive Vintage Gospel CD of the Year honors. The group was informed this week that the Rural Roots Music Commission will bestow the honor in LeMars, IA in September at the National Traditional Country Music Association Convention.
Bristol, TN/VA -- The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) proudly announces that the Birthplace of Country Music Museum is the recipient of an Award of Merit for their permanent exhibits on the history and legacy of the 1927 Bristol Sessions. The AASLH Leadership in History Awards, now in its 71st year, is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.
Scotch Plains, NJ -- Mandolinist Barry Mitterhoff received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 42nd Annual New Jersey Folk Festival. “I’m honored and excited about getting this Lifetime Achievement Award for playing and teaching bluegrass music in New Jersey over the last 47 years,” says Barry.
Wilkesboro, NC -- The Austin Stage was packed for MerleFest 2016’s 24th Annual Chris Austin Songwriting Contest (CASC). The Chris Austin Songwriting Contest is a unique opportunity for aspiring writers to have their original songs heard and judged by a panel of Nashville music industry professionals, under the direction of this year’s volunteer contest chairperson Jim Lauderdale. Judging is based on a song’s originality, lyrics, melody and overall commercial potential.
David's "Bluegrass in the Backwoods" is an instrumental CD that features dazzling solos by Stuart Duncan, Sierra Hull, Rob Ickes, Ron Block, Jake Workman, Dennis Caplinger, Christian Ward, and other topnotch virtuosos. David Naiditch won the 14th Independent Music Awards (IMA) for Bluegrass Album. The surprise is that David Naiditch plays the chromatic harmonica, an instrument that is used in jazz but that, as far as we know, hasn't been recorded in bluegrass since Jimmy Riddle of Hee Haw fame released his "Country Harmonica" LP in 1964.
Nashville, TN -- The National Music Council will bring its annual American Eagle Awards presentation to Nashville, Tennessee, for a second year in a row on Saturday, June 25, 2016. The highly prestigious Eagle Awards are presented each year in national celebration of an individual’s or an organization’s long term contribution to America’s musical culture and heritage. This year, music legends Emmylou Harris and Vince Gill will be honored, along with the iconic Grand Ole Opry.
Nashville, TN -- The Movieguide® Awards honored international entertainment icon Dolly Parton with the Epiphany Prize for the Most Inspiring TV Program of 2015 for her NBC TV movie “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors.”
The Lexington Music Awards seek to honor the present and past glory of Lexington's entire music industry. With 31 categories spanning the music industry including best female vocal artist, best male vocal artist, Song of the Year, best music venue, and best educator, this is truly a comprehensive awards program. The McLain Family Band was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Also included are J.D. Crowe, Ricky Skaggs, Vince DiMartino, and J.P. Pennington. The awards took place Sunday, January 31st.
The members of Kathy Boyd & Phoenix Rising have been truly touched by the greetings, well wishes and compliments that have been sent these past few days since the group was announced as the International Music and Entertainment Association's 3rd Annual IMEA Awards 2015 Bluegrass Group of the Year.
published by Bob Cherry on Fri, 10/23/2015 - 01:03
Thursday, October 22nd, The Roys captured their fifth consecutive Inspirational Country Music (ICM) Inspirational Bluegrass Artist of the Year award and their seventh year in a row for an ICM Award. Elaine Roy says, "As I reflect on this incredible evening, I know I am blessed beyond words. So many people really touched my heart tonight with their kind words. Forgot to thank so many people but everyone who has helped us on this journey from our parents, family, friends, band members, radio DJs, fans, label, managers, publicist, festivals, promoters, ICM, our peers, I am sure I left a million people out, thank you for always inspiring me to do my best. And to God be the glory."
Los Angeles, CA -- Critically acclaimed singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Rhiannon Giddens is the recipient of the seventh annual Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. Described by T Bone Burnett as one of the “most profound musicians active today,” Giddens is the co-founder of the GRAMMY Award-winning string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, in which she sang and played banjo and fiddle. That group has long investigated and promoted the foundational role African-American performers and songwriters have played in folk-music history, while making recordings that are vital, contemporary, and exuberant.
The Grand Master Champion for 2016 is Maddie Denton of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Denton took home $1,200 in cash, a $500 gift certificate courtesy of D’Addario, a Grand Master Fiddler plaque, and will appear on the Grand Ole Opry. The two-day 45th annual Grand Master Fiddler Championship is the nation’s premier championship event held at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville on September 3 and 4, 2016.
ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, will present acclaimed bluegrass and country music songwriter-artist and Grand Ole Opry member Ricky Skaggs with its prestigious Founders Award at the 54thannual ASCAP Country Music Awards. The exclusive, invitation-only gala, which celebrates the songwriters and publishers of ASCAP's most performed country songs of 2015, will take place at the historic Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville, Tennessee on October 31st.
Entertainer Randall Franks, of Ringgold, was among the recent honorees at the 42nd annual Atlanta Society of Entertainers Awards receiving the Bluegrass Band of the Year Award with his Georgia Mafia Bluegrass Band. Franks, who is best known as “Officer Randy Goode” from the TV series “In the Heat of the Night,” starred in three TV series and 15 films. Musically, he is recognized as an International Bluegrass Music Museum Legend and Independent Country Music Hall of Fame inductee.
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Fall Branch, TN -- For the second year in a row, East Tennessee Mountain Gospel artist, The Knight Family will receive Vintage Gospel CD of the Year honors. The group was informed this week that the Rural Roots Music Commission will bestow the honor in LeMars, IA in September at the National Traditional Country Music Association Convention.
Bristol, TN/VA -- The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) proudly announces that the Birthplace of Country Music Museum is the recipient of an Award of Merit for their permanent exhibits on the history and legacy of the 1927 Bristol Sessions. The AASLH Leadership in History Awards, now in its 71st year, is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.
Scotch Plains, NJ -- Mandolinist Barry Mitterhoff received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 42nd Annual New Jersey Folk Festival. “I’m honored and excited about getting this Lifetime Achievement Award for playing and teaching bluegrass music in New Jersey over the last 47 years,” says Barry.
Wilkesboro, NC -- The Austin Stage was packed for MerleFest 2016’s 24th Annual Chris Austin Songwriting Contest (CASC). The Chris Austin Songwriting Contest is a unique opportunity for aspiring writers to have their original songs heard and judged by a panel of Nashville music industry professionals, under the direction of this year’s volunteer contest chairperson Jim Lauderdale. Judging is based on a song’s originality, lyrics, melody and overall commercial potential.
David's "Bluegrass in the Backwoods" is an instrumental CD that features dazzling solos by Stuart Duncan, Sierra Hull, Rob Ickes, Ron Block, Jake Workman, Dennis Caplinger, Christian Ward, and other topnotch virtuosos. David Naiditch won the 14th Independent Music Awards (IMA) for Bluegrass Album. The surprise is that David Naiditch plays the chromatic harmonica, an instrument that is used in jazz but that, as far as we know, hasn't been recorded in bluegrass since Jimmy Riddle of Hee Haw fame released his "Country Harmonica" LP in 1964.
Nashville, TN -- The National Music Council will bring its annual American Eagle Awards presentation to Nashville, Tennessee, for a second year in a row on Saturday, June 25, 2016. The highly prestigious Eagle Awards are presented each year in national celebration of an individual’s or an organization’s long term contribution to America’s musical culture and heritage. This year, music legends Emmylou Harris and Vince Gill will be honored, along with the iconic Grand Ole Opry.
Nashville, TN -- The Movieguide® Awards honored international entertainment icon Dolly Parton with the Epiphany Prize for the Most Inspiring TV Program of 2015 for her NBC TV movie “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors.”
The Lexington Music Awards seek to honor the present and past glory of Lexington's entire music industry. With 31 categories spanning the music industry including best female vocal artist, best male vocal artist, Song of the Year, best music venue, and best educator, this is truly a comprehensive awards program. The McLain Family Band was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Also included are J.D. Crowe, Ricky Skaggs, Vince DiMartino, and J.P. Pennington. The awards took place Sunday, January 31st.
The members of Kathy Boyd & Phoenix Rising have been truly touched by the greetings, well wishes and compliments that have been sent these past few days since the group was announced as the International Music and Entertainment Association's 3rd Annual IMEA Awards 2015 Bluegrass Group of the Year.
Thursday, October 22nd, The Roys captured their fifth consecutive Inspirational Country Music (ICM) Inspirational Bluegrass Artist of the Year award and their seventh year in a row for an ICM Award. Elaine Roy says, "As I reflect on this incredible evening, I know I am blessed beyond words. So many people really touched my heart tonight with their kind words. Forgot to thank so many people but everyone who has helped us on this journey from our parents, family, friends, band members, radio DJs, fans, label, managers, publicist, festivals, promoters, ICM, our peers, I am sure I left a million people out, thank you for always inspiring me to do my best. And to God be the glory."