The Gibson Brothers Win Entertainer of the Year at 2012 International Bluegrass Music Awards

The Gibson Brothers Win “Entertainer of the Year” at the 23rd Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards

Star-filled tribute to Earl Scruggs – featuring Steve Martin and the top musicians in today’s bluegrass music – caps a night of stellar performances and special moments.
The Gibson Brothers took home the “Entertainer of the Year” Award at the 23rd annual International Bluegrass Music Awards Thursday night, September 27 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Brothers Eric and Leigh Gibson, along with their band (Mike Barber, Clayton Campbell and Joe Walsh) also picked up an award for “Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year” for “Singing As We Rise.”

Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice was another big winner of the night, winning “Album of the Year” (The Heart of a Song) and “Single of the Year“ (“A Far Cry From Lester & Earl”). Russell Moore (of Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out) and Dale Ann Bradley were male and female vocalists of the year, respectively, and Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers were the recipients of the prestigious Emerging Artist award. A full listing of all this year’s winners and award recipients appears below.

Doyle Lawson and the late Ralph Rinzler were the 2012 Hall of Fame inductees.

As always, some of the best musicians in bluegrass delivered a night filled with amazing performances. Hosts Del McCoury and Laurie Lewis joined an ensemble called “the Masters of Bluegrass” -- J.D. Crowe, Bobby Hicks, Jerry McCoury and Bobby Osborne -- to get the show off to a rousing start.

Other standout performances included Dailey & Vincent’s stirring a cappella rendition of “When The Roll is Called Up Yonder,” which brought the audience to its feet; Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen’s bluegrass interpretation of The Box Tops’ classic “The Letter;” and Hall of Fame inductee Doyle Lawson’s performance, with his band Quicksilver, of “Dixie Home.”

A stunning all-star finale, led by last year’s “Entertainer of the Year” recipient Steve Martin, filled the Ryman stage with some of bluegrass music’s top banjo players and musicians, in a tribute to late banjo legend Earl Scruggs, who died earlier this year. Participants in the Scruggs tribute included Tom Adams, Eddie Adcock, Jessie Baker, Terry Baucom, Sam Bush, Kristin Scott Benson, Alison Brown, Jason Burleson, Greg Cahill, Jason Carter, J.D.Crowe, Jason Davis, Joe Dean, Steve Dilling, Glenn Gibson, Eric Gibson, Mark Johnson, Doyle Lawson, Laurie Lewis, Del McCoury, Rob McCoury, Lynn Morris, Joe Mullins, Mike Munford, Chris Pandolfi, Graham Sharp, Sammy Shelor, Sleepy Man Banjo Boys (Jonny, Robbie & Tommy Mizzone), Ron Stewart, Mike Sumner, Tony Trischka, Scott Vestal, Pete Wernick, and Roland White.

The International Bluegrass Music Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), the trade association for the bluegrass music industry. The IBMA Awards Show is the centerpiece of the World of Bluegrass Week, which also includes the IBMA Business Conference and Bluegrass Fan Fest.

For the first time ever, the 2012 IBMA Awards Show was broadcast live from the Ryman as streaming video on BluegrassNation.org and BluegrassToday.com. The Awards Show was also broadcast live on Sirius XM Satellite Radio (Bluegrass Junction, Channel 14), on 650 WSM AM, and will be syndicated to more than 300 U.S. markets and 14 foreign networks, thanks to sponsors Compass Records, ArtistWorks Academy of Bluegrass, Deering Banjos, BMI, the International Bluegrass Music Museum, BluegrassToday.com, Boston Bluegrass Union, VisitRaleigh.com, and 650 WSM AM. Program directors and station managers may register as affiliates by calling 888-GET-IBMA or 615-256-3222.

For more information on World of Bluegrass week, go to www.worldofbluegrass.org, join us on Facebook, or call 615-256-3222 (1-888-GET-IBMA).

The 2012 International Bluegrass Awards

Bluegrass Hall of Fame Inductees: Doyle Lawson, Ralph Rinzler
Distinguished Achievement Award Recipients: Byron Berline, Joe & Lil Cornett, Orin Friesen, Pee Wee Lambert, Kitsy Kuykendall
Entertainer of the Year: The Gibson Brothers
Vocal Group of the Year: Blue Highway
Instrumental Group of the Year: The Boxcars
Emerging Artists of the Year: Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers
Male Vocalist of the Year: Russell Moore
Female Vocalist of the Year: Dale Ann Bradley
Song of the Year: “A Far Cry From Lester & Earl” Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice
Album of the Year: Heart Of A Song, Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice
Gospel Recorded Event of the Year: “Singing As We Rise” by the Gibson Brothers w/Ricky Skaggs
Instrumental Performance of the Year: “Angeline The Baker” by Lonesome River Band
Recorded Event of the Year: “Life Goes On” by Carl Jackson, Ronnie Bowman, Larry Cordle, Jerry Salley, Rickey Wasson, Randy Kohrs, D.A. Adkins, Garnet Bowman, Lynn Butler, Ashley Kohrs, Gary Payne, Dale Pyatt, Clay Hess, Alan Bibey, Jay Weaver, Ron Stewart & Jim VanCleve (artists); Jerry Salley, Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle, Jim Van Cleve & Randy Kohrs (producers); Rural Rhythm Records
Banjo Player of the Year: Sammy Shelor
Bass Player of the Year: Marshall Wilborn
Fiddle Player of the Year: Stuart Duncan
Dobro Player of the Year: Rob Ickes
Guitar Player of the Year: Doc Watson
Mandolinist of the Year: Adam Steffey
Broadcaster of the Year: Kyle Cantrell
Bluegrass Event of the Year: ROMP, produced by the International Bluegrass Music Museum; Owensboro, KY
Print Media Person of the Year: Marty Godbey, author of Crowe on the Banjo: The Music Life of J.D. Crowe (Univ. of Illinois Press)
Best Graphic Design - Bedrock Manufacturing (designer) for Nobody Knows You, by the Steep Canyon Rangers (Rounder Records)
Best Liner Notes: Marian Leighton Levy (liner notes), for Tony Rice: The Bill Monroe Collection, by Tony Rice (Rounder Records)
Bluegrass Songwriter of the Year: Jon Weisberger

Earlier this week, IBMA’s new Momentum Awards, designed to recognize promising new talent, were presented. This year’s recipients of the Momentum Awards – which focus on artists and business people in the early years of their careers in bluegrass music – are:

Band of the Year: Monroeville
Vocalist of the Year: Emily Bankester (performs with The Bankesters)
Instrumentalists of the Year: bassist Samson Grisman (son of legendary mandolinist David “Dawg” Grisman, performs with The Deadly Gentlemen), fiddler Alex Hargreaves (performs with Sarah Jarosz), and fiddler Christian Ward (performs with Sierra Hull)
Event/Venue of the Year: Appalachian Uprising, produced by Steve Cielic (new festival in Scottown, Ohio)
Industry Achievement: Crash Avenue publicist Emilee Warner
Mentor of the Year: Five-time IBMA Bass Player of the Year and producer Mike Bub

Lonesome River Band and Steve Martin to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman November 11, 2011

The Lonesome River Band will perform with Steve Martin next week, November 11, 2011 on The Late Show with David Letterman.  The performance is in celebration of Sammy Shelor’s  Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass award as recently announced.  The Steve Martin Prize is chosen by a who’s who list of talents including Steve Martin, Earl Scruggs, Pete Wernick, Tony Trishchka, Bela Fleck and more.

 

Shelor, a Virginia Country Music Hall of Famer, is also a four-time award winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Banjo Performer of the Year and was nominated again this year in that category.  He joined Lonesome River Band in 1990 and has led the band since 2000.  He has his own signature Sammy Shelor banjo fingerpicks and a signature model banjo produced by Huber Banjos.  Banjo pickers all over the world have studied Shelor’s tab books and instructional DVDs.  Next week, he will launch SammyShelor.com with more information on these products.

 

Lonesome River Band, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary, will soon be announcing numerous 2012 album releases, special performances and more exciting news.  In the meantime, please visit LonesomeRiverBand.com to learn more about members, Sammy Shelor, Brandon Rickman, Mike Hartgrove, Barry Reed, and Randy Jones.

 

 

STEVE MARTIN & THE STEEP CANYON RANGERS NAMED IBMA ENTERTAINERS OF THE YEAR

(from left to right: Nicky Sanders, Charles Humphrey III, Woody Platt, Steve Martin, Mike Guggino and Graham Sharp. Photo by Alane Anno)



On the strength of a busy touring schedule, a string of national television appearances and the release of a new album, Rare Bird Alert on Rounder Records, Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers took home the Entertainer of the Year award at the 22nd annual International Bluegrass Music Awards Thursday night, September 29 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Martin, who always included banjo picking in his early stand-up comedy routines, has become more serious about recording and performing bluegrass music during the past two years, with the release of two albums of original music.

Martin appeared at the microphone to receive the bluegrass music industry’s highest music award, leapt a few times into the air, congratulated the other Entertainer of the Year nominees and jokingly thanked them for losing. He went on to thank producers John McEuen and Tony Trischka as well as his band mates, and then he talked about how hard they’ve been working on their music, as well as the humor and entertainment aspects of their show, while never denigrating the music. Martin said that while half of their audience usually comes to see him not knowing anything about bluegrass, “they all leave loving it, and maybe they seek out other musicians. We’re really, really honored to win this award tonight.”

Steep Canyon Rangers lead singer, Woody Platt quipped, “Working with Steve, we might be the most entertained of all. Most of all we thank Steve for giving us this most amazing ride.”

Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers, a young group based in North Carolina named IBMA’s Emerging Artist of the Year in 2007, played “Me and Paul Revere” during the Awards Show—a song Martin wrote from the perspective of Revere’s horse and performed on national television at the Capitol 4th Concert in Washington, D.C. July 4. There’s always been something a little magic about fiddle and banjo music, and Martin’s deft clawhammer style underscored by Nicky Sanders’ exuberant fiddling and soaring three-part vocal harmony from the Rangers definitely did the trick.

It was an exciting night for New York State-based band, The Gibson Brothers, who took home awards for Vocal Group of the Year and Album of the Year for Help My Brother, on Compass Records.

The Boxcars, a new combination of veteran musicians, were named Emerging Artists of the Year and Instrumental Group of the Year. Band member Ron Stewart tied for Banjo Player of the Year with The Grascals’ Kristin Scott Benson, who received the award for the fourth consecutive year.

Balsam Range received top honors for Song of the Year for “Trains I Missed,” written by Walt Wilkins, Gilles Godard & Nicole Witt. “There are a lot of folks out there—myself included—who are thankful for some of those trains missed and how things turned out,” commented Tim Surrett of Balsam Range.

Legendary artists Doyle Lawson, J.D. Crowe and Paul Williams took home two trophies for Recorded Event of the Year and Gospel Recorded Performance, for “Prayer Bells from Heaven.” The three announced their plans to record a second Old Friends album, much to the delight of fans in attendance at the Awards Show.

Russell Moore of IIIrd Tyme Out and Dale Ann Bradley took home awards for Male Vocalist and Female Vocalist of the Year—the fourth time for each. Rob Ickes of Blue Highway was awarded his 13th Dobro Player of the Year award, the most trophies any individual instrumentalist has received in the history of the IBMA Awards.

Michael Cleveland was named Fiddle Player of the Year for the ninth time, and his band received the award for Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year for “Goin’ Up Dray Branch,” a song written by Buddy Spicher and Jimmy Martin. Marshall Wilborn was named Bass Player of the Year for the third time, Bryan Sutton received the Guitar Player of the Year award for the sixth time, and Adam Steffey dedicated his eighth Mandolin Player of the Year to his twin sons, who he expects to be born in the next two weeks.

Hosted by legendary mandolin player and band leader Sam Bush, the 2011 IBMA Awards Show were a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Bill Monroe, recognized as the Father of Bluegrass.

Sam Bush told a story about how a young musician once approached Bill Monroe and played a tune he’d written squarely in the Monroe style. The older mandolinist listened carefully and said, “That’s real good. What can you do on your own now?” The question was answered at the IBMA Awards, as band after talented band hit the stage.

As bluegrass music heads into the second hundred years after its founder’s birth, the genre is stronger than ever—as evidenced by a number of virtuoso level, high energy live performances from The Sam Bush Band, The Grascals, Balsam Range, The Del McCoury Band, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, Sierra Hull & Highway 111, Lonesome River Band, The Boxcars, The Gibson Brothers, Dailey & Vincent, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver—later joined by J.D. Crowe and Paul Williams, George Shuffler, Hall of Famer Tom Gray and new Distinguished Award recipient Roland White.

The moment that probably would have made Bill Monroe smile was when White kicked into “Wheel Hoss,” with the next break played in twin harmony by Sam Bush and Ronnie McCoury on their mandolins. Dailey & Vincent thrilled the crowd with triple fiddles added to their usual line-up for “Close By,” and The Grascals brought two young girls from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital who are battling cancer onstage with them to sing “I Am Strong,” a song inspired by the band’s trip to St. Jude.

Ronnie and Rob McCoury inducted their father into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, and guitarist James Alan Shelton inducted George Shuffler, the bass and cross-picked guitar stylist known as “the third Stanley Brother.” The evening ended with a guitar rendition of “Life is Like a Mountain Railway” from Shuffler and Shelton, backed by Gray, and a medley of Del McCoury songs delivered in his trademark, scalding tenor range.

The International Bluegrass Music Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), which serves as the trade association for the bluegrass music industry. The IBMA Awards Show is the centerpiece of the World of Bluegrass Week September 26 – October 2 in Nashville, Tenn., which also includes the IBMA Business Conference and Bluegrass Fan Fest.
The IBMA Awards Show was broadcast live on Sirius XM Satellite Radio (Bluegrass Junction, Channel 61) and on WSM-AM; the show will be syndicated to more than 300 U.S. markets and 14 foreign networks thanks to the sponsorship of Martha White, Deering Banjos, the International Bluegrass Music Museum, Bluegrass, Moonshine & The Birth of NASCAR – The Movie, Compass Records and the Academy of Bluegrass. Program directors and station managers may sign up to be affiliates by calling (615) 256-3222 or emailing jill@ibma.org

A complete list of nominees, this year’s Hall of Fame inductees and the recipients of the Distinguished Achievement Award are listed below.


The 2011 International Bluegrass Awards:
Hall of Fame Inductees - Del McCoury, George Shuffler

Entertainer of the Year - Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers

Vocal Group of the Year - The Gibson Brothers

Instrumental Group of the Year - The Boxcars

Male Vocalist of the Year - Russell Moore

Female Vocalist of the Year - Dale Ann Bradley

Emerging Artist of the Year - The Boxcars

Album of the Year - Help My Brother by The Gibson Brothers (artists), Eric & Leigh Gibson and Mike Barber (producers), Compass (label)

Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year - "Goin' Up Dry Branch," Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper (artist), Buddy Spicher & Jimmy Martin (songwriters), Jeff White & Michael Cleveland (producers), Rounder (label)

Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year - "Prayer Bells of Heaven" by J.D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson, & Paul Williams (artists), Ben Isaacs (producer), Mountain Home (label)

Song of the Year - "Trains I Missed;" Balsam Range (artists); Walt Wilkins, Gilles Godard & Nicole Witt (songwriters)

Recorded Event of the Year - "Prayer Bells of Heaven" by J.D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson & Paul Williams (artists); Ben Isaacs (producer); Mountain Home (label)

Banjo Player of the Year - Kristin Scott Benson and Ron Stewart (tie)

Guitar Player of the Year - Bryan Sutton

Fiddle Player of the Year - Michael Cleveland

Bass Player of the Year - Marshall Wilborn

Mandolin Player of the Year - Adam Steffey

Dobro Player of the Year - Rob Ickes

Distinguished Achievement Award Recipients - Greg Cahill, Bill Knowlton, Lilly Pavlak, Geoff Stelling, Roland White

Broadcaster of the Year - Katy Daley, WAMU Bluegrass Country

Print Media Person of the Year - Juli Thanki, Engine145.com

Bluegrass Event of the Year - Silver Dollar City's Bluegrass & BBQ Festival; Branson, Mo.

Best Graphic Design - Ricardo Alessio & Erica Harris (designer & artist), Abigail Washburn (artist), Rounder (label)

Best Liner Notes - Colin Escott (writer), A Mother's Prayer, Ralph Stanley (artist), Rebel (label)