Chris Stapleton, Jon Batiste Win Early & Tired Country/Roots Grammys
This story has been updated.
The Grammy Awards Premier Ceremony transpired Sunday afternoon, April 3rd, where many of the actual musicians in music are highlighted in the majority of the Grammy’s 86 total categories before the big pop acts take the stage for the evening’s televised presentation. This includes many of the country awards, as well as awards in the American Roots categories, which cover Americana, folk, bluegrass, and blues.
And though some worthy artists and valued projects walked away with deserved awards, it’s hard not to describe 2022’s Grammy haul in country and roots as anything but somewhat deflating, and for a host of reasons.
Chris Stapleton was the first winner, taking home the trophy for Best Country Solo Performance for “You Should Probably Leave,” and later Best Country Song for “Cold.” Though Stapleton continues to be country music’s “more healthy” choice compared to some of his mainstream contemporaries, handing him awards has now felt perfunctory and like a default action for a few years now.
No offense to either “You Should Probably Leave” or “Cold,” but do we really feel like these tracks truly highlight the best song and performance that country music had to offer in the last year? Granted, the competition was pretty weak this year (see nominations below), but many probably had their bet on Mickey Guyton’s “Remember Her Name” winning at least one of those awards.
Maybe in the end, Stapleton was still the best choice, but that feels like a commentary on the field, and how it is chosen. Think of all the great country songs and performances that touched you over the last year, and this is what we end up with represented at the Grammys.
Brothers Osborne also won for Best Country Duo or Group performance for their song “Younger Me.” T.J. Osborne got emotional accepting an Grammy award for the song, and specifically thanked the Academy and the music community for being so accepting of him after he came out as gay in 2021. “Younger Me” is specifically about T.J.’s experience.
Chris Stapleton and Brothers Osborne will duke it out with Sturgill Simpson, Mickey Guyton, as well as Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall, and Jack Ingram for their collaborative album The Marfa Tapes when the Best Country Album award is handed out during the Grammy’s main telecast Sunday night.
UPDATE: Chris Stapleton won the Grammy for Best Country Album with Starting Over.
In the American Roots categories, once again it felt a bit deflating when the first two awards went to Jon Batiste for Best American Roots Song, and Best American Roots Performance for his track “Cry.” It’s not that Jon Batiste and “Cry” couldn’t conceivably be considered in the “Americana” category due to the ever-widening tent covering that designation, but few if anyone would consider Jon Batiste as an artists native to the Americana or American Roots community.
Known mostly as a jazz and R&B performer, this is punctuated by the fact that he was nominated for an incredible eleven Grammy Awards in 2022, including two in R&B categories, two in jazz categories, one in classical, one in a soundtrack category, as well as the all-genre categories of Album of the Year, and Record of the Year. When Jon Batiste ended up on the American Roots ballot, his star power and name recognition prevailed, and it overshadowed artists native to American Roots who could have used that recognition.
Much emphasis has been put on the black women of American roots over the last few years, but with the wins by Jon Batiste, other nominated performers such as Allison Russell, who sang during the Premier Ceremony, as well as Valerie June, and also Yola, who has been on the brink of a Grammy win for years now, were locked out of the song categories. Jon Batiste would go on to win multiple other awards, including Best Music Video, and Best Score Soundtrack.
But from there, things began to improve. Best Americana Album went to Los Lobos for Native Sons, Best Folk Album went to Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi for They’re Calling Me Home, and in a crowded field, Béla Fleck won Best Bluegrass Album for My Bluegrass Heart, beating out titles from Billy Strings, Sturgill Simpson, Rhonda Vincent, and The Infamous Stringdusters.
It still feels like the Grammys are awarding names, not works, but it’s hard to argue with any of the later wins, even though it feels like rising names such as Billy Strings, Tyler Childers, and Allison Russell deserved something as well.
Jon Batiste did not come forward to accept his American Roots awards, though he did appear on the stage for subsequent awards. Béla Fleck, and Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi were not on site to accept their awards. Rhiannon and Francisco are performing in New Mexico this evening.
Also from the American Roots categories, Best Traditional Blues Album went to Cedric Burnside for I Be Trying, and Best Contemporary Blues Album went to Christone “Kingfish” Ingram for 662.
Later in the Premier Ceremony, Carrie Underwood also took home a win for the country world when her album My Savior won for Best Roots Gospel Album. The rootsy and twangy work is probably one of the most country projects Carrie Underwood has released.
Now the only unfinished business for Sunday evening will be who will win Best Country Album (Update: Chris Stapleton did), along with performances from Billy Strings, Chris Stapleton, Carrie Underwood, and Brothers Osborne.
Best Country Solo Performance
Luke Combs – “Forever After All”
Mickey Guyton – “Remember Her Name”
Jason Isbell – “All I Do Is Drive”
Kacey Musgraves – “Camera Roll”
Chris Stapleton – “You Should Probably Leave” – WINNER
Best Country/Duo Performance
Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood – “If I Didn’t Love You”
Brothers Osborne – “Younger Me” – WINNER
Dan + Shay – “Glad You Exist”
Ryan Hurd & Maren Morris – “Chasing After You”
Miranda Lambert and Elle King – “Drunk ( and I Don’t Wannna Go Home)”
Best Country Album
Brothers Osborne – Skeletons
Mickey Guyton – Remember Her Name
Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall, Jack Ingram – The Marfa Tapes
Sturgill Simpson – The Ballad of Dood and Juanita
Chris Stapleton – Starting Over – WINNER
Best Country Song
(Goes to songwriters)
Maren Morris – “Better Than We Found It”
Kacey Musgraves – “Camera Roll”
Chris Stapleton – “Cold” – WINNER
Thomas Rhett – “Country Again”
Walker Hayes – “Fancy Like”
Mickey Guyton – “Remember Her Name”
Best Americana Album
Jackson Browne – Downhill From Everywhere
John Hiatt with the Jerry Douglas Band – Leftover Feelings
Los Lobos – Native Sons – WINNER
Allison Russell – Outside Child
Yola – Stand for Myself
Best American Roots Song
Rhiannon Giddens, Francesco Turrisi – “Avalon”
Valerie June Featuring Carla Thomas – “Call Me a Fool”
Jon Batiste – “Cry” – WINNER
Yola – “Diamond Studded Shoes”
Allison Russell – “Nightflyer”
Best American Roots Performance
Jon Batiste – “Cry” – WINNER
Billy Strings – “Love and Regret”
The Blind Boys of Alabama and Bela Fleck – “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free”
Brandy Clark Featuring Brandi Carlile – “Same Devil”
Allison Russell – “Nightflyer”
Best Bluegrass Album
Billy Strings – Renewal
Béla Fleck – My Bluegrass Heart – WINNER
The Infamous Stringdusters – A Tribute to Bill Monroe
Sturgill Simpson – Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions)
Rhonda Vincent – Music Is What I See
Best Folk Album
Mary Chapin Carpenter – One Night Lonely (Live)
Tyler Childers – Long Violent History
Madison Cunningham – Wednesday (Extended Edition)
Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi – They’re Calling Me Home – WINNER
Sarah Jarosz – Blue Heron Suite
Best Traditional Blues Album
Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite – 100 Years of Blues
Blues Traveler – Traveler’s Blues
Cedric Burnside – I Be Trying – WINNER
Guy Davis – Be Ready When I Call You
Kim Wilson – Take Me Back
April 3, 2022 @ 3:44 pm
P.S.: Not LIVE blog tonight during the Grammy Awards. Just not enough interest, and not enough going on relevant to the country world to justify one. But I will be dropping occasional observations on Twitter if anyone cares:
https://twitter.com/KyleCoroneos
April 3, 2022 @ 3:57 pm
I mean yeah, Cold is one of the highlights of the past year, saying it isn’t is kind of a joke. I do agree that a lot of the nominees could’ve changed for other substantive releases from Carly, Morgan Wade and Alan Jackson. But Cold is one of the best country songs let alone mainstream to come out in recent memory.
April 3, 2022 @ 4:33 pm
I don’t even consider “Cold” a country song, and the writing is very, very basic. Now, you nominate “Cold” as Best Country Solo Performance—which Stapleton also won, but not for “Cold”—I can get behind that, because Chris Stapleton sings the hell out of it, like he does everything. It’s a good “performance.” But as Best Country Song, meaning the lyrical and compositional creativity expressed in the work, I just don’t hear it. Does the song define 2022? Does it rise to meet the challenges of the day? Does it express some poetic brilliance that separates it from everything else? Or is it just a standard Blues/R&B song that Stapleton sings really good?
I’m not even disagreeing with Stapleton winning these awards as much as it’s an indictment of the entire process. If all these awards ever do is hand them over to Chris Stapleton, they’re going to fail to attract attention, fail to develop new talent, and fail to find their proper place in the zeitgeist where awards shows once were.
April 4, 2022 @ 8:36 am
Not much different than Brooks and Dunn winning something like 11 or 12 consecutive awards back in the day… I always thought there were better songs, and better groups out there, but once the acadamy get’s their sights set on one act, it seems that’s where they stay. I happen to like Chris, and he’s a hell of a songwriter, and performer. BUT,.. time for a change!
April 4, 2022 @ 10:29 am
I agree. I think they are dismissive of country, so once they latch onto an act they put it on repeat so they don’t have to pay attention or actually listen to it. M
April 4, 2022 @ 2:56 pm
Agree! Reading the lyrics to this song is like peering over the shoulder of a newbie in “Songwriting 101”. Cliches: “cut me like a knife”, “built my life around you”…? And that I-want-to-hear-what-this-song-is-about-title—“Cold”? Really? My instructor’s red pen would be all over that song. That said, the composers of “Cold” may be talented writers but this was not one of their best. I agree, the performance is one thing…fine!…but best “song”? For the songwriters out there who wrote clever, moving lyrics last year, l can hear their groans that this was the “winner”.
April 4, 2022 @ 3:07 am
thats pretty bad since its not even a country song and its a theft as well …compare to ( dead and gone by ti feat justin timberlake…this dude keeps ripping ppl off and getting all the awards and appraisal…thats no artist for me
April 3, 2022 @ 6:51 pm
Stapleton winning everything is getting old. And yes I am still salty about Alan Jackson not being nominated for “Where have you gone.”
April 3, 2022 @ 6:59 pm
Of course Brothers Osborne won. It’s the Grammys.
April 3, 2022 @ 7:43 pm
Just for the hell of it (said ironically)–Carrie Underwood won for Roots Gospel Album, for MY SAVIOR.
April 3, 2022 @ 8:37 pm
My overall take on the 2022 Grammy Awards?
Americana artists, you better get some choreography. Because you’re now competing with performers like Jon Batiste. Good luck!
April 3, 2022 @ 10:04 pm
WrestleMania was better.
April 3, 2022 @ 11:13 pm
I don’t know Baptiste, but jazz has been integral to roots/Americana/country music since the beginning. I know jazz has it’s own award but “jazz” encompasses such a broad field maybe his release felt more at home under Americana. I consider what Mike Bloomfield wanted with Electric Flag (he called it an American Music Group) to be one of the earliest conscious efforts to create what is now called “Americana” and he mixed jazz, country, blues and folk with electric instruments and horns, Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder did similar things. I have not checked it out as I said, but perhaps there is some method to the selection. Or not, who knows. Going to check it out though. Glad Cedric Burnside won!
April 4, 2022 @ 5:45 am
I like Baptiste a lot but it’s not roots music by any stretch. He won with what sounds like a top 40 single from the 80’s, It’s completely ridiculous.
April 4, 2022 @ 7:38 am
No doubt jazz and R&B have their influences in “Americana.” But everything does. That’s the thing, you can categorize anything Americana now. Americana is any type of music that’s not hip-hop, and there’s a strong movement to incorporate hip-hop because not including hip-hop in Americana is racist.
“I know jazz has it’s own award but ‘jazz’ encompasses such a broad field maybe his release felt more at home under Americana.”
Jazz is not nearly as broad of a field as Americana. Nothing is, except maybe pop. Also, Jon Batiste was nominated for two jazz awards. He was also nominated for two R&B awards. Up until the Grammy Awards, everyone considered Jon Batiste a jazz and R&B artist. That’s where his music lives. That’s where it has always lived. Jon Batiste is not played on Americana radio stations. He’s not slotted in Americana playlists on Spotify. He will not play Americanafest or Under The Big Sky. He will headline Coachella.
Jon Batiste is a pop star. He performed last night with a massive production, backup dancers, choreography, the whole bit. He’s as Americana as Taylor Swift.
As far as I know, Jon Batiste is a fine person, his music is appealing, and it’s nothing personal. But Americana has always been a home for non commercial roots artists who otherwise will be overlooked in popular music. Having pop stars win Americana awards isn’t just problematic, it’s catastrophic.
The artist that wins Album of the Year and Video of the Year at the Grammy Awards should never win Americana Awards, unless they’re clearly, CLEARLY actually Americana.
April 4, 2022 @ 8:00 am
The artist that wins Album of the Year and Video of the Year at the Grammy Awards should never win Americana Awards, unless they’re clearly, CLEARLY actually Americana.
Did not realize that Baptiste won for Album of the Year. And I absolutely agree with that statement above. I gave a listen to the song “Cry” and I would say it appeals to the kind of roots music fan that I am (e.g., someone who loves Robert Cray), but I’m guessing it’s a one-off. And in the Best American Roots Song category, he basically bigfooted four women of color who were, to use a Rhiannon Giddens phrase, there organically. Any one of those songs would have been worthy winners. And so I think a disservice has been done to the roots music world. Once again, name recognition rules.
April 4, 2022 @ 8:49 am
Does the song “Cry” sonically fit within the designation of “Americana”? Yes it does. Should it be receiving nominations and winning awards as what the Academy believes is the best song in Americana in a given year—something that had impact and influence within the genre? No, it shouldn’t. This song had no impact on Americana, nor did Jon Batiste. At all.
April 4, 2022 @ 8:40 am
Americana has a real identity crisis. It’s getting more and more noticeable. It wasn’t that long ago that people joked it was “country music for Democrats,” which may have been a joke but was also a mostly accurate description. It also had a specific sound, folkier than country but twangier than folk. Now it’s got a much stronger blues and soul influence, which is fine, but some of these artists don’t need an Americana label. I think Kingfish is awesome, Robert Finley is awesome, Cedric Burnside is awesome, but these guys are just straight up Blues in my opinion. In the end it’s all just marketing – Americana is whatever the Americana audience buys/listens to.
April 4, 2022 @ 8:52 am
For the record, those blues guys were all nominated and awarded in specific blues categories. However, the Grammy Awards designates blues music under the greater “American Roots” group. Where this impacts is all “American Roots” artists compete for the Best American Roots Song and American Roots Performance Grammy. Long story short, none of the genres get their own song awards. All the American Roots categories compete for those specific song awards.
April 4, 2022 @ 10:34 am
Considering that just about every contender in the roots and Americana categories Batiste won was black I don’t think race is the issue.
The Blind Boys of Alabama are roots gospel.
Rhiannon Giddens is roots folk and country
Yola as least gets a folk/country sound in her mix.
Billy Strings obviously has his soul in traditional bluegrass. But the song they picked for him in that category while a great song is one of his less rootsy tracks.
Most of the other stuff sound like pop rock from that 80’s. Batiste mixes funk, hip hop, and 80’s rock. That pulls in contemporary New Orleans style but not roots.
Just a few short years ago The Carolina Chocolate Drops dominated this with real old timey music. The Academy really lost the plot here.
April 5, 2022 @ 6:48 pm
After checking it out I have to agree that while very good it does not fall into the same category as Mavis Staples recent albums or Solomon Burke’s Nashville, or Swamp Dogg’s latest. I guess that sucks for someone but really I still don’t understand why awards are given for music, but whatever.
April 4, 2022 @ 5:48 pm
Agree and would add the Duane Allman era Allman Brothers!
April 4, 2022 @ 1:02 am
The grammys are just another award show, that I do not even bother watching. Don’t get me wrong I am happy for people like miranda lambert and Chris Stapleton and other singers that do deserve to win, but I just do not care enough about the show, to watch.
April 4, 2022 @ 3:24 am
Bread and circuses for the dumbmasses.
April 4, 2022 @ 4:16 am
I am utterly done with the Grammies now. I hope all the awards shows just fail at this point.
April 4, 2022 @ 4:26 am
My buddy used to vote for the Grammies, his boss was a member. He handed it off to him like most of them do apparently. I think most people vote for a recognizable name and haven’t heard the majority of the artists and entries.
April 4, 2022 @ 4:46 am
Woke bullshit. Pass.
April 4, 2022 @ 11:54 am
Wait…. What?
April 8, 2022 @ 1:36 pm
Are you just saying you’re a racist? I don’t get it
April 4, 2022 @ 4:52 am
Regarding Bela Fleck’s bluegras album win… a major part of bluegrass music is vocal harmony. How does an instrumental album win this category over artists who recorded full albums with vocals? There is already a separate category for instrumental albums.
I understand Fleck is a great musician, and he assembled an all-star cast to play on the album. As did Sturgill. The other nominees used their own bands to record their albums. I guess the awards do not take factors like that into consideration.
April 4, 2022 @ 5:57 am
Best Folk Album: “They’re Calling Me Home,” Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi.
A beautiful album of old songs with unique arrangements – Giddens is hard to pigeonhole I reckon but is it folk?
April 4, 2022 @ 6:14 am
I agree and understand where you are coming from but any night Dan +Shay, Thomas Rhett, Walker Hayes and Jason Aldean go home empty handed is a good night in my book.
April 4, 2022 @ 6:14 am
Shouldn’t that be Kim Wilson in the traditional blues category?
April 4, 2022 @ 8:43 am
Yes.
April 4, 2022 @ 6:48 am
Chris Stapleton is a hell of a singer, but I’ve never been moved by any of his songs. It’s the same thing with Carrie Underwood. Everything they put out is sterile to me.
April 4, 2022 @ 7:47 am
I think Stapleton’s Starting Over is a solid album and a reasonable choice given the nominees. I would give it the nod over Sturgill’s, which has actually aged well with me, but is short and seems like more of an EP. I haven’t given the Marfa Tapes much attention. I’m guessing the Brothers Osbourne is a mixed bag of good music and radio targeted music. What I’ve heard of Guyton’s album sounds like more like adult comtemporary r&b. Decent enough to listen to if forced to listen to the radio. Kind of bland, though. Seems to that if the Grammys were as “woke” as some think it is, she would have won.
I wonder that all of the awards that Stapleton wins is becoming a bit of a curse. Seems like there have been backlashes growing from various corners.
April 4, 2022 @ 9:23 am
Yes Jack, the numerous Stapleton wins just might be a curse. Hes clearly an awards darling. I blame the American Idol/Voice culture thats become so embedded in society. The voters love people who can do vocal gymnastics in a style that invokes soul, blues and early R&B. Stapleton in a nutshell. I’ve been a Stapleton apologist for some time, and thats based on his great past work with The Steeldrivers mostly, though I think Traveler was pretty good. The current album has some decent moments, notably “Hillbilly Blood” which comes the closest to encapsulating the magic of his songwriting. But, that song gets no love. A conclusion i have finally reached, is that he prefers to dwell on the outer edges of Country Music these days. When he does have pedal steel, its very much in the background. Unfortunately, all these silver trophys are essentially doing, is guaranteeing true COUNTRY artists dont win. And as long as those dollars keep pouring in i dont see things changing. Honestly would love to see him go all the way on a true Southern Rock album, hes got the voice for it. Listen to the one-off Jompson Bros record to get an idea of the potential.
April 6, 2022 @ 5:49 am
Thanks for the comment, Kevin. I was wondering what other country albums from the mainstream world could have been nominated (I don’t follow it closely) and checked Trigger’s best mainstream albums of 2021. And the obvious one is the Alan Jackson album. Also, Carly Pearce gets some love from Trigger.
Whiskey Sunrise and Arkansas are a couple of other fun rockers from Starting Over. And I think I might like his solo albums a bit more than you. Their “ebb and flow” are somewhat similar to John Hiatt albums, and he’s one of my all-time favorites. And as far as the possibility of him going even more southern/swamp rock in the future (which I’d be all for), maybe there’s hope to be found in the closing :good bye” track Nashville, TN. We’ll see.
April 4, 2022 @ 8:24 am
My wife and I watched the televised ceremony. I called out the winner in every category barring Doja Cat’s win (who was funny and sweet with her speech – nearly missing the hand out as she was in the bathroom, assuming she wouldn’t win!). But that’s the Grammy’s on TV. They’re always gonna go for the obvious, populist option for the home audience.
But country. The Grammys have always been a bit nervous of country music that’s a bit *too* country, if you know what I mean. So it was clear Stapleton was gonna win those categories.
One big positive for me was Brothers Osborne. I know they don’t get a lot of love on this site (which is fair, the last album was pretty tame) but when they came to close the show, I was convinced they were gonna go with ‘Younger Me’ or ‘I’m not for everyone’. I turned to my wife and said, but wouldn’t it be awesome if they did ‘Dead Man’s Curve’? And they did! And that’s a country banger, I don’t care where you’re from! That’s a great moment for proper country music on mainstream TV, so big love to them.
April 4, 2022 @ 3:02 pm
That’s so funny…My husband and I tuned in right at the end for Brothers Osborne. He’s heard me rave about them for months, but when they ripped into Dead Man’s Curve, he turned to me and said, “Ah…now I get it.”
I was so happy for them last night.
April 4, 2022 @ 8:33 am
I forgot the Grammy’s were happening this year. The way Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are screwing up this country right now, it gives me time to focus on little else. In my 89 years on this planet, I’ve never seen a time as “fucked” as the one we’re “in” right now.
April 4, 2022 @ 10:33 am
Well Kacey come back to country?
April 4, 2022 @ 1:29 pm
I really loved Brandy Clark’s song ‘Same Devil’ from the moment I heard it. I really thought it might have a shot at winning this year….but it didn’t. I’m a big Brandy Clark fan, and I love her writing style. I don’t think she gets enough of…..anything really. The list it too long. I just think she’s so much better than what’s on the radio….oh well maybe next year ‘Remember Me Beautiful’ will be nominated? We will see
April 4, 2022 @ 6:18 pm
Jon Batiste dabbled in root’s sandbox and won a grammy. But country artists dabble in other genre’s sandboxes all the time. Carrie has a lot of connections into roots gospel, but she’s not primarily a roots gospel artist, she took home a grammy for her dabbling too.
(Also roots literally comes, in part, from r&b and jazz)
April 6, 2022 @ 5:07 am
Carrie Underwood winning the roots gospel Grammy seems like another instance of the importance of name recognition. It doesn’t explain away Batiste’s roots Grammy wins. And the problem isn’t the specific song. The nominated songs by Valerie June and Yola are both soul songs. But they operate in the roots music world and have support in that community. Winning a Grammy would have meant a lot to their careers. Instead, Batiste was able to add to his haul.
April 6, 2022 @ 7:52 am
here has definitely been some backlash against Carrie Underwood for the Best Roots Gospel win. I think name recognition definitely worked in her favor as well, but I have to say, “My Savior” really surprised me as a record, and it was very “rootsy” for Carrie Underwood. Having listened to it as opposed to just judging her on her name, I don’t have a problem with that win. I have also not heard the other albums in that category. The Isaacs and Harry Connick Jr. also have decent name recognition as well.
Carrie Underwood has always dewelled with one foot in the Christian market as well, so she is not a total outsider.
April 4, 2022 @ 7:54 pm
“Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi – They’re Calling Me Home – WINNER”
Doggone, just saw this!
So HAPPY for them!!!
That song is hauntingly beautiful
April 4, 2022 @ 8:32 pm
Let’s face it, entertainment awards are generally just vehicles to promote whatever the execs want the public to consume in big numbers. Perhaps not quite like that for the Grammy/Country category. I visualize some executives (Association members?) saying: “Quick, tell me who are the big movers in Country right now and I’ll vote for one of them!”
As for other categories, well, rock bands seem to be well out of the picture now (except if your name is Foo Fighters) so the Grammies are not really worth my attention.
April 5, 2022 @ 11:59 pm
Not the strongest of years but pleased for Stapleton but surprised at some of the awards he won. I was surprised to see Guyten among the nominees. Her music is good but for me nothing special. Award shows losing their relevance?