IBMA Announces 2016 International Bluegrass Music Awards Nominations

Flatt Lonesome, The Earls of Leicester, Balsam Range, The SteelDrivers, and Sam Bush emerged Wednesday (7-27) as the leading nominee getters for the 2016 installment of the International Bluegrass Music Awards, or IBMA’s, while Clarence White was announced as the latest inductee into the Hall of Fame.

As the most-recognized distinguishing body in bluegrass, the IBMA, along with their annual conference, make for the biggest event on the bluegrass calendar every year. This year the awards will be held Thursday, September 29th in Raleigh, North Carolina at the Energy Performing Arts Center during the IBMA’s World of Bluegrass conference.

The nominees were announced in the Sirius XM Theater at the Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville with the famed Ryman Auditorium in the background, and were broadcast on SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction channel. Awards are voted on by the professional membership of the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), the trade association for the bluegrass music industry.

Find the full list of nominees below:

2016  HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

• Clarence White
• Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy & Bill Nowlin (founders of Rounder Records)

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

• Balsam Range
• Del McCoury Band
• Flatt Lonesome
• Earls of Leicester
• The Gibson Brothers

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

• Balsam Range
• Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
• Flatt Lonesome
• Earls of Leicester
• The Gibson Brothers

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

• Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen
• Punch Brothers
• Sam Bush Band
• Travelin’ McCourys
• Earls of Leicester

SONG OF THE YEAR

• Sierra Hull – “Black River”
• The SteelDrivers – “Long Way Down”
• Steep Canyon Rangers – “Radio”
• Lonesome River Band – “Thunder and Lightning”
• Flatt Lonesome – “You’re the One”

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• Lonesome River Band – Bridging the Tradition
• IIIrd Tyme Out – It’s About Time
• Flatt Lonesome – Runaway Train
• The SteelDrivers – Muscle Shoals Recordings
• Sierra Hull – Weighted Mind

GOSPEL RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

• “All Dressed Up” – Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers
• “In the Heat of the Fire” – Flatt Lonesome
• “Rocking of the Cradle” – Lonesome River Band
• “The Savior Is Born” – Becky Buller
• “Won’t You Come and Sing for Me”– Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands

INSTRUMENTAL RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

• “Cazenovia Casanova” – Frank Solivan with Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas
• “Fireball” – Special Consensus featuring Rob Ickes, Trey Hensley, and Alison Brown
• “Hogan’s Goat” – The Boxcars
• “Hogan’s House of Music” – Ron Block
• “Smartville” – Ron Block

RECORDED EVENT OF THE YEAR

• “Fireball” – Special Consensus featuring Rob Ickes, Trey Hensley, and Alison Brown
• “Highway 40 Blues” – Special Consensus with Della Mae
• “In the Pines” – Carl Jackson and Brad Paisley
• “Longneck Blues” – Junior Sisk and Ronnie Bowman
• “Pretty Woman” – Frank Solivan with Del McCoury

EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• Lonely Heartstring Band
• Mountain Faith
• Sister Sadie
• Steve Gulley & New Pinnacle
• Town Mountain
• Band of Ruhks

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

• Del McCoury
• Buddy Melton
• Tim O’Brien
• Shawn Camp
• Danny Paisley

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

• Becky Buller
• Dale Ann Bradley
• Claire Lynch
• Rhonda Vincent
• Amanda Smith

BANJO PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Charlie Cushman
• Jens Kruger
• Mike Munford
• Noam Pikelny
• Sammy Shelor

BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Barry Bales
• Alan Bartram
• Mike Bub
• Missy Raines
• Mark Schatz

FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Becky Buller
• Jason Carter
• Michael Cleveland
• Stuart Duncan
• Ron Stewart

DOBRO PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Jerry Douglas
• Andy Hall
• Rob Ickes
• Phil Leadbetter
• Josh Swift

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Chris Eldridge
• Jim Hurst
• Kenny Smith
• Bryan Sutton
• Josh Williams

MANDOLIN PLAYER OF THE YEAR

• Jesse Brock
• Sam Bush
• Sierra Hull
• Frank Solivan
• Adam Steffey