2013 Bluegrass Grammy follow-up

Della Mae celebrating their Grammy nomination in Nashville

Following up on our notice earlier about the announcement last night of the nominees for the 2014 Best Bluegrass Album in the The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Grammy award, we got some reaction to the news from two of the nominees.

The five nominees for the Best Bluegrass Album of the year in 2014 are ….

  • It’s Just A Road The Boxcars, (Mountain Home Music Company)
  • Brothers of the Highway Dailey & Vincent, (Rounder Records)
  • This World Oft Can Be Della Mae, (Rounder Records)
  • Three Chords and The Truth James King, (Rounder Records)
  • The Streets of Baltimore Del McCoury Band, (McCoury Music)

Adam Steffey comments on behalf of the Boxcars …..

“I think that we are all shocked, but extremely happy and excited about our Grammy nomination. The project It’s Just A Road on the Mountain Home label is one of which we are most proud. To garner this recognition among all of the great albums that are nominated in this category is both humbling and inspirational. It gives us great pride to think that we would be included among such great artists as these. This is something that you can only dream might one day happen, and here it is – a Grammy nomination. Awesome and humbling, but something that we will all remember for a lifetime.”

James and his wife, Julie, King were in Wal-Mart when they got the news last night …………

“I’d like to thank God for my talent, and Rounder Records for the opportunity to even be considered for a Grammy. It is such a true honor on my 20th Anniversary with this label, for Three Chords and The Truth, to be nominated.

Everyone involved with this project worked extra hard to ensure the best possible recording, that I think, I have made to date. My producer, Ken Irwin, my engineer, Steve Chandler, and my wife, Julie, pulled me up, vocally more than anyone ever has before. It takes an instrumental dream team of musicians, to put me in that, as Randy Pitts says in the liner notes, ‘The James spot.’ No one could have asked for better harmonies placed by Dudley Connell, and Don Rigsby. With the vocals and instrumentation by the finest in the business; Ron Stewart is on banjo, Josh Williams on guitar, Jimmy Mattingly playing fiddle, Jesse Brock on the mandolin, and Jason Moore on bass; we combined this all together to make the country canons we have to offer on this project.

Lastly, I thank you fans. Without you, none of this would be possible. Thank you bluegrass music lovers!”

The 56th Annual Grammy Awards show will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, January 26, 2014.

The show will broadcast on CBS at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. It has been moved to January to avoid competing against the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

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About the Author

Richard Thompson

Richard F. Thompson is a long-standing free-lance writer specialising in bluegrass music topics. A two-time Editor of British Bluegrass News, he has been seriously interested in bluegrass music since about 1970. As well as contributing to that magazine, he has, in the past 30 plus years, had articles published by Country Music World, International Country Music News, Country Music People, Bluegrass Unlimited, MoonShiner (the Japanese bluegrass music journal) and Bluegrass Europe. He wrote the annotated series I'm On My Way Back To Old Kentucky, a daily memorial to Bill Monroe that culminated with an acknowledgement of what would have been his 100th birthday, on September 13, 2011.