This afternoon in a special online Grammy Premiere ceremony, Billy Strings was awarded the 2021 Best Bluegrass Album award for his Home project on Rounder Records.
Like all of the recipients today, Billy accepted from home in his own online presentation. He opened with a TV-unfriendly epithet, before thanking his parents, his band, and all his management and label partners.
It appeared that the Grammy folks had arranged all of these acceptance reactions live in real time, quite a technical achievement with so many categories and artists needing to be ready throughout the afternoon. Given the vagaries of internet connections, not all of the presentations came off well, but over all, it did allow for more of the spontaneity that we expect from shows like this.
The experience was a bit odd watching the ceremony online, with no live audience, no crowd reaction to any listing of nominees, or any award announcements. Let’s hope we are coming to an end of these sorts of compromises in all aspects of the arts. And is it too much to expect that show producers give the presenters a quick pronunciation guide to the nominees’ names?
Congratulations to Billy for this prestigious honor, and for bringing his brand of contemporary bluegrass with a rock n roll attitude to a wider audience.
Sarah Jarosz was also chosen as winner of the Best Americana Album award for her World On The Ground album.
The video below is what Billy recorded of him waiting for the announcement of the Best Bluegrass Album, and his response after hearing his name called.
