IBMA begins today, and the official Awards Show is only 3 days away. Here’s an update on our reader poll, and some predictions of my own on how these results will compare with the actual awards.
Voting has increased slightly since the last update. At this point 14% of our registered users have cast a ballot in our reader poll. That’s up 3% since the last update, but then, the number of registered users has gone up as well.
The Entertainer of the Year category has shown virtually no change and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver still hold a a significant lead. Will they win it at IBMA? I’d say they has a fair chance but are by no means the shoe-in that it appears from our poll.
Album of the Year is another one that appears from our poll to be a wrap up for DL&Q, but again, I’m not convinced they’ll hold onto this in the actual awards.
Vocal Group of the Year belongs to DL&Q, both in our poll, and most probably in the actual award show as well.
Song of the Year has slipped away from DL&Q into the hands of The Infamous Stringdusters where I think it will stay.
Gospel Recorded Perforamance of the Year is still in the hands of DL&Q, with Kenny & Amanda Smith close behind. In the actual awards, I’d say this is a toss up.
Mandolin Player of the Year also remains with Doyle by a slim margin in our poll, but unless I miss my mark, he probably won’t be taking this one home from the show.
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder have widened their lead for Instrumental Group of the Year, and I suspect they’ll be adding it to their collection after Thursday night’s show.
The Infamous Stringdusters seem to be your favorites for Emerging Artist of the Year, and think that will hold true in the actual awards as well.
The individual instrumental performer awards are anybody’s guess, but I predict we’ll see a strong showing from the usual suspects in that arena.
Tony Trischka’s "Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular" seems like it’s bound to take home an award for either Instrumental Album of the Year or Recorded Event of the Year. Both? I’m not sure the odds are in favor of that happening. Whether or not the voting members of IBMA are we’ll just have to find out Thursday evening.
If you haven’t voted yet, be sure to take a minute and cast your vote. I’ll be closing the poll around noon on Thursday.
More information about our poll can be found here.
