IBMA Awards: A Big Night for Béla Fleck, Billy Strings, and Bluegrass

Under a vivid sunset as Hurricane Ian spun in the Atlantic Ocean with its sights set on the Carolinas, the International Bluegrass Music Association held its 33rd annual awards show in Raleigh Thursday night.

With rains from Ian scheduled to start falling in central North Carolina early Friday, downtown Raleigh was bustling with vendors and stage crews transforming the weekend’s planned IBMA Bluegrass Live! outdoor festival into a gathering inside the Raleigh Convention Center. The awards show, however, went on as scheduled in the neighboring performing arts center.

Hosts Dan Tyminski and Ronnie Bowman kept the laughs coming and set the tone for the evening by invoking two key phrases from the IBMA’s mission statement: honoring tradition and encouraging innovation. Performances during the show often blended traditional and progressive bluegrass artists, and the award winners reflected a similar mix, with Billy Strings and Béla Fleck winning some of the night’s biggest honors, after prestigious awards also went to more solidly bluegrass artists as well, including Del McCoury and a song collaboration that included some genre stalwarts as well as Dolly Parton, who co-winner Jerry Salley pointed out in his acceptance speech “has a real heart for bluegrass.”

Earlier, IBMA held luncheons for its Momentum Awards honoring industry professionals in the early stages of their careers and the Industry Awards, which recognize broadcasters, events, songwriters, and more. Find the Momentum Award winners here, and the Industry Award winners here. During the Industry Awards, the FreshGrass Foundation — publisher of No Depression — received a Distinguished Achievement Award, presented by Alison Brown.

Here’s a partial list of Thursday night’s award winners, with their names in bold amid the nominees. You can find the full list here.

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR 

Billy Strings
The Del McCoury Band
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
Sister Sadie
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

Balsam Range
Blue Highway
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Del McCoury Band
Sister Sadie

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR

Billy Strings
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
Béla Fleck’s My Bluegrass Heart
The Travelin’ McCourys
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Rick Faris
Fireside Collective
Laura Orshaw
Jaelee Roberts
Tray Wellington

SONG OF THE YEAR

“Blink of an Eye” – Artist: Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass; Songwriter: Robert Amos
“Deep River” – Artist: Rick Faris; Songwriters: Rick Faris and Brink Brinkman
“I’ll Take the Lonesome Every Time” – Artist: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Songwriters: Glen Duncan and Jerry Salley
“Red Daisy” – Artist: Billy Strings; Songwriters: Jarrod Walker and Christian Ward
“Riding the Chief” – Artist: Chris Jones & The Night Drivers; Songwriters: Chris Jones and Thomm Jutz

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Bluegrass Troubadour – Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass
Crooked Tree – Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
My Bluegrass Heart – Béla Fleck
Never Slow Down – The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
Renewal – Billy Strings

COLLABORATIVE RECORDING OF THE YEAR

“Blackbird” – Special Consensus with Amanda Smith, Dale Ann Bradley, Rob Ickes, and Alison Brown
“East Bound and Down” – The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys featuring Jason Carter & Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
“Honky Tonk Nights” – Del McCoury Band featuring Vince Gill
“In the Sweet By and By” – Dolly Parton with Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle, Bradley Walker, and Jerry Salley
“One By One” – Dale Ann Bradley with Danny Paisley

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Greg Blake
Rick Faris
Del McCoury
Danny Paisley
Larry Sparks

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Brooke Aldridge
Dale Ann Bradley
Sierra Hull
Molly Tuttle
Rhonda Vincent

BANJO PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Gena Britt
Béla Fleck
Rob McCoury
Kristin Scott Benson
Scott Vestal

BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR 

Mike Bub
Jason Moore
Missy Raines
Mark Schatz
Vickie Vaughn

FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR 

Jason Carter
Michael Cleveland
Stuart Duncan
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Deanie Richardson

RESOPHONIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Jerry Douglas
Andy Hall
Rob Ickes
Phil Leadbetter
Justin Moses

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Billy Strings
Trey Hensley
Cody Kilby
Bryan Sutton
Molly Tuttle

MANDOLIN PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Alan Bibey
Jesse Brock
Sam Bush
Sierra Hull
Ronnie McCoury