Archive for the ‘Grammys’ Category
Monday, December 8th, 2008
Eschewing the “I never wanted it one anyway” posing of one of his most prominent peers, Kenny Chesney is loudly proclaiming his joy in getting a Grammy nomination:
“I’m not gonna say that I gave up or didn’t care about it,” Kenny says. “This is an award given by your peers in all genres of music … the people who make it. You get to a point where you realize you can’t force it or get them to listen if they’re not there, because that’s not how this works, and you just have to accept that. But that said, I’m really honored to finally be nominated.”
GAC has some other reactions, including my favorite:
Randy Travis: “It has been almost 25 years since I released my first album, and this is the first time I have been nominated for Best Country Album. I spent years going through songs with my longtime producer Kyle Lehning for ["Around The Bend"], and my career has really come full circle with this release. To be able to go and record this album was amazing, and now to be nominated for it is more than I could ask for.”
Check out the article for reactions by James Otto, Trisha Yearwood, and more.
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008
This year’s Grammy nominees are about as good as it gets. Multiple nominations for Alison Krauss (5), George Strait (4), Trisha Yearwood (3), Jamey Johnson, (3), Sugarland (2.5), Patty Loveless (2), Lady Antebellum (2), James Otto (2) , Jerry Douglas (2), Brad Paisley (2), and Cherryholmes (2), plus two each for songwriters Ashley Gorley and Thomas Lee Miller. Much-deserved acknowledgment for the latest albums by Kathy Mattea, Rodney Crowell, and Emmylou Harris. Nominations for excellent singles by LeAnn Rimes, Trace Adkins and the Steel Drivers.
There will always be minor quibbles, but overall, this is what Country Universe believes is the best of country music. I’ve been a big champion of the Grammys for getting it right for the past fifteen years, and this is the best list I’ve ever seen from them, and by a comfortable margin.
2009 Nominees:
Country Categories
Best Country Album
- Jamey Johnson, That Lonesome Song
- Patty Loveless, Sleepless Nights
- George Strait, Troubadour
- Randy Travis, Around the Bend
- Trisha Yearwood, Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love
Best Female Country Vocal Performance
- Martina McBride, “For These Times”
- LeAnn Rimes, “What I Cannot Change”
- Carrie Underwood, “Last Name”
- Lee Ann Womack, “Last Call”
- Trisha Yearwood, “This Is Me You’re Talking To”
Best Male Country Vocal Performance
- Trace Adkins, “You’re Gonna Miss This”
- Jamey Johnson, “In Color”
- James Otto, “Just Got Started Lovin’ You”
- Brad Paisley, “Letter to Me”
- George Strait, “Troubadour”
Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
- Brooks & Dunn, “God Must Be Busy”
- Lady Antebellum, “Love Don’t Live Here”
- Rascal Flatts, “Every Day”
- Steel Drivers, “Blue Side of the Mountain”
- Sugarland, “Stay”
Best Country Vocal Collaboration
- Kenny Chesney & George Strait, “Shiftwork”
- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, “Killing the Blues”
- George Strait & Patty Loveless, “House of Cash”
- Sugarland, Jake Owen & Little Big Town, “Life in a Northern Town”
- Trisha Yearwood & Keith Urban, “Let the Wind Chase You”
Best Country Song
- Ashley Gorley & Bob Regan, “Dig Two Graves”
- Rodney Clawson, Monty Criswell & Wade Kirby, “I Saw God Today”
- Jamey Johnson, Lee Thomas Miller & James Otto, “In Color”
- Jennifer Nettles, “Stay”
- Ashley Gorley & Lee Thomas Miller, “You’re Gonna Miss This”
Best Country Instrumental Performance
- Cherryholmes, “Sumatra”
- Jerry Douglas & Lloyd Green, “Two Small Cars in Rome”
- Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, “Sleigh Ride”
- Charlie Hayden, Pat Metheny, Jerry Douglas & Bruce Hornsby, “Is This America (Katrina 2005)”
- Brad Paisley, James Burton, Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert & Steve Wariner, “Cluster Pluck”
Best Bluegrass Album
- Cherryholmes, Cherryholmes III: Don’t Believe
- Del McCoury Band, Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
- Earl Scruggs with Family & Friends, The Ultimate Collection/Live at the Ryman
- Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947
- Dan Tyminski, Wheels
Other Categories with Country Nominees
Album of the Year
- Coldplay, Viva La Vida
- Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
- Ne-Yo, Year of the Gentleman
- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Raising Sand
- Radiohead, In Rainbows
Record of the Year
- Adele, “Chasing Pavements”
- Coldplay, “Viva La Vida”
- Leona Lewis, “Bleeding Love”
- M.I.A., “Paper Planes”
- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, “Please Read the Letter”
Best New Artist
- Adele
- Duffy
- Jonas Brothers
- Lady Antebellum
- Jazmine Sullivan
Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
- Alicia Keys & John Mayer, “Lessons Learned”
- Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, “4 Minutes”
- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, “Rich Woman”
- Rihanna & Maroon 5, “If I Never See Your Face Again”
- Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown, “No Air”
Best Traditional Folk Album
- Kathy Mattea, Coal
- Tom Paxton, Comedians & Angels
- Peggy Seeger, Bring Me Home
- Pat Seeger, At 89
- Rosalie Sorrells, Strangers in Another Country
Best Contemporary Folk Album
- Joan Baez, Day After Tomorrow
- Ey Cooder, I, Flathead
- Rodney Crowell, Sex and Gasoline
- Emmylou Harris, All I Intended to Be
- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Raising Sand
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
The old country music adage remains: It’s all about the song. Grammy voters have 161 of them to choose from on this year’s Country Ballot. Recent winners in this category have included “Before He Cheats”, “Live Like You Were Dying”, “I Hope You Dance”, “You’re Still the One” and “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.”
I found this category the most difficult to narrow down because there were so many to choose from. Here are the five that I’d like to see nominated:
- “Dig Two Graves”, Ashley Goran & Bob Regan
- “Gunpowder & Lead”, Miranda Lambert & Heather Little
- “Stay”, Jennifer Nettles
- “Stronger Woman”, Marv Green & Jewel Kilcher
- “This is Me You’re Talking To”, Tommy Lee James & Karyn Rochelle
What do you think should be this year’s Best Country song nominees?
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
The next category on this year’s Country Ballot is a wide open race this year. Usually, the award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals goes to the Dixie Chicks or Alison Krauss & Union Station. However, for the second consecutive year, neither act is eligible.
That probably means the award will go to last year’s victor, The Eagles, assuming that enough people heard their “Do Something” to get it past the first round. In a field with such weak name recognition, it might get through either way, especially given the tepid submissions by higher-profile acts like Big & Rich and Montgomery Gentry.
My five picks are an eclectic bunch, though I will confess that I haven’t heard a good half of this ballot. Maybe my choices would change if I knew what to seek out, so I look forward to reading everyone’s picks. I’ve narrowed it down to:
- Cadillac Sky, “Baby Don’t Cry”
- Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, “Rattlin’ Bones”
- Eli Young Band, “When it Rains”
- Joey & Rory, “Cheater Cheater”
- Sugarland, “Stay”
What do you think of the submissions in this category? What five nominees would you choose?
Monday, October 20th, 2008
The next category on the Country Ballot is Best Male Country Vocal Performance. There are more performances to choose from among the men, with 83 entries compared to 64 for the women. It’s a typically eclectic mix, as one would expect from the Grammys. I had less trouble narrowing down this list.
The five nominees I would pick for Best Male Country Vocal Performance are:
- Gary Allan, “Learning How to Bend”
- Rodney Crowell, “Sex and Gasoline”
- Alan Jackson, “Small Town Southern Man”
- Jamey Johnson, “In Color”
- Randy Travis, “Dig Two Graves”
What do you think of the submissions in this category? What five artists would you nominate, and for which recordings?
Saturday, October 18th, 2008
The Grammy nominations are a little less surprising when you see the first ballot. The Grammys allow potential nominees to submit what they consider their best work of the year for consideration. After a panel judges that it meets the category’s criteria, the submitted work is placed on the first ballot, from which an eventual five nominees will be chosen.
Now that the first ballots have been released, we have a window into the strategies of different artists. Some choose just to submit one performance for consideration, while others risk vote-splitting by submitting two or more.
Over the course of the next few weeks, we’ll take a look at the different categories and ask which five nominees you would select for a given category from the possibilities on the first ballot. Just remember the rule that an artist cannot be nominated twice in a performance category, even if they earn enough votes to place two records in the top five. So even if you think Taylor Swift’s three entries are among the five best female performances this year, you’ll have to pick one.
Since it’s the first category on the Country Ballot, we’ll start with Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The biggest surprise here is the choice made by the camp of Carrie Underwood, who has won this race for the past two years. They’ve submitted two singles that were about equally successful, “All American Girl” and “Last Name.” This may have been a mistake, as there doesn’t seem a compelling reason to vote for one over the other if you’re looking to acknowledge Underwood, which voters certainly will be wanting to do.
It would’ve been a safer bet to just submit one, or put up “Just a Dream” instead, which is a much stronger performance overall. I still expect Underwood to land a nomination, but she’s not the sure bet she could be. On much shakier ground is Taylor Swift, who hasn’t yet demonstrated appeal among the country voting bloc of the Grammys and has submitted three different singles to boot. Big Machine’s other female star, Trisha Yearwood, is also present with two singles, but “This Is Me You’re Talking To” is the only one that had a real impact, so she should be good.
This thread is about picking our favorites, not just handicapping the race. I count about twelve worthy performances, but here’s who I would choose to be the five nominees this year:
- Emmylou Harris, “Gold”
- Miranda Lambert, “Gunpowder & Lead”
- LeAnn Rimes, “What I Cannot Change”
- Lee Ann Womack, “Last Call”
- Trisha Yearwood, “This is Me You’re Talking To”
What are your opinions of the submissions in this category? What would your five nominees be?
Sunday, February 10th, 2008
Okay, y’all. Thanks for a fun night, especially in the comments. Let’s do this again when the ACM’s roll around!
11:30 Let me just say that Grammy voters never cease to amaze me. I’m tremendously impressed.
11:28 Album of the Year: Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni Letters
SHOCKER!!!!!!
11:27 Quincy’s won 27 Grammy awards. Alison Krauss is thinking, “Give me six years, and I will own you.”
11:26 Usher & Quincy Jones presenting Album?
11:24 Will.i.am. Seems to be singing Record of the Year winners.
11:20 So, will there be another surprise performance? Or are we just waiting on Album? I don’t think there’s time for much else.
11:17 This is history, and important history at that. I’m blown away.
11:12 Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and John Fogerty. Pretty damn formidable combo.
11:11 Nineteen minutes and only one award left. What’s the big performance that’s still waiting in the wings?
11:07 This has felt like a very “adult” Grammy show, just like the old days. Don’t ya think?
11:03 I counted two: Porter Wagoner and Hank Thompson. And I agree with ending with Luciano Pavarotti.
11:01 Count the country acts in the memoriam clip.
10:57 Grammy Promo Clip Reel. Snack break!
10:51 Good Lord, this is good TV.
10:50 Record of the Year: Amy Winehouse, “Rehab.”
10:48 Very strange to segue from Amy Winehouse to Doris Day. Just sayin’.
10:47 I’m guessing Tony’s giving Record again, like he did last year.
10:44 She knows she’s good, but she’s not cocky about it. I like it. I predict her sales will explode tonight.
10:43 Is it just me, or is the easily the coolest performance of the night?
10:41 Here comes Amy Winehouse. Good luck!
10:35 Jay-Z is slaying tonight. Vince Gill’s got competition.
10:34 Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: Rihanna featuring Jay-Z, “Umbrella.” ella. ella. ella.
10:33 Taylor Swift needs to stop wearing prom dresses everywhere she goes.
10:33 And they get a standing O. Good for them.
10:28 This is why we need the Grammys. This kind of music wouldn’t get a primetime showcase without them. Not all the good music is on the radio, folks.
10:26 I’m curious to hear Herbie Hancock.
10:20 God, I love him. Graceful as ever.
10:19 Best Country Album: Vince Gill, These Days. Scream your heart out, Leeann!
(more…)
Sunday, February 10th, 2008
I’ll be live-blogging the show when it starts at eight. I’m hoping it’s heavy on nostalgia, given it’s the fiftieth anniversary. I’m already 1 for 9 from My Wish List, but last year was super sweet so I’m not going to complain.
Here are some thoughts on the pre-show winners.
Amy Winehouse: She picked up both Best Pop Album and Best Pop Female Vocal Performance, and her Producer won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. She’s looking very strong going into tonight, with her four remaining nods all in major categories.
Bruce Springsteen: Many feel that Springsteen was snubbed this year in the general categories. Voters have already given him three wins in the Rock field tonight, making him a more likely winner for Best Rock Album than the Foo Fighters, I suspect. This is the third time that Bruce has won three Grammys in a night: it also happened in 2003 and 1995. He’s one win away from his best Grammy run ever. Not bad for a year in which you were snubbed!
Kanye West: Again, West won three awards in his genre categories, just like he did in 2005 and 2006. Given that they are saving Best Rap Album for the telecast, he might also have his best Grammy night ever, even if he doesn’t win the big prize at the end of the night. (It’s looking like a race between him and Winehouse at this point.)
Alison Krauss & Brad Paisley: Paisley took home his first Grammy, for Best Country Instrumental Peformance, while Alison Krauss won her twenty-first, meaning that even if Vince Gill wins twice tonight, he still won’t catch her record.
Carrie Underwood: Just call her “Last Idol Standing.” Fellow veterans from the talent competition all lost: Fantasia, Mandisa, and the multi-nominated Daughtry. Underwood, however, won her third Grammy, proving those two wins last year weren’t a fluke. She did also lose a Grammy for the first time, but it was to Willie Nelson & Ray Price, so who can complain about that?
Willie Nelson & Ray Price: Speaking of Nelson & Price, they blew away some superstar pairings with their collaboration on the Hank Williams classic “Lost Highway.” Nelson has now won seven Grammys, his most recent before this being in the same category back in 2002 for his pairing with Lee Ann Womack. This is Ray Price’s second win; he won for “For the Good Times” way back in 1971.
Ricky Skaggs: He won his twelfth Grammy tonight, and I reckon it’s the one he’ll cherish the most, as it was for the first album he did with his wife, a member of The Whites. It was only the second Grammy win for The Whites, but their first was a biggie: Album of the Year for O Brother Where Art Thou, the landmark soundtrack to which they contributed.
Levon Helm: The legendary artist finally won his first Grammy, taking home Best Traditional Folk Album. In a night where many deceased artists won their first trophies posthumously, it’s good to see Helm get acknowledged while he’s still here to enjoy it.
Sunday, February 10th, 2008
Country Winners
Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals:
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)”
Best Bluegrass Album:
Jim Lauderdale, The Bluegrass Diaries
Best Country Song:
Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins, “Before He Cheats”
Best Female Country Vocal Performance:
Carrie Underwood, “Before He Cheats”
Best Country Instrumental Performance:
Brad Paisley, “Throttleneck”
Best Country Collaboration with Vocals:
Willie Nelson & Ray Price, “Lost Highway”
Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals:
Eagles, “How Long”
Best Male Country Vocal Performance:
Keith Urban, “Stupid Boy”
Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album:
Ricky Skaggs & The Whites, Salt of the Earth
Best Traditional Folk Album:
Levon Helm, Dirt Farmer
Best Contemporary Folk Album:
Steve Earle, Washington Square Serenade
Best Short Form Music Video:
Johnny Cash, “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”
___
Pre-Show Winners, as announced:
6:43 Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Mark Ronson
6:42 Best Alternative Music Album: The White Stripes, Icky Thump
6:42 Best Rock Song: Bruce Springsteen, “Radio Nowhere”
6:41 Best Rock Instrumental Performance: Bruce Springsteen, “Once Upon a Time in the West”
6:39 Best Metal Performance: Final Six, “Slayer”
6:37 Best Hard Rock Performance: Foo Fighters, “The Pretender”
6:37 Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocals: The White Stripes, “Icky Thump”
6:36 Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance: Bruce Springsteen, “Radio Nowhere”
6:36 Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Michael Buble, Call Me Irresponsible
6:35 Best Electronic/Dance Album: The Chemical Brothers, We are the Night
6:34 Best Dance Recording: Justin Timberlake, “LoveStoned/I Think She Knows”
6:34 Best Comedy Album: Flight of the Concords, The Distant Future
6:32 Best Pop Vocal Album: Amy Winehouse, Back to Black
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Saturday, February 9th, 2008
When I wrote my list last year of what Grammy winners I’d like to see in a variety of categories, I would end up getting my way in 15 out of 22 categories, including all of the all-genre awards and all but two country trophies. In baseball terms, that’s a .681 batting average, and there’s no way that I’ll come close to matching it this year.
But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try! Here’s my preferences in 14 categories. Not as much interesting me this year as last, but I’ll be live-blogging anyway. Check back tomorrow at 4 p.m. EST for pre-telecast winners.
General Categories
Record of the Year
- Beyoncé, “Irreplaceable”
- Foo Fighters, “The Pretender”
- Rihanna featuring Jay-Z, “Umbrella”
- Justin Timberlake, “What Goes Around…Comes Around”
- Amy Winehouse, “Rehab”
Many are predicting that “Umbrella” will win here, unless there’s a Winehouse sweep. All of these nominees have merit, but I think that “Irreplaceable” is a pop hit for the ages. The hook never gets old, and the record is superbly constructed. I think it’s the most worthy of the award.
Album of the Year
- Foo Fighters, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
- Vince Gill, These Days
- Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni Letters
- Kanye West, Graduation
- Amy Winehouse, Back to Black
One year after my favorite album of 2006 won the Grammy, another favorite of mine from the same year is in the running. I don’t think Vince Gill has much of a shot here. Kanye West is long overdue, Amy Winehouse is the hot new female type that Grammy voters love, and Herbie Hancock is the type of legend that Grammy gives a late-career shout-out to. It’s hard to make the case for an 18-time winner getting #19, especially when he’s likely to win his genre album award. Still, These Days is my favorite album of the five.
Song of the Year
- “Before He Cheats” – Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins
- “Hey There Delilah” – Tom Higgenson
- “Like a Star” – Corinne Bailey Rae
- “Rehab” – Amy Winehouse
- “Umbrella” – Shawn Carter, Kuk Harrell, Terius “Dream Nash” & Christopher Stewart
I think that “Rehab” will win this, but “Before He Cheats” is my favorite song nominated, edging out my guilty pleasure “Hey There Delilah” by a nose. The only thing that annoys me is that this is the second year in a row that a Carrie Underwood hit has been nominated for Song of the Year, but Underwood herself was overlooked in the Record of the Year race. It sends the message that these songs were hits in spite of Carrie Underwood, rather than because of her, and I think the opposite is true. Both “Cheats” and “Jesus, Take the Wheel” were solid songs, but they became mega-hits because of Underwood’s masterful performances of them.
Best New Artist
- Feist
- Ledisi
- Paramore
- Taylor Swift
- Amy Winehouse
It’s rare for me to not back the country nominee in a general race, but I think that Amy Winehouse actually is the best new artist of the five. No offense to Taylor Swift, but she’s simply not in the same league. She may be someday, but this award’s about now, so my pick is Winehouse.
Country Categories
Best Female Country Vocal Performance
- Alison Krauss, “Simple Love”
- Miranda Lambert, “Famous in a Small Town”
- LeAnn Rimes, “Nothin’ Better to Do”
- Carrie Underwood, “Before He Cheats”
- Trisha Yearwood, “Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love”
My preference here is ever so slight. I love all five of these records, four of which made the top ten of my singles lists the year they were released; “Small Town” didn’t, but Lambert was in there with a different song anyway. “Simple Love” is, in the end, my favorite performance, but I’d be happy with any winner here.
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Eschewing the “I never wanted it one anyway” posing of one of his most prominent peers, Kenny Chesney is loudly proclaiming his joy in getting a Grammy nomination:
on 
on 
on 
on 
on 