Grammys

We’re only two days away from the annual event billed as Music’s Biggest Night – the 55th Grammy Awards.  Among the live performances scheduled for the night, the country music genre will be represented by the likes of Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, and Carrie Underwood.  In addition, genre favorite Zac Brown is scheduled to participate in a star-studded tribute to the late Levon Helm along with Elton John, Mumford & Sons, Mavis Staples, and Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, while T. Bone Burnett will as musical director for the tribute performance.

We at Country Universe have busily pored over the list of this year’s nominees, and now we’re pleased to share our picks and predictions for the all-genre, country, and country-adjacent award categories.  Do you agree?  Do you disagree?  Share your thoughts in the comments section, and tell us who you think will emerge victorious.  Tune in for the live broadcast on Sunday, February 10 at 8:00 pm Eastern on CBS.  We will be live blogging the show here at Country Universe, and we hope you will drop by and join in the fun.

The Grammy season is upon us. In some ways each year is different, and yet in some ways each year is the same. Some nods we see coming from a mile away (“Just Somebody That I Used to Know” for Record of the Year – Called it!), some come as pleasant surprises (Finally some recognition for “Cost of Livin'”!), and of course there are some records that sell well enough to score nominations even though they stink (Take your pick).

The nominations for the upcoming Grammy awards have been announced.

For the first time in many years, there isn’t a contender in the Record, Song, or Album category that has any connection to country music. Couple that with the reduced number of country categories, and there isn’t too much to write about this year.

The increasing presence of country in the general categories of the Grammy Awards is undeniable.

In three of the past five years, an artist with connections to country music has won Album of the Year. The same ratio applies for the Record of the Year category. In the same time frame, two country artists have won Song of the Year and two have won Best New Artist.

That’s all good and well, and would be seen as a positive for the genre if not for one pesky problem. All of the artists and songs and albums that have been emerging victorious have been nearly indistinguishable from adult Top 40 music.