IBMA Awards Recipients Named

IBMA Awards Recipients Named

The Grascals Cap an Incredible Year as Entertainer of the Year

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The Grascals continue to ride an incredible wave of success taking home the coveted Entertainer of the Year at the 17th Annual International Bluegrass Music Awards on Thursday, September 28, 2006 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn. Their honors come only one year after the group took home the Emerging Artist of the Year trophy in 2005.

Marty Stuart played the role of host and performer at the show, which also featured an incredible performance by Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder with 20- piece orchestra, the Nashville String Machine, Vince Gill performing with Del McCoury, The Grascals with Steve Wariner, Cherryholmes, Claire Lynch, Curly Seckler with Larry Sparks, Blue Highway, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, 3 Fox Drive, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, U.S. Navy Band Country Current, and The Lewis Family and The Isaacs with Jeff and Sheri Easter. The 2005 Recipients for all Instrumental Performer categories also performed.

Winning in the Male Vocalist category was Tim O'Brien, who also took the honor in 1993. O'Brien was also recognized for Song of the Year with "Look Down That Lonesome Road," a cut from the Fiddler's Green disc.

Rhonda Vincent carried home the Female Vocalist award for the seventh consecutive year, breaking her own record of six set with a win in 2005.

For a sixth year in the Vocal Group of the Year category is Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Lawson was another multiple winner of the evening, taking the Gospel Recorded Performance trophy for "He Lives In Me."

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder continued wearing the crown of Instrumental Group of the Year for the eighth consecutive year. Skaggs was not only a winner as a performer, but as a label chief. Skaggs Family Records released the Album of the Year winner, Celebration of Life: Musicians Against Childhood Cancers. The Album features a virtual who's who of the bluegrass world with 3 Fox Drive, Lonesome River Band, Seldom Scene, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Cherryholmes, J.D. Crowe & The New South, BlueRidge, IIIrd Tyme Out, James King Band, Larry Cordle, Wayne Benson, Clay Hess, Greg Luck, Aubrey Haynie, Marty Raybon & Full Circle, Tony Rice, Ronnie Bowman & The Committee, Larry Stephenson Band, Blue Highway, Gena Britt, Randy Kohrs & The Lites, Steve Thomas, Scott Vestal, David Parmley & Continental Divide, Karl Shiflett & the Big Country Show, Kenny & Amanda Smith Band, Wildfire, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Lost & Found, The Grascals, Alecia Nugent, Carl Jackson, Jerry Salley, Don Rigsby & Midnight Call, Bradley Walker, Dan Tyminski, Bela Fleck, Barry Bales, Joe Mullins, Bryan Sutton, Jim VanCleve, Clay Jones & Keith Garrett. Bob Kelly, Jack Campitelli & Darrel Adkins produced the record.

Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper were honored in the Instrumental Album of the Year for, Let 'Er Go Boys. Cleveland also won the prize in 2004 for Live At The Raged Edge. Not stopping at Album of the Year, Cleveland was named 2006 Fiddle Player of the Year, a fourth trophy to add to his collection

The Steep Canyon Rangers won the coveted Emerging Artist of the Year, on the strength of their latest release, One Dime At A Time.

Individual achievements were also recognized in the Instrumental Performer categories. Rob Ickes of Blue Highway was named Dobro Player of the Year for the eighth time. Jim Mills was named Banjo Player of the Year following his 2005 win in the same category. It is his sixth time receiving the honor. Missy Raines, who tours with the Claire Lynch Band, once again, took home the Bass Player of the Year. She, too, has taken the award six times. Rounding out the Instrumental Performers were Bryan Sutton, taking his fifth trophy for Guitar Player of the year and Adam Steffey, of Mountain Heart, doing his fifth turn at Mandolin Player of the Year.

The 2006 Hall of Honor inductees are the late Sydney Nathan and The Lewis Family. Both considered pioneers in their respective fields in bluegrass, record shop owner Sydney Nathan founded King Records in Cincinnati during November 1943 and would create one of the most significant repositories ad distributors of classic bluegrass recordings. The Lewis Family has played a highly significant role in popularizing the bluegrass gospel genre and bringing it to prominence since the all-family group's formation in 1951.

The show was carried live on XM Satellite Radio's Bluegrass Junction (channel 14) in addition to being syndicated to over 300 radio stations worldwide, making it the largest syndicated bluegrass radio special of its kind. The show is sponsored by GAC TV, Martha White, MerleFest, GHS Strings, Deering Banjos and Western Kentucky's Bluegrass, Blues and Barbecue Region. For broadcast information, contact Tina Potter, Marketing/Public Relations with the IBMA at 1-888-GET-IBMA. For more information on the International Bluegrass Music Association, call us or visit our website at www.ibma.org.

A complete list of winners follows.

THE 2006 INTERNATIONAL BLUEGRASS MUSIC AWARDS

THE RECIPIENTS

HALL OF HONOR INDUCTEES
The Lewis Family
Syd Nathan

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
The Grascals

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Tim O'Brien

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Rhonda Vincent

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver

SONG OF THE YEAR
"Look Down That Lonesome Road" by Tim O'Brien, written by Tim O'Brien

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Celebration of Life: Musicians Against Childhood Cancer, featuring 3 Fox
Drive, Lonesome River Band, Seldom Scene, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage,
Cherryholmes, J.D. Crowe & The New South, BlueRidge, IIIrd Tyme Out, James
King Band, Larry Cordle, Wayne Benson, Clay Hess, Greg Luck, Aubrey
Haynie, Marty Raybon & Full Circle, Tony Rice, Ronnie Bowman & The
Committee, Larry Stephenson Band, Blue Highway, Gena Britt, Randy Kohrs &
The Lites, Steve Thomas, Scott Vestal, David Parmley & Continental Divide,
Karl Shiflett & the Big Country Show, Kenny & Amanda Smith Band, Wildfire,
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Lost & Found, The Grascals, Alecia Nugent,
Carl Jackson, Jerry Salley, Don Rigsby & Midnight Call, Bradley Walker,
Dan Tyminski, Bela Fleck, Barry Bales, Joe Mullins, Bryan Sutton, Jim
VanCleve, Clay Jones & Keith Garrett, produced by Bob Kelly, Jack
Campitelli & Darrel Adkins, Skaggs Family Records

GOSPEL RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
"He Lives In Me" by Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver produced by Doyle Lawson,
Crossroads Records

INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Let 'Er Go Boys by Michael Cleveland, produced by Jeff White & Michael
Cleveland, Rounder Records

RECORDED EVENT OF THE YEAR
Back to the Well by The Daughters of Bluegrass featuring: Lorraine Jordan,
Gena Britt, Julie Elkins, Becky Buller, Vickie Simmons, Frances Mooney,
Mindy Rakestraw, Jeanette Williams, Beth Lawrence, Angela Oudean, Michelle
Nixon, Donica Christensen, Dale Ann Bradley, Heather Berry, Megan
McCormick, Valerie Smith, Louisa Branscomb & Dixie Hall, produced by
Lorraine Jordan & Dale Perry, Blue Circle Records

EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR
The Steep Canyon Rangers

BANJO PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jim Mills

DOBRO PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Rob Ickes

BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Missy Raines

FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Michael Cleveland

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bryan Sutton

MANDOLIN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Adam Steffey

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Fred Bartenstein
The Boys From Indiana
Bill Grant
Ronnie Reno
The Whites

BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR
Red Shipley, WAMU-FM, Washington, D.C.

BLUEGRASS EVENT OF THE YEAR
The Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, produced by the Boston Bluegrass Union

PRINT MEDIA PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
Bob Black

BEST GRAPHIC DESIGN FOR RECORDED PROJECT
Spencer Walts, Eyewerks Studio & Sarah Lainie Smith (designers) for She
Waits For Night by Uncle Earl, Rounder Records

BEST LINER NOTES FOR RECORDED PROJECT
Tom Adams (writer) for Let 'Er Go Boys by Michael Cleveland, Rounder
Records

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: International Bluegrass Music Association

CONTACT: Tina Potter of International Bluegrass Music Association,
+1-615-256-3222, or tina@ibma.org

Web site: http://www.ibma.org/

-------
Profile: intent