Grammys!

[Mandolin Cafe]

Winners are trickling in!

Sarah Jarosz just took Best American Roots song, "House of Mercy" from Undercurrent
O'Connor Family band for Best Bluegrass Album
Best Folk Album goes to Sarah Jarosz for Undercurrent

OK, that may be it for the Cafe's extensive Grammy coverage from our bunker in Lawrence, Kansas! We're wearing a tuxedo. No lie! No shoes, but a tux.



Pretty cool to see a forum member and guy posting instruments on the Classifieds (Forrest O.) accepting a Grammy.

Loved everyone in the Best Folk Album category, a tough competition. Big congrats to Sarah!

[Mandolin Cafe]

Posted by Rounder on social media just now.

[Mandolin Cafe]

Posted by Rounder on social media just now.

[Mandolin Cafe]

Posted by Rounder on social media just now.

[Ginzodude]

https://www.grammy.com/videos/oconno...ad-at-your-man

[Ivan Kelsall]

I just watched the YouTube clips of the O'Connor band on YouTube & as terrific as they were & i DID like them very much indeed 'for what they are' - however - it's not Bluegrass 'again' !!. So why 'best Bluegrass album' ??. Are the folk who make these awards so unimaginitive that they can't place this sort of music in an appropriate category ?,
Ivan

[Eric C.]

I just watched the YouTube clips of the O'Connor band on YouTube & as terrific as they were & i DID like them very much indeed 'for what they are' - however - it's not Bluegrass 'again' !!. So why 'best Bluegrass album' ??. Are the folk who make these awards so unimaginitive that they can't place this sort of music in an appropriate category ?,
Ivan

Funny thing, I knew what this post was about before I even read it! "Congrats guys on your Grammy. Just so you know, that ain't the bluegrass so just give it back. "


Broken record every year.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From above - "Broken record every year " - Yep,& they keep on doing it. Some of us at least know '.... from Shinola'. It seems that the folks who decide on the grammy awards have yet to discover the difference. I've been playing & listening to Bluegrass music for 53 years & no music like that has ever been called Bluegrass until recent years. Even AKUS quit calling themselves a Bluegrass band years back, & they at least have a banjo player.

Nobody,least of all me is saying that style of music isn't good,i personally like it very much,but that doesn't make it Bluegrass to me & never will. Put it in some other category,it'll be just as good !,
Ivan

[Kirk Albrecht]

I was disappointed with that choice for the Bluegrass Grammy. I believe all the musicians in Mark O'Connor's family band are more than excellent, and the live clips I have seen of them I liked. But I bought the CD in anticipation of a great recording, and to be honest - I was bored with it. Just not compelling music - very produced sound, almost too clean and tidy. Sterile was the word when I was listening to it. I haven't listened to it for months now. Others in that category were more deserving, IMO.

Do the Grammys just keep honoring the same people?

Congrats to Sarah Jarosz! That girl has IT, and she's a wonderful and inventive musician.

[Gary Hedrick]

Ah yes....the question that never goes away......"What is bluegrass".......now in my time "What is THE BLUEGRASS MUSIC" as Bill used to say....
Used to be Sam Bush was the "enemy".....New Grass ain't grass.....and so on and so on....

I am old school.....just plain old period and my definition is first generation oriented....but I am impressed with what I will call the new acoustic music.....Is it The Bluegrass Music??......well not by my definition but time goes on and at least it is acoustic and well played

Carry on and change is the one constant....

[Drew Egerton]

A quote from Grammy.org on the selection process for nominees:

"Screening: Reviewing sessions by more than 350 experts in various fields are held to ensure that entered recordings meet specific qualifications and have been placed in appropriate fields such as Rock, R&B, Jazz, Country, Gospel, New Age, Rap, Classical and Latin, among others. The purpose of screenings is not to make artistic or technical judgments about the recordings, but rather to make sure that each entry is eligible and placed in its proper category."

Who knows who their 350 experts are but I'm guessing they aren't calling 350 folks that know much about bluegrass.
Most folks outside of the hardcore community would consider a whole lot of things bluegrass that 'we' might not depending on the instrumentation.

Until they add me to the list of 350 experts, I suppose my opinion is irrelevant. Congrats to all the great musicians on their accomplishment in the category of MUSIC, whatever it gets called.

[FLATROCK HILL]

A quote from Grammy.org on the selection process for nominees:

"Screening: Reviewing sessions by more than 350 experts in various fields are held to ensure that entered recordings meet specific qualifications and have been placed in appropriate fields such as Rock, R&B, Jazz, Country, Gospel, New Age, Rap, Classical and Latin, among others. The purpose of screenings is not to make artistic or technical judgments about the recordings, but rather to make sure that each entry is eligible and placed in its proper category."

Who knows who their 350 experts are but I'm guessing they aren't calling 350 folks that know much about bluegrass.
Most folks outside of the hardcore community would consider a whole lot of things bluegrass that 'we' might not depending on the instrumentation.

Until they add me to the list of 350 experts, I suppose my opinion is irrelevant. Congrats to all the great musicians on their accomplishment in the category of MUSIC, whatever it gets called.

Thanks for posting that information Drew.

I was just thinking along those same lines. While there is obvious frustration in the 'Bluegrass' community over this 'categorizing' (or miss-categorizing) issue, it must be equally as frustrating for those charged with doing the categorizing.

If I were among the 350, I could give my input as to what it is not, but I'd have no idea as to what it is. Not at all implying that it's bad...it's good! It's just tough to put it into a category that keeps everyone happy.

[Astro]

I just watched the YouTube clips of the O'Connor band on YouTube & as terrific as they were & i DID like them very much indeed 'for what they are' - however - it's not Bluegrass 'again' !!. So why 'best Bluegrass album' ??. Are the folk who make these awards so unimaginitive that they can't place this sort of music in an appropriate category ?,
Ivan

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[DataNick]

Congrats to all the winners!

Best Regards and Fortune to all, regardless of genre preferences for labeling.

[CES]

Congratulations! Pretty cool that I got to see another Grammy winner last fall. Thanks for a great show in Charlotte, Sarah. No, I wasn't the guy in the audience who screamed, "I love you, Sarah!!" after every song, but I enjoyed the show very much nonetheless!

[mandroid]

Guess it was not worth Prime Air Time on CBS, so a private award ceremony, , essentially..

a few months back, I saw a episode of 'How It's Made' on the Science channel , topic was:

Making the Grammy Trophies..

[Charlie Bernstein]

Sarah's a great musician, no complaint about her, but - trust the Grammys to give Best Folk to an album with no folk music. Think of all the folk talent they sent begging.

[allenhopkins]

Now I feel famous: a few years ago I put a Dobro track on Kate Lee's When You Dream, which she wrote for the Granting Dreams Foundation. She's from Fairport NY, I think, just outside Rochester, and the recording was made at a suburban Rochester studio. Kate, of course, is in the Grammy-winning O'Connor Band, singing and playing fiddle. My brush with greatness (or at least with momentary fame)...

You can catch just a snippet of my Dobro at the beginning of this explanatory vid:

[re simmers]

I agree it's not grass. But the reason for this award stuff is to promote the genres of music...not just the specific winner. Since grass gets a little recognition at the Grammys I'll just say congrats to Mark & family, and thanks to the voters. The last thing the full time grassers need is to be labeled as complainers about Grammy geeks not voting for real grass.
Again, I agree it's not grass.

[Petrus]

Guess it was not worth Prime Air Time on CBS, so a private award ceremony, , essentially.

I don't know about that; I don't watch these things any more (and am glad I didn't watch this one) but I am glad that several favorites got awards. I saw Sarah Jarosz, Sierra Hull, and the O'Connor family in concerts last year, so there's at least three winners I got to see.

[Fretbear]

Such BS;
"The Earls of Leicester"

[zedmando]

The great thing about awards shows is they are just someone's opinion at one point in time--whether it is an individual or a group.
So they are cool if you win (Or your favorites win) & if you (or they) don't then--well just somebody else's opinion.

[Spruce]

Gaga with Metallica (despite the mic glitches) was awesome!!!

[Hudmister]

Gaga with Metallica (despite the mic glitches) was awesome!!!

Gaga is awesome. The best version of the National Anthem I've heard was her singing to open a NASCAR race. Lets hope she makes a bluegrass album.

[dschonbrun]

Genre's continue to evolve and then a new branch(s) emerge; it's not static. There are clear connections between today's groups and those of yesteryear; whether chord structure, musical form, instrument choice, repertoire, song topic, or region. Both Sarah and Sierra have strong roots in Bluegrass, but studied in Boston and learned classical, jazz, and expanded their comfort zones. Those influences are now found in their work... and to me, it doesn't make them any less connected to Bluegrass.