Ibma nominations have been announced

[sgarrity]

Well the nominees have been posted. So I thought I'd go ahead and start our annual discussion.

I'm glad to see Dailey and Vincent nominated in several categories. And the Steep Canyon Rangers are nominated too. Other than that.....it's the same old people nominated for the same old awards.....

[mandopete]

MANDOLIN PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Sam Bush
Sierra Hull
Doyle Lawson
Ronnie McCoury
Adam Steffey

Projected Winner: Sam Bush
Most Improved: Adam Steffey
Youngest On The List: Sierra Hull
Oldest On The List: Doyle Lawson
Best Hair: Ronnie McCoury (although Sam Bush is a very close 2nd!)

[LoneStarMandolin]

Dailey and Vincent are an incredible group. great to see them nominated. interesting that CherryHolmes didn't get nominated...

don't think Sierra will win Mandolin Player of the Year but wish she would. she's incredible!

[sgarrity]

It is good to see a newer name on the mando list. A set of strings says Bush or Steffey wins though.

[f5loar]

I was shocked to not see Evan Reily's name on that list.
He's picked this year more than all those pickers put together.

[mandopete]

I was shocked to not see Evan Reily's name on that list.

...or Jim Richter!

We need to start a "write-in" campaign!

[mandopete]

I think we've talked about this before, but just for grins I sent the IBMA a question about the nomination process. From what little I could gather at the website it's a series of votes. My curiousity is if those vote are limited to specific list of if you can write in any name you wish (assuming one is a member of the IBMA).

Here's what I found about the balloting:

Make sure your IBMA membership is current, and look for ballots for the International Bluegrass Music Awards shortly after the following scheduled mail dates.

1st Ballot – Foreign Mails May 16
1st Ballot – Domestic Mails May 22
1st Ballot Returns June 16

2nd Ballot Mails July 10
2nd Ballot Returns July 31

3rd Ballot Mails August 18
3rd Ballot Returns September 8

IBMA Awards: Thursday, October 2, 2008

[pocketbones]

I've been a member for years. The initial ballots are wide open at the beginning and about anybody could be nominated at the beginning of each year's process.

[mandopete]

Thanks for the update. #After the initial ballot are you given a list of semi-finalists to choose from?

[mandopete]

...oh, and one other question regarding the initial ballot. Do you have to select only one or can you select more than one name?

[mandopete]

All right, here's what I'm thinking. #We're always complaining about the IBMA choices here on the Cafe and I'm proposing that we have our own "Bluegrass Mandolin Player of the Year" right here. #No actual award - just for fun.

So I'm thinking we'll follow the IBMA process with an initial ballot, a second ballot with the top five vote getters and then a final ballot.

Sound like fun?

[Bobbie Dier]

Yes!!

[Ted Lehmann]

The first ballot allowed x number of open nominations. I wrote Dan Hays, IBMA executive director, about whether it was better to just nominate one person or it didn't matter. He told me that it took only ten nominations to get a person or group to round two. In round two there were a number of choices. Members were told to vote for no more and no less than five people. Once categroy had only six choices, but we still had to vote for five. These votes yielded the list released today. They will be mailed on, I think, the eighteenth, and are due back in mid-September. I don't see any way they can be manipulated.

Having said that, however, the requirement to vote for five on the second ballot means, I think, that the names selected for the final ballot are more likely to rise to the top by being included on the most number of ballots and that surprises or unusual nominations won't happen. In the end, the old standbys will get the most nominations. There are very few, if any, surprises here, and I don't expect many in the final awards to be announced at the Ryman on the nigh of October 2.

Finally, I can't, for the life of me, understand how Alan Bibey can be ignored by IBMA. How many instrumentalists on any instrument can be said to play their own style. Yet Alan can hit two or three notes and a careful listener knows who's picking.

Probably have more to say later, and my I expect to cover the whole week of IBMA meetings on my blog. - Ted

[mandolirius]

<We're always complaining about the IBMA choices here on the Cafe and I'm proposing that we have our own "Bluegrass Mandolin Player of the Year" right here.>

I don't understand the point of complaining about awards shows. The main purpose of such events is to promote the industry as a whole. They are essentially a marketing tool. Who actually wins seems secondary to me.

[mandopete]

Okay, thanks for the additional info. Here's my proposal:

I'll start a new thread:

Week 1 - Open nominations. By that I mean everyone can submit their list of 5 favorites.

Week 2 - Second round. I'll put together a list of the 5 names that got the most votes from round 1.

Week 3 - Final ballot. We'll vote on the list of five names from round two. Most votes wins.

Nah, it ain't scientific. Heck it ain't even really valid. But it will give us something fun to do for the next couple weeks, eh?

[Bobbie Dier]

Thank for doing this mandopete. It sounds like a lot of fun!

[Mike Bunting]

Good idea, it'd be fun as long as we don't too serious about it.

[swampstomper]

I think the key here is mandolin player "of the year". It implies that they've done something outstanding in this year. It's not "best mandolin player" (whatever that might mean!!). So for example I would vote for someone who has brought the mandolin out to a bigger audience or really changed the way people listen to the instrument. A breakthrough project, for example. This is not a "lifetime achievment" award, which would go to someone like Jesse McReynolds or Sam Bush (not that they couldn't win in a year also) but not to a Sierra Hull (yet).

Having said that, agreed it's all about marketing the music.