XPost: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic, rec.music.folk   
   From: gcmccoury@yahoo.com   
      
   Bluegrass royalty reigns   
   List of winners creates feeling of déjà vu as familiar faces again take many   
   of top awards   
   By Marty Rosen . October 8, 2004   
   Special to The Louisville Courier-Journal   
   Of all the genres of popular and roots music, none is more protective of its   
   traditions than bluegrass - as the annual International Bluegrass Music   
   Association awards demonstrate year after year.   
      
   The Del McCoury Band is a case in point. The group was named entertainer of   
   the year for the ninth time this year (and the third year in a row), against   
   competition that included Alison Krauss + Union Station, Doyle Lawson &   
   Quicksilver, Mountain Heart, and Rhonda Vincent & The Rage.   
      
   Except for 2001, when Rhonda Vincent & The Rage won the prize, McCoury and   
   company have won that coveted award every year since 1996.   
      
   Few other artists can match the longevity of McCoury's ride, but the   
   ensemble categories have been dominated by a select group of acts for the   
   last few years.   
      
   Vincent, for example, earned the female vocalist of the year award for the   
   fifth consecutive time.   
      
   Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver landed the vocal group award for the fourth year   
   in a row, and Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder were the instrumental group of   
   the year for the sixth time in seven years.   
      
   The awards were scheduled to be handed out last night.   
      
   This year is the final one for the awards show in Louisville: After eight   
   years, the IBMA is moving its annual trade show, awards show and Fan Fest to   
   Nashville.   
      
   The IBMA's highest recognition is induction in the organization's Hall of   
   Honor.   
      
   Two people were inducted this year: Curly Seckler, who played rhythm   
   mandolin and sang tenor harmony with Flatt & Scruggs from 1949 to 1962, and   
   the late Bill Vernon, an influential broadcaster, print journalist and   
   advocate for bluegrass.   
      
   Distinguished achievement awards went to old-time Kentucky fiddle master Art   
   Stamper; Mo Asch, founder of the Folkways label; Tom T. and Dixie Hall,   
   songwriters and record producers; performer and songwriter Jimmie Skinner;   
   and Kirk and Becky Brandenburger, owners of a radio marketing service that   
   promotes bluegrass.   
      
   Larry Sparks, a true bluegrass legend - he sang with Ralph Stanley & The   
   Clinch Mountain Boys as long ago as the mid-'60s and has long had one of the   
   most beloved voices in the genre - was recognized as the male vocalist of   
   the year.   
      
   King Wilkie, a Virginia-based sextet whose CD "Broke" (Rebel) blends   
   bluegrass instrumentals with bluesy yodels and vintage country tunes, was   
   named emerging artist of the year.   
      
   Awards for recorded performances went to Vincent's "Kentucky Borderline"   
   (song of the year), McCoury's "It's Just the Night" (album of the year),   
   Blue Highway's "Wondrous Love" (Gospel recorded performance of the year),   
   and "Livin' Lovin' Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers," a tribute album   
   featuring performances by folks like Johnny Cash, Marty Stuart, Emmylou   
   Harris and James Taylor (recorded event of the year).   
      
   Fiddler Michael Cleveland of Charlestown, Ind., and banjo wizard Tom Adams   
   collaborated on "Live at the Ragged Edge" (Rounder), the instrumental album   
   of the year.   
      
   Cleveland took the coveted fiddle player of the year award (for the third   
   time; he was also recognized in 2001 and 2002).   
      
   The other awards for instrumental achievement went to the legendary J.D.   
   Crowe (banjo, for the second time; he last won the award in 1994); Rob Ickes   
   (dobro, for the seventh time in his career - he and Jerry Douglas are the   
   only performers ever to win in this category); Missy Raines (bass, for the   
   fourth time); Bryan Sutton (guitar, for the third time), and Adam Steffey   
   (mandolin, for the third consecutive year).   
      
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