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The Grascals and Steep Canyon Rangers join the ranks of bluegrass music artists who received nominations during Wednesday's announcements. It was while performing with other songwriters at a Nashville benefit for Operation Troop Aid that Jamie Johnson, a founding member of The Grascals, learned that the band has been nominated in the 55th annual Grammy Awards.
“I stepped off the stage and my phone was all lit up with text messages,” Johnson says. “I didn’t know what to do first, call everyone back or just dance a jig!”
The Grascals are nominated for Best Bluegrass Album for Life Finds A Way. Released in March, it is the 7th album by the two-time IBMA Entertainers of the Year. The project is the first for the band on the Mountain Home Music Company label, with which they signed earlier in the year. The Grascals are Terry Eldredge, Danny Roberts, Kristen Scott Benson, Jamie Johnson, Terry Smith and Jeremy Abshire.
Mickey Gamble, president of Crossroads Entertainment & Marketing / Mountain Home Music Company, is especially pleased for The Grascals.
“This nomination is so great because it's true,” Gamble says. “Life DOES Find a Way and the Grascals live that message every day.”
The Grascals, who’ve been nominated twice previously for Grammy honors (in 2006 and 2007), share the category this year with albums by Dailey & Vincent, Noam Pikelny, Special Consensus and Steep Canyon Rangers.
Nobody Knows You from Bluegrass sensation Steep Canyon Rangers is nominated for Bluegrass Album of the Year at the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards.
Nobody Knows You, released April 10, 2012 from Rounder Records, is the seventh album from the North Carolina-based group and their Rounder debut. Met with critical and commercial acclaim, Nobody Knows You - co-produced by 9-time GRAMMY winner Gary Paczosa - is fueled by deft musicianship, original songwriting, distinctive vocals and creative arrangements that eschew all formulas.
This nomination marks the second for the group, who were nominated in this same category at last year’s GRAMMY ceremony for Rare Bird Alert, their collaborative effort with comedy icon Steve Martin.
The Steep Canyon Rangers are Mike Guggino (mandolin), Charles Humphrey III (bass), Woody Platt (guitar), Nicky Sanders (fiddle) and Graham Sharp (banjo). The group first formed during their college days at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ten years later, the band has only deepened their commitment to roots music performing with fierce instrumental prowess, but also providing deeply moving songwriting and harmonies, infusing traditional bluegrass with contemporary themes and arrangements.
Each year the band presents the Mountain Song Festival in their native Brevard, N.C. and will again prove their innovative spirit as they move the festival to the open seas with Mountain Song at Sea, a floating Bluegrass festival experience. Mountain Song at Sea will make its inaugural voyage in February 2013.
The Grammy Award nominations special was held at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, the first time the event has been held outside of Los Angeles. The 55th annual Grammy Awards will be held Feb. 10th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles with awards being handed out in 81 categories. The program will air live on CBS.
