A! Magazine for the Arts

Rhythm & Roots Reunion Headliners Sweep IBMA Awards

October 12, 2009

*** Published: October 6, 2009, in the Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier. ***

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Top performers during last month's Rhythm & Roots Reunion swept most of the big honors at last week's International Bluegrass Music Association awards.

Dailey & Vincent, The Dan Tyminski Band, Dale Ann Bradley and Michael Cleveland – all performers here during the three-day event last month – were the big winners during the 20th annual IBMA awards show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

"This is just a testament to the quality of entertainers that people will see at Rhythm & Roots every year," Executive Director Leah Ross said. "Probably 90 percent of the top award winners this year at IBMA played here this year."

Dailey & Vincent captured the IBMA's Entertainer of the Year award for the second consecutive year, were named top vocal group and won for Recorded Gospel Performance for "Jerusalem Ridge."
Duet partner Jamie Dailey is a former member of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.

"Doyle should be proud of the people who've been in his band. He's a phenomenal role model," Ross said, adding that she attended a reception for Dailey & Vincent last week during the IBMA World of Bluegrass conference.

Tyminski, who performed Saturday during the downtown festival, captured Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year for "Wheels."

Bradley was named Female Vocalist of the Year for the third straight year and won a share of the Recorded Event of the Year for performing on "Proud to Be a Daughter of Bluegrass," which also featured Sierra Hull, Rhonda Vincent and Linda Lay.

Cleveland and his band Flamekeeper were named Instrumental Group of the Year and were also honored for top Instrumental Recorded Performance for their role on "Jerusalem Ridge."

Individually, Cleveland was named the genre's top fiddle player for the seventh time in nine years, while band mates Jesse Brock and Marshall Wilborn were named top mandolinist and bass player, respectively.
The SteelDrivers, who also performed during last month's ninth annual festival, were named IBMA's top emerging artist.

More than a bluegrass event, Bristol's festival presents a variety of musical styles, including country, blues, gospel and Americana, while paying homage to the Twin City's musical heritage as the birthplace of country music.

Justin Townes Earle, who performed twice during the festival, was recently named top emerging artist by the Americana Music Association, at its conference in Nashville.

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