Dailey & Vincent Dominate IBMA Nominations

Bluegrass duo Dailey & Vincent congratulate the Statler Brothers on their induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Pictured (left to right): Don Reid, Darrin Vincent, Jimmy Fortune, Jamie Dailey, Phil Balsley, Harold Reid. Photo credit: Karen Byrd.

Aug. 15, 2008 — New duo Dailey & Vincent showed up its former bosses on Thursday by racking up a whopping 10 nominations as finalists were named for the 19th annual International Bluegrass Music Awards.

Jamie Dailey previously played with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver while Darrin Vincent logged plenty of tour miles as a member of Ricky Skaggs’ band Kentucky Thunder. Darrin is also Rhonda Vincent's brother and has co-produced some of her projects. Ricky and company tied the Dan Tyminski Band and Blue Highway with six nominations apiece yesterday, while Doyle’s crew amassed four nods — as did Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, the Del McCoury Band and Grasstowne.

The results were "surreal," Darrin said after the announcement ceremony at Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, where the duo performed four songs, including two that received nominations: the gospel number "By The Mark" and their cover of a Statler Brothers hit, "More Than A Name On A Wall." Both of those songs appear on the duo’s self-titled debut, which is up for Album of the Year.

"We picked songs that really touched us emotionally, and we did our best to put [that emotion] on record," Darrin noted. "When we first cut ‘By The Mark,’ we sent it to Ken Irwin of Rounder Records, and he said, ‘I’ve gotta have you on my record label.’ From that point on, we just started pickin’ songs that really touched us and things we wanted to sing as a duo and in our group, and we just do what we love."

Given that the voting is conducted among professionals in the bluegrass industry, Dailey & Vincent have obviously won over their peers. That includes Kathy Mattea, who read the nominees along with Del McCoury on Thursday.

"The thing about bluegrass music in general is the organic nature of it, and some of the front-porch nature of it and the simplicity of it," Kathy observed. "So what got me into bluegrass music when I was young was I could play along. It was simple enough that I could dig my teeth into it. But these guys take it to such a high level. I mean it’s visceral. It gets me physically. I can’t breathe until they’re done."

Del will host the IBMA Awards, sponsored in part by GAC, when they’re presented Oct. 2 at the Ryman Auditorium during the World of Bluegrass Week in Nashville.

Following is a partial list of nominees for the 2008 IBMA Awards:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
• Dailey & Vincent
• The Grascals
• Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
• The Del McCoury Band
• Rhonda Vincent & The Rage

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
• Blue Highway
• Dailey & Vincent
• The Grascals
• The Isaacs
• Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
• Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
• Blue Highway
• Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
• The Infamous Stringdusters
• Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
• The Dan Tyminski Band

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
• Jamie Dailey
• Russell Moore
• Tim O’Brien
• Danny Paisley
• Dan Tyminski

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
• Dale Ann Bradley
• Sonya Isaacs
• Alison Krauss
• Claire Lynch
• Rhonda Vincent

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
• Dailey & Vincent, Dailey & Vincent
• Honoring The Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
• Lovin’ Pretty Women, Steep Canyon Rangers
• The SteelDrivers, The SteelDrivers
• Through The Window Of A Train, Blue Highway

SONG OF THE YEAR
(song, artist, songwriter(s))
• "Alison’s Band," Charlie Sizemore Band; Charlie Sizemore & Buddy Cannon (songwriters)
• "By The Mark," Dailey & Vincent; David Rawlings & Gillian Welch (songwriters)
• "Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey," The SteelDrivers; Mike Henderson & Chris Stapleton (songwriters)
• "More Than A Name On A Wall," Dailey & Vincent; Jimmy Fortune & John Rimel (songwriters)
• "Through The Window Of A Train," Blue Highway; Tim Stafford & Steve Gulley (songwriters)

GOSPEL RECORDED PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
• "Be Still Moses," Steep Canyon Rangers
• "By The Mark," Dailey & Vincent
• Help Is On The Way, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
• Salt Of The Earth, Ricky Skaggs & The Whites
• Where No One Stands Alone, Paul Williams & The Victory Trio

INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
• Live At The Linda, David Grier
• Sound of the Slide Guitar, Andy Hall
• Stepping Out, Jason Davis
• The Past Is Present, Jason Barie
• When At Last, Russ Barenberg

RECORDED EVENT OF THE YEAR
• Christmas Grass, Vol. 3, 3 Fox Drive, Sonya Isaacs, John Cowan, Sarah Jarosz, Larry Sparks, Russell Moore and Charlie Daniels
• Everett Lilly & Everybody and Their Brother, Everett Lilly, Bea Lilly, Charles Lilly, Daniel Lilly, Mark Lilly, Marty Stuart, Rhonda Vincent, Billy Walker, Ronnie McCoury, Rob McCoury, David Ball, Charlie Cushman, Larry Stephenson, Joe Spivey, Eddie Stubbs, Jason Carter, Dickey Lee, Freddy Weller, Mike Bub, Rad Lewis, Andy May, Darrin Vincent, Marcia Campbell, Clay Rigdon, Eric Blankenship and Bill Wolfenbarger
• Salt of the Earth, Ricky Skaggs & The Whites
• Standard Songs for Average People, John Prine & Mac Wiseman
• We Are Family, Jeff & Sheri Easter, The Lewis Family & The Easter Brothers

EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR
• Cadillac Sky
• Dailey & Vincent
• Grasstowne
• Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass
• The SteelDrivers