As has been the case increasingly often, a broad slate of Nashville talent was recognized at The Recording Academy’s 66th annual Grammy Awards ceremony.
If you expected many of those awards to be in the country and Americana realms, you’d be right. Best American Roots Performance went to the great Allison Russell for “Eve Was Black,” while Jason Isbell won Best American Roots Song for “Cast Iron Skillet,” and he and his band the 400 Unit shared the Best Americana Album award for Weathervanes. Molly Tuttle and her high-octane ensemble Golden Highway won Best Bluegrass Album for their LP City of Gold, and Larkin Poe’s Blood Harmony took Best Contemporary Blues Album honors.
Lainey Wilson’s Bell Bottom Country took home Best Country Album honors, and Chris Stapleton’s “White Horse” was both Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance. While it’s a fine song, it does feel like a bit of a safe pick considering Tyler Childers’ “In Your Love” was also nominated in both categories. Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” was also bested, but at least Combs and Chapman got to perform the song as a duet during the broadcast.
Speaking of duets, Brandy Clark won Best Americana Performance for her Brandi Carlile-featuring “Dear Insecurity,” and Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves’ “I Remember Everything” took Best Country Duo/Group Performance. And speaking of performances, the aforementioned Allison Russell joined Joni Mitchell (along with SistaStrings, Lucius, Brandi Carlile and Jacob Collier) for a knockout rendition of “Both Sides, Now.”
Nashville’s Grammy winners weren’t all clustered around Americana and country, though. Paramore’s This Is Why won Best Rock Album, and its title track took Best Alternative Music Performance. Best Contemporary Instrumental Album went to As We Speak, by Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer featuring Rakesh Chaurasia, while that album's “Pashto” won Best Global Music Performance.
It’s a shame that Brothers Osborne, Jelly Roll and The War and Treaty went home without any of the trophies they were nominated for this time. However, a slew of winners with varying degrees of connection to Music City won in some of the biggest, broadest categories. Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” was both Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance, while Taylor Swift’s Midnights was crowned both Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. And we can still claim Julien Baker, one-third of boygenius, as a local. The trio of Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers took home Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance for “Not Strong Enough,” as well as Best Alternative Music Album for The Record.
