51st Grammy Awards: 2009 Country Music Nominees

Country Singers, Songwriters & Groups Score Grammy Nominations

Dec 4, 2008 Lisa L. Rollins

Platinum-selling country newcomer Taylor Swift was co-host for the recent 51st annual Grammy nominations ceremony in L.A., which included some of country music's best.

The 2009 Grammy nominees were announced this year via a prime-time network special instead of the traditional morning newscasts of the past. To help share the nominee news, the Dec. 3, 2008, ceremony/concert was overseen by country starlet Taylor Swift and fellow co-host LL Cool J.

Country, Gospel and Bluegrass Music's Finest Among 2009 Grammy Nominees

As for Guitar Town's presence during the on-camera Grammy nominations, the event featured a fair sampling of country-music contenders including bluegrass icon Alison Krauss, who—along with rocker Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin and solo-artist fame—nabbed five nominations in the 2009 contest, including for Record of the Year (Please Read the Letter) and Album of the Year (Raising Sand) in the all-genre categories.

Krauss and Plant, who took home a Grammy last year for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for their Gone, Gone, Gone track, also secured a 2009 nomination in the same category for Rich Woman, as well as nods for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for Killing the Blues and Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album.

From Grammy Favorite Alison Krauss to Grammy-less George Strait

Interestingly, longtime Lone Star country-hitmaker George Strait, who's nominated in four categories this time, has yet to win a Grammy. And for all you music-trivia buffs, Krauss has won more than 20 Grammys to date, which is more than any other female in Grammy history, thanks to her talents as a solo artist, producer, collaborator and member of Union Station.

The following is an overview of the categories for the 2009 Grammy Awards that feature country, country-gospel or bluegrass artists among the nominees. To be eligible for the upcoming awards, recordings must have been released between Oct. 1, 2007, and Sept. 30, 2008.

Best New Artist

• Adele

• Duffy

• Lady Antebellum

• Jonas Brothers

• Jazmine Sullivan

Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album

• Room For More by Booth Brothers

• Lovin' Life by Gaither Vocal Band

• Steps To Heaven by Charlie Louvin

• Hymned Again by Bart Millard

• Ephesians One by Karen Peck & New River

Best Female Country Vocal Performance: (For a solo vocal performance. Singles or tracks only.)

• For These Times by Martina McBride

• What I Cannot Change by LeAnn Rimes

• Last Name by Carrie Underwood

• Last Call by Lee Ann Womack.

• This Is Me You're Talking To by Trisha Yearwood

Best Male Country Vocal Performance: (This category is for a solo vocal performance. Singles or tracks only.)

• You're Gonna Miss This by Trace Adkins

• In Color by Jamey Johnson

• Just Got Started Lovin' You by James Otto

• Letter to Me by Brad Paisley

• Troubadour by George Strait

Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: (This category is for established duos or groups with vocals. Singles or tracks only.)

• God Must Be Busy by Brooks & Dunn

• Love Don't Live Here by Lady Antebellum

• Every Day by Rascal Flatts

• Blue Side of the Mountain by SteelDrivers

• Stay by duo Sugarland

Best Country Collaboration With Vocals: (This category is for a collaborative performance, with vocals, by artists who do not normally perform together. Singles or tracks only.)

• Shiftwork by Kenny Chesney & George Strait

• Killing the Blues by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

• House of Cash by George Strait & Patty Loveless,

• Life in a Northern Town by Sugarland, Jake Owen & Little Big Town

• Let the Wind Chase You by Trisha Yearwood & Keith Urban

Best Country Instrumental Performance: (This category is for solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, without vocals. Singles or tracks only.)

• Sumatra by Cherryholmes

• Two Small Cars in Rome by Jerry Douglas & Lloyd Green

• Sleigh Ride by Bela Fleck & the Flecktones

• Is This America? (Katrina 2005) by Charlie Haden, Pat Metheny, Jerry Douglas & Bruce Hornsby

• Cluster Pluck by Brad Paisley, James Burton, Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert & Steve Wariner.

Best Country Song: (This is a songwriter award. Artist names appear in parentheses. Singles or tracks only.)

• Dig Two Graves, written by Ashley Gorley & Bob Regan

• I Saw God Today, written by Rodney Clawson, Monty Criswell & Wade Kirby

• In Color, written by Jamey Johnson, Lee Thomas Miller & James Otto

• Stay, penned by Jennifer Nettles

• You're Gonna Miss This, written by Ashley Gorley & Lee Thomas Miller

Best Country Album: (This may be a vocal or instrumental release.)

• That Lonesome Song by Jamey Johnson

• Sleepless Nights by Patty Loveless

• Troubadour by George Strait

• Around the Bend by Randy Travis

• Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love by Trisha Yearwood

Best Bluegrass Album: (This may be a vocal or instrumental release.)

• Cherryholmes III: Don't Believe by Cherryholmes

• Del McCoury Band -- Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival by Del McCoury Band

• The Ultimate Collection/Live at the Ryman by Earl Scruggs with Family & Friends

• Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947 by Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

• Wheels by Dan Tyminski

Best Traditional Folk Album: (This may be a vocal or instrumental album.)

• Coal by Kathy Mattea

• Comedians & Angels by Tom Paxton

• Bring Me Home by Peggy Seeger

• At 89 by Pete Seeger

• Strangers in Another Country by Rosalie Sorrels

Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album: (This may be a vocal or instrumental release.)

• Day After Tomorrow by Joan Baez

• I, Flathead by Ry Cooder

• Sex & Gasoline by Rodney Crowell

• All I Intended to Be by Emmylou Harris

• Raising Sand by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

• The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will be held Feb. 8, 2009, at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, making it the sixth consecutive time that this venue has been the host site for the live show. The program will be broadcast on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. (Eastern/Pacific).

Sources

Cooper, Peter. Nashville acts get their due in Grammy nominations: From country to polka, Music City represented, The Tennessean, Dec. 4, 2008.

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards Nominations List. Retrieved Dec. 4, 2008, from www.grammy.com

Shelburne, Craig. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, George Strait Among Leading Grammy Nominees. CMT News, posted Dec. 4, 2008, at www.cmt.com

The copyright of the article 51st Grammy Awards: 2009 Country Music Nominees in Country Music is owned by Lisa L. Rollins. Permission to republish 51st Grammy Awards: 2009 Country Music Nominees in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

2009 Grammy prize

Singer Fergie & country's Taylor Swift@Grammy even

Alison Krauss & Robert Plant

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Comments

Dec 4, 2008 7:44 PM

Guest :

Tell me things I didn't already know. That's what I wanted. That's what I got in this article.

Dec 4, 2008 7:54 PM

Guest :

I didn't realize George Strait had never won a Grammy. That surprises me. He has won everything else. I also did not realize Allison Krauss had won more than any other female. Good coverage.

Jan 19, 2009 1:10 PM

Guest :

It's about time Joan Baez has been nominated, too bad the contemporary folk music category has already been pre determined.

3 Comments