Best Bluegrass Album (Vocal or Instrumental)
I think Tony Trischka's Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular will run away with this one, as it should. This was, inarguably, one of the best bluegrass records of the year. Trischka is a banjo master in his own right, and he was joined by some of the bluegrass world's brightest stars. It was a great recording, and quite an event in its own right. I'll be surprised if it doesn't take home the Grammy this year.Runner Up: Lefty's Old Guitar - J.D. Crowe and the New South
Best Traditional Folk Album
My money's on David Bromberg for this one. His 40-year career has been rather impressive, and this year's Try Me One More Time was a nice testament to his gift as an artist. It's hard to choose in this category, because NARAS always surprises me.Runner Up: Charlie Louvin - Charlie Louvin
Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album
I'm going to go out on a limb and call this one for Tom Waits. His Orphans CD was pretty celebrated on the mainstream scene. He's been awarded by the Grammy committee before, and he's been so influential to so many artists. This may be his year to take another one home. That said, Patty Griffin's Children Running Through was, in my opinion, one of the best albums of the whole year. If she wins, it'll be very well-deserved.
Other Predictions
As usual, in some odd way, folk artists are peppered throughout all the Grammy categories in 2008. Everyone was so stunned that Alison Krauss and Robert Plant didn't pick up more nominations for their collaborative album Raising Sand. Apparently, it was released too late to be considered for the '08 awards. Look for more buzz about that next year. In the meantime, I think their one nomination, Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for "Gone Gone Gone," has a pretty good chance.Feist has a very good chance of taking home at least one trophy this year. Her "1234" was a pretty big hit in 2007.
The Live Wire—Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949 really should take home the prize for Best Historical Album, for all the work that went into restoring the wire recording. Not to mention it's the only live performance available on recording from Woody Guthrie's entire life. It's possibly one of the most exciting things to happen to the folk world this year, with its extensive accompanying book and the quality of the recording. It still gives me chills to listen to it.
But, the best way to find out who won is to tune into the Grammy telecast on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008. Or, you can look me up the next morning, and I'll let you know which folk artists went home with trophys. Either way, for a full list of nominees and other information, visit Grammy.com
