Here are this year’s nominees in the general, country, and country-adjacent categories.
GENERAL FIELD
Record of the Year
Jon Batiste, “Worship”
Boygenius, “Not Strong Enough”
Miley Cyrus, “Flowers”
Billie Eilish, “What Was I Made For?”
Victoria Monet, “On My Mama”
Olivia Rodrigo, “Vampire”
Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero”
SZA, “Kill Bill”
Album of the Year
Jon Batiste, World Music Radio
Boygenius, The Record
Miley Cyrus, Endless Summer Vacation
Lana Del Rey, Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Janelle Monae, The Age of Pleasure
Olivia Rodrigo, Guts
Taylor Swift, Midnights
SZA, SOS
Song of the Year
“A&W” – Jack Antonoff, Lana Del Rey, and Sam Dew
“Anti-Hero” – Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift
“Butterfly” – Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson
“Dance the Night” – Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson, and Andrew Wyatt
“Flowers” – Miley Cyrus, Gregory Aldae Hein, and Michael Pollack
“Kill Bill” – Rob Bisel, Carter Lang, and Solana Rowe
“Vampire” – Daniel Nigro and Olivia Rodrigo
“What Was I Made For?” – Billie Eilish O’Connell and Finneas O’Connell
Best New Artist
Gracie Abrams
Fred Again
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Coco Jones
Noah Kahan
Victoria Monet
The War and Treaty
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
Jack Antonoff
Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II
Hit-Boy
Metro Boomin
Daniel Nigro
Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical
Edgar Barrera
Jessie Jo Dillon
Shane McAnally
Theron Thomas
Justin Trainer
COUNTRY
Best Country Solo Performance
Tyler Childers, “In Your Love”
Brandy Clark, “Buried”
Luke Combs, “Fast Car”
Dolly Parton, “The Last Thing On My Mind”
Chris Stapleton, “White Horse”
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
Dierks Bentley featuring Billy Strings, “High Note”
Brothers Osborne, “Nobody’s Nobody”
Zach Bryan featuring Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything”
Vince Gill and Paul Franklin, “Kissing Your Picture (is So Cold)”
Jelly Roll with Lainey Wilson, “Save Me”
Carly Pearce featuring Chris Stapleton, “We Don’t Fight Anymore”
Best Country Song
“Buried” – Brandy Clark and Jessie Jo Dillon
“I Remember Everything” – Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves
“In Your Love” – Tyler Childers and Geno Seale
“Last Night” – John Byron, Ashley Gorley, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, and Ryan Vojtesak
“White Horse” – Chris Stapleton and Dan Wilson
Best Country Album
Kelsea Ballerini, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat
Brothers Osborne, Brothers Osborne
Zach Bryan, Zach Bryan
Tyler Childers, Rustin’ in the Rain
Lainey Wilson, Bell Bottom Country
AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC
Best American Roots Performance
Jon Batiste, “Butterfly”
The Blind Boys of Alabama, “Heaven Help Us All”
Madison Cunningham, “Inventing the Wheel”
Rhiannon Giddens, “You Louisiana Man”
Allison Russell, “Eve Was Black”
Best Americana Performance
The Blind Boys of Alabama, “Friendship”
Tyler Childers, “Help Me Make it Through the Night”
Brandy Clark featuring Brandi Carlile, “Dear Insecurity”
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, “King of Oklahoma”
Allison Russell, “The Returner”
Best American Roots Song
“Blank Page” – Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter
“California Sober” – Aaron Allen, William Apostol, and Jon Weisberger
“Cast Iron Skillet” – Jason Isbell
“Dear Insecurity” – Brandy Clark and Michael Pollack
“The Returner” – Drew Lindsay, JT Nero, and Allison Russell
Best Americana Album
Brandy Clark, Brandy Clark
Rodney Crowell, The Chicago Sessions
Rhiannon Giddens, You’re the One
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Weathervanes
Allison Russell, The Returner
Best Bluegrass Album
Sam Bush, Radio John: The Songs of John Hartford
Michael Cleveland, Lovin’ of the Game
Mighty Poplar, Mighty Poplar
Willie Nelson, Bluegrass
Billy Strings, Me/and/Dad
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, City of Gold
Best Folk Album
Dom Flemons, Traveling Wildfire
The Milk Cartons, I Only See the Moon
Joni Mitchell, Joni Mitchell at Newport
Nickel Creek, Celebrants
Old Crow Medicine Show, Jubilee
Paul Simon, Seven Psalms
Rufus Wainwright, Folkocracy
A few thoughts to what is, by and large, a strong ballot this year:
As one of the producers for Tyler Childers’ “In Your Love” video, Kentucky’s current Poet Laureate, Silas House, is now a Grammy nominee in the Best Music Video category.
George Strait’s Blue Clear Sky is nominated for Best Immersive Audio Album, and I have no idea why that particular album of Strait’s was re-engineered in that format in 2023, but here we are.
Seeing some chatter that Morgan Wallen was “snubbed,” as though his popularity isn’t its own reward or is indicative of artistic merit. But his massive crossover hit, “Last Night,” did show up in Best Country Song… He just wasn’t one of the committee of co-writers credited on it.
I blanked on my three “No Guts, No Glory” predictions: “In Your Love” in the General Field Song Of The Year category, Adeem the Artist in Best New Artist, and Dolly Parton’s & Olivia Newton-John’s “Jolene” in Best Country Performance, Duo / Group. All three were long-shots, sure, but seemed somewhat plausible. But country underperformed in the General Field this year… Though I think The War & Treaty have a real shot at winning Best New Artist.
Bummed not to see Maren Morris’ “The Tree” anywhere. But, as we saw with The Chicks’ and Kacey Musgraves’ last projects, genre confusion tends to alienate Grammy voters.
Yes, he’s been wildly over-rewarded, but that Vince Gill track with Paul Franklin is aces.
Even with their documentary premiering on Netflix and her Country Music Hall of Fame induction both occurring during the peak of the voting season, Tanya Tucker’s Sweet Western Sound project with Brandi Carlile was shut out. I actually think it’s a stronger album than its Grammy-winning predecessor, but there’s just been nowhere near the same buzz– or promo– around this one.
Re. Tanya Tucker: Yes, it is a pity that Tanya got bupkus when it came to Sweet Western Sound and her documentary film. Especially true with the album and one of its tracks, a subtle shout-out to Linda Ronstadt (“Letter To Linda”).
As for Billie Eilish: I kind of look for her to grab some Grammy hardware for “What Was I Made For?”, which is from the soundtrack of Barbie (who’d have guessed that a film based on a doll created back in 1959 would be the highest grossing film of 2023).
Of course, there’s the proverbial 800-pound Grammy gorilla in the room in the personage of Taylor Swift. She does tend to suck all the oxygen out of the room every time she “remakes” one of her albums from her Scott Borchetta period, which seems to be happening at the rate of once every three to four months (perhaps an overstatement, but you get the picture). I do have to wonder, though, whether she’s doing it for artistic reasons or prizes. If it’s for the latter, then, to quote Linda, she is in Big Trouble (IMHO).