Though the holidays are over, the spirit of the Recording Academy's 60th GRAMMY Awards Nominees Reception felt akin to Christmas Eve.
But on the eve of Music's Biggest Night, a different kind of anticipation filled the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City. Instead of questions about what gifts would be in store the next day, the question many nominees were likely pondering was, "Will I win a GRAMMY tomorrow?"
While we won't know until the envelopes are cracked open in the 84 GRAMMY categories, what is certain is that the respect and genuine admiration between the fellow nominees in attendance were genuine. We spoke with 11 nominees spanning categories in the Rock, American Roots Music, Children's, Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music, and R&B Fields and asked them how they were feeling heading into GRAMMY Sunday. Here's what they had to say.
"I feel excited to be here and be representing heavy metal and hard rock. But I'm trying to subdue any feelings of hope. I'd love to get my hands on one of those statues, of course. That would be very amazing and cool and wonderful. [We're] up against Metallica [for Best Rock Song], who are very good friends of ours. We've toured with them a lot. Queens Of The Stone Age, again, are very close friends of ours.The rock and metal community is very small and we all know and respect each other." — Mastodon's Brann Dailor: Nominated for Best Rock Album for Emperor Of Sand and Best Metal Performance for "Sultan's Curse"
"We have previously won five GRAMMYs and a Lifetime Achievement Award. It's always a thrill to be nominated, to come to the GRAMMYs and to see our friends. We're coming all the way from the West Coast, and after the GRAMMYs are over we'll return to West Canada for more shows." — Jimmy Carter, Blind Boys Of Alabama: Nominated for Best American Roots Performance for "Let My Mother Live"
"This is our second GRAMMY nom. And I think that for us it just means that we're doing something right in kingdom music. I think it means that all of our hard work, and all of the things we put forth toward kingdom, is going noticed." — Ahjah Walls, the Walls Group: Nominated for Best Gospel Performance/Song for "My Life"
"We are very, very excited. This was something, of course, we didn't expect to happen with 'Despacito.' It has been a great year. All of [the other nominees in the category] are idols for us so we are super honored to be part of that category with them." — Producers Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo: Nominated for Record Of The Year for Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber's "Despacito"
"Man, this is really special. This is a big year for R&B. I'm nominated amongst some giants in Bruno [Mars], SZA and Childish Gambino. So I'm just very honored to be a part." — PJ Morton: Nominated for Best R&B Song for "First Began" and Best R&B Album for Gumbo
"It's bittersweet to be here without Gregg [Allman], of course. … He passed away May of 2017, but we had a great run together. We had a great collaboration as writers. I was his bandleader and guitar player in his touring band and also made two records with him… And our record Southern Blood … is also up for the [Best Americana Album] category. It was a big honor to play with him and it's an honor to be standing here to represent what I can of his legacy, He was a tremendous guy." — Scott Sharrard: Nominated for Best American Roots Song for "My Only True Friend"
"I'm super excited to be nominated for the third time and it's an amazing group of nominees, so I feel really honored to be a part of it. I did have the title [of my album] prior to Beyoncé's record being released … and then I saw that and I thought, "Uh, oh." And then I thought, "Well, it will be funny. I'll just call it 'Lemonade' anyway." — Justin Roberts: Nominated for Best Children's Album for Lemonade
"It feels amazing! It's an honor to be here. I'm very excited for our little indie project coming from the Pacific Northwest," — Randy Porter, Randy Porter Trio: Nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Porter Plays Porter
"It's an amazing feeling. It's hard to explain. I have so many emotions because you feel that the Academy really showcased you. All the types of people really respecting our types of music, you feel that energy when you come here."— Northern Cree's Leroy Whitstone, Best Regional Roots Music Album for Mîyo Kekisepa, Make A Stand [Live]
"it's wonderful to be here, taking in the scenery, taking in the city, taking in the environment. We're just having a good time," — Bishop Cortez Vaughn: Nominated for Best Gospel Performance/Song for "You Deserve It"
"My God, it's amazing. It's our first nomination. [Our fellow nominees] are all amazing. The competition is really hard. Whoever wins, it's well done. We're honored just to be recognized." — Jane Bunnett & Maqueque's Elizabeth Rodriguez: Nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album for Addara
