The Bluegrass Music Hall Of Fame & Museum has announced their latest inductees as well as nominations for the upcoming International Bluegrass Music Awards.
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The new Hall of Famers are Dixie Hall and her husband Tom T. Hall, Ricky Skaggs, and bluegrass performer Paul Williams. Becky Buller and Molly Tuttle lead the 2018 IBMA nominations with six each.
Earlier this month the museum announced its bluegrass Hall of Fame roster would be rounded out with special posthumous inductions, including GRAMMY-winning violinist Vassar Clements and GRAMMY-nominated performer, producer and preservationist Mike Seeger.
Winner of 14 GRAMMYs, Skaggs' most recent was for his featured spot on Hillary Scott's 2016 album Love Remains, which won Best Contemporary Christian Music Album at the 59th GRAMMY Awards. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame earlier this year.
Skaggs described to Billboard how this latest honor brings him full circle back to a promise he made in 1996 to his mentor, bluegrass legend Bill Monroe. Worried about who would carry on bluegrass' musical flame, Skaggs promised to concentrate his efforts and followed through.
Tom T. Hall, both with and without his wife Dixie, wrote classic hits for generations such as "Harper Valley P.T.A." and won Best Album Notes at the 15th GRAMMY Awards for the liner notes to his own greatest hits album.
Bluegrass' Williams began with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers and the Sunny Mountain Boys, singing and playing mandolin, before focusing on gospel music with the Northside Trio and the Victory trio. The latter led to his Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album nomination at the 43rd GRAMMY Awards for 2000's Old Ways & Old Paths.
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Regarding keeping the flame alive, the IBMA noted that in addition to two women receiving the most nominations this year, 2018 is the first year two women have competed in the Best Banjo Player category, GRAMMY nominee Kristin Scott Benson (a four-time previous winner) and Gina Clowes, whose first album, True Colors, was released last year.
The 2018 IBMA ceremony will be radio broadcast and live-streamed on Sept. 27 from Raleigh, N.C. The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum, based in Owensboro, Ky., is currently being remodeled and will re-open on Oct. 18.
