And the Winner Is:

Winners shown in bold print:

ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR

Billy Strings
The Del McCoury Band
The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
Sister Sadie
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Balsam Range
Blue Highway
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Del McCoury Band
Sister Sadie

INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Billy Strings
Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
Béla Fleck’s My Bluegrass Heart
The Travelin’ McCourys
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Rick Faris
Fireside Collective
Laura Orshaw
Jaelee Roberts
Tray Wellington

SONG OF THE YEAR

“Blink of an Eye”
Artist: Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass
Songwriter: Robert Amos
Label: Pinecastle Records
Producers: Bobby Lundy/Danny Paisley/Ryan Paisley/Wes Easter

“Deep River”
Artist: Rick Faris
Songwriter: Rick Faris/Brink Brinkman
Label: Dark Shadow Recording
Producer: Stephen Mougin

“I’ll Take the Lonesome Every Time”
Artist: Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Songwriters: Glen Duncan/Jerry Salley
Label: Billy Blue Records
Producer: Doyle Lawson

“Red Daisy”
Artist: Billy Strings
Songwriters: Jarrod Walker/Christian Ward
Label: Rounder Records
Producers: Jonathan Wilson/Billy Strings

“Riding the Chief”
Artist: Chris Jones & The Night Drivers
Songwriter: Chris Jones/Thomm Jutz
Label: Mountain Home
Producer: Chris Jones

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Bluegrass Troubadour
Artist: Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass
Label: Pinecastle Records
Producer: Wes Easter

Crooked Tree
Artist: Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
Label: Nonesuch Records
Producers: Molly Tuttle/Jerry Douglas

My Bluegrass Heart
Artist: Béla Fleck
Label: Renew Records
Producer: Béla Fleck

Never Slow Down
Artist: The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
Label: Smithsonian Folkways
Producers: The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys/Dave Maggard

Renewal
Artist: Billy Strings
Label: Rounder Records
Producers: Jonathan Wilson/Billy Strings

MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR

Greg Blake
Rick Faris
Del McCoury
Danny Paisley
Larry Sparks

FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Brooke Aldridge
Dale Ann Bradley
Sierra Hull
Molly Tuttle
Rhonda Vincent

BANJO PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Gena Britt
Bela Fleck
Rob McCoury
Kristin Scott Benson
Scott Vestal

BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Mike Bub
Jason Moore
Missy Raines
Mark Schatz
Vickie Vaughn

FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jason Carter
Michael Cleveland
Stuart Duncan
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Deanie Richardson

RESOPHONIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jerry Douglas
Andy Hall
Rob Ickes
Phil Leadbetter
Justin Moses

GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Billy Strings
Trey Hensley
Cody Kilby
Bryan Sutton
Molly Tuttle

MANDOLIN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Alan Bibey
Jesse Brock
Sam Bush
Sierra Hull
Ronnie McCoury

In addition, Norman Blake, Peter Rowan, and Paul "Moon" Mullins were inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame as the class of '22. The event, start to finish, was about four hours long, but it all seemed to go pretty smoothly, and the glitches were limited to relatively small ones. Dead microphones, a host or two being a little slow to get back to the stage to take back over, pre-recorded announcements playing too soon...that kind of thing. 

It's kind of a shame, too, that so many of the winners were not at the event to accept their awards, but bluegrass bands are among the hardest workers in the business, so it's not really surprising that so many of them were on the road tonight. 

In between the various awards the stage chatter was often a little bit awkward, but the live performances made it a memorable night. My personal high-point of the evening was the live performance of "Almost Proud" by the Del McCoury Band and just having Del at the microphone for so long. It was good to see the man enjoying himself as much as he was. 

So another bluegrass year is pretty much in the books; I have a sneaky suspicion that 2023 is going to be even better.