Folk music re-emerges at Grammy's

Folk music was the big surprise winner at the Grammy's on Sunday.

Alison Krauss and Robert Plant won Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Contemporary Folk/Americana album for Raising Sand. They also won for best pop collaboration, and best country collaboration.

Pete Seeger won another Grammy. This time for Pete Seeger at 89 on Appleseed.

Art Rosenbaum and Dust-to-Digital won a Grammy for the first volume of The Art of Field Recording.

As mentioned in another post, Michael Doucet and Beausoleil won a Grammy, as did the Five Blind Boys of Alabama, Bela Fleck and Dr. John.

Beausoleil wins Cajun/Zydeco Grammy

In an interview just last week I talked to Mike Doucet about his double nomination for a Grammy this year. He thought the double nominee would knock him out of contention.

One nomination was for a very fine solo fiddle album he put out for Smithsonian/Folkways called From Now On.

The other was for a live Beausoleil album from Jazz Fest recorded by an outfit called MunckMusic which records CDs of live sets at festivals and sells them to fans on-site. Steve Riley's album, also recorded at Jazz Fest, was also nominated.

"I've never even heard it," Doucet told me.

"Wouldn't it be ironic if that's the album that won you a Grammy?" I replied.

He admitted to an irony, that in fact occured this evening, when Beausoleil won the Grammy for that live recording.

Congratulations to Beausoleil, and to Pete Seeger for taking home a Grammy for his Appleseed recording At 89.

A Grammy in Middletown

Among the non-glamor Grammy's were the traditional folk music award that went to Levon Helm, the contemporary folk award won by Steve Earle, the zydeco award won by Terrance Simien (who made several stops early in his career at the Roaring Brook Nature Center), and the award for best historical album won by Nora Guthrie, and Middletown resident Jorge Arevalo Mateus for "The Live Wire - Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949."

Congratulations to all.

Peter Case nominated for a Grammy

He pulled up to the Buttonwood Tree in a rented Mustang, and rumpled clothes. He played his heart out for 45 of us in the tiny venue on Main Street. And I'm happy to inform you that his latest album, Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John, was just nominated for a Grammy in the "Traditional Folk" category. Congratulations Peter.

Congrats also to our friends the Pine Leaf Boys, Racines and the Lost Bayou Ramblers, all of whom are nominated in the new Cajun/Zydeco catergory. And to Springsteen, Levon Helm, Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, Kathy Fink, and the many other great artists who have been recognized.