Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the Americana Music Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating and cultivating the community of Americana artists across the country. The AMA works around the clock to host events, participate in conferences, conduct research and keep fans in the know. They also know how to put on some incredible concerts, which have featured such influential artists as Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith and Buddy Miller. We had the chance to catch up with Executive Director Jed Hilly to hear all about the exciting events and initiatives that the AMA has done in the past, as well as their plans for 2011.

OS: As Executive Director, what is your role in the AMA?

JH: My job was designed to shed light on those artists who otherwise would not be heard. The association was created in 1999 and the group of 30 some-odd folks who became our founding council created the organization pretty much in response to the commercialization of radio in the ’90s and how artists like Steve Earle and Roseanne Cash, these great artists of integrity, were pretty much shut out from airplay. So that’s where it started from. We’re a trade association, but I feel like I work for the artist. The beautiful and wonderful thing that seems to be happening in the last couple years is that there’s a tremendous momentum in the Americana world. Some of these artists that have embraced the Americana community and style and genre of music, they don’t need me to shed any light on them at all…artists like Elvis Costello and John Mellencamp and Robert Plant, and yet, I’m thrilled that they’ve embraced this style of music because my job is to raise the tide for all ships. The participation and support of artists like that really helps.

OS: What are the advantages to joining the AMA?

JH: Well, I tell people that we are a non-profit with a very small staff…there’s actually only 2 full-time employees. I wish we were larger…people think we’re a much bigger organization. Because of the passion of the volunteer efforts that we receive, we put on a festival and conference each year. It’s an exceptional event and an amazing volunteer effort. About 150 people join forces with me and Dana Strong, our Director of Operations, and make it this wonderful community gathering. The benefits [of becoming a member]…you get a discount on our community gathering, we keep you updated, we’ve joined forces with an independent insurance plan, which is really helpful for artists who are always on the go. I would encourage people to support what we’re doing because I truly believe that we’re changing the landscape of the music business and it’s long overdue.

OS: The AMA recently announced the Top 100 Americana albums of the year. How is this list compiled?

The Belleville Outfit performing at the 2009 AMA Awards

JH: We have about 75 radio stations that are sanctioned certified reports, what they call a “radio panel.” When somebody says to me, “How do you define Americana?” This is our tool. Through these stations, they report spin counts—the number of times they play a particular song from a particular record. When you add them all up across 75 stations, your Top 40 chart is going to look different from every station, unlike mainstream stations, where it’s 10-20 songs played over the course of a week in every city in the country. This is unique, it’s a cross-section of 75 stations and specialty shows and the like, where we’re getting their definition of what Americana is. As spin counts accumulate, they bubble up. When you look at that over the course of a year, there could be a debate about some of the artists that could be at 700 or 800, but when you get to the Top 100, there’s your definition. There’s your landscape of the Americana world. Our radio stations are our heatseeker chart, if you will.

OS: Every year, you have a showcase at the Americana Music Festival & Conference. What do you look for in acts that submit applications for this opportunity?

JH: Similar to the way you’ve got 75 stations who are putting forth what they perceive to be the songs most worthy of airplay on their stations, so too do we have a committee that both surveys online and physical product that is submitted to us. They go through it, and I love what they do. Last year we had over 800 acts submit to play our event. The worst month of my year is when the 700 letters of regret, as we call them, go out, because we’re a small organization. We can only invite between 85 and 100 artists to be a part of this and it’s not necessarily the best of the best. Sometimes artists’ schedules change and they can’t come, or vice versa. But the bottom line, musically, is that Americana music— as we define it—is contemporary music that honors or derives from American roots music. And after that, a number of factors come into it. We’re grateful because the venues extend to us their homes, for free. This is our annual fundraiser. One of our venues, for example, is the world famous Station Inn in Nashville, which is the mecca of bluegrass. What you’ll find in that particular venue are more singer-songwriter, bluegrass-oriented performances. The room holds about 200. By contrast, we use the Cannery Ballroom, which holds over a thousand. That’s where we put people like Dirks Bentley, who played our event last year. So in the case of some of these artists who we’ll put in the Cannery, it’s because they can put a thousand people in there, and that’s how we make some money to survive.

OS: The AMA endorses Sound Healthcare. What can you tell us about this initiative?

JH: That’s our insurance plan. Sound Healthcare is an organization that has gone to a number of nonprofits, like the AMA, or the Country Music Association or the Folk Alliance. It’s a managed healthcare plan by consolidating these non-profit groups. An organization like the CMA has anywhere between 4,000 and 6,000 members. We have 1,000…but it’s great that we are all a part of the same plan that gives us the volume and numbers to support getting reasonable rates by being part of it. I think it’s a brilliant idea that the folks over there put together and we’re thrilled to be part of it as a benefit from our membership.

Buddy Miller performing at the 2009 AMA Awards

OS: What is your most memorable experience from an Americana Honors and Awards Show?

JH: It’s hard for me, because I’m working that day! (laughs) I’m a ball of stress, hoping everything goes well and it always does. But I remember a few years ago when Lyle Lovett came. He showed up at rehearsal and the great Buddy Miller is our band leader. We generally ask people to tell us what song they’re going to do and Buddy puts together this incredible all-star band. Last year, the band featured Buddy on guitar, Don Was on the upright bass, Greg Leisz on steel…just an amazing array of musicianship supporting the artists who perform in our show. Lyle didn’t deliver a song to me or Buddy, and quite honestly, I’m not going to push Lyle Lovett to a decision! So Lyle shows up and Tony Brown, the great producer, happened to be in the house. So Lyle’s standing there and he says, “What should I do?” Tony says, “If I Had a Boat!” and Lyle says, “Does anybody have a copy of ‘If I Had a Boat’ for the band to hear?” And they pulled it up off iTunes and there was dead silence. One by one, Buddy and the members of the band start playing along with it, halfway through the song. The song finished and Buddy said, “Can we hear that one more time?” And they ran it through, and it was amazing. Just watching this level of artists and musicians listening, thinking, absorbing…and about 45 seconds into it, They went and did this first take, not ever having played the song together. It really was an extraordinary moment, sitting there for the next four and a half minutes, and they stopped and Lyle said, “I think you got it!” (laughs) It was truly wonderful and the essence, I think, of what the Americana community is all about. It’s about the enjoyment, the passion and the love of music and it’s about the talent level. Man, they nailed it.

OS: You’ve said that, “The typical Americana act is in the music business for the long haul.” Why do you think this is?

JH: I think they’re artists. I heard Emmylou Harris talk a couple years ago…she had been presented with one of those big platinum awards, commemorating 15 million records sold or something. She looked around at the room and said “I’m honored and privileged to be able to do this, but I’m honored and privileged to play with all of you. Whether we made money on this or not, I think we still would have done it, and I think we still would have been playing music, because that’s what we do.” Living in Nashville can be so hard. There’s that old bus station story about Nashville, where you show up with your guitar and you leave without it to get the bus ticket out. But that’s not this community. This community is about telling a story through song in the best way they know how. It’s not about selling records. To me, it’s the difference between fine art and commercial.

OS: What are some events that the AMA has coming up in 2011?

JH: We will be back at SXSW and doing our annual showcase there. We’re thrilled that the organizers of that great event give us a pretty nice venue. We get to be at historic Antone’s every year and have had some wonderful performances. I’m not at liberty to say who will be performing this year, but what I can say is that it will be a cross-section of 5 or 6 artists, among them will be some newcomers and truly legendary figures from the American music world, which will be pretty special. We do a Bluebird series, which is a pretty nice little event. It’s a benefit. We’ve had artists from Nanci Griffith to Rodney Crowell put on shows for us. About 100 people fit in the room. We don’t make a ton of money on it but it’s a pretty magical event. We’re planning a little mini festival that will be a benefit to support the AMA that will take place at Blackberry Farm, which is truly one of the country’s finest inns. It’s a magnificent inn and spa and culinary experience.

The 12^th Annual Americana Music Festival & Conference event dates are set for October 12^th – October 15^th 2011 in Nashville, TN. For more information on the AMA and to register for the conference, visit their official website!

It’s that time again, when artists cover classic Christmas songs while others attempt to create a few of their own.

This year’s best picks come from an eclectic bunch, from rock stars to pop stars, Idol cast-offs to global icons.  Here are ten tracks worth downloading this season.

Mariah Carey: “Oh Santa”

Sixteen years after releasing the best-selling Christmas album of all time, Merry Christmas, it looks like the diva has done it again.  Her new release, Merry Christmas II You packs a serious seasonal punch with beautiful renditions of old classics along with some new ones too.  Her single, “Oh Santa” holds court with the holiday heartbreaker, “I Miss You Most (At Christmastime)”. The mom-to-be has lots to celebrate this year, and we’re glad she invited us along for the ride.

Jessica Simpson: “My Only Wish”

While Simpson’s new Christmas album, Happy Christmas, isn’t a best seller, this new track is fun, festive, and reminiscent of Jess’ better days.  It’s obvious she has maintained her vocal prowess and her knack for subtle sex appeal shows up even in a holiday song.  The album is Simpson’s first release from Ellen Degeneres’ ElevenEleven Records and features an unexpected R&B/ pop vibe, compliments of producers Tricky Stewart and The Dream.

Coldplay:  “Christmas Lights”

Not so much a feel-good holiday song, Coldplay’s “Christmas Lights” is an unconventional Christmas tune that evokes a quiet sadness, spawned from watching everyone else be merry and cheerful.  The band also released a music video for the track, featuring Chris Martin and pals rockin’ out in front of a paper moon stage.

Katherine McPhee: “It’s Not Christmas Without You”

The dough-eyed Idol alum hit the mark with her new album, Christmas Is The Time (To Say I Love You). Full of silky-smooth, jazz-tinged renditions of old favorites like “Jingle Bells” and “O’ Holy Night” she offers an effortless update to the tunes. Her single, “It’s Not Christmas Without You,” may very well become a new holiday classic for those who are young and in love over the holidays.

Rihanna: “A Child Is Born”

The sexy siren released this track on Now That’s What I Call Christmas! (Volume 4) and stamped the Christian classic with her island style.  The bouncing beat and reggae/pop sound offer a refreshing twist to the old favorite.

Train: “Shake Up Christmas”

The “Soul Sister” singers cooked up this ditty for Coca-Cola’s holiday campaign.  In an effort to boost spirits in tough economic times, the upbeat track reminds us what this time is all about; not the cash we spend, but the company we keep and the happiness we feel.

Kelly Rowland: “Wonderful Christmastime”

Kelly’s cover of Paul McCartney’s classic receives an R&B makeover from the former child of destiny. Featured on the Now That’s What I Call Christmas, (Volume 4) compilation, Rowland’s performance is fun, fresh, and certainly enough to revive the track for a new generation.

Hurts: “All I Want For Christmas Is New Year’s Day”

If you’re heartbroken for the holidays this year, Hurts got you covered.  The British-born duo created a Christmas carol that acknowledges how painful the holidays can be when you’re longing for a loved one at Christmastime.  While it may not be the most festive track on the list, it’s real as can be for so many of us.

Kara DioGuardi & Jason Reeves: “New York in Wintertime”

The former American Idol judge and prolific songwriter, Kara DioGuardi has teamed up with Jason Reeves for a truly unique take on Christmas in the city.  While we expected DioGuardi to pen great lyrics, it was her standout vocal performance that was the real surprise.  We can’t help but wonder if the track, featured on the holiday compilation, Gift Wrapped II: Snowed In, will lead to an album from the unlikely duo.

Lady Antebellum: “On This Winter’s Night”

The country crooners lend their signature style to holiday classics in their six-track holiday album, A Merry Little Christmas.  The single, “On This Winter’s Night” is the only original track they recorded, and it’s on its way to becoming a family favorite.  Featuring a child’s chorus in the background, the ballad strikes a perfect balance of reverence and gratitude, two sentiments many of us can appreciate this year.

By Cortney Wills

Cortney Wills is a pop culture journalist born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She has lived in LA, Chicago and NYC and enjoys all things entertainment.

Little Big Town couldn’t help but bubble with enthusiasm over their just-announced GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with vocals for their song “Little White Church” on their latest album The Reason Why.

When the group joined noted Nashville songwriters Bob DiPiero (whose many hit songs include “Southern Voice” by Tim McGraw), Brett James (who penned “Jesus Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood) and Lori McKenna (the writer of “Stealing Kisses” by Faith Hill) for a recent Country Music Association (CMA) “Songwriters Series” in Washington, DC, Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman asked the others if they had been nominated.

“See, just because they were nominated they think we all were,” laughed DiPiero good naturedly as the other writers at the December 5th Library of Congress event chimed in and Little Big Town’s other members—Philip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook— beamed with pride.

As fans know, Fairchild and Schlapman began to develop the song after listening to some classic country songs by Patty Loveless and Del McCoury. After hearing the “call and answer” songs and looking through the notebooks where they jot down words and phrases that catch their ears, “Little White Church” began to form.

But as overjoyed as the quartet is about the GRAMMY nomination, they are concerned too, because they want fans to explore the other songs on the album.

“‘Little White Church’ was such a great kick off to that record, but there’s so much more to that album,” said Fairchild. “‘Kiss Goodbye’ [the just-released single written by Hillary Lindsey, Gordie Sampson and Steve McEwan] is a completely different layer and we want fans to hear that.”

The members of Little Big Town thought so highly of  the song, that they yanked another song they planned for the album so they could record it.

“Jimi listened to it and then he ran upstairs and said ‘Listen to this.’ That’s all he said,” said Fairchild of her husband’s reaction to the song one of their representatives told them she “couldn’t get out of her head.” “It was really, really late so we emailed (Schlapman and Sweet) and said, “Listen to this and let us know what you think.’”

By the next day the band recorded the song.

“We have never done a big power ballad,” said Fairchild “This one gets really big and soaring and dramatic. So we cut it and we loved it and we said this should be [the] next [single]. It’s different for us and it’s something the fans will relate to, letting go of things in our lives.”

The song “Shut Up Train,” is another don’t miss song, said Sweet, because it shows the group musically reaching in new directions.

“It’s a very powerful moment,” he said of the recording of the song written by Luke Robert Laird, Hillary Lindsey and Christopher G Tompkins. “It’s a more sparse track. Karen sings the song and it’s really broken down and simple. The whole vibe from the track came off perfectly.”

Suffice to say the band will watch message boards and Twitters to find out what fans think. That was the case just recently when a fan commented that the song “Lean Into It,” which the band wrote with their producer Wayne Kirkpatrick, had gotten her through a very rough day.

“I thought, man, that is why you write songs…for that reaction,” said Fairchild.

Earlier this year, the group witnessed a similar reaction by thousands when they played the song during a Biloxi, Mississippi concert soon after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As the members of Little Big Town sang, they watched fans crying, holding hands and swaying to the music.

“That was powerful,” said Schlapman. “I will never forget that night.”

And the band mates says they are working to be sure that their future songs are just as moving to fans.

“We are always striving to better ourselves,” said Westbrook. “For us, we are always looking to where we can go next. We always feel like we are just scratching the surface.”

By Nancy Dunham

Nancy Dunham writes about music for Country Weekly, AOL Music’s site The Boot, The Washington Post, Relix and other publications.

Thanksgiving came a bit late this year to the home of Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion.

That’s because the husband-wife duo, who are ready to release their first alt country-rock album in February, spent the holiday in New York. The occasion was the famous Macy’s Day Parade where the duo and their 8-year-old daughter Olivia joined Sarah Lee’s dad, Arlo Guthrie, on a float. Crowds screamed and cheered as some of the folk legend’s well-known songs—including “Alice’s Restaurant,”—played.

“It was a little crazy and very exciting,” said Sarah Lee Guthrie who noted Olivia was the toast of her school because of the event. “We saw a lot of familiar faces in the crowd, people who have been coming to our concerts for years. It was a fun way…to celebrate family and share it with other people.”

Chances are good that there will be plenty more celebrations ahead especially after February 22nd when Sarah Lee and Johnny release their second full-length album Bright Examples.

Written primarily by Johnny with two songs by Sarah and another the result of a collaboration, the February 22nd release is a musical step away from the more folk-tinged sound fans have come to know. Although Sarah Lee is obviously the product of folk and honors her heritage, she grew up on rock, as did Johnny whose past musical groups include Queen Sarah Saturday.

“Neither of us came from folk background influences,” said Sarah Lee, whose grandfather was the legendary Woody Guthrie. “As a kid I loved rock ‘n’ roll and I love pop music. Johnny has always had a pop sense. We embraced a lot of folk….but that was to spring off like a diving board. We are entering a new realm of exciting music.”

And then some.

The album, produced by Vetiver’s Andy Cabic and Thom Monahan, known for his work with Vetiver, Devendra Banhart and Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes (who introduced Guthrie and Irion), are filled with an electric country rock sound that’s part psych-rock thanks to plenty of guitars, part alt country as evidenced by pedal steel guitar, part folk and pop—especially in the lyrics— and indie rock.

“I’m very rooted in the indie rock world,” said Irion. “This was definitely a move to create a sound scape for Sarah Lee’s and my vocals.”

Although U2′s The Edge was originally interested in producing the album, Irion thinks that Cabic and Monahan brought out points in the song that wouldn’t have come out with other producers.

“It’s a culmination of folk, indie rock, classic pop, alt country, all the worlds coming together,” he said. Some producers aren’t players and have a hard time and just stay on the knobs. With Sarah Lee and I, we need to sit down with guitars and play. It’s all very organic. I’m glad [it didn't work out with] The Edge. Tom Monahan has the best ears in business right now and made all kinds of great stuff.”

What really impressed Irion was that Tom didn’t back down on the sound he wanted from each song.

“I called him Captain Monahan because trying to change his mind, well, it wasn’t going to happen,” said Irion. “If I said, ‘I thought this one would rock,’ he’d say ‘No, you have to lay back. Then it will be better.’ [The music came about because of] a solid team that just all pulled together.”

That’s also obvious on Sarah Lee’s song “Butterflies” that the duo originally worked up as a bluegrass-flavored song. The producers changed elements of the song so it’s not what Irion describes as “ethereal and floating.”

“When we started doing it [his way] we really liked it,” said Irion. “It works and it makes the record come together. It makes the record a piece of art.”

For more about Sarah Lee and Johnny, check their site.

By Nancy Dunham

Nancy Dunham writes about music for Country Weekly, AOL Music’s site The Boot, The Washington Post, Relix and other publications.

They don’t make albums like they used to. These days, acts like Lady Gaga, Michael Bublé and  the cast of Glee are keeping it short and cheap with the EP— an “extended play” release that generally features under ten songs for under $10. Sure the full-length, full-price set is alive, if not altogether well, but lately the EP is giving it a run for its online retail money.

Leading the parade of EP-embracing pop stars is Sweden’s Robyn. Rather than following up her 2005 self-titled international breakthrough with a proper album, Robyn released three Body Talk EPs over the course of five months this year. Five tracks from each EP appear on her fifth full-length album, also called Body Talk, which hit stores on November 22nd. Twelve days earlier, another buzzed-about Swedish act, the Radio Dept. released their eleventh EP, Never Follow Suit.

Last year, fellow Canucks Justin Bieber and Drake both preceded their platinum 2010 full-length debuts with successful EPs, and Lady Gaga released The Fame Monster as an addendum to The Fame — a stand-alone set. Not only did it go platinum and launch three Top 10 singles on Billboard’s Hot 100, but it just received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year (possibly an EP first). More recently, Usher’s Raymond v. Raymond EP spin-off, Versus, went Top 10, as did Michael Bublé’s Crazy Love offshot, Hollywood: The Deluxe EP. Ke$ha‘s Animal sequel and/or companion piece, Cannibal, came out on November 22nd,  followed by Adam Lambert‘s Acoustic Live! EP which arrived this week. Ke$ha’s Cannibal was the first of the recent flood of EPs to spawn a No. 1 single: the one-week wonder “We R Who We R.”

Of course, where there’s a music trend, Glee soon follows. There’ve been three Glee EPs so far, including Glee: The Music, The Power of Madonna, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart last spring.

This holiday season, Michael Bublé, Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift all have Top 40 Christmas EPs, as does America’s Got Talent‘s 10-year-old opera-singing sensation Jackie Evancho. O Holy Night, her four-song EP (with a bonus DVD) entered Billboard’s album chart at No. 2, with first-week sales of 239,000, beating out new albums by multi-platinum superstars Rihanna, Josh Groban, Kid Rock, Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban. The lower retail list price ($8) helped, but EPs are cheaper to produce and usually aren’t marketed as heavily —or expensively — as regular albums, which in recent years have been producing significantly diminished returns on a still-costly investment. When the contents of EPs are mostly live tracks or leftovers from the studio sessions for the preceding album, artists and record labels can reap financial benefits from them with minimized overhead cost.

One already noticeable effect of the EP explosion is that full-length albums (in their original state, minus iTunes, deluxe-edition and Japanese-version extras) are getting shorter. Gone, for the most part, are those marathon seventeen-song sets, padded with filler just so fans can feel like they are getting a lof for their money. More pop stars are wrapping it up after ten to thirteen tracks. The official version of Susan Boyle’s The Gift features ten, while Rihanna’s Loud has eleven, which is the same length as Live It Up, the debut album from American Idol season-nine champ Lee DeWyze. Christina Aguilera and Cher’s Burlesque soundtrack is a concise ten songs (compared to Aguilera’s eighteen-track Bionic from June), as is Duffy’s just-released sophomore set, Endlessly.

Expect the lines between EPs and regular albums to become more blurred in the future, to the point where it’s hard to tell them apart. Fans may end up getting fewer songs per release, but for artists looking to make an easier buck while keeping new music on the radio (or elsewhere) less is going to be so much more.

By Jeremy Helligar

Jeremy Helligar is a former staff writer for People, Teen People, Us Weekly and Entertainment Weekly, who now writes about celebrities and pop culture from his couch in Buenos Aires.

This year was a curious one in GRAMMY world, with some heavy hitters being shut out and some less popular acts finally getting a chance to shine. The ‘Record of the Year’ category is dominated by urban pop, with just one band—CMT Artist of the Year Lady Antebellum (nominated in six categories)—bringing up the rear with their country album Need You Now. Eminem leads the pack with ten nominations for his smash success Recovery, landing on the list for ‘Best Rap Album,’ and “Love The Way You Lie”, featuring Rihanna, scoring nominations for ‘Record of The Year,’ ‘Song of The Year,’ ‘Best Rap Song’ and ‘Best Rap Collaboration.’

Other hip hop standouts include Cee-Lo’s three nominations for “[Forget] You” for ‘Record of The Year’ and ‘Song of The Year’ and ‘Best Urban Performance’.  Jay-Z made the list for ‘Best Rap Album’ with Blueprint 3 and again with newlyweds Alicia Keys (with “Empire State of Mind” up for ‘Best Rap Song’ and “Best Rap Collaboration”) and Swizz Beatz (with “Onto The Next One” contending for ‘Best Rap by Duo’ and ‘Best Rap Song’). Keys’ album, Elements of Freedom was shockingly snubbed from all categories, despite its heavy radio play.  Swizz Beats is also nominated for “Fancy,” his collaboration with Drake, whose debut album,  Thank Me Later earned him a nomination for ‘Best Rap Album,’ while his single “Over”scored him a bid for ‘Best Solo Rap Performance.’

On the pop front, Katy Perry is the front-runner with four nominations for her album, Teenage Dream.  Ke$ha’s debut,  Animal, failed to garner any attention for the saucy newcomer and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” popped up on the shortlist for ‘Best Female Pop Vocal’ but was slighted in the categories of  ‘Song and Record of The Year.’  “Dance In The Dark” earned Gaga a ‘Best Dance Recording’ nom and “Telephone,” her duet with Beyoncé, earned her a nomination for ‘Best Pop Collaboration.’

B.o.B fared well with his debut album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, earning him five nominations including ‘Record of The Year’ and ‘Best Rap Album’ while his single, “Nothin On You” featuring Bruno Mars is making a run for ‘Best Rap Song’,  ‘Best Rap Collaboration’ and ‘ Record of The Year’. B.o.B’s duet with Paramore front-woman, Hayley Williams is also up for ‘Best Pop Collaboration.’ Meanwhile, Mars came in with seven nominations for his work with B.o.B., his single, “Just The Way You Are” and his work as producer with The Smeezingtons who are up for the ‘Producer of The Year’ title.

‘The ‘Best New Artist’ category seems the most diverse with contender Justin Beiber going head to head with Florence and the Machine, Drake, Mumford & Sons, and Esperanza Spalding (who was curiously excluded for any noms in the Jazz category) for the honor. Usher’s, Raymond V Raymond will go against Chris Brown’s, Grafitti for ‘Best Contemporary R&B Album.’

This is the year of new beginnings. In addition to  Chris Brown’s nomination, fellow tabloid darlings Lee Ann Rimes and Fantasia, whose troubling private lives made very public headlines, end their year on a happier note with nods for the former in ‘Best Female Country Vocal Performance’ and the latter in ‘Best Female R&B Vocal Performance’ and ‘Best R&B Song’ for “Bittersweet.”

There’s a good chance we’ll see last year’s ‘Best New Artist’ winner Zac Brown Band on stage again this year, this time sans stick puppet—2009 addition Clay Cook was unable to accept the award with the band for their win last year because he did not have a credit on their first album. They’re nominated for ‘Best Country Performance,’ ‘Best Country Song’ and ‘Best Country Album.’ Other country favorites Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Carrie Underwood, Gretchen Wilson, Miranda Lambert, Jewel also received nominations.

No huge surprises found among artists in the rock categories, with multiple nominations for veterans Jeff Beck (‘Best Rock Album,’ ‘Best Rock Performance’ with Joss Stone and ‘Best Rock Instrumental’) and Neil Young (‘Best Rock Song,’ ‘Best Rock Album’ and Best Solo Rock Performance’) while Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Eric Clapton, John Mayer earning one nom each.  Hard rock and metal showcased no new artist nominations either: Ozzy Osborne, Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Iron Maiden, Korn, Megadeth, Lamb of God and Slayer.

For the complete list of nominees across all 100 categories, visit Grammy.com

By Cortney Wills with additional reporting by Paula Gould

Cortney Wills is a pop culture journalist born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She has lived in LA, Chicago and NYC and enjoys all things entertainment.

How do you keep the music playing when you’re between new releases? What to do to fulfill that pesky final commitment of a multi-album recording contract with a label you’re no longer thrilled to call home? Traditionally, a greatest-hits compilation — in stores preferably around the end of the year — has been the best bet. Not only do they make great stocking stuffers, but they are an excellent way for artists to stay in retail circulation while they’re working on new material, or shopping for a new deal.
Past holiday seasons have seen the Billboard 200 album chart crowded with new best-ofs, but this year, the pickings are slim indeed.

Only Bon Jovi’s Greatest Hits and Pink’s Greatest Hits… So Far were in the Top 50 for the week ending December 4, with the latter missing the Top 10 entirely, a fate likely to befall Jay-Z: The Hits Collection, Volume One (out November 22). Why has the gift that used to keep giving — around Christmas and beyond — suddenly stopped? Here are a few possible reasons.

The rise and continued rise of iTunes. Back in the days when people bought music exclusively in record stores, superstar acts like Madonna and the Eagles were scoring the biggest albums of their careers with hits compilations. Now, for up to $1.29 a pop, fans can pick and choose which of their favorite artists’ hits they want without ever buying a complete album. So when the hits compilation is released, why not just download the one or two new tracks and call it a day? That might explain why Pink’s Greatest Hits has had such a lackluster chart showing — so far — while its single, “Raise Your Glass,” is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and already one of the singer’s, well, greatest hits.

Repackaging of hit albums. More artists are keeping themselves in heavy rotation by putting out special-edition versions of their hit albums featuring multiple new tracks. It’s a holiday-season gambit that recently has paid handsome financial and chart dividends for Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and Rihanna, among others. On November 26th, Justin Bieber released My Worlds Acoustic, featuring reworked, stripped-down versions of songs from his My World EP and My World 2.0, his full-length debut, while Adam Lambert is dropping the five-song Acoustic Live on December 6th. These are like greatest-hits albums featuring only the hits from one album. By time the actual best-ofs come around, do fans really need a third version of the same old songs (fourth, if you count the in-decline-but-still-ticking Now That’s What I Call Music! series, currently on Volume 36).

The new definition of “single.” It’s harder to keep track of actual hit “singles,” with the term being used so loosely these days. Take Taylor Swift’s Speak Now, for example. All fourteen tracks on the original release have charted on Billboard’s Hot 100, and three already have entered the Top 10, but many might be hard pressed to name the “official” single. “Mine” has logged the most time on the chart, but due to the Hot 100 onslaught of other Speak Now tracks leading up to the album’s release, “Mine” hasn’t had the impact of past Swift hits like “Love Story” and “You Belong with Me.”

Rappers like Drake, Kanye West and Nicki Minaj as well as Usher have followed a similar staggered singles release scheme, diluting the impact of each one, while making each album a sort of self-contained greatest-hits collection. Usher, for example, landed seven chart hits in the last year, five from Raymond v. Raymond, and two from the recently released Versus EP, but only one song from each set went Top 10 on the Hot 100, compared to the five-for-five Top 10 tally of the singles from his Confessions album in 2004.

Another album, another half dozen cameos. With everyone popping up on everyone else’s album, many of music’s big stars, it seems, are never  MIA for long, making greatest hits albums less necessary as space holders between studio releases. Pitbull was just in the Top 10 on simultaneous hits by Enrique Iglesias and Usher. In 2010, newcomer Bruno Mars has mined platinum singles on his own and with B.o.B and Travie McCoy. Rihanna is on Eminem’s Recovery and Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday, and they are both on Rihanna’s Loud. Eminem is on Pink Friday, too, as is Kanye West, for whom Minaj returns the favor on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Got that?

Meanwhile, Drake is on pretty much every other R&B release these days, including Loud, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Pink Friday, which, incidentally, also features Natasha Bedingfield, whose Strip Me (out December 7th), amazingly, features none of the above. How’s that for a Christmas miracle?

By Jeremy Helligar

Jeremy Helligar is a former staff writer for People, Teen People, Us Weekly and Entertainment Weekly, who now writes about celebrities and pop culture from his couch in Buenos Aires.

If you think against-the-odds stories are only the stuff of holiday fables, you have yet to meet the Sons of Sylvia. How else to explain how three brothers—Ashley, Austin and Adam Clark—who videotaped a basement jam, landed on a 2007 Fox reality show Next Great American Band where they played songs including a blues-filled rendition of “Gimme Shelter” that arguably rivals the classic Rolling Stones version, beat out 10,000 or so other hopefuls and inked a deal with 19 Records/Interscope Records. Huh. They’re likely grads of Berklee College of Music in Boston or some other hoity-toity school for musical protégées, you might think. Not even close.

“We grew up with a really musical family. My dad started me on it,” said Austin of how his preacher dad sparked the brothers’ musical interests. “He gave me a few pointers and kind of took it there. My dad has always picked and played and it’s a passion of his and he kind of passed it on.”

Not to mention proficient. Of course, it’s tough to get any traction in the music industry if you don’t have a solid mentor and the brothers had one right in their own home.

“We had heroes, for sure, but I guess our father [was always the main one], influencing us and telling us [to] keep at it and making us do it,” he said. “We would go to bluegrass festival and play with [well known artists] and it was addicting even though we were really young at the time.”

The addiction led the brothers to individually ease into high-profile gigs with Carrie Underwood — a major fan and supporter of the band — and SheDaisy. But players come and go and these guys knew they had to roll the dice to stay in the game. So they taped the submission — as The Clark Brothers — right before the show’s deadline and sent it off.

“We started taking it really seriously right after we won Next Great American Band on Fox,” said Austin. “That experience was really such a growing and learning experience as writers and we wrote the whole record. It definitely was a time when we figured out how to express ourselves.”

In a major way.

Fast-forward to April 2009 when the brothers’ debut album Revelation was released and debuted at No. 33 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. A slot on Carrie Underwood’s “Play On” tour and a high-profile appearance on American Idol are among the other major successes the brothers can recount from this past year.

Expect plenty more ahead as songs from the album, including the first single “I’ll Know You“, continue to build momentum — and even more success — for the band.

“Every song is different,” said Austin of the writing process surrounding the single. “When you are writing some songs just pop out. [The song] “I’ll Know You” didn’t take long…We got together, we wrote it and walked in the next room and recorded it.”
See? Against-the-odds stories really do happen.

Sons of Sylvia “I’ll Know You” (Behind The Scenes)

Tour Dates

DEC 1: St. Louis, MO – Chaifetz Arena

DEC 2: Evansville, IN – Roberts Stadium

DEC 4: Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena

DEC 5: Sioux Falls, SD – Sioux Falls Arena

DEC 7: Rapid City, SD – Rushmore Plaza Civic Centre

DEC 8: Casper, WY – Casper Events Center

DEC 12: Bozeman, MT – Breedan Field House

DEC 14: Yakima, WA – Yakima Valley Sun Dome

DEC 15: Penticton, CAN – South Okanagan Events Centre

DEC 16: Vancouver, BC V6B 6G1, CAN – Rogers Arena

DEC 18: Edmonton, AB, CAN – Rexall Place

DEC 19: Calgary, CAN – Pengrowth Saddledome

By Nancy Dunham

Nancy Dunham writes about music for Country Weekly, AOL Music’s site The Boot, The Washington Post, Relix and other publications.

The Drive-By Truckers are ready to deliver the band’s next album, Go-Go Boots, less than a year after releasing The Big To-Do.

So what’s the rush?

“It is going to be our Valentine’s Day record,” Chief Trucker Patterson Hood says. “We are really excited about it because we think this is the one that’s hopefully going to take it to the next level.”

Not that Drive-By Truckers have been any slouches. The Big To-Do debuted at No. 22 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart and No. 1 on the Indie Chart. Credit Hood, co-founder Mike Cooley and their band mates for not wavering from the band’s distinctive three-guitar line up since the band’s 1998 formation. The result has been an ultra-loyal fan base that has propelled the alt-country, southern-rock band up the charts and onto a growing number of critics “best of” lists.

“You know, I wouldn’t trade [the song] ‘Birthday Boy’ for a dozen of ‘Faithfully,’” says Hood mentioning a top-charting ballad by the rock band Journey. “The thing about the ballads is that you play them at those moments when you have an arena full of screaming girls. We don’t have either the ballads or the screaming girls.

Perhaps not now but we’ll see what happens when the fan base grows even stronger especially now that the Truckers’ spent part of the summer touring with their personal musical hero Tom Petty.

“That was a great experience and I think everyone really enjoyed it,” says Hood noting that at one time the Truckers’ had vowed not to take more opening gigs but quickly relented when Petty came calling. “I think it made us a better band, too.”

Fans will see that during the tour for Go-Go Boots when the band’s set list will draw heavily from the rock sounds presented on The Big To-Do and what Hood calls “the country, soul, murder ballad record” Go-Go Boots.

“We’ve worked real hard and I feel like it’s been rewarding and rewarded, too,” says Hood. “You know the economy is stuck right now and….we have built up a good enough set that people feel a little better spending their hard earned [money] to hear us. You know, we’re pretty consistent. Our show changes every night..and there are a lot of things about it that are in constant flux. We take it pretty seriously to make sure it’s 100% every night.

Most of the songs for both records were recorded at the same time, says Hood. The band decided to make two albums out of the works rather than leave some songs out or release a “ridiculously long, sprawling record.”

The songs on Go-Go Boots were influenced heavily by the band’s love for the music of Bobbie Womack, Eddie Hinton and soulful music often classified as the “Muscle Shoals (Alabama) sound.”

“Those influences loom very large on this record,” says Hood. “We have all been obsessed Eddie Hinton fans for years.”

In fact, the band covers the Hinton songs “Everybody Needs Love” and “Where’s Eddie?” which Hinton wrote and the British singer Lulu recorded in 1969.

“‘Everybody Needs Love’ doesn’t sound like something I’ve ever written, but it sure sounds like something I wish I could have written,” says Hood. “I feel as strongly performing that song as anything I’ve written. It’s kind of fun shining a light on [those songs] and hopefully encouraging more people to check Eddie’s music out….It was a labor of love recording those songs.”

[Editor’s Note: The Drive-By Truckers will release a 10-inch record with the songs “Thanksgiving Filter” and “Used to Be a Cop,” on November 26 in celebration of Record Store Day. Both songs will be included on Go-Go Boots.  The band will also release a film, The Secret to a Happy Ending, about how the American South shaped rock ‘n’ roll. For more details, check out the band’s Web site.

By Nancy Dunham

Nancy Dunham writes about music for Country Weekly, AOL Music’s site The Boot, The Washington Post, Relix and other publications.

Anyone who was at Nashville’s legendary Station Inn when Cherryholmes played there during the recent Americana Music Festival likely won’t forget the event anytime soon.

Although there were a host of big name entertainers in town and playing that night, it was this family band that pulled in a huge crowd that forced the venue managers to halt access to the show. Yet plenty of fans stood outside in the cold rain hoping for a chance to hear the band.

“I just love to sing,” Cia Cherryholmes, one of the group’s main songwriters, said of concerts. “I especially love to sing [the jazz number] ‘Just You.’ I get to sing in front of a large microphone and sing in a way that’s a little different than what we usually do.”

If there’s a secret to the band that Jere and Sandy Cherryholmes formed with their children after their eldest daughter died, it’s that the members aren’t afraid to reach beyond the bluegrass format.

Perhaps Sandy Cherryholmes explains the dynamic best, noting that she and Jere come from the ’60s and especially enjoy musicians such as Stevie Ray Vaughn while the siblings have passions for modern rock and jazz. The mix of influences can push musical boundaries at times–such as when the band discusses how to work with a jazz-inspired number–but generally swings back to the bluegrass roots that tether the band’s sound.

“Molly wrote a song and when she first played it, for us it was more of a jazz tune that you’d play with a jazz combo,” said Sandy. “We had to decide how to work with it. We don’t use a piano and we have to decide what we would want to do with a banjo role and [otherwise] how to best fit on a bluegrass record without being too far out.”

Although such conversations would lead to rifts in more than a few bands and families, the Cherryholmes admit they are “brutally honest with each other,” says Cia. “One of us might way ‘Why did you write that? What were you thinking?’ We can say it because we’re family.”

Adds her brother B.J. “We are real people. That just kind of comes out in our music.”

And what a way it has manifested with awards including “Entertainer of the Year” from the International Bluegrass Music Association to many nominations including two for GRAMMY Awards. Now the band is supporting its latest release Cherryholmes IV: Common Threads. Critical and popular kudos have led many to believe that the band may finally win a coveted GRAMMY.

“We have been all over the world, we enjoy performing, we have done so well,” said Cia of her dream. “If we could just bring home an actual Grammy–not a nomination–and I could have that gramophone sitting on the mantel, well, I’d be very happy about that.”

By Nancy Dunham

Nancy Dunham writes about music for Country Weekly, AOL Music’s site The Boot, The Washington Post, Relix and other publications.