The 68th annual Grammy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, February 1, 2026. Pop and hip-hop artists like Kendrick Lamar, Jack Antonoff, Lady Gaga, and Bad Bunny lead the nominations, but the nominees for all roots music (and adjacent) categories are listed below.
Best Country Solo Performance
“Nose On The Grindstone” – Tyler Childers
“Good News” – Shaboozey
“Bad As I Used To Be [From “F1® The Movie”]” – Chris Stapleton
“I Never Lie” – Zach Top
“Somewhere Over Laredo” – Lainey Wilson
Best Americana Album
BIG MONEY – Jon Batiste
Bloom – Larkin Poe
Last Leaf On The Tree – Willie Nelson
So Long Little Miss Sunshine – Molly Tuttle
Middle – Jesse Welles
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
- Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton - "A Song To Sing"
- Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson - Trailblazer
- Margo Price & Tyler Childers - "Love Me Like You Used To Do"
- Shaboozey & Jelly Roll - "Amen"
- George Strait & Chris Stapleton - "Honky Tonk Hall Of Fame"
Best Country Song
- Tyler Childers - "Bitin' List"
- Shaboozey - "Good News"
- Zach Top - "I Never Lie"
- Lainey Wilson - "Somewhere Over Laredo"
- Chris Stapleton - "A Song To Sing"
Best Contemporary Country Album
- Kelsea Ballerini - Patterns
- Tyler Childers - Snipe Hunter
- Eric Church - Evangeline vs. The Machine
- Jelly Roll - Beautifully Broken
- Miranda Lambert - Postcards From Texas
Best Traditional Country Album
- Charley Crockett - Dollar A Day
- Lukas Nelson - American Romance
- Willie Nelson - Oh What A Beautiful World
- Margo Price - Hard Headed Woman
- Zach Top - Ain't In It For My Health
Best American Roots Performance
- "LONELY AVENUE" - Jon Batiste Featuring Randy Newman
- "Ancient Light" - I'm With Her
- "Crimson And Clay" - Jason Isbell
- "Richmond On The James" - Alison Krauss & Union Station
- "Beautiful Strangers" - Mavis Staples
Best Americana Performance
- "Boom" - Sierra Hull
- "Poison In My Well" - Maggie Rose & Grace Potter
- "Godspeed" - Mavis Staples
- "That's Gonna Leave A Mark" - Molly Tuttle
- "Horses" - Jesse Welles
Best American Roots Song
- "Ancient Light" - Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O'Donovan & Sara Watkins, songwriters (I'm With Her)
- "BIG MONEY" - Jon Batiste, Mike Elizondo & Steve McEwan, songwriters (Jon Batiste)
- "Foxes In The Snow" - Jason Isbell, songwriter (Jason Isbell)
- "Middle" - Jesse Welles, songwriter (Jesse Welles)
- "Spitfire" - Sierra Hull, songwriter (Sierra Hull)
Best Americana Album
- BIG MONEY - Jon Batiste
- Bloom - Larkin Poe
- Last Leaf On The Tree - Willie Nelson
- So Long Little Miss Sunshine - Molly Tuttle
- Middle - Jesse Welles
Best Bluegrass Album
- Carter & Cleveland - Michael Cleveland & Jason Carter
- A Tip Toe High Wire - Sierra Hull
- Arcadia - Alison Krauss & Union Station
- Outrun - The Steeldrivers
- Highway Prayers - Billy Strings
Best Traditional Blues Album
- Ain’t Done With The Blues - Buddy Guy
- Room On The Porch - Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo'
- One Hour Mama: The Blues Of Victoria Spivey - Maria Muldaur
- Look Out Highway - Charlie Musselwhite
- Young Fashioned Ways - Kenny Wayne Shepherd & Bobby Rush
Best Contemporary Blues Album
- Breakthrough - Joe Bonamassa
- Paper Doll - Samantha Fish
- A Tribute To LJK - Eric Gales
- Preacher Kids - Robert Randolph
- Family - Southern Avenue
Best Folk Album
- What Did The Blackbird Say To The Crow - Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson
- Crown Of Roses - Patty Griffin
- Wild And Clear And Blue - I'm With Her
- Foxes In The Snow - Jason Isbell
- Under The Powerlines (April 24 – September 24) - Jesse Welles
Best Regional Roots Music Album
- Live At Vaughan’s - Corey Henry & The Treme Funktet
- For Fat Man - Preservation Brass & Preservation Hall Jazz Band
- Church Of New Orleans - Kyle Roussel
- Second Line Sunday - Trombone Shorty And New Breed Brass Band
- A Tribute To The King Of Zydeco - Various Artists
The Folk Music International Awards, which will take place at Folk Alliance International's annual conference and festival January 21-25, 2026 in New Orleans, announced its nominees as well.
Artist of the Year (sponsored by the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame)
- Abbie Gardner
- Carsie Blanton
- Crys Matthews
- I'm With Her
- Ordinary Elephant
- Sam Robbins
Album of the Year
- Alison Krauss & Union Station - Arcadia
- Flamy Grant - CHURCH
- Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo' - Room On The Porch
- Crys Matthews - Reclamation
- I'm With Her - Wild and Clear and Blue
- Woody Guthrie - Woody At Home: Volumes 1 + 2
Song of the Year
- “Ain't Afraid To Die” (Written and Performed by Woody Guthrie)
- “Crying In The Night” (Written by Stevie Nicks & Lindsey Buckingham, Performed by Andrew Bird & Madison Cunningham)
- “I BOUGHT ME A PRESIDENT” (Written by Cathy Fink & Tom Paxton; Performed by Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer)
- “Room On The Porch” (Written by Ahmen Mahal, Henry St. Claire Fredericks, Jr., Kevin R. Moore, Ruby Amanfu; Performed by Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, Ruby Amanfu)
- “Sleeves Up” (Written and Performed by Crys Matthews)
- “Sisters Of The Night Watch” ((Written by Aoife O’Donovan, Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, Performed by I'm With Her)
Global Folk Album Award, in partnership with Songlines
- Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali - At the Feet of the Beloved
- Da Kali - Bagola
- Hajda Banda - Niepraudzivaya
- Rastak - Tales of Earth and Sun
- The Baltic Sisters - Värav / Vārti / Vartai
- Votia - Vié Kaz
Additional awards include:
- The People’s Voice Award - Kyshona
- Spirit of Folk Awards - Laura Thomas, Rachel Ornelas, Alex Mallett, and Cindy Cogbill
- The Clearwater Award - Edmonton Folk Music Festival
RIP to Donna Jean Godchaux, who sang with The Grateful Dead and toured with the the band from 1971-79. Read more in Rolling Stone here and from Relix on Instagram below.
Allison and Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee), along with MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook, surprise-announced a new super group and dropped an entire record. The 13-track, self-titled album titled Snocaps is out now via ANTI-.
It seems like there's more to the story about Todd Snider's recent hospitalization and arrest in Utah and subsequent tour cancellation. Read more about it all Far Out Magazine.
WHAT' WE'RE LISTENING TO:
Low Cut Connie - "Settle Down"
The War & Treaty - "Whiskey River" (live)
Sierra Ferrell & Chaparelle - "When It Snows In Texas"
Orville Peck - "Drift Away"
NEW RELEASES – 11/7/25
Luke Bell - The King is Back
Emmylou Harris - Spyboy [reissue]
Paul Kelly - Seventy
The Mammals - Touch Grass Vol. 1 and 2 (due out 11/1)
Sabine McCalla - Don't Call Me Baby
The Mynabirds - It’s Okay To Go Back If You Keep Moving Forward
Willie Nelson - Workin’ Man: Willie Sings Merle
Mavis Staples - Sad and Beautiful World
Tommy Talton - Seven Levels
Chris Thile - Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 2
Tristen - Unpopular Music
Various Artists - Tulare Dust: A Songwriter’s Tribute to Merle Haggard
Brandy Zdan - So what
COMING SOON - 11/14/25
The Bros. Landreth - Dog Ear
Abigail Dowd - Saints & Warrior
Everything But the Girl - The Best of Everything But the Girl
Glamour Gowns - Alone in the Frame
Courtney Hartman - With You
J.C. Hopkins - It’s a Sad and Beautiful World (due out 11/15)
Colter Wall - Memories and Empties
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