Sister Sadie scores eleven IBMA nominations
MULTI-GENERATIONAL, ALL-FEMALE BLUEGRASS BAND LANDS
ENTERTAINER, VOCAL GROUP, ALBUM, VIDEO & COLLABORATIVE RECORDING
PLUS SIX INDIVIDUAL NODS FOR DEANIE RICHARDSON, GENA BRITT + JAELEE ROBERTS
FIDDLE PLAYER/INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING, BANJO PLAYER/VIDEO, FEMALE/NEW ARTIST
Sister Sadie had quite a morning at the nomination press conference for the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards! Not only was the first – and only – all female bluegrass group win the IBMA’s Entertainer of the Year Award recognized in that category, the six-woman band also received nominations for Vocal Group, Album for All Will Be Well, Video for “Let The Circle Be Broken” and Collaborative Recording for “Just A Holler Over” with the Po Ramblin’ Boys.
“I was bawling,” Richardson said. “Every one of us puts so much into this band – beyond what we do in our individual lives – and to be recognized like this, it blows me away. Every one of these nominees is so talented and committed to the music, but for us, especially with All Will Be Well and ‘Let The Circle Be Broken,’ this music is so personal and from the heart. No words.”
The triple IBMA Vocal Group and double Grammy nominees also picked up six nominations for three members. Group leader Deanie Richardson is nominated for Fiddle Player and Instrumental Recording for “Cacklin’ Hen” with Kimber Ludicker, while Gena Britt was recognized for Banjo Player and Music Video for “Ralph’s Banjo Special” alongside Kristen Scott Benson and Allison Brown. Jaelee Roberts, who joined in 2020, lands in both New Artist and Female Vocalist.
“One of the best things about being in Sister Sadie,” says guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Dani Flowers, “is playing with people who are recognized as the best in what we do. We are 100% a group, a band, a bunch of friends; but sometimes up onstage when we’re flying, you look over at Gena or Deanie, see JaeLee hit a lick, and it’s just as amazing to us as it is the audience. It’s what makes what we do so much fun, and also such a great way to make music and maybe show girls growing up how cool jamming with your friends can be.”
Richardson, who also serves as part of the Grand Ole Opry’s house band, is a two-time IBMA Fiddle Player and Academy of Country Music Fiddle Player nominee, while Britt has won the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America Banjo Player and multiple IBMA awards for her collaborations and compilations.
“All Will Be Well was a chance for us to stretch a little musically,” Richardson says of the project that spawned multiple nominations. “When you’re in New York watching Steve Earle sing on Nanci Griffith’s ‘I Wish It Would Rain,’ you realize how full your cup is – and how far this music can take you. As a little kid jamming at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass, I just wanted to play – and I think every single one of us has carried that feeling inside us for our whole lives. When something like this happens, you realize how much the music means, how deep the community runs and the fact that bluegrass is such a powerful way to connect people.”
With Alison Brown and Billy Strings each receiving six nominations, Sister Sadie’s five group nods puts them in very strong company. For Britt, Richardson, Roberts, Flowers, mandolinist Rainy Miatke and bassist Katie Blomarz-Kimball, strength is in the alchemy of what happens when all that talent comes together.
Follow Sister Sadie