The hosts and performers have been announced for the 31st annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards, set to livestream on Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. ET. The show will air on SiriusXM’s Bluegrass Junction channel and will livestream on IBMA’s Facebook Live and via Swapcard.

Sierra Hull, Joe Newberry, Tim O’Brien and Rhonda Vincent will share hosting and presenter duties over the course of the two-hour show. The event will featured taped and virtual performances and presentations from artists including the 2019 “Entertainer of the Year” Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers, as well as Brooke Aldridge, Balsam Range, Kristin Scott Benson, Blue Highway, Dale Ann Bradley, Gena Britt, Katy Daley, Gina Furtado, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Ned Luberecki, Sister Sadie, Amanda Smith, Special Consensus, Billy Strings, Bryan Sutton, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, The Travelin’ McCourys, Molly Tuttle, Scott Vestal, Jake Workman, and more, with additional performances to be announced.

In addition to taped and virtual performances from all six Entertainer of the Year nominees, the show will feature Del McCoury Band performing a classic Bill Monroe song onstage at the Ryman Auditorium, in honor of the 75th anniversary of bluegrass. An opening number will recreate that night 75 years ago when Flatt and Scruggs joined Monroe on stage at the Ryman Auditorium.

In a tribute to Doc Watson, his longtime band mate T. Michael Coleman is joined by all five “Guitar Player of the Year” nominees for a rousing “Black Mountain Rag.” In a tribute to J.D. Crowe, his ex-band member Jerry Douglas has collected an amazing lineup of IBMA royalty, including all five banjo nominees, joined by Douglas, Sam Bush, Missy Raines and David Grier.

Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper will perform a song from the fiddling virtuoso’s 2020 Grammy-winning album Tall Fiddler. Taj Mahal will join virtually from Northern California, teaming with Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, and nominated sidemen Mike Bub and Stuart Duncan, performing at the Ryman, for “Sittin’ on Top of the World.” Becky Buller, Missy Raines and Alison Brown will perform an original hymn by Buller, “Take Me Over Jordan,” for the “In Memoriam” segment.

To salute women in bluegrass history and the 20th anniversary of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, four female nominees (including host Rhonda Vincent) will do the a cappella “Down to the River to Pray” from the groundbreaking project.

“This show has been a pleasure to produce,” said Joanne Gardner Lowell, producer of this year’s Awards show. “When I started talking with the IBMA earlier this year, we were Raleigh bound. I’ve been so impressed by how eager all of the IBMA team and the performers have been to pivot and create an entirely new program with virtual aspects. It’s a testament to how the people in the bluegrass community are focused on pulling together to make lemonade out of the large crate of lemons we’ve all been handed this year.”

The IBMA and its Local Organizing Committee partners in Raleigh, North Carolina have determined that, due to ongoing health concerns relating to COVID-19 and the logistical challenges of creating a safe in-person event experience, this year’s IBMA World of Bluegrass will take place virtually. The planned conference, showcases, awards and festival performances will be presented as an online experience September 28-Oct. 3.

Reba McEntire fans can travel back in time this Friday (Aug. 28) with the release of another vintage concert special on YouTube.  Marking the first time this special will be available digitally, Reba In Concert features some of the entertainer’s biggest hits including “Fancy,” “You Lie” and “Whoever’s In New England.”
The show was filmed in 1990 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, and serves as a dedication to Reba’s original band members (included in the special) who were tragically lost in a plane crash the following year. Featuring 16 iconic performances, Reba In Concert will premiere at 7:30 p.m. CT and Reba will celebrate with fans through a chat on her YouTube channel.

“This show is very special to me because it features my friends that we lost in a plane crash 29 years ago,” said Reba. “Their love for music and incredible talents deserve to be seen again, and I’m so glad that we’re getting the chance to stream this concert for the first time ever. I can’t wait to watch it and I hope they will feel all the love we still have for them.”

Last month, Reba released her 1994 concert special Reba: Live and over 100,000 fans watched in just the first three days. It was recently announced she is also set to re-release her legendary album, Rumor Has It, in celebration of the 30^th Anniversary. The album includes four Top 10 hits including the title track, “You Lie,” “Fallin’ Out Of Love,” and “Fancy.” The anniversary edition vinyl will include a bonus track, a live acoustic version of “Fancy” recorded at The Ryman, while the CD and digital versions will feature that bonus track and a new dance remix of “Fancy.”

Bobby Bare Sings Shel Silverstein Plus, a new eight-CD, LP-sized boxed set chronicling the longtime relationship between Bare and songwriter/humorist Silverstein, is set for release on Bear Family Records on Oct. 2.

The giant collection contains 137 songs, representing six full albums and a total of 25 previously-unreleased tracks, along with a handful of songs penned by other songwriters. Bare recorded more than 100 Silverstein songs from 1972-1983, and the set celebrates their long working history and friendship.

Six of the albums are intact or amended in the new set: Lullabys, Legends and Lies was Bare’s 1973 artistic breakthrough; Silverstein conceived the downbeat Hard Time Hungrys (presented here with six additional songs) while America was gripped in a lengthy financial recession; Singin’ in the Kitchen features Bare’s family; Great American Saturday Night, originally withheld from release and unheard for more than 40 years appears here with three additional tracks; and Down & Dirty and Drunk & Crazy are benchmark albums from the early 1980s.

The new set also features a special accompanying 128-page hardcover book with a new interview with Bare by Hank Davis, an overview of Silverstein’s life and work by Dave Samuelson, plus the lyrics to the songs in the collection and a detailed discography and treasure trove of pictures and album covers.

Naomi and Wynonna Judd will be the subject of the first installment of a new drama series Icon that has been greenlighted by Fox from producer Gail Berman and artist manager Jason Owen (Kacey Musgraves, Little Big Town), reports deadline.com.

Icon will spotlight the drama, dynamics and at times challenging relationship between the legendary mother and daughter duo, telling their story through the music and songs that shaped their career and country music. Season 1 celebrates the trailblazing duo, who dominated the country charts for decades, winning numerous awards and selling over 20 million albums. Though the Judds stopped performing together in 1991 after Naomi was diagnosed with Hepatitis C and Wynonna embarked on a successful solo career, the two have reunited for special tours, most recently in 2010.

The Judds’ Icon story will be executive produced by Naomi and Wynonna. Their managers, Les Borsai, Greg Hill, Cactus Moser and Larry Strickland, will produce.
Wynonna also just announced her upcoming Recollections EP, set for release in October.

The first round of performers has been announced for the upcoming Academy of Country Music Awards on Sept. 16.

Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Gabby Barrett, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Maren Morris, Old Dominion and Thomas Rhett featuring Jon Pardi are among the first performers revealed for the upcoming awards show, which will be held in Nashville for the first time, with performances being aired from three iconic Nashville music venues including the Ryman Auditorium, the Bluebird Cafe, and the Grand Ole Opry House.

Hosted by reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year and 15-time ACM Award winner Keith Urban, the 55th ACM Awards® will be broadcast on Wednesday, Sept. 16 (live 8:00-11:00 PM ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network, and will be available to stream on demand on CBS All Access.

Artists at the Ryman include Kelsea Ballerini performing “Hole In The Bottle,” Gabby Barrett performing her No. 1 hit “I Hope,” Maren Morris, this year’s most-nominated female artist with five nominations, performing “To Hell & Back,” Old Dominion, this year’s most-nominated group (with a collective six nominations), performing a special medley of their No. 1 hits, and Thomas Rhett, this year’s most nominated male artist with five nominations, featuring Jon Pardi, performing their No. 1 hit “Beer Can’t Fix.”

Artists at The Bluebird Cafe include Jimmie Allen performing his No.1 hit “Make Me Want To,” Luke Combs performing “Better Together,” Miranda Lambert featuring songwriters Natalie Hemby and Luke Dick performing the smash hit “Bluebird,” and Tim McGraw performing his recently released single “I Called Mama.”

Additional acts and presenters, including artists performing from the Grand Ole Opry House, will be announced in the coming weeks.