By now, it’s becoming expected: Guitar phenom Billy Strings was named Entertainer of the Year for the fifth time over the last six years at the 37th annual International Bluegrass Music Association awards, held earlier this week in Chattanooga, Tennessee
“I want to thank my son and my wife for making it possible for me to go out and chase my dreams, and to bring this music to the people,” Strings told a packed house at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Auditorium on Thursday, just a few days after performing in honor of the Stanley Brothers at their Country Music Hall of Fame induction. “I want to thank all my heroes who have gone on before and the ones that are still here today — a lot of y’all are sitting right out here — and for all the inspiration as a kid hearing this music and having a dream in my head, and now I get to go do that.”
If there was one takeaway from this year’s IBMA celebration, it’s that the once vast divide between the neo-traditional and progressive bluegrass camps is all but erased. What remains is a large tent under which all avenues of the ancient tones gather. But beyond the awards itself, the evening bore witness to just how far bluegrass has come in recent years.
“I think we’re in a good spot,” Joe Mullins, banjoist and radio broadcaster, says. “The momentum of Billy Strings, and Alison Krauss back on tour, that tide is rising all ships. [Bluegrass] is organic and authentic, and that’s two things that people are looking for in the age of AI.”
The number of women being recognized by the IBMA is a key advancement on the scene. Sierra Hull took home her eighth Mandolin Player of the Year trophy and Kristin Scott Benson won her eighth Banjo Player title. “Slowly, but surely, it’s been changing,” says singer-songwriter Lindsay Lou, whose recent album Bluegrass Women is a testament to the evolving landscape. “It shows a shifting of the tide, it shows a balance changing and where the spotlight is. Because we’ve been here all along, and now there’s visibility and representation.”
That shift also includes newer and progressive acts being honored with some of the biggest awards of the night. East Nash Grass — a talented ensemble that started as a casual weekly get-together at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge on the outskirts of Nashville — triumphed as Instrumental Group of the Year and won Album of the Year for their LP All God’s Children.
“Everything is so unique,” C.J. Lewandowski of the group the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys says. “All the artists, all the bands, we’re back to 1958 to the middle 1960s [of bluegrass], as far as uniqueness. When a new band right now comes on the radio, you can identify them in the first five seconds. [Those early acts] had their own individual taste, timing, sound, and that’s what’s happening again.”
The IBMA gala also paid homage to the icons the genre lost this year, namely Dolly Parton and Ronnie Bowman. The Grascals won Collaborative Recording of the Year for their song “Broken Angels” with Parton, and performed the song in tribute to the country legend with Sister Sadie’s Jaelee Roberts (who was recognized as Female Vocalist of the Year). When Blue Highway were honored with Gospel Recording of the Year, guitarist Tim Stafford dedicated the award to Bowman, a revered bluegrass ace who died in May.
At the end of the evening, Leftover Salmon’s Vince Herman and superstar guitarist Molly Tuttle emerged to present the final two awards of the show, Album of the Year to East Nash Grass and Entertainer of the Year to Strings. “This is American music, of course it’s coming to the forefront,” Herman tells Rolling Stone. “We need to be as American as we can, holding values like democracy, truth, beauty, justice, community, creativity — of course the music is coming forward.”
Beyond the award show itself, the IBMA World of Bluegrass gathering overtakes the city for the better part of a week. Thousands of musicians and music lovers flock to Chattanooga, filling up hotel rooms and hallways with impromptu jam sessions that last until the wee hours. The Chattanooga Convention Center serves as the central hub, a beehive of string music energy that hosts panels and showcases, tying today’s bluegrass movement to its storied past.
“There’s different kinds of bluegrass all over the country and sometimes it takes a while for them to all intermingle and merge,” Ty Gilpin, of Unspoken Tradition, says. “That’s what you’re seeing happening now. The western bluegrass [players], they’ve heard the music out there that they love, especially the younger generation, and the people back east are hearing more of what they like from the western style. It’s all coming together, and Billy [Strings] is a big conduit of that.”
Hull, meanwhile, represents the epitome of the IBMA Awards’ impact on aspiring artists. When she was just nine years old, the mandolin prodigy was invited by the IBMA to partake in its “Kids on Bluegrass” program, which spotlights young players during the World of Bluegrass. At the gathering, she met Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs, and Adam Steffey. A couple years later, she crossed paths with Ron Block, who was so impressed by Hull’s talents, he told his friend Alison Krauss about the young star. It was a life-changing experience, and something not lost on Hull.
“She called me up to come play with her, and that led to even more special opportunities in those early days,” Hull says of the boost given to her by Krauss. “That community and that connection is worth more than all the awards put together.”
The 2026 IBMA Awards winners list:
ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
Billy Strings
VOCAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Authentic Unlimited
INSTRUMENTAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
East Nash Grass
SONG OF THE YEAR
“Can’t Outrun the Blues,” Trey Hensley
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
All God’s Children, East Nash Grass
GOSPEL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
“Some Day,” Blue Highway
INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING OF THE YEAR
“Big Daddy Rabbit,” Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper (Feat. Nathan Livers)
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Mason Via
COLLABORATIVE RECORDING OF THE YEAR
“Broken Angels,” The Grascals and Dolly Parton
MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Greg Blake
FEMALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR
Jaelee Roberts
BANJO PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kristin Scott Benson
BASS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Mike Bub
FIDDLE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Andy Leftwich
RESOPHONIC GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Justin Moses
GUITAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Cody Kilby
MANDOLIN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Sierra Hull
MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
“The Devil Went Down to Deep Gap,” Bryan Sutton with Billy Strings
