Blue Highway Honored with Eight IBMA Award Nominations

BRISTOL, TN –  Highly respected supergroup Blue Highway is honored to be nominated for a cumulative eight IBMA Awards in the upcoming 26th Annual International Bluegrass Music Association Awards.
 
The 2015 IBMA Awards will be held at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, October 1, at 7:30 p.m., in Raleigh, NC.
 
Blue Highway received nominations as a band for Vocal Group of the Year and Instrumental Group of the Year.
 
Band members nominated for individual awards include Shawn Lane (Songwriter of the Year), Tim Stafford (Guitar Performer of the Year) and Rob Ickes (Dobro Performer of the Year). 
 
Rob Ickes also received three nominations for songs from his collaborative dobro album “Three Bells” with the incomparable Jerry Douglas and the late great Mike Auldridge.  The song “Three Bells” is nominated for Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year, while both “Three Bells” and “For Buddy” received nominations as Recorded Event of the Year
 
“It's truly an honor and privilege to be nominated for awards at any stage in a band or musician's career, especially when we've been at it over 20 years,” said Tim Stafford.  “Makes us feel like folks still really appreciate what we do, and that's an incredibly special feeling. Thanks to everyone who voted for us and to those who think enough of our music to keep on spending a few dollars and a few hours listening.  It truly means the world to us.”
 
Nominated as IBMA Guitar Performer of the Year, Tim Stafford is a gifted guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, producer, session musician, author, and collegiate instructor who co-founded Blue Highway and is a former member of world-renowned Alison Krauss & Union Station.  Tim was recently honored as 2015 SPGMA Guitar Player of the Year and 2014 IBMA Songwriter of the Year.  Stafford was also named 2015 Distinguished Alumnus in the Arts by the East Tennessee State University National Alumni Association.
 
Shawn Lane is a fan-favorite vocalist, instrumentalist, and songwriter who toured over the past year with the Grammy-winning Earls of Leicester playing mandolin and contributing his heralded high tenor vocals when his schedule allowed.  Lane has penned songs such as the high octane title track of Blue Highway’s most recent album, “The Game,” a song co-written with Barry Bales which sent Blue Highway soaring to #1 atop multiple Bluegrass charts, including seven consecutive months on the national Bluegrass Unlimited Album Chart and three consecutive months at #1 on the Bluegrass Unlimited Song Chart. Shawn also wrote ten tracks on his solo album “Mountain Songs,” which was named the #19 Bluegrass Album of the Year by critic Daniel Mullins in his Top 20 Albums of 2014 list published in Bluegrass Today.

“Sincere thanks to the International Bluegrass Music Association for the honor of being nominated as IBMA Songwriter of the Year,” said Shawn Lane. “It's a privilege to be nominated with Brink Brinkman, Becky Buller, Bill Castle, and Donna Ulisse. Congratulations to each of these fine songwriters! It’s a privilege to enjoy their work, and be considered worthy for nomination alongside them.  I thank God for the gift He gave me to write, and thank the IBMA again for such a great honor. I feel blessed beyond words.”
 
Rob Ickes is a two-time Grammy winner with Alison Krauss and the Most Awarded Instrumentalist in the history of IBMA with 15 Dobro Performer of the Year Awards.  His collaborative project “Three Bells” with Jerry Douglas and Mike Auldridge has been heralded with much critical acclaim and as a labor of love, as it was the final recording of Ickes’ hero, dobro legend Mike Auldridge.  Rob Ickes began playing dobro at age 13 after hearing Mike Auldridge, and often dedicates his dobro solos on stage with Blue Highway in memory of his hero.

“It’s a joy to see Mike Auldridge’s last recording shine in reflection of his great influence on our generation,” said Ickes.  “It’s a great personal gift to be part of that recording.”
 
Winners of the 2015 IBMA Awards will be announced on Thursday, October 1, at 7:30 p.m., at Raleigh’s Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, with tickets and additional details available at www.ibma.org.
 
Blue Highway will perform at IBMA Wide Open Bluegrass on the main stage at the Red Hat Amphitheater on Friday, October 2, along with Alison Kruass, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, and the Gibson Brothers, among others. Tickets and details for the two-day concert event are available at www.WorldofBluegrass.org.
 
Blue Highway has earned a collective 24 IBMA Awards, six SPBGMA Awards, one Dove Award, and two Grammy nominations.  Blue Highway received the Most Radio Airplay of any Bluegrass Artist for 2014, per the Bluegrass Today 2014 Bluegrass Radio Airplay Chart, with three songs in the year’s Top 30 and 12,115 spins. 
 
The 21-year strong powerhouse band has all five founding members still intact, including:  Jason Burleson (banjo, vocals), Rob Ickes (dobro, vocals), Shawn Lane (mandolin, fiddle, vocals), Tim Stafford (guitar, vocals), and Wayne Taylor (bass, vocals).
 
For a full list of 2015 IBMA Awards Nominees, please go to:  https://ibma.org/node/989
 
For more information on Blue Highway, please visit www.BlueHighwayBand.com and www.Facebook.com/BlueHighway.
 
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