Bluegrass Rules Grammy's Country Roost

02/28/2002 12:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Mark Armstrong

(2/28/02, 12:30 p.m. ET) -- Bluegrass acts and albums ruled the Grammys' country music categories last night in Los Angeles. The soundtrack for the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? spawned three awards: album of the year, best male country vocal performance for Ralph Stanley's "O Death," and best country collaboration for "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow" by the Soggy Bottom Boys.

Stanley talked backstage about the soundtrack's Grammy-winning producer, T-Bone Burnett. "T-Bone is a great friend of mine and I think one reason this old-time music has hit, it was put out where millions of people could hear it, where before it wasn't promoted--there wasn't anybody heard it. Now people have heard it and I'm real proud to be part of it and proud that they're beginning to like it," he said.

Alison Krauss and Union Station were multiple country Grammy winners, taking best country performance by a duo or group for "The Lucky One" and best bluegrass album for New Favorite. Backstage, Krauss talked about bluegrass music's reign over the country Grammy categories. "This is a fantastic year for this kind of music that we've all loved our whole lives, and I have to tell you that probably the most exciting thing that I've ever seen is Ralph Stanley winning best male country vocal performance. It was fantastic, and it's just like getting to see justice being done right before our very eyes," she said.

Meanwhile, Krauss's good friend Dolly Parton, who elected to stay home in Nashville and miss the Grammys, beat the likes of mainstream country acts Jamie O'Neal and Trisha Yearwood to win best female country performance for "Shine," which appeared on her second bluegrass album, Little Sparrow.

-- Margy Holland and Nancy Brooks

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