Dailey & Vincent, a duo formed just last year, topped the nominations for the 2008 International Bluegrass Music Association awards. The announcements were made Thursday (Aug. 14) at the Country Music Hall of Fame's Ford Theater by multiple IBMA award-winner Del McCoury, two-time Country Music Association female vocalist of the year Kathy Mattea, disc jockey and historian Eddie Stubbs and IBMA executive director Dan Hays.

Together and separately, veteran performers Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent were picked to vie in 10 categories, including the all-important entertainer and album of the year slots. Cornering six nominations each were Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Blue Highway and the Dan Tyminski Band, another new musical configuration.

Dailey & Vincent were on hand to open and close the program with their music. One of the songs they performed, "By the Mark," turned out to be one of their two song of the year nominations (the other being "More Than a Name on the Wall). "By The Mark" was also cited in the best gospel performance category.

Stubbs announced that Bill Clifton and the late Dr. Charles K. Wolfe will be inducted into International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Clifton is a longtime performer, recording artist, folk music scholar and organizer of folk clubs and bluegrass events in the U.S. and Europe.

Wolfe, who would have been 65 on the day his nomination was announced, wrote voluminously and expertly on country and bluegrass music and performers in addition to his holding down his day job as professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University. Of his many books and countless articles, his magnum opus was A Good Natured-Riot: The Birth of the Grand Ole Opry, a study that recounted the Opry's first 15 years of operation, from 1925 to 1940.

CMT.com's in-house bluegrass aficionado, Craig Shelburne, was nominated for print media person of the year in a category that also includes freelance writers Stephanie P. Ledgin and Chris Stuart.

Among the bluegrass artists attending the announcements were Tyminski, Eddie Adcock, Ronnie Reno, Carl Jackson, Larry Stephenson, Rob Ickes and David Crow.

Noting that McCoury, a nine-time IBMA entertainer of the year, will host the organization's awards show, Hays joked, "Maybe he'll bring some of his trophies back and we can hand them out again. I think he has more than we do."

When Hays introduced McCoury and Mattea to read the performing and recording nominations, he pointed out that each has a new album that has topped Billboard's bluegrass chart and that each album -- Mattea's Coal and McCoury's Moneyland -- speaks to current social issues.

"They both reshaped how we think of music," Hays asserted.

Mattea and McCoury were in high spirits and good humor, however, as they slogged through category after category of nominees. Mattea quipped that the exquisitely coiffed McCoury had "commandeered all the hairspray in Nashville" and added, "It's pretty bad to be the only woman in the room and have the lowest voice."

McCoury marveled that he was able to read the nominations without donning his glasses. When he read the album title Everett Lilly & Everybody and Their Brother, a candidate in the recorded event division, he struck an incredulous tone, saying, "Everett's got everybody and their brother [on the album] except me and my brother."

Set for Oct. 2 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, The IBMA Awards show is the high point of the World of Bluegrass convention that takes place Sept. 29 to Oct. 5, primarily at the Nashville Convention Center. The Bluegrass Fan Fest, which features the genre's top performers, runs Oct. 3-5.

Here's a complete list of this year's IBMA nominees:

Entertainer of the Year Dailey & Vincent The Grascals Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver The Del McCoury Band Rhonda Vincent & the Rage

Vocal Group of the Year Blue Highway Dailey & Vincent The Grascals The Isaacs Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass

Instrumental Group of the Year Blue Highway Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper The Infamous Stringdusters Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder Dan Tyminski Band

Male Vocalist of the Year Jamie Dailey Russell Moore Tim O'Brien Danny Paisley Dan Tyminski

Female Vocalist of the Year Dale Ann Bradley Sonya Isaacs Alison Krauss Claire Lynch Rhonda Vincent

Album of the Year Dailey & Vincent Dailey & Vincent

Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass -- Tribute to 1946 and 1947 Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

Lovin' Pretty Women Steep Canyon Rangers

The SteelDrivers The SteelDrivers

Through the Window of a Train Blue Highway

Song of the Year "Alison's Band" Artist: Charlie Sizemore Band Writers: Charlie Sizemore and Buddy Cannon

"By the Mark" Artist: Dailey & Vincent Writers: David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

"Drinkin' Dark Whiskey" Artist: The SteelDrivers Writers: Mike Henderson and Chris Stapleton

"More Than a Name on the Wall" Artist: Dailey & Vincent Writers: Jimmy Fortune and John Rimel

"Through the Window of a Train" Artist: Blue Highway Writers: Tim Stafford and Steve Gulley

Gospel Recorded Performance "Be Still Moses" Steep Canyon Rangers

"By the Mark" Dailey & Vincent

Help Is on the Way Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver

Salt of the Earth Ricky Skaggs & the Whites

Where No One Stands Alone Paul Williams & the Victory Trio

Instrumental Album Live at the Linda David Grier

Sound of the Slide Guitar Andy Hall

Stepping Out Jason Davis

The Past Is Present Jason Barie

When at Last Russ Barenberg

Recorded Event Christmas Grass, Vol. 3 3 Fox Drive, Sonya Isaacs, John Cowan, Sarah Jarosz, Larry Sparks, Russell Moore and Charlie Daniels

Everett Lilly & Everybody and Their Brother Everett Lilly, Bea Lilly, Charles Lilly, Daniel Lilly, Mark Lilly, Marty Stuart, Rhonda Vincent, Billy Walker, Ronnie McCoury, Rob McCoury, David Ball, Charlie Cushman, Larry Stephenson, Joe Spivey, Eddie Stubbs, Jason Carter, Dickey Lee, Freddy Weller, Mike Bub, Rad Lewis, Andy May, Darrin Vincent, Marcia Campbell, Clay Rigdon, Eric Blankenship and Bill Wolfenbarger

Salt of the Earth Ricky Skaggs & the Whites

Standard Songs for Average People John Prine and Mac Wiseman

We Are Family Jeff & Sheri Easter, the Lewis Family & the Easter Brothers

Emerging Artist Cadillac Sky Dailey & Vincent Grasstowne Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass The SteelDrivers

Instrumental Performers

Banjo Kristen Scott Benson J.D. Crowe Jim Mills Earl Scruggs Ron Stewart

Bass Barry Bales Mike Bub Missy Raines Darrin Vincent Marshall Wilborn

Fiddle Hunter Berry Jason Carter Michael Cleveland Stuart Duncan Ron Stewart

Dobro Mike Auldridge Jerry Douglas Rob Ickes Randy Kohrs Phil Leadbetter

Guitar Cody Kilby Tony Rice Tim Stafford Bryan Sutton Josh Williams

Mandolin Sam Bush Sierra Hull Doyle Lawson Ronnie McCoury Adam Steffey   Bluegrass Broadcaster Kyle Cantrell, XM Satellite Radio Katy Daley, WAMU's bluegrasscountry.org Terry Herd, Bluegrass Radio Network    

Bluegrass Event Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival (Ancramdale, N.Y.) River City Bluegrass Festival (Portland, Ore.) 29th annual Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival (Thomas Point Beach, Maine)

Bluegrass Print Media Person Stephanie P. Ledgin, freelance writer and author Craig Shelburne, CMT.com Chris Stuart, freelance writer, Bluegrass Unlimited

Best Graphic Design for Recorded Project Designer: G. Carr and S. Holman What The, Pete Wernick & Flexigrass

Designer: Smay Vision Graphic Design The Stanley Brothers: The Definitive Collection (1947-1966) , the Stanley Brothers

Designer: Loren Witcher Punch, the Punch Brothers

Best Liner Notes for Recorded Project Writers: Frank and Marty Godbey Bluegrass Holiday, J.D. Crowe

Writer: Gary Reid The Stanley Brothers: The Definitive Collection (1947-1966) , the Stanley Brothers

Writer: Ron Thomason Good News, the Charlie Sizemore Band

• Stanley Brothers
• Sierra Hull
• Sam Bush
• Bryan Sutton
• Jerry Douglas

John Popper
Photo: Jason Campbell for MTV.com

NEW YORK — When many people think about jam bands, they picture tie dye, hacky sacks and earthy, organic music filled with instrumental noodling. But lately, musicians have been expanding the boundaries of jam music by infusing elements of techno, hip-hop, avant-jazz and prog rock into their songs.

The goal of the second annual Jammy Awards, held Thursday at the Roseland Ballroom, was to celebrate the growing diversity among jam bands and to encourage artists from different backgrounds to join each other onstage and let fly with the spirit of spontaneous invention. Bluesmen collided with alt-rockers, rappers joined pop stars, turntablists merged with bluegrass twangers, and three-chord punkers dueled with drum'n'bass artists. Regardless of the styles they explored, nearly all the acts held true to the jam edict of pinpointing an emotional moment and stretching it out for minutes at a time.

The house act for the proceedings was the Derek Trucks Band, fronted by the nephew of Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks. Derek, who replaced guitarist Dickey Betts in the Allmans last year, set the tone for the evening with music that ranged from soulful blues with slippery slide guitar leads to freaky Zappa-esque workouts and covered various strains of funk, free jazz and Latin music in between. During its various sets, the band was joined onstage by Col. Bruce Hampton, pedal steel player Robert Randolph and former "Saturday Night Live" comic Jim Breuer, who led the group through an impromptu blues rendition of his routine "Party in Your Stomach." First to take the main stage was the Del McCoury Band. Accompanied by Randolph and DJ Logic, they played a Southern-fried bluegrass version of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot." While the dense blend of mandolin, violin, keyboards, banjo and acoustic guitars left little room for Logic to scratch, Randolph's frenzied pedal steel playing gave the music a fiery charge even though the country-hick harmonies eventually wore thin.

With a career batting average of .304 and four Golden Gloves to his name, New York Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams won't be in need of a new job for years to come, but during his brief (by jam band standards) set he showed that when he leaves the majors he can probably find work in the music biz. Joined by the Jazz Mandolin Project, Williams batted out some impressive John Scofield-style guitar licks on a version of Ornette Coleman's "Ramblin'." Adhering more closely to traditional notions of jamming, the Steve Kimock Band and Trucks played extended and sometimes overly indulgent funk-jazz excursions.

One of the highlights of the Jammy Awards was the Tom Tom Club, who performed a percussive reggae-fueled version of Phish's "Sand" before being joined by Michael Franti of Spearhead for the Club's "Genius of Love" and "Wordy Rappinghood." The most incongruent performance came from spontaneous combo Lake Trout, who played moody music that incorporated elements of ambient electronica, drum'n'bass, prog rock and avant-jazz. The band's first jam ended with torrents of distorted vocals and epileptic beats that sounded like a slightly less amped-up Atari Teenage Riot. Then the combo was joined by Ramones drummer Marky Ramone and Misfits bassist Jerry Only on vocals for two storming Ramones tunes, "I Wanna Be Sedated" and "Blitzkrieg Bop." An ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful collaboration between Meters bassist George Porter Jr., Roots vocalist Black Thought and Soulive on Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and James Brown's "Soul Power" ranked as the only major disappointment of the show.

Far more kinetic was Les Claypool's Frog Brigade performance with "Late Show" keyboardist Paul Shaffer and string-slinging maverick Junior Brown. The combo burned through a bizarre, uplifting version of the Beatles' "Taxman," slipping in snippets of Primus' "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver." During maniacal solo breaks, Brown strangled a whirlwind of sound from his double-necked guit-steel guitar, Shaffer played intricate organ runs and Claypool thrummed out a variety of rhythmic, funky bass passages. Claypool ended his band's set with a galactic version of King Crimson's "Thela Hun Ginjeet." The last band of the evening was Disco Biscuits, who along with Blues Traveler singer John Popper and jazz virtuoso guitarist Stanley Jordan played Jane's Addiction's "Three Days" and Led Zeppelin's "Bring It on Home." On the former, Jordan provided angular texture to the band's dusky, moody playing and Popper filled in the sonic gaps with wailing harmonica solos.

The Jammys concluded with various artists including Popper, Jordan and the Derek Trucks Band jamming to the Meters' "Cissy Strut" after Porter won the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Other award winnners included:

• Release of the Year - Ladies and Gentlemen, the Grateful Dead
• Jam of the Year - Phil & Friends with Mike Gordon (12/31/00)
• Live Performance - Phish at Deer Creek in Noblesville, Indiana (7/11/00)
• Live Album - Live Frogs, Set 1, Les Claypool's Frog Brigade
• Studio Album - Farmhouse, Phish
• Mimi Fishman Memorial Award - Mockingbird Foundation
• Festival of the Year - Gathering of the Vibes
• Fan Website - www.etree.org
• Radio Show - "Jam Nation"
• New Groove of the Year - Yonder Mountain String Band

• Phish
• The Allman Brothers Band
• Col. Bruce Hampton
• Del McCoury
• Jazz Mandolin Project

Junior Brown
Photo: Senor McGuire

The growing jamband scene's stars — Phish, the Allman Brothers Band, Ratdog and Widespread Panic — will be off jamming elsewhere when the winners of the second annual Jammy Awards are announced June 28 at Roseland Ballroom in New York. Event organizers have nevertheless lined up an eclectic group of performers for the celebration.

The Derek Trucks Band will serve as the event's house combo.

Primus' Les Claypool, Junior Brown, Spearhead's Michael Franti, the Tom Tom Club, Stanley Jordan, Soulive, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Del McCoury, Col. Bruce Hampton, the Disco Biscuits, DJ Logic, Steve Kimock, Talib Kweli and the Jazz Mandolin Project will mostly perform cover versions drawn from the improvised-music tradition. The Tom Tom Club and Franti have so far agreed to play something by Bob Marley together. Soulive, DJ Logic and Ndegeocello will also perform together at some point. The Jammys were conceived in 2000 by Jambands.com editor-in-chief Dean Budnick and Wetlands Preserve club owner Peter Shapiro. Voting for this year's winners is underway at Jambands.com and relix.com.

Jammy Awards nominees: Jam of the Year