Louisiana Artists Nominated for Grammy Awards

The nominations for the 59th annual Grammy Awards were revealed this morning, and a number of Louisiana musicians and performers have made the cut once again.

As usual, the Best Regional Roots Music Album was a boon for Louisiana artists, with Barry Jean Ancelet & Sam Broussard picking up a nomination for Broken Promised Land, and Roddie Romero and The Hub City All-Stars picking up a nomination for Gulfstream. Romero and his band also scored a nomination for the album’s title track in the Best American Roots Song category.

Also nominated in the Best Regional Roots Music Album category was I Wanna Sing Right: Rediscovering Lomax in the Evangeline Country. Recorded and produced in Eunice, LA by Joel Savoy and Joshua Caffery, the bilingual compilation features appearances by a bevy of Louisiana musicians, including Michael Doucet, Marc Broussard, Wayne Toups, Zachary Richard, Steve Riley, Ann Savoy, Roddie Romero, Cedric Watson, Aurora Nealand, Barry Ancelet and many more.

Louisiana artists managed to score nominations in both blues album categories. Bobby Rush’s Porcupine Meat was recognized for Best Traditional Blues Album, while Kenny Neal’s Bloodline was nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

New Orleans’ first family of jazz lived up to the title this year, as the Branford Marsalis Quartet with Special Guest Kurt Elling recieved a Best Jazz Vocal Album nomination for Upward Spiral.

Shreveport native John Beasley earned two as well, with a Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for MONK’estra, Vol. 1 and a Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella nomination for “Ask Me Now.”

Louisiana-born country star Tim McGraw received a nomination in the Best Country Song category for “Humble & Kind,” a track he penned for folk singer-songwriter Lori McKenna.

Chance the Rapper’s collaboration with New Orleans native Lil Wayne and Georgia rapper 2 Chainz—“No Problem”—was nominated for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.

New Orleans resident Solange picked up a nomination in the Best R&B Performance category for her song “Cranes in the Sky.” The artist recently performed the tune on Saturday Night Live while backed by an assortment of New Orleans musicians.

Finally, Solange’s sister Beyonce was recognized more than any other artist, earning nine nominations for her smash hit album, Lemonade. One of those nominations was for her New Orleans-shot “Formation” music video, which was nominated in the Best Music Video category.

As previously reported, New Orleans’ own Jon Cleary won the first Grammy of his career at the last ceremony when he took home a statue for Best Regional Music Album for Go Go Juice. Lettsworth, LA native Buddy Guy also won Best Blues Album for his 2015 record Born to Play.

The full list of the nominees for the 59th annual Grammy Award can be found here. The ceremony will take place on Sunday, February 12.