The Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville has just announced the list of this year’s inductees, all of whom have a bluegrass connection.

The honorees are selected annually in three chronological career categories: pre WWII, WWII to 1975, and 1975-present.

Ernest V. (Pop) Stoneman will be honored in the first (pre WWII) category. He was the patriarch of the Stoneman Family, one of the most prolific and infuential of the early country recording artists. One of his sons, Scotty Stoneman, is claimed as a primary influence by successive generations of bluegrass and old time fiddlers.

The next category (WWII to 1975) produced a tie. Both Tom T. Hall and The Statler Brothers will share this year’s honor. The Statlers have not done much bluegrass - though they belong in every hall of fame for giving us Roadhog Moran & his Cadillac Cowboys - but many of their songs have found their way into the bluegrass Gospel repertoire.

Tom T. Hall, of course, has dedicated his recent career to writing, recording and promoting bluegrass music, and with his wife Dixie, has left a legacy to the music in the form of a bequest to the IBMA upon their passing.

In the modern (1975-present) category, Emmylou Harris, gets the nod. Though she is more generally regarded as a country artist, her contributions to bluegrass are legion, from performing/recording with Seldom Scene to having hired, performed with and promoted the careers of artists like Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice and Sam Bush.

Congratulations to this year’s inductees!

HT: Jon Weisberger