The International Bluegrass Music Assocaiation has announced the nominees for the 16th Annual International Bluegrass Muisc Awards. Perennial favorote Alison Krauss & Union Station leads the pack with 14 nominations, followed by Rhonda Vincent & The Rage with 8, and both Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and Blue Highway with 7 apiece.

Several other groups received five or more nominations: The Del McCoury Band, Larry Sparks, Mountain Heart, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder and Paul Williams. The awards will be presented on Thursday October 27 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN, in a gala show hosted by Alison Krauss and Ricky Skaggs.

The Bluegrass Blog is providing expanded coverage of the nominations for these awards, with posts that include the names of each nominee, along with links to their web sites, bios and audio, in each of the 17 award categories. We hope that this coverage will aid members of the press who will be reporting on the awards, as well as IBMA members who want to do some research before casting their votes.