Earls of Leicester Take Top Prize at Bluegrass Awards, Watch Them Perform ‘Black Eyed Susie’

Earls of Leicester took home the top prize—Entertainer of the Year—at the 27th Annual International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, held in Raleigh, North Carolina on September 29. It was the second consecutive Entertainer of the Year win for the bluegrass supergroup featuring Jerry Douglas, Barry Bales, Shawn Camp, Charlie Cushman, Johnny Warren, and Jeff White. The band was also recognized in three solo categories: Dobro Player (Douglas), Bass Player (Barry) and Banjo Player of the Year (Cushman).

Watch above as the Earls perform “Black Eyed Susie” at the recent Pickin’ in the Pines festival, courtesy of YouTuber Elaine Campbell.

Flatt Lonesome, a bluegrass gospel band formed by siblings Charli Robertson, Buddy Robertson, and Kelsi Robertson Harrigill, earned three trophies—Album, Song and Vocal Group of the Year.

Additional winners included: Bryan Sutton, Guitar Player of the Year; Special Consensus featuring Rob Ickes, Trey Hensley, and Alison Brown performing “Fireball,” Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year; Junior Sisk and Ronnie Bowman for their song “Longneck Blues,” Recorded Event of the Year; Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, Instrumental Group of the Year; and Emerging Artist of the Year, Mountain Faith. In addition, flatpicking whiz Clarence White was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame.—Whitney Phaneuf