GRAMMY Nominees Provide Hope for All

The music community is buzzing with talk of the recent announcement of the nominees for the 62nd GRAMMY Awards, to be handed out next January.

Too many outlets, in my opinion, are focusing on the fact that Taylor Swift wasn’t nominated for album or record of the year.  She’s still up for some others, but there just might be a changing of the guard – someone else’s turn to grab the spotlight.

So, to me, the focus should be on the many nominees that might not (yet) be household names.  Now, perhaps they already are within their own genre, but, they’re still not as universally recognizable as names like Swift.  However, that’s still a good thing as it relates to the hope that it gives for the hard-working music creators out there wondering when, if, or how they will make it to the GRAMMY ballot and then into the finalists that are nominees.

I, for one, was thrilled to see names who I’ve interviewed on “Now Hear This Entertainment” among the nominees.

In January 2018 at the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, I sat down with (among others) jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco, who already was a multiple GRAMMY nominee, but it’s still great to see his name among those vying for an award in 2020 regardless.  The guest from NHTE 210 is up for Best Jazz Instrumental Album.

In less than two weeks I’m anticipating going to see Death Angel perform here in Tampa, having sat down with some of them at the 2017 Winter NAMM Show for what would be NHTE 163.  They’re among the GRAMMY nominees up for Best Metal Performance.  The band has been around for more than 30 years and this is their first nomination.  That in itself should be all you need to hear when it comes to the simple yet motivating “never give up” mantra.

And, Barbra Streisand is up for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, and NHTE 188 guest Charlie Midnight co-wrote one of the songs on there.

Even though he had previously worked on Grammy-winning and nominated albums, it’s also worth mentioning that Robert Eibach from NHTE 250 was just in Las Vegas, a part of The Lucky Band’s “Buenos Diaz” album that just won a Latin GRAMMY.

Interestingly, I have also received an offer to be connected with David Darling, who is a past GRAMMY winner and is up for Best New Age Album on the current announcement of nominees.

It’s Thanksgiving week here in the United States.  At a time when too many people are down in the dumps and thinking that there’s not much to live for – the National Institute of Mental Health reports that the suicide rate has increased 31% over the last 16 years – clearly the above shows that there is reason for hope for those in the business of creating original music.  Be thankful for that when you sit down to your turkey dinner on Thursday.  And come January’s awards show, win or lose, take your proverbial hat off to the non-Taylor Swifts of the world for getting to that point on their musical journeys.

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