Fresh off the CMA Awards, country music is going strong with several nominations at the 2024 Grammy Awards. In addition to the standard categories like Best Country Album, and Best Country Song, country music is represented in the all-genre category of Best New Artist, with Jelly Roll and The War and Treaty scoring nominations. They’re nominated alongside a mix of rap, pop, and Americana. The artists nominated are Ice Spice, Gracie Abrams, Noah Kahan, Victoria Monét, Fred again.., and Coco Jones.
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Since the Grammys started awarding Best New Artist in 1960, only a handful of country artists have won: Bobbie Gentry (1968), LeAnn Rimes (1997), Carrie Underwood (2007), and Zac Brown Band (2010), with country-adjacent artists like Sheryl Crow and the Darius Rucker-fronted Hootie & the Blowfish winning in 1995 and 1996, respectively. Since 2013 when Hunter Hayes was nominated, country music has had a consistent presence among the nominees in the category, the latest being Jimmie Allen, who was nominated in 2022. But country music was noticeably absent from the category in 2023.
An artist who is no stranger to blending genres is Jelly Roll. Originally starting off his career as a rapper, the Nashville native has walked a complicated path. He spent much of his youth and young adult years in and out of jail for drug charges, a topic he fully embraces in his autobiographical songwriting. He made his official transition into country with his 2021 single “Son of a Sinner” which became his first No. 1 on the country charts. He released his debut country album, Whitsitt Chapel, in June 2023, with collaborators ranging from Lainey Wilson to Yelawolf. The album reached No. 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, No. 1 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart, and No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard 200. He crossed another milestone when he won New Artist of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards.
[RELATED: Exclusive: Jelly Roll on Grammy Nominations: “I’ve Been Crying all Morning”]
Though Grammy voters and viewers may be new to The War and Treaty, they’ve been making a name for themselves in Nashville for years. The husband-and-wife duo of Michael and Tanya Trotter were pursuing solo careers before they formed as a duo in 2014. They’ve released four studio albums, first rising to fame with Healing Tide in 2018, and have won numerous Americana awards since.
They hit a career-high in 2023 with the release of their major label debut album, Lover’s Game, followed by a collaboration with superstar newcomer Zach Bryan on “Hey Driver,” which became their first Top 15 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. In addition to performing at the ACM and CMA Awards, they were nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year at both ceremonies. They’ve also won Duo/Group of the Year at the American Music Honors & Awards two years in a row in 2022 and 2023.
Their harmonies are as spectacular as their stage show, making them stand out amongst their contemporaries. The couple isn’t afraid to show off their love either, often incorporating affection into their stage presence.
“I think as a solo artist, we have limitations. It’s so hard as a solo artist to cover all the grounds that you want to cover. But when you partner with someone, especially someone like Tanya, I don’t feel that we have any weaknesses because where I’m weak, she’s strong, where she’s weak, I’m strong,” Trotter Jr. tells American Songwriter. “That is how we knew we would be a great partnership whether it be in song or whether it be in love.”
See the full list of country artists previously nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards:
John Prine (1973)
The Judds (1985)
The Kentucky Headhunters (1991)
Billy Ray Cyrus (1993)
Shania Twain (1996)
The Chicks (1999)
Brad Paisley (2001)
Gretchen Wilson (2005)
Sugarland (2006)
Taylor Swift (2008)
Hunter Hayes (2013)
Kacey Musgraves (2014)
Brandy Clark (2015)
Sam Hunt (2016)
Maren Morris (2017)
Kelsea Ballerini (2017)
Luke Combs (2019)
Margo Price (2019)
Yola (2020)
Ingrid Andress (2021)
Jimmie Allen (2022)
Photos by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images
