Latin Grammy Nominations Announced
Country Legend Wade Mainer Dies
The “Grandfather of Bluegrass” as he was often called, singer and banjoist Wade Mainer has died. He was 104. His career was one that spanned over six decades and influenced an entire genre of music and segment of American culture.
It was his brand of banjo-playing, harmonizing, and gospel music that paved the way for traditional American Bluegrass music to materialize, according to NPR’s Paul Brown. Ronald Reagan awarded Mainer with the National Heritage Fellowship in 1987. According to The Washington Post, Mainer once said, “What we was playin’ in the ’30’s was true country music—no electric instruments, no copyrights ... Something’d happen and someone’d write a song about it—nobody owned it, nobody’d know who wrote it. The music just told a story.”
Will Ferrell to Receive Comedy Award
This will be the 14th time a comedian is presented with the award that aims to “recognize people who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to ... social commentator, satirist, and creator of characters Samuel Clemens,” according to the Kennedy Center. The AP reports that Jack Black, Conan O’Brien, and Larry King will be among those taking part in the awards ceremony airing on PBS on Oct. 31.
