Del McCoury, Doyle Lawson, Rhonda Vincent, Michelle Nixon, Ronnie Bowman and Jeff Weaver will be vying for the entertainer of the year prize at the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America's 31st annual awards show Feb. 6 at the Sheraton Music City hotel in Nashville. Vincent won the award in 2004 and 2003. The awards show caps the SPBGMA convention that runs Feb. 3-6 and includes band contests, showcases and workshops.

Jimmy Gaudreau -- the mandolinist who has graced such bands as the Country Gentlemen, Eddie Adcock & the IInd Generation, J. D. Crowe & the New South, the Country Store, Spectrum, the Tony Rice Unit and Chesapeake -- will be inducted into the SPBGMA's Preservation Hall of Greats during the awards show.

Other award categories and their competitors include:

Album of the year: Alecia Nugent, Alecia Nugent; Best Durn Ride, IIIrd Tyme Out; It's My Turn, Michelle Nixon & Drive; Long Way Back Home, the Gibson Brothers; Side by Side, BlueRidge; Songs of the American Spirit, Charlie Waller & the Country Gentlemen.

Song: "The Best Durn Ride," recorded by IIIrd Tyme Out; "Clinch Mountain Mystery," the Larry Stephenson Band; "Eight More Miles to Louisville," Sam Bush; "I Know Where Love Lives," the Kenny & Amanda Smith Band; "Mountain Song," the Gibson Brothers; "My First Mistake," Alecia Nugent.

Entertaining group: Bluegrass Brothers, Carolina Road, Cherryholmes, Goldwing Express, Nothin' Fancy, IIIrd Tyme Out.

Bluegrass band (overall): Blue Highway, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Lonesome River Band, Mountain Heart, IIIrd Tyme Out, Rhonda Vincent & the Rage.

Vocal group: Blue Highway, BlueRidge, Carolina Road, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Mountain Heart, IIIrd Tyme Out.

Instrumental group: Blue Highway, BlueRidge, J. D. Crowe & the New South, Lonesome River Band, the Del McCoury Band, Rhonda Vincent & the Rage.

Gospel group (traditional): BlueRidge, the Churchmen, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, the Sullivan Family, the Village Singers, Paul Williams & the Victory Trio.

Gospel group (contemporary): Blue Highway, the Churchmen, the Isaacs, the Marksmen, Mountain Heart, NewFound Road.

Male vocalist (traditional): James King, Del McCoury, Don Rigsby, Junior Sisk, Larry Sparks, Paul Williams.

Male vocalist (contemporary): Ronnie Bowman, Larry Cordle, Chris Jones, Russell Moore, Jim Stack, Larry Stephenson.

Female vocalist (traditional): Lorraine Jordan, Lynn Morris, Michelle Nixon, Alecia Nugent, Valerie Smith, Jeanette Williams.

Female vocalist (contemporary): Dale Ann Bradley, Sonya Isaacs, Alison Krauss, Patty Loveless, Amanda Smith, Rhonda Vincent.

Songwriter: Harley Allen, Larry Cordle & Larry Shell, Tom T. Hall & Dixie Hall, Ted Pitney, Chris Stuart, Rhonda Vincent & Terry Herd.

Among the acts scheduled to perform either on the awards show or earlier in the convention are Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, the Lewis Family, Carl Jackson, Cherryholmes, Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, Ronnie Bowman, Alecia Nugent, the James King Band, the Country Gentlemen, the Larry Stephenson Band, the Lynn Morris Band, J.D. Crowe & the New South, Paul Williams & the Victory Trio, Carolina Road, Higher Vision, Michelle Nixon & Drive, the Chapmans, Tim Graves & Cherokee, Nothin' Fancy, Harvest Wind, Jimmy Bowen & Santa Fe, Ronnie Reno & the Reno Tradition, the Marksmen, BlueRidge, David Parmley & Continental Divide, Gerald Evans & Paradise, Williams & Clark Expedition, the Kentucky Blue, Bluegrass Brigade, Melvin Goins & Windy Mountain, NewFound Road, the Jeanette Williams Band and Dave Leatherman & Stone County.