CMT News

O Brother, Where Art Thou?, country's top-selling album for 2001, has a Grammy nomination for album of the year, and the award-winning project generated a number of spinoff nominations in other categories.

Jo Dee Messina, Diamond Rio and Steven Curtis Chapman announced Grammy nominees Friday morning (Jan. 4) in Nashville during a news conference held simultaneously with a similar event in Los Angeles. The Grammys are scheduled for Feb. 27 at Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast live by CBS.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day, in country categories, was the multiple nominations earned by the Hank Williams tribute album, Timeless. Performances from that project by Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams, and Johnny Cash picked up nominations, and the album is up for best country album.

O Brother producer T Bone Burnett is nominated for producer of the year, non-classical, and Ralph Stanley's haunting performance of "O Death" from the soundtrack is up for best male country vocal performance.

"I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" as performed by The Soggy Bottom Boys -- Dan Tyminski, Harley Allen and Pat Enright -- is up for best country collaboration with vocals. Another O Brother performance is nominated in the same category, "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby," by Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is not nominated for best country album, Grammy officials explained, because it is nominated for best compilation soundtrack album for a motion picture, television or other visual media.

Krauss, with her band Union Station, also has nods for best country performance by a duo or group with vocal, for "The Lucky One"; best country instrumental performance, for "Choctaw Hayride"; and best bluegrass album, for New Favorite. Robert Lee Castleman's "The Lucky One" is nominated for best country song. New Favorite also is up for best engineered album, non-classical. The award would go to engineer Gary Paczosa.

Michael Gray contributed to this story.

Grammy nominations in country categories include:

Best female vocal country vocal performance

"Long Gone Lonesome Blues," Sheryl Crow

"There Is No Arizona," Jamie O'Neal

"Shine," Dolly Parton

"Cold, Cold Heart," Lucinda Williams

"I Would've Loved You Anyway," Trisha Yearwood

Best male country vocal performance

"Lovesick Blues," Ryan Adams

"I Dreamed About Mama Last Night," Johnny Cash

"San Antonio Girl," Lyle Lovett

"Grown Men Don't Cry," Tim McGraw

"Marie," Willie Nelson

"O Death," Ralph Stanley

Best country performance by a duo or group with vocal

"Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens," Asleep at the Wheel

"Ain't Nothing 'Bout You," Brooks & Dunn

"One More Day," Diamond Rio

"The Lucky One," Alison Krauss + Union Station

"I'm Already There," Lonestar

Best country collaboration with vocals

"Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby," Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch

"Beer Run (B Double E Double R You In?)," George Jones & Garth Brooks

"Bring on the Rain," Jo Dee Messina & Tim McGraw

"I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow," Dan Tyminski, Harley Allen & Pat Enright (The Soggy Bottom Boys)

"Inside Out," Trisha Yearwood & Don Henley

Best country instrumental performance

"Sugarfoot Rag," Asleep at the Wheel & Brad Paisley

"Poultry in Motion," Bill Kirchen

"Choctaw Hayride," Alison Krauss + Union Station

"Munster Rag," Brad Paisley

"Foggy Mountain Breakdown," Earl Scruggs, Glen Duncan, Randy Scruggs, Steve Martin, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, Gary Scruggs, Albert Lee, Paul Shaffer, Jerry Douglas & Leon Russell

Best country song

"I'm Already There," Gary Baker, Richie McDonald & Frank Myers, songwriters (Lonestar)

"The Lucky One," Robert Lee Castleman, songwriter (Alison Krauss + Union Station)

"One More Day," Steven Dale Jones & Bobby Tomberlin, songwriters (Diamond Rio)

"There Is No Arizona," Lisa Drew, Jamie O'Neal & Shaye Smith, songwriters (Jamie O'Neal)

"When I Think About Angels," Roxie Dean, Jamie O'Neal & Sonny Tillis, songwriters (Jamie O'Neal)

Best country album

One More Day, Diamond Rio

Set This Circus Down, Tim McGraw

Rainbow Connection, Willie Nelson

Timeless - Hank Williams Tribute, Various Artists

Inside Out, Trisha Yearwood

Best bluegrass album

New Favorite, Alison Krauss + Union Station

Mountain Soul, Patty Loveless

Little Sparrow, Dolly Parton

History of the Future, Ricky Skaggs

Clinch Mountain Sweethearts, Ralph Stanley