For a moment, it looked as if country music star (and noted baseball fan) Zach Top was on the verge of striking out at his first Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday.
The first-time nominee — and pride of Sunnyside, Yakima County — was down 0-2, having lost in the best country song and solo performance categories. But the old-soul singer who cut his teeth at Washington bluegrass festivals before lighting up the country world wouldn’t leave empty-handed.
Top picked up his first Grammy award, with last summer’s “Ain’t in It for My Health” winning best traditional country album during a daytime ceremony across the street from Cypto.com Arena, where the televised ceremony is held.
“I almost didn’t make it up here in time, I’m winded,” Top joked after hauling it up to the stage from the back of the Peacock Theater, huffing like he just ran from first to third on a single. “This is insane. I feel like I watched the Grammys on TV when I was a little kid and (they) looked like superheroes up on TV. So to be here and be a little part of the whole thing is insane.”
As award shows go, Sunday’s Grammys weren’t the first rodeo for the 28-year-old songsmith, who grew up on a 40-acre farm in Eastern Washington. But after edging out country icon Willie Nelson, country/Americana stars Charley Crockett and Margo Price, and Willie’s son Lukas Nelson for his first Grammy win, Top has another mantelpiece to go alongside his 2025 Country Music Award for new artist of the year and the new male artist of the year prize he picked up at 2024 Academy of American Country Music Awards.
Top’s other two nominations stemmed from his biggest hit to date, “I Never Lie” off his debut country album, 2024’s “Cold Beer & Country Music.” Perennial award show favorite Chris Stapleton claimed best country solo performance with “Bad as I Used to Be” from the “F1” movie soundtrack, while best country song went to Tyler Childers’ exceptional “Nose on the Grindstone.”
The “Bad Luck” singer wasn’t the only Washingtonian with good fortunes on Sunday, although Seattle’s Grammy slayer in chief Brandi Carlile was unable to add to her 11 career wins. The folk rock star’s twin nominations hailed from her recent collaboration with her childhood hero-turned-close friend Elton John. Their song “Never Too Late” ran into impossible competition in the best song written for visual media category, which predictably went to smash hit “Golden” from the inescapable “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack.
Carlile and John’s kaleidoscopic duo album “Who Believes in Angels?” earned a nod for best traditional pop vocal album, with arena-packing pop/jazz artist Laufey winning for “A Matter of Time.” Carlile will assuredly have another crack at bolstering her Grammys collection next year, when her latest solo album “Returning to Myself” becomes eligible.
Beyond Carlile and Top, the Seattle jazz scene was well represented in the arrangement categories this year. Seattle-reared brass quartet The Westerlies, frequently part of Fleet Foxes touring band, earned their first Grammy nomination for best arrangement, instrumental or a cappella with “Fight On,” losing to the 8 Bit Big Band’s head-spinning “Super Mario Praise Break.”
For the third year in a row, Seattle-oriented vocal group säje won the best arrangement, instrument and vocals award for the angelically nimble “Big Fish” off progressive jazz drummer Nate Smith’s “Live-Action” LP, which also won best alternative jazz album.
“Oh my goodness. I want to thank these four geniuses here for taking a pretty good idea and making it epic,” Smith said, turning the microphone over to säje’s Amanda Taylor.
“What an honor to be here and to have our work celebrated by our peers,” Taylor said. “And to share this moment with the absolute force that is Nate Smith. Creating this music with someone so open and fearless was nothing short of magical.”
While Taylor and the women of säje celebrated their latest Grammy win at the Los Angeles ceremony, they’ll be back in Seattle later this month for a six-show run at Jazz Alley (Feb. 26-March 1).
Decorated classical producer Dimitriy Lipay was the only other Seattle-area musician to net a prize, winning best classical compendium for “Ortiz: Yanga.” The eight-time Grammy winner was also up for classical producer of the year for the fifth time, though the award went to Elaine Mortone.
Elsewhere, jazz fusion group Shakti — featuring Bellevue violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan — lost in the best global music album and performance categories to Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethânia and Bad Bunny, respectively.
Seattle experimental pop stalwart Perfume Genius, now living in the Los Angeles area, was up for best album cover for his seventh studio album, “Glory,” depicting the real-life Mike Hadreas unconscious on a living room floor. The newly created award went to Tyler, the Creator’s “Chromakopia.”
Early in the day, acclaimed video game scorer Wilbert Roget II went 0-2 in the category for best score for video games and other interactive media category, where he was nominated twice for “Helldivers 2” and “Star Wars Outlaws: Wild Card & a Pirate’s Fortune.”
The 68th Annual Grammy Awards continue Sunday night, where Seattle rock great Duff McKagan and Morton-raised country/America vet Brandy Clark are slated to perform.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yakimaherald.com ’
