Nearly 30 Texas artists received Grammy Award nominations for 2022, announced Nov. 23 in Los Angeles, covering a variety of categories that demonstrate the breadth of Texas music. The 64th Grammy Awards will air Jan. 31.
Willie Nelson could take home a Grammy in the Best Traditional Pop Album category for his Frank Sinatra tribute, That’s Life. Nelson has won 10 Grammys during his career and has received more than 50 nominations, but if he’s to win this year, he’ll need to beat out Norah Jones’ Til We Meet Again (Live).
The nominations also included two mentions for the Austin-based Black Pumas. Their album, Capitol Cuts: Live from Studio A, received a nomination in the Best Rock Album category, while the song “Know You Better” from that album is up for Best Rock Performance. The band, comprised of singer Eric Burton and guitarist Adrian Quesada, received three nominations last year but has yet to take home a trophy.
Other best album nominations for Texas artists — and there were plenty — included a nod for country artists Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram and Jon Randall, who shared a nomination for Best Country Album for The Marfa Tapes, while Sarah Jarosz received a nomination for Best Folk Album for Blue Heron Suite. Selena Gomez was nominated in the Best Latin Pop Album category for Revelación; St. Vincent scored a nomination in Best Alternative Music Album Vocal or Instrumental for Daddy’s Home; Jazzmeia Horn and Her Noble Force scored a nomination for Dear Love in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category; Mark Lettieri is nominated for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Deep: The Baritone Sessions, Vol. 2; Kari Jobe’s The Blessing (Live) is nominated for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album; Kim Wilson received a nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album for Take Me Back; Robert Glasper is nominated for Best Progressive R&B Album for Dinner Party: Dessert; and Leon Bridges enjoyed a nod in the Best R&B Album category for Gold-Diggers Sound. (Bridges is also nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Born Again,” featuring Glasper.)
Kacey Musgraves, who, in 2019, won the Album of the Year Grammy (for Golden Hour), received two nominations for the song “camera roll” in the Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance categories. (Oddly, Musgraves’ new album, star-crossed, was bumped by the academy from country to pop.) And Mickey Guyton received nominations in the Best Country Song, Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Album categories for Remember Her Name (and its accompanying title song). Maren Morris scored two nods — one for Best Country Song, for “Better Than We Found It,” and the other for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Chasing After You” (with Jessie Jo Dillon, Jimmy Robbins and Laura Veltz). Morris will be competing in that category with Lambert, who received a nomination for “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” with Elle King.
Megan Thee Stallion was nominated in the Best Rap Performance category for “Thot Shit” — she’s also a featured artist on Lis Nas X’s Montero, which is nominated for Album of the Year — and while he didn’t receive a nomination, Travis Scott is a featured artist on Kanye West’s Donda, which is nominated for Album of the Year.
Kirk Franklin & Lil Baby were nominated for “We Win” in the Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song category, and Blanton Alspaugh received a nomination for Producer of the Year – Classical.
Conspirare is again nominated for Best Choral Performance, for The Singing Guitar (with Craig Hella Johnson, Douglas Harvey, the Austin Guitar Quartet and the Texas Guitar Quartet), and Robert Rodriguez received a nomination for Best Music Film for Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles.
Finally, Sarah and Shauna Dodds received another nomination for best recording package. The two sisters are recognized this time as art directors for Reckless Kelly’s American Jackpot/American Girls. The Dodds have previously won two Grammys in this same category, in 2013 and 2015.
