Next week we'll get the nominations for the GRAMMYs for 2023 (the awards will be made in February) in all the usual categories, plus five new ones:
- ● Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical
● Best Alternative Music Performance
● Best Americana Performance
● Best Score Soundtrack For Video Games And Other Interactive Media
● Best Spoken Word Poetry Album
Well, OK – for the most part. Without songwriters there'd be no music; and if someone can finally pin down a workable definition of ''alternative music" and agree on it so as to recognize it, more power to them. And there have always been "spoken word" GRAMMYs (George Carlin, Jimmy Carter, Rod McKuen, and Barack Obama all have figurines for this genre), so I suppose giving poetry a niche of its own is probably past due.
But Americana?? By definition, wouldn't any music written by an American or performed by an American band be "Americana"? And sound-tracks for video games? That's all we need – a GRAMMY to be awarded for the likes of Nintendo's "Super Mario", or the Russian earworm from TETЯIS.
What's next — a GRAMMY for 'Best Soundcheck by a Live Act'?
-"BB"-