Chicago, Illinois based Dom Flemons is an American old-time music, Piedmont blues, and neotraditional country multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. He is a proficient player of the banjo, fife, guitar, harmonica, percussion, quills, and rhythm bones. He is known as “The American Songster” as his repertoire of music spans nearly a century of American folklore, ballads, and tunes. He is a member of the Folk music group “Carolina Chocolate Drops” from their inception in 2005 until 2013. Flemons has released five albums in his own name, although two of those were collaborations with other musicians.

With Carolina Chocolate Drops, he won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. Dom Flemons also received a Grammy nomination this year’s 66th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Folk Album for his album “Traveling Wildfire”.

“It is a great honor to win the Overall Grand Prize as well as the Best Folk/Americana/Roots category at the International Acoustic Music Awards. Over the past 25 years, it has always been my goal to create music that entertains, educates and inspires people of all communities.  Using a variety of instruments and old-time music styles it has also been my mission to make sure the music that I inherited from my friends and mentors lives on into the present. Thanks to my team and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings for all of their support in making this prize a reality”, said Dom Flemons, this year’s top winner.

Dom Flemons is signed to Smithsonian Folkways Records. Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian’s Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C.

Here is the list of winners of the 20th Annual IAMA:

Overall Grand Prize Winner
“Traveling Wildfire” by Dom Flemons

INSTRUMENTAL
FIRST PRIZE: “Atlas” by Karlijn Langendijk
RUNNER-UP: “Roll Over O’Carolan Carolan’s Concerto” by Edward EJ Ouellette

OPEN
FIRST PRIZE: “Teaching Vincent Van Gogh” by SONiA disappear fear
RUNNER-UP: “Won’t Be Around” by Terry Blade

AAA/ALTERNATIVE
FIRST PRIZE: “Lisbon” by Luke James Shaffer
RUNNER-UP: “Soft on the Shoulder” by Arielle Silver

FOLK/AMERICANA/ROOTS
FIRST PRIZE: “Traveling Wildfire” by Dom Flemons
RUNNER-UP: “Mary Dyer” by Todd Hearon

BEST GROUP/DUO
FIRST PRIZE: “I am a Wolf” by Violet Bell
RUNNER-UP: “Breathe!” by Eric Dick & Celleste

BEST MALE ARTIST
FIRST PRIZE: “Beautiful Universe” by Francois Klark
RUNNER-UP: “Blue Canadian Rockies” by  Christian Parker

BEST FEMALE ARTIST
FIRST PRIZE: “The Well” by Alex Mabey
RUNNER-UP: “Memphis Moonlight” by Deb Ryder

COUNTRY/BLUEGRASS
FIRST PRIZE: “Barranco” by Crowes Pasture
RUNNER-UP: “Chasin’ Indigo” by Carley Arrowood

ABOUT IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards)
IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards) promotes the art and artistry of acoustic music performance and artistry. In its 21st year, IAMA has a proven track record of winners going on to get signed and hit the Billboard Charts.

Ricky Kej (1st Prize Winner 2018 IAMA, instrumental category) , based out of Bengaluru, India won the Grammy last year for ‘Divine Tides’, in the best immersive audio album category.

Notable winners include Ellis Paul, Jonatha Brooke, David Francey, AJ Croce and more. Meghan Trainor was discovered by IAMA eleven years ago and is now a global phenomenon with #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts with “All about That Bass” (#1 for 8 weeks) and #1 on The Billboard 200 Charts with her debut album “Title”, won for a Grammy award for Best New Artist. 2nd Annual IAMA winner Zane Williams’s winning song was recorded by country music star Jason Michael Carroll, that song hit #14 on Billboard Country Charts and #99 on Billboard Hot 100 Charts. Jeff Gutt, finalist at the 9th Annual IAMA was a runner-up on X-Factor USA. Charlie Dore (known for her hit “Pilot of the Airwaves”) was the top winner in 2008. Information on winners and finalists, go to: inacoustic.com/winners

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