Dale Ann Bradley is an American

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ...

ian. She is a six-time (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2021) Female Bluegrass Vocalist of the Year, a distinction given by the

International Bluegrass Music Association The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music. Formed in 1985, IBMA established its first headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1988 they announced plans to create the International ...

. She has released music both as a solo artist and as part of the group New Coon Creek Girls.

Early life

Bradley was born in southeastern Kentucky. Her father was a coal-mining Baptist minister. She grew up without running water or electricity until she was a senior in high school. She also lived with heavy religious restrictions with her father being a minister. She received her first guitar at the age of 14, making a guitar pick out of a plastic milk carton to play. As a junior in high school, Bradley met a childhood friend of her mother who was also her new band director at school. He and his wife sang at Pine Mountain State Park, located in Pineville, Kentucky, in the summers and invited Bradley to perform with them. She played with the band (Backporch Grass) and recorded a few singles and had the opportunity to perform in front of live audiences.

Career

Bradley auditioned for the New Coon Creek Girls in 1988 but was unsuccessful. For the next couple of years, she worked as a solo artist before finally joining the group in 1991. She released her first solo album, East Kentucky Morning, in 1997. The album was top ten on both the Bluegrass Unlimited chart and the Gavin Americana chart. In early 2015, Bradley left her record label

Compass Records Compass Records is an independent record label founded in 1995 by musicians Garry West and Alison Brown that specializes in folk music, folk, bluegrass music, bluegrass, Celtic music, Celtic, jazz, and acoustic music. In 2006, Compass purchased t ...

for Pinecastle Records, with whom she recorded her first solo album. In late 2015, her 7th album, Pocket Full of Keys received a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album In 2019, Bradley joined a new bluegrass band known as Sister Sadie and their self-titled debut album received a

Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album The Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the bluegrass mu ...

nomination.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Dale Ann Living people American women country singers American country singer-songwriters Bluegrass musicians from Kentucky Singer-songwriters from Kentucky Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Country musicians from Kentucky 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers