Grammy to Lovett: Hit the Road?

It’s not often that the Grammy Awards are accused of being too hip.

But that’s the concern of some members of the country music world, who scratched their heads a bit after watching Lyle Lovett take home the best country album award for his “The Road to Ensenada” in February, his fourth Grammy in nine years.

It’s not that they don’t have a lot of respect for Lovett’s arch lyrics and swinging, folk-inflected songs. They just don’t consider him a mainstream country artist.

“He’s cool and hip,” says John Sebastian, program director of Los Angeles country radio station KZLA-FM (93.9). “But his notoriety within the Grammy establishment is much higher than the reality of his appeal in country music. . . . He’s certainly not among the top artists.”

Lovett’s presence in the Grammy country categories could change with a vote of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences’ Grammy Awards nominating committee, which is holding its annual meeting in L.A. this weekend. A key issue being discussed will be whether to expand the system in which blue-ribbon panels determine the five finalists in key categories, selecting from the 20 top vote-getters chosen by the academy’s 8,000 members.

The screening method, long used for jazz, classical and video awards, wasin 1996 implemented for the top four general categories (album, record, song and new artist). Now a proposal to employ it for country and R&B; is under consideration.

Alan Light, editor-in-chief of the R&B;/hip-hop magazine Vibe, is a supporter of the system and welcomes it for R&B.;

“We’ve seen benefits from that strategy,” he says. “Any sort of filter for specialty categories that takes it away from straight across-the-board popular vote will probably result in better-informed choices.”

The twist is that while the goal of the committee system is to minimize votes that reward popularity and familiarity more than artistry, the system’s application in country music could endanger acts that are not in the mainstream.

While no one equates the Lovett victories with the 1988 win by classic-rock band Jethro Tull over Metallica for the first-ever heavy-metal Grammy, the proposed change suits the ultra-populist country music world just fine.

“The Grammys have been somewhat out of touch with the average country listener,” says Richard McVey, associate editor of the Nashville-based magazine Music City News. “The committee could be of great value to correct that--though it depends on who is actually on the committee.”