Amanda Smith Wins
IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year Award
IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year Award
RALEIGH, NC (October 3, 2014) – Bluegrass songstress Amanda Smith was awarded the 2014 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Female Vocalist of the Year Awardlast night at the 25th Annual IBMA Awards Show in Raleigh, North
Carolina. The event was held at the Duke Energy Center for the
Performing Arts and hosted by Lee Ann Womack and Jerry Douglas.
This was the first win for Amanda in the Female Vocalist of the Year
category. The mother-to-be accepted the award with a heartfelt
acceptance speech that certainly thrilled the audience. Friends and fans
were quick to hit Facebook congratulating Amanda on this award to which
she responded, “I am so honored to have won the IBMA Female Vocalist
award. Thanks so much to everyone who has been so kind to me and
encouraged me. I’m truly speechless!”
Born in the small town of Davisville, West Virginia, Amanda grew up
singing in church choirs and participating in talent contests at local
fairs. “I always sang, my Mom and Dad said, even before I can remember,”
she says. She started playing guitar in high school to accompany
herself, and soon discovered bluegrass music through female artists such
as Rhonda Vincent and Alison Krauss.
Amanda met husband Kenny Smith at a Lonesome River Band concert, and the couple began dating and playing music together almost immediately. In 2003, the Kenny and Amanda Smith band were awarded the prestigious IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year Award.