Behind the stage at Grammy nominations concert
- A surreal night for the Lumineers
- Fun, fun, fun, fun for fun.'s indie-pop
- Alabama Shakes revels in new artist nomination
Which artists' praises were being sung during Wednesday night's Grammy Nominations Concert Live event? USA TODAY's Brian Mansfield reports from backstage at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.
New and surreal. Lumineers lead vocalist Wesley Schultz, whose folk-rock group had just been nominated for best new artist, was finding it difficult to process the whole experience. "We've never gotten to be represented or promoted before we put out this record (their self-titled debut),'' he said. "It's hard to explain, though, because nothing happens for so long, then you're nominated for a Grammy. It's pretty surreal. It's kind of hard to wrap your head around it. .. We felt like underdogs in this whole thing.''
"It's unexpected, for sure,'' added bandmate Neyla Pekarek. "There's a lot of really awesome people in those categories. You see these bands get hype and whatever. We made an album without knowing anything about this. We're super happy to be here.''
Great shakes. Drummer Steve Johnson of Alabama Shakes said that one of his fellow new artist nominees is perhaps more deserving of the award. "If I were on the other side of the fence, I'd vote Frank Ocean, personally,'' he said.
Added lead singer Brittany Howard: "I'm just happy and my Nana's happy.'' She said the group, which has spent about a year and a half performing their Boys & Girls album, will take its time before entering the studio again. "I feel like people want to apply that pressure, but I want to ignore it, at all costs,'' she said. "Songwriting has already begun… We're not going to put out anything we think is garbage.''
Home cooking. Dierks Bentley, nominated for country solo vocal performance, said he was thrilled the Grammy nominations were announced in Nashville this year, but admitted "I'm biased. I kind of feel like it's a good opportunity for the rest of the world to get a sneak peek of Nashville. Everyone who lives here knows how great it is. We like that it is kind of a secret in some ways. The cool thing about Nashville is you bring them in, give them a big hug, take them to your favorite bar, introduce them to your favorite songwriters. I think what makes this town great is it's a cool community of people who support each other.''
Finding his voice. Nate Ruess, founder of indie-pop group fun., which was nominated in four top categories, including new artist and album for Some Nights, had a rough time of it during this week's rehearsals for the televised show. The group sang record- and song-nominee We Are Young with Janelle Monae, but "for the last week, I've had more vocal problems than I've ever had,'' said Ruess. "Fortunately, my voice worked.''
Bandmate Jack Antonoff said that after surveying the nominees list he feels "there's a change that's coming in music and this feels like a big year for that. We're excited to be a part of it. ... If you turn on the radio, it's pretty obvious that something's changing.''