robert plant & allison krauss

After fifty long years of award giving, the big wigs over at the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences have finally gotten it right. The official list of nominees for the 51st annual Grammy Awards has been announced, and to the delight of many true music fans, includes several non-top-40 artists. While some of your favorite teeny-boppers are still on the list, they are much less noticeable than in prior years. Leading the pack this year with nominations for Album of the Year are New Orleans syrup-sipper Lil Wayne, Mr. Paltrow's band Coldplay, ex-Zeppelin Robert Plant and his project with Alison Krauss, Ne-Yo (?), and perhaps the most deserving of the bunch, Radiohead. All five Album of the Year award nominees are also up for several other categories in their respective genres.

Check out our other favorites that made it to this year's nomination list after the jump

Lil Wayne @ Voodoo Experience 2008

The lineup for for the eighth annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass was recently announced. The festival is set to take place October 3-5, 2008 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park and will feature many bands that fall under the bluegrass tag, including Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Earl Scruggs, The Del McCoury Band, and Steve Earle & the Bluegrass Dukes. The "Hardly Strictly" part of the line-up offers some interesting additions as well, including indie-folksters Iron & Wine, gypsy-punks Gogol Bordello, pop-hipster Ben Kweller, and across-the-pond transplant Nick Lowe. The best part about this festival - even better than the line-up and location - is its price: FREE!

Check out the full Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival lineup after the jump

Yesterday, the Austin City Limits Music Festival released the schedule in grid form for this years event. The 2008 edition of the festival is being headlined by The Foo Fighters, Robert Plant & Allison Krauss, and Beck among others. With the schedule out a good three-and-a-half months before the start of the festival, It gives attendees plenty of time to plan their route of attack. Many conflicts are already standing out for me including N.E.R.D. vs. David Byrne on Friday, September 26th, Beck vs. Robert Plant & Allison Krauss on Saturday the 27th, and The Raconteurs vs. Gnarls Barkley on Sunday the 28th. There are plenty more conflicts on top of those, but when you enjoy and care about music as much as we do, you're bound to have these problems at music festivals.

Take a look at what conflicts you might/might not have after the jump