Grammys 2026: Who Will Take Home Best Folk Album?
The word “folk” bespeaks the old-timey roots of this musical genre, which can be divided into the classes of traditional and contemporary. The Grammys used to have a separate category for each of these (both founded in 1987), but fused the pair in 2012 due to the difficulty of distinguishing between the two. Traditional folk music has existed quite possibly for as long as human beings have been able to sing: it includes musical traditions that were passed down orally well before they could be turned into recordings. Contemporary folk music came about during the American folk revival of the 1940s-60s, and its influence has permeated the genre (especially in America) to this day.
Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson – What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow
The first album on this list represents a reunion for two former band partners. Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson were both in a string band called the Carolina Chocolate Drops, founded in 2005. This band’s third studio album, Genuine Negro Jig, won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in 2011, shortly before the departure of Robinson. The Carolina Chocolate Drops disbanded altogether in 2014, but it had a brief revival at the very first Biscuits & Banjos Festival, which took place in their hometown of Durham, North Carolina, in April of 2025. This is the same month in which What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow was released.
Thanks to their band, these two musicians have already won a Grammy together. They received a Best American Roots Song nomination together in 2022 for their song “Avalon” (which they shared with Francesco Turrisi). After Robinson’s departure, the Carolina Chocolate Drops were nominated once for Best Folk Album, and Giddens was nominated in this category for her first solo album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, and for her EP Factory Girl. She also won this award in 2022 for another Turrisi collaboration, They’re Calling Me Home. All in all, she has received a total of 12 Grammy nominations and two wins, while Robinson has garnered three nods (counting this year’s one) and one win, all of them in collaboration with Giddens.
Patty Griffin – Crown of Roses
Next up is the eleventh studio album from a folk musician of over three decades’ standing. Patty Griffin has accumulated eight Grammy nominations, six of which are for some variation on the Folk Album category. She has won Best Folk Album once (for her eponymous 2019 album), as well as Traditional Gospel Album (for 2010’s Downtown Church). Crown of Roses was released in July of 2025.
I’m with Her – Wild and Clear and Blue
I’m with Her is a three-woman band founded in 2014, and Wild and Clear and Blue, released in May of 2025, is their second studio album. The group is nominated this year for two other Grammys – Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song, both on account of the album’s song “Ancient Light.” I’m with Her’s 2019 song “Call My Name” won in the latter category and was nominated in the former.
Jason Isbell – Foxes in the Snow
Foxes in the Snow, released in March of 2025, is the tenth studio album by Jason Isbell, whose career started in 2001 with a rock band called the Drive-By Truckers (which he left in 2007). Isbell has received 11 Grammy nominations in his career and won six of them. This year marks his first nomination for Best Folk Album, and he is up for Best American Roots Song (which he’s won thrice before) and Best American Roots Performance.
Jesse Welles – Under the Powerlines April 24 – September 24
Under the Powerlines – April 24 – September 24, self-released in March of 2025, is the latest of eight albums that Jesse Welles has released as Jesse Welles, which is the name he began using in 2024, after releasing a total of 13 albums under the prior names Jeh Sea Wells and simply Welles. He’s never been Grammy-nominated before this year, but now he’s up for four awards: in addition to his Best Folk Album nod, another recent album, Middle, has earned him a nomination for Best Americana Album, while two songs from this album are respectively contending in the categories Best Americana Performance and Best American Roots Song.
Brief Facts on the 68th Grammys
The 68th Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 1, between 5:00 and 8:30 PM (PST). They’ll be broadcast live on CBS and be streamed on Paramount+. Their host, for the sixth time in six years, will be comedian Trevor Noah.
