Some newer artists are challenging veterans for the Album of the Year award, to be presented next month by the International Bluegrass Music Association.The top five finalists, listing the album name, artists, producers and labels are:

Dailey & Vincent, the debut CD of new bluegrass duo Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent, two veterans of the bluegrass circuit as side players. Dailey and Vincent also produced this Rounder Records CD.

Honoring The Fathers of Bluegrass -Tribute to 1946 and 1947, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder (artists), Ricky Skaggs (producer), Skaggs Family Records. This is yet another Skaggs’ tribute to the deep roots of bluegrass by honoring the genre-setting sounds of Bill Monroe afterLester Flatt and Earl Scruggs joined his band.

Lovin’ Pretty Women, Steep Canyon Rangers (artists), Ronnie Bowman (producer), Rebel Records. This one is representative of the next wave of bluegrass that’s crashing over the horizon. The Rangers, with plenty of new, self-penned material, still maintain a strong traditional edge.

The SteelDrivers, The SteelDrivers (artists), Luke Wooten & The SteelDrivers (producers), Rounder Records. Another new wave over the horizon here, but this band of Nashville pickers and songwriters puts a strong blues tinge in its bluegrass.

Through The Window Of A Train, Blue Highway (artists & producers), Rounder Records. This album by a band sometimes referred to as a supergroup has won acclaim for the depth of its songwriting.

Past winners of the award include:

• 2007: A tie — Lefty’s Old Guitar, J.D. Crowe & The New South (artists & producers), Rounder Records and
  Fork In The Road, The Infamous Stringdusters (artists), Tim Stafford & The Infamous Stringdusters (producers), Sugar Hill Record
• 2006: Celebration of Life: Musicians Against Childhood Cancer, featuring 3 Fox Drive, Lonesome River Band, The Seldom Scene, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Cherryholmes, J.D. Crowe & The New South, BlueRidge, IIIrd Tyme Out, The James King Band, Larry Cordle, Wayne Benson, Clay Hess, Greg Luck, Aubrey Haynie, Marty Raybon & Full Circle, Tony Rice, Ronnie Bowman & The Committee, The Larry Stephenson Band, Blue Highway, Gena Britt, Randy Kohrs & The Lites, Steve Thomas, Scott Vestal, David Parmley & Continental Divide, Karl Shiflett & the Big Country Show, Kenny & Amanda Smith, Wildfire, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Lost & Found, The Grascals, Alecia Nugent, Carl Jackson, Jerry Salley, Don Rigsby & Midnight Call, Bradley Walker, Dan Tyminski, Bela Fleck, Barry Bales, Joe Mullins, Bryan Sutton, Jim VanCleve, Clay Jones & Keith Garrett; produced by Bob Kelly, Jack Campitelli & Darrel Adkins; Skaggs Family Records
• 2005: 40, Larry Sparks, Rebel Records (label), produced by Don Rigsby
• 2004: It’s Just the Night, The Del McCoury Band. McCoury Music (label), produced by Del & Ronnie McCoury
• 2003: Alison Krauss + Union Station Live, Alison Krauss + Union Station (artists/producers), on Rounder Records -
• 2002: Down From the Mountain; Featuring Fairfield Four, John Hartford, Alison Krauss + Union Station, Dan Tyminski, The Cox Family, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, The Whites, Chris Thomas King with Colin Linden, and Emmylou Harris; Lost Highway Records
• 2001: Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack; Norman Blake, James Carter & The Prisoners, The Cox Family, Fairfield Four, Emmylou Harris, John Hartford, Chris Thomas King, Alison Krauss, Harry McClintock, The Peasall Sisters, The Soggy Bottom Boys, Ralph Stanley, The Stanley Brothers, Gillian Welch, The Whites; Mercury/Lost Highway Records -
• 2000: The Grass Is Blue, Dolly Parton , Sugar Hill Records
• 1999: Clinch Mountain Country, Ralph Stanley & Friends , Rebel Records
• 1998: Bluegrass Rules!, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder , Rounder Records/Skaggs Family Records
• 1997: True Life Blues–The Songs of Bill Monroe; Sam Bush, Vassar Clements, Mike Compton, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Pat Enright, Greg Garing, Richard Greene, David Grier, David Grisman, John Hartford, Bobby Hicks, Kathy Kallick, Laurie Lewis, Mike Marshall, Del McCoury, Ronnie McCoury, Jim Nunally, Scott Nygaard, Mollie O’Brien, Tim O’Brien, Alan O’Bryant, Herb Pedersen, Todd Phillips, John Reischman, Peter Rowan, Craig Smith, Chris Thile, Tony Trischka, Roland White; Sugar Hill Records
• 1996: It’s A Long, Long Road; Blue Highway; Rebel Records
• 1995: Cold Virginia Night, Ronnie Bowman, Rebel Records
• 1994: A Deeper Shade of Blue, Del McCoury, Rounder Records
• 1993: Every Time You Say Goodbye, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Rounder Records
• 1992: Carrying The Tradition, The Lonesome River Band, Rebel Records
• 1991: I’ve Got That Old Feeling, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Rounder Records
• 1990: At The Old Schoolhouse, The Johnson Mountain Boys, Rounder Records

Who’s going to win the 2008 IBMA Album of the Year? Vote for your Favorite below!