I'm looking forward to hearing a helpful and smart comment of the professional Farwayhills on this question:
Why have some bluegrass singers such as Sierra Hull and Sarah Jarosz been nominated for Grammy's Best Folk Album instead?
And a long time since we talked about Sierra Hull, now she has been married. And her man is not new to us, but still surprising, her soulmate Justin Moses
Yes, congratulations to Sierra and Justin. You can see a write-up and pictures of the wedding of these two much loved, but personally unassuming, leading artists on the young Bluegrass scene here:
https://bluegrasstoday.com/congratulations-sierra-and-justin/
On the sometimes controversial topic of which field Grammy submissions appear in - there are a number of secretive backroom Grammy committees which determine this, sometimes moving artists away from the field they (or their fans) would have preferred. It's not usually possible to know when or if this has occurred.
I've mentioned before that there has been a trend over several years for the Grammys to move away from the more inclusive (and sometimes perceived as "quirky") mix of commercial and alternative submissions in the "big" genre fields, towards a line-up more acceptable to the priorities of the major record labels and radio. This has certainly been the case with the Country field - and several blogs have been particularly critical of this year's Country line-up, perceived as leaning heavily towards Pop.
As for the description of some Roots acts as "Folk", I don't find this surprising. Historically, Country Music and Blues were often described as "Folk" - and the term was considered more polite, as the earlier "Hillbilly" and "Race" terms for early recordings were being phased out. Hank Williams was often introduced by announcers as a Folk musician in the '40s and early '50s. The labels increasingly wanted to identify with more sophisticated and less rural audiences, and the term "Folk" was also dropped, along with Rockabilly and Honky-tonk, in favour of "Country Music" as the more Pop--influenced Nashville Sound developed from the mid-'50s.
Today, however, "Folk" or "Folk Rock" is quite widely used by Roots artists who prefer not to identify with Country (for reasons often partly political/cultural, and partly due to wanting to avoid the more polished sound). Sarah Jarosz is popular with Folk fans, and often appears at Folk venues and festivals. Her super-group with Sara Watkins and Aoife O'Donovan, "Im With Her", is often described as a Folk trio - so, again, I don't find the placing surprising.
