Only banjos in the building: Steve Martin will co-host the 2025 IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards

By MARIA SHERMAN
AP Music Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Get those banjos ready, because this isn’t a joke: Actor and comedy legend Steve Martin will co-host the IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards for the first time, alongside Grammy-award winning roots musician Alison Brown.

This year’s show will take place Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium. Fans are able to purchase tickets via Ticketmaster.

“I’m thrilled to be hosting with Alison Brown, and connecting with all my bluegrass friends as opposed to my kinda dumb comedy friends,” Martin said in a statement.

“The IBMA Awards show is always one of my very favorite nights of the year,” Brown added. “I’m so honored to co-host this year with my banjo pal Steve Martin.”

Martin is a longtime lover of bluegrass, first picking up the banjo as a teenager. He’s released a number of albums and even created the bluegrass musical “Bright Star ” for Broadway — a complex love story set against the American South written by Martin and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Edie Brickell.

In addition to their hosting duties, Martin and Brown’s collaborative single, “5 Days Out, 2 Days Back,” has been nominated in three categories: song of the year, music video of the year and collaborative recording of the year.

IBMA is the International Bluegrass Music Association.

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A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the banjoist Alison Brown as Alison Smith in its first usage.