Congratulations to the Carolina Chocolate Drops, who have been nominated for the Americana Music Award for Duo or Group of the Year. Fellow nominees in the category include The Avett Brothers, Band of Heathens, and Dave Rawlings Machine. The Americana Music Association announced the nominees for its 2010 Honors and Awards at a reception held earlier today, during which the Carolina Chocolate Drops performed (CMT called it "a lively five-song set that had many in the crowd tapping their feet and shooting videos with their cell phones") and Emmylou Harris was among the presenters to read the list of nominees.

The Americana Music Honors and Award show, now in its ninth year, will be held in Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium on September 9. The Awards ceremony, hosted by Jim Lauderdale and featuring a band led by Buddy Miller, is the capstone event of the Americana Music Festival & Conference, held September 8–11.

“Very quietly, Americana has become the fastest rising music community today," said AMA executive director Jed Hilly. “The nominees represent the elite of the elite, and we could not be more proud to work with and for such provocative creators.”

For more information on the AMA awards and the festival, visit americanamusic.org.

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The Carolina Chocolate Drops Nonesuch debut album, Genuine Negro Jig, will soon be available on vinyl. The LP, due out on June 29 and available now for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store, includes the album on 140-gram vinyl, CD, and, as with most purchases in the Nonesuch Store, high-quality MP3 downloads at no additional cost. Reserve your copy now in the Nonesuch Store.

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The band is currently touring the United States, stopping in Augusta, Georgia, tomorrow for a performance at Sky City.

"Although the style and sound are steeped in nostalgia, North Carolina act the Carolina Chocolate Drops is anything but revivalist," writes Augusta Chronicle's Steven Uhles in a preview of tomorrow's show. "The three-piece string band plays a near seamless blend of bluegrass, blues and Piedmont string music that lends new life to both standards and decidedly modern material."

Augusta Metro Spirit says "the Carolina Chocolate Drops are a band you won't soon forget." Metro Spirit writer Alice Wynn echoes Uhles' assessment, explaining: "The music of the Carolina Chocolate Drops is as steeped in history and tradition as it is infectious."

For more on the Carolina Chocolate Drops' tour, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.