Brooke earned two 2020 IBMA nominations, which included nods for the coveted “Female Vocalist of the Year” and for “Collaborative Recording Of The Year” for “On and On” with Gena Britt. “That felt really good,” she admitted. “I was very honored to be considered, especially for doing something you love.”
She was crowned “Female Vocalist of the Year” for the last three consecutive years: 2017, 2018, and 2019 respectively.
Over the last few years, they had the privilege to tour with John Cowan, who will be inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame with New Grass Revival. “We’ve played with John for several years now. It is a lot of fun performing with him and doing New Grass Revival tunes together,” Darin said.
In 2017, Darin was named “Mentor of the Year” by the IBMA. “I was shocked but I am glad to be a part of that organization and be a teacher and a mentor to so many other ones,” Darin said. “I had great mentors when I was younger, so it is good to pass on that torch to others.”
For Darin and Brooke, Inner Journey was a fun album to put together. They both concurred that their favorite track on the album is “When You Love Someone.” “That song has resonated with so many people,” Brooke said.
They praised Rounder Records for being a “prestigious label” that they’ve always looked up to. “It is really neat to say that we are on that label,” she added.
The bluegrass couple has been holding up during the quarantine. “While quarantine has been difficult for everybody, we’ve done a lot of things that we usually don’t get to do because we travel so much,” Darin said. “We’ve been boating, riding bikes, and playing a lot more golf this year. We’ve caught up on our chores around the house, and we have been cooking a lot more at home.”
“We’ve been writing songs too, which is something we haven’t done a lot of. Now, we have enough songs to do another album,” Brooke acknowledged.
On the title of the current chapter of their lives, Brooke responded, “The Great Unknown.”
They defined the word success simply as “making folks happy with their music and touching people’s lives with the songs that we put out.”
For their fans and supporters, Darin concluded, “We are most thankful to all the folks that have been with us the past 12 to 13 years that we have been singing together as a married couple. We are thankful that our journey has kept climbing this whole time.”
Inner Journey is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
To learn more about bluegrass musical duo Darin & Brooke Aldridge, check out their official website and their Facebook page.
