Could we draw some sort of inference from the inability of the GRAMMYs to get their complete list of nominations up until a good 20-25 minutes after they were promised? Some broad reluctance to get into the digital age? Probably not. But still annoying for the multitudes of folks who wanted to see the winners at 11 PM East Coast time as promised. Anyway, I'm over that now. The nominees, with some thoughts, after the jump. The main GRAMMY awards are Sunday night, Feb. 13 -- most of the awards (including this category) are typically awarded that afternoon.

As I noted about 3 months ago, I'm always interested in seeing musicians take more responsibility for the GRAMMY process, and a key deadline is coming up in a couple weeks. October 1st is the last day for musicians (and others in the industry) to join The Academy and receive the first round voting ballot. Lots of really good albums this year deserving of a nomination for Best Recording for Children -- including maybe yours -- so if you've been thinking of joining, now would be a good time, no?

Longtime readers know that I care about the voting process for the Grammys more than I probably should. But seeing as it is the music industry's biggest self-congratulation event, I think it's important that family musicians care about it and take pride in the artists nominated for their genre's big prize(s). The Grammys get pounded when the general membership makes a poor selection for a winning entry, but the musicians in the genre can help ensure that the nominee pool makes it impossible to make a poor choice. (Last year's nominee list was a big step forward in that regard.) Karen Rappaport McHugh of Muddy Girl Productions was recently elected to the Los Angeles Chapter Board of Governors for the Recording Academy and says she's "really going to try to enhance the visibility of kids music." (As you might expect, the LA chapter might have some outsized importance in the field.) So, here are some dates for musicians to consider as they plan their 2011 Grammy campaigns. The key date -- if you want enter your disk online, deadline for membership in order to do so is Wednesday, June 30. Other note: last year had an 11-month eligibility window -- this year and this year only it's 13 months, from Sept. 1, 2010 2009 through Sept. 30, 2010.

Well, the Grammys are almost upon us, and once again the Grammy Museum is hosting a Children's Recording concert. It's tomorrow, Saturday, at noon, and for $10 a pop, you'll get to hear music from all six kids' music Grammy nominees -- Ziggy Marley, Buck Howdy, Milkshake, Jonathan Sprout, Greg & Steve, and Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Christylez Bacon. That's a pretty good lineup for $10, plus Dean Pitchford and Buck Howdy will do some readings from their Best Spoken Word-nominated albums. Grammy weekend has always had a bit of a convention-week feel for folks in the industry, and the kids music folks are capitalizing on it, having another breakfast on Saturday that'll bring together musicians and other folks in the industry. For a variety of reasons, I won't be able to make it this year, but I will soon... Now, as for the actual awards, the Best Children's Musical Recording and Spoken Word awards will be handed out on Sunday at 1 PM Los Angeles time. As they were last year, these not-ready-for-prime-time (or at least, not shown-on-prime time) will be streamed live GRAMMY.com. You'll be able to follow folks like Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer on the interwebs throughout the weekend. As for who'll actually win, as I said right after the nominations were announced, I think Ziggy Marley has to be considered the favorite taking into account the long Grammy history he has, but Cathy & Marcy could pull off an upset. Maybe next year there'll be 10 nominees.

OK, it's just me, really. But after looking at the nominees for this year's Grammys (to be awarded Sunday, January 31), a few additional thoughts: 1) First, congratulations to all the nominated artists. 2) Well, I already said it, but I was surprised that Peter Himmelman wasn't nominated for My Trampoline. Quality of the album aside (and it's a great album), he was nominated last year -- surprising that he wasn't nominated again. 3) Because being nominated before definitely helps -- Cathy & Marcy and Buck Howdy both have previous nominations in the category (with C&M winning twice before), and Ziggy Marley's won 4 Grammys as well. 4) It looks like Milkshake took the "Brady Rymer" slot I had the Sippy Cups pegged for. I thought their constant touring to places like LA and NYC would help them. Insufficiently, it turned out. 5) Preschool teachers around the country are cheering Greg & Steve's nomination -- seriously, those guys' disks are in literally every classroom at Little Boy Blue's preschool. Here are the three final points: 6) People more closely tied to the industry had some sense this would happen -- not only did Buck correctly pick Milkshake (not so surprising) and Greg & Steve (very surprising), but I'd also heard about Jonathan Sprout getting some attention. 7) Of the 6 artists nominated this year, 4 of the 6 played the Grammy Museum kids' series. Only Greg & Steve and Jonathan Sprout did not. I'm thinking booking agents should be calling to offer their clients' services for the 2010 series, because it couldn't hurt to play in front of Grammy voters, no? 8) Finally, the arcane voting rules make it hard to project what might happen in selecting a winner. Folks can only vote in 8 of the 29 fields. That means that people have to want to vote in the kids' category and that will keep Ziggy Marley from running away with the award. It means, in basest vote-gathering terms, that Marley needs to convince his reggae fans in the Academy to crossover just as it means that Cathy & Marcy need to convince their folk fans in the Academy to do the same. My money's on Ziggy (note: not actual money), but I wouldn't be totally surprised to see Cathy & Marcy take the award.

Well, Buck Howdy and I make excellent Grammy predictors, but only one of us got two Grammy nominations tonight... the nominations for the 52nd Grammy Awards are out, and in the Children's Field they are... Best Musical Album For Children American Heroes #3 - Jonathan Sprout Banjo To Beatbox - Cathy & Marcy With Special Guest Christylez Bacon Family Time - Ziggy Marley Great Day - Milkshake Jumpin' & Jammin' - Greg & Steve Pete Seeger Tribute — Ageless Kids' Songs - Buck Howdy (Very surprised that Peter Himmelman isn't there...) Best Spoken Word Album For Children Aaaaah! Spooky, Scary Stories & Songs - Buck Howdy Captain Nobody - Dean Pitchford Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales (Various Artists) - Sharon Gelman, Michele McGonigle & Alfre Woodard, producers The Phantom Tollbooth - David Hyde Pierce Scat - Ed Asner Through The Looking-Glass And What Alice Found There - Harlan Ellison