Chris Willman Music WriterNominations have been announced for the Folk Alliance International’s Best of 2021 Awards, with such recent Grammy nominees (and winners) as Allison Russell, Rhiannon Giddens, Arooj Aftab, Valerie June, Kalani Pe’a and Sarah Jarosz among the contenders in the association’s three categories.Also set for non-competitive lifetime honors at the May awards ceremony are accordionist Flaco Jiménez, Jason Mraz, Denver-based folk music center Swallow Hill Music and the late singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith.Awards will be handed out May 18 in Kansas City on the opening night of the annual FAI conference, in a ceremony that will be webcast online.Russell is the only artist with a nomination in two of the three categories, being up for album of the year for her Grammy-nommed “Outside Child” as well as for artist of the year. Nominations are based on domestic and international year-end lists and folk DJ airplay.
