Levon Helm's death on Thursday hit Greensboro's Laurelyn Dossett especially hard. Dossett had become friendly with the iconic singer/drummer from The Band in recent years, after he covered her song "Anna Lee" on his Grammy-winning 2007 album "Dirt Farmer." Helm introduced Dossett onstage at one of his "Midnight Ramble" shows as "the lady that wrote that beautiful song that sounds 300 years old," and it does sound like an artifact from the mists of time. "Anna Lee" is a song about a dead woman who comes back to her children in their dreams, singing to them -- which seems fitting now.

"I didn't know when I wrote it that I would be remembering Levon in that same way," Dossett said on Thursday. "He gave my little song a big life and I am forever grateful. I didn't know the iconic Levon, just this sweet old man who sang the hell out of my song, welcomed me into his home numerous times and remembered to ask about my daughters and husband. He was curious and full of life. I took Alice Gerrard up there for a gig; they know a lot of people in common but had never met. It was a thrill to listen to them at the kitchen table, telling stories. And then they started singing some old song that they both knew. Amazing."

Dossett will be at the Shakori Hills Grassroots Folk Festival this weekend,  where she'll sing Helm's signature song "The Weight" with Tara Nevins. That song is very much in the air right now. Check out the scene Thursday night at Cat's Cradle, the encore played by Drive-By Truckers and Megafaun.

Grammy Awards (8pm, CBS) - LL Cool J hosts the 54th annual music event from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Kanye West leads all nominations with seven. Scheduled to perform: Adele, Paul McCartney, Coldplay, Rihanna, Foo Fighters, Taylor Swift, the Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Tony Bennett, Carrie Underwood and many others. Our own David Menconi will be live-blogging the event and tracking how our local nominees do.

The Walking Dead (9pm, AMC) - The second season resumes in the aftermath of the bloodbath (wait, do zombies bleed?) at the barn. Rick tries to restore order and a devastated Hershel turns to the bottle for solace. Some new characters are introduced tonight, including a shady traveler played by Michael Raymond James ("Terriers," "True Blood"). James' scenes have the feel of a tense, classic Western. He's a welcome addition to the show. Can we swap him for Lori?

Downton Abbey (9pm, UNC-TV) - The Spanish flu sweeps through the household infecting Cora, Lavinia and Mr. Carson.

Desperate Housewives (9pm, ABC) - Susan is shocked when Julie returns  home very pregnant, and Bree's drinking and lust continues unabated.

Luck (9pm, HBO) - Jerry pursues a deal to buy the horse that Renzo lost to Mulligan while also talking to Escalante about training it. I've been on the fence about this show, and reports that horses are being injured and euthanized during production haven't helped me.

Comic Book Men (10pm, AMC) - A new series that looks at life in and around a New Jersey comic book store opens with manager Walt challenging the staff to a sales competition at a flea market.

House of Lies (10pm, Showtime) - Marty takes on Roscoe's school after his son is slapped with sexual harassment charges for kissing another boy.

So how will our North Carolina nominees do at Sunday's Grammy Awards? And can this year's model come anywhere near last year for all-around excitement? My suspicion is probably not, but see the preview in Friday's paper for prognostications; then come on back Sunday night, when I'll be live-blogging the telecast.

For the second straight year, an act with Triangle connections will be center-stage at next February's Grammy Awards. Where it was Arcade Fire this past year, next year it will be Bon Iver -- whose frontman Justin Vernon used to call Raleigh home.

Bon Iver scored nominations in the prestigious record and song of the year categories for "Holocene," a track from the group's eponymous 2011 album. That was part of a four-nomination haul including best alternative album and even best new artist.

The latter category is odd because "Bon Iver" was the group's third release -- and its first two both made the top half of the Billboard 200 album sales charts. One of the other best-new-artist nominees also has North Carolina connections, Fayetteville rapper J. Cole, nominated on the strength of his chart-topping album "Cole World: The Sideline Story."

Industry observer Sean Ross, executive editor of the Ross On Radio newsletter, cites Nicki Minaj as this year's worthiest best-new-artist nominee. But he predicts that Minaj won't win because she and J. Cole "will cancel each other out," which might allow Bon Iver to sneak in there the way Arcade Fire did for album of the year back in February.

"Then it's Bon Iver's people-who-propelled-Arcade-Fire vote versus The Band Perry's combination mainstream-audience vote and the never-insigificant 'I don't really follow new music but I hear they're good' vote," Ross said.

The nominations were announced Wednesday night at a Grammy concert at Staples Center in Los Angeles, where the awards will be presented Feb. 12. As expected, Adele's top-selling "21" album led the field with six nominations. Bruno Mars, Mumford & Sons, Rihanna and Lady Gaga all picked up multiple nominations in the major categories, too.

As for other nominations of North Carolina interest:

Eric Church, an Appalachian State alumnus from Granite Falls, was nominated for best country album, up against a field including Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum and Jason Aldean.

North Carolina School of the Arts alumnus Jim Lauderdale, a two-time winner in past years, earned a nomination for best bluegrass album -- and also appears on a Tom T. Hall tribute album nominated for best children's album. Among Lauderdale's competition in the bluegrass category will be Brevard's Steep Canyon Rangers, sharing a nomination with comedian/banjo player Steve Martin.

Asheville guitarist Warren Haynes, a veteran of Gov't Mule and Allman Brothers, was nominated for best blues album.

Durham-based Merge Records, which captured last year's best-album Grammy with Arcade Fire, picked up a best-recording-package nomination for the expanded deluxe version of the same album. Zooey Deschanel, who records with M. Ward as the Merge duo She & Him, was also nominated in best song written for visual media, for the "Winnie the Pooh" song "So Long."

Marsalis Music, the label of Durham jazzman Branford Marsalis, scored in the category of best large jazz ensemble album for "Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook."

Levon Helm's live album "Ramble at the Ryman," nominated for best Americana album, includes "Anna Lee," written by Greensboro's Laurelyn Dossett. That song has already been on one Grammy-winning album, Helm's "Dirt Farmer," which won best tradtional folk album in 2008.

ADDENDUM: Another nominee with local connections is recording engineer Miles Walker, who grew up in Raleigh and mostly works out of Atlanta. Walker engineered records that scored a total of eight nominations, including hits by Rhianna, Katy Perry and Wiz Khalifa, sharing the nomination on two of them -- Rhianna's album-of-the-year nod for "Loud," and Perry's record-of-the-year nomination for "Firework."

SECOND ADDENDUM: I received a pretty detailed response about who does and does not qualify as a "new" artist in Grammyland from another industry pundit, former USA Today music editor Ken Barnes. I'm fascinated in wonky stuff like this, so I'm passing along the whole thing:

As a 25-year Grammy voter, I've watched the definition of a new artist "evolve" from super-strict (one prior guest appearance on someone else's album disqualified Whitney Houston from new-artist consideration in the '80s) to the current, almost-anything-goes guidelines.

It's basically a wording problem at this point; if the category were called "best emerging artist" or "breakthrough artist" or something like that, it wouldn't be such a communications problem. Basically what the Grammys try to do is establish whether, with a particular album, an artist has achieved a breakthrough to the general public. If Bon Iver was considered a critical/indie/minority-taste hit prior to this record, then the Grammys would declare them eligible. If the Academy felt a breakthrough had occurred with a previous record, based on sales, airplay, critical acclaim, buzz, mass acceptance, etc., then no.

With only rather generally worded guidelines, it's always dicey, and standards tend to waffle. So there's always one or two "new artists" that stick in journalists' craws, for good reason.

So retro-soul diva Amy Winehouse was found dead Saturday in her London home, bringing on the predictable invocations -- mostly variants on how she should've said "yes yes yes," and the "sad inevitability" of it all. It's certainly true that she was a mess, and I expect there were people who tried to save her. For whatever reason, she could not save herself.

But right now, the moment of hers that I choose to remember is one where she looked almost (dare I say it) innocent. It happened during the Grammy Awards ceremonies the year that Winehouse won five of them, including album of the year. She appeared live via satellite from London, where she performed; and no, she did not exactly look clean and sober that night.

But check out the moment she heard she won. The stunned look on her face is pure deer-in-the-headlights, with what appears to be a dozen different emotions battling it out. And I'm not sure why, but watching those six seconds just breaks my heart.

So long, Amy. You were a great one who could've been even greater. But I'm afraid we'll never know.

Going into Sunday night's Grammy Awards ceremony, conventional wisdom was that Durham-based Merge Records would win one. But almost no one could have predicted that it would play out as it did, with Merge's Arcade Fire losing in two minor categories before unexpectedly walking away with the evening-ending grand prize: album of the year, over a field of nominees including Eminem and Lady Gaga.

Merge co-owners Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance missed seeing it in-person because their band Superchunk is about to start a Japanese tour. McCaughan was already in Japan by Sunday, while Ballance turned her phone off and went to bed because she had a flight early Monday morning.

But Merge publicist Christina Rentz and retail director Jamie Beck were at Los Angeles' Staples Center to bear witness. And Beck actually called Arcade Fire's victory in advance.

"Maybe I'm naive, but I'm hopeful all the time," Beck said. "We found out Arcade Fire was playing last, and I knew that the album-of-the-year winners are usually panting when they accept because they've just come offstage. So we had theories about them slipping in and surprising everybody."

Still, Arcade Fire seemed like the longest of longshots to take album of the year -- especially after losing to Black Keys for best alternative album, which most observers expected Arcade Fire to win. Things looked even more dire when Black Keys also beat out Arcade Fire for best rock performance by a duo or group with vocals.

Just under five hours after that announcement, Arcade Fire took the stage to play, the last album-of-the-year nominee to perform. Barbra Streisand was the presenter, and she seemed almost puzzled as she called out the winner.

"When Barbra Streisand stuttered out their name, we just screamed at the top of our lungs," Rentz said. "We were up on the second level and everybody around us was leaving -- they had no idea who we were or the band was. We were completely stunned."

After a quick acceptance speech by frontman Win Butler, Arcade Fire went back to their instruments and played a second song as a victory-lap outro while the credits rolled. The band's after-party was a jubilant affair, with bassist Richard Parry declaring, "We robbed a bank!"

"We were saying that it kind of felt like the world tilting a little bit," Rentz said. "I did tell Win that the best way to celebrate this would be for them to come play in North Carolina -- 'C'mon, guys, we'll have a barbecue for you!' They were leaving for England the next day for the Brit Awards and I told them, 'Good luck topping this!' They just laughed and said, 'Don't worry. It won't.'"

ADDENDUM (2/20/11): Dissent!

Grammy saved its best for last for Merge Records. It looked like the Durham-based label was going to strike out despite earning three nominations for Montreal rock band Arcade Fire's "The Subburbs." After losing both alternative album and rock performance by a duo or group with vocals to the Black Keys, Arcade Fire seemed like a long shot to win album of the year.

In a stunning turn-around, however, Arcade Fire won the prize over Eminem, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. It was the final award handed out, and the first Grammy that Merge has ever won. And in a nice little extra bonus, the group got to close the telecast with another performance -- the only group that got to play more than once. The Grammy Award sitting on an amp was a nice touch.

It looks like Arcade Fire, and Merge, won the Grammys.

Not around a TV? You can watch the Grammy's Red Carpet arrivals streaming live AP Livestream. If you're just tuning in, you've already missed Lady Gaga arriving inside a giant egg.

Or you can check out this photo gallery of Red Carpet arrivals.

Livestream also will have interviews with winners and performers all night, so check back.

Finally, don't forget N&O music critic David Menconi will be live-blogging the telecast tonight, anxiously awaiting the Avett Brothers-Bob Dylan-Mumford & Sons performance.

Reason enough to tune in to tonight's Grammy Awards Show: North Carolina's Avett Brothers (left) will perform with Bob Dylan and Mumford & Sons. David Menconi has more on that over at On the Beat (he'll also be live-blogging the show all night).

Eminem leads nominations with ten, followed by Bruno Mars with 7. Jay-Z, Lady Antebellum, and Lady Gaga each have six nominations. Barbra Streisand will be honored as Person of the Year.

Here's a full list of nominees.

Scheduled to perform: Eminem, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Arcade Fire, Cee Lo Green, Miranda Lambert, Justin Bieber, B.o.B, Bruno Mars, Monáe, Muse and Jaden Smith. 

Mick Jagger is said to be performing a tribute to the late soul singer Soloman Burke.

The show airs at 8pm tonight on CBS.

It may not be "music's biggest night," as the commercials put it, but the Grammy Awards still represent a pretty major deal. So let's see how our local nominees do. There's a preview in Sunday's paper, giving predictions about that; and I'll be live-blogging about the show in this space tonight, so you can see if I have any idea what I'm talking about (here's how the live blog went down last year). Y'all come, and check out photo galleries for the show and the red-carpet arrivals.

5:45 p.m. -- The telecast won't get started for a few hours yet, but we have our first North Carolina result. As expected, Shirley Caesar lost out to Patty Griffin for traditional gospel album. More to come...

5:57 -- On the positive side of the ledger is UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus Lewis Black, who scored the comedy-album Grammy. I'd figured him for a longshot, given the strength of the field -- he was up against Robin Williams, Flight of the Conchords, Kathy Griffin and Margaret Cho.

6:10 -- Well, I clearly don't know nothin' about nothin'. Thanks to Arcade Fire's album-of-the-year nomination, I figured they were a leadpipe cinch to take best alternative album; and if they somehow didn't win, I figured Vampire Weekend would be the one to beat them. Nope, wrong both ways. The Black Keys' "Brothers" takes the trophy. That might have been Durham-based Merge Records' best shot tonight. Dang...

6:35 -- If you ever get nominated for a Grammy, you really don't want me thinking you'll win. My deepest apologies to Bettye LaVette, because Buddy Guy won that category.

6:39 -- Finally! High Point native Fantasia wins female R&B vocal performance, her first-ever Grammy. Bless her heart, she'd been nominated six times in years past without ever winning.

6:42 -- But Monroe native Calvin Richardson's wait continues. As expected, he loses out to John Legend and the Roots. Also no surprise that Legend/Roots take R&B album over Fantasia.

6:47 -- O.K., I'm starting to feel better: Carolina Chocolate Drops win traditional folk album!

6:57 -- No, I didn't think Arcade Fire was going to win rock performance by a duo or group with vocals; but I sure didn't think Black Keys was going to win that one, too. Hard to imagine Arcade Fire has a chance for its last nomination -- album of the year, up against Eminem and Lady Gaga -- but wouldn't it be something if that was the Grammy that Merge won?

7:40 -- The main take-away point from Lady Gaga's pre-Grammy "60 Minutes" interview: Girlfriend's got some mighty strange taste in footwear.

8:02 -- And here we go with the opening of the televised portion, a tribute to Aretha Franklin. With his beret and shades, LL Cool J looks like the maitre di at a bad French restaurant.

8:04 -- Christina Aguilera, et al, are now singing an Aretha medley. She seems to believe that any note worth singing is worth oversinging. Not to mention under and sideways. Martina McBride is stealing the show, however.

8:09 -- Jennifer Hudson just gave Aguilera a run for her money on the oversinging scale. Yolanda Adams, meanwhile, is the embodiment of class and has lapped the field.

8:14 -- Televised greeting from Franklin herself also sounds a classy note. Gee, I'd love to see her live sometime. Er, wait a minute...

8:20 -- Best pop performance by duo or group goes to...Train. I'm looking for Raleigh's Thomas O'Keefe, Train's road manager -- he's got to be there somewhere.

8:22 -- Ricky Martin introduces Lady Gaga, debuting "Born This Way" from inside some sort of weird podule contraption over a field of smoke and writhing bodies. Far out! Although the pointed prosthetic shoulders are kind of freakin' me out, an effect only heightened by the creepy little flourish she plays on the organ.

8:27 -- Somewhere, I expect Madonna is throwing things at her TV set.

8:33 -- Country singer Blake Shelton introduces his fiance, Miranda Lambert, who appears to have raided Lady Gaga's shoe closet. My ankles hurt just watching her. Her voice and the acoustic guitar sound a little...pitchy, for lack of a better word. Likable though she is, she's not doing herself any favors with this performance.

8:38 -- Lenny Kravitz (wonder where he's been the last few years?) introduces Muse. I would swear I heard this song in 1984 or thereabouts. But it's good to hear that MTV-era post-new wave still resonates with the kids.

8:43 -- They keep teasing the Bob Dylan/Avett Brothers performance, and I am immensely curious. Hope we won't have to wait too long for that.

8:49 -- Oh good, Ryan Seacrest; but he's introducing Bruno Mars, B.o.B. and Janelle Monae, and this is solid. Mars' falsetto is to-die-for, but I'd rather hear more Monae and less B.o.B. And this retro black-and-white bit with Mars doing vintage soul riffs is pretty great.

8:54 -- And now Mars is on drums backing up Janelle Monae, who is cool cool cool (even with the faux-crowd-surfing).

8:57 -- Out in the crowd, Cyndi Lauper approves.

8:58 -- Dierks Bentley and Zac Brown give the obligatory shout-out to the troops overseas and present female country vocal to...the aforementioned Miranda Lambert. Nice pull-up of the dress on her way to the stage, and a no-muss-no-fuss acceptance speech.

9:06 -- Why is Eva Longoria doing an introduction? Well, it's for Usher and Justin Bieber, who is on a stool with an acoustic guitar. Okay, kid, whatcha got?...

9:07 -- Bieber's solo acoustic bit is pretty meh. But now we're on to a spectacle with Asian drumlines and flashpots and acrobats and strobe lights and leather, and Bieber is...well, still pretty meh.

9:09 -- Is that Will Smith's son Jaden out with Bieber? Yes, I believe it is. That was a mistake by Bieber -- Jaden is lots more charismatic than he is.

9:10 -- And now Usher is going to show the kids how it's done.

9:12 -- Gotta give Bieber rug-cutting props, though; he's back out and holding his own in the choreography department.

9:13 -- Paramore and a couple of actors are out to present best rock album; nominee Jeff Beck is in the crowd and could not look less interested. And the Grammy goes to...Muse. Over Neil Young, who actually bothered to show up? Ugh!

9:16 -- Dylan/Avetts up next! Don't go 'way!!

9:21 -- Donnie Wahlberg appears to be smirking as he says Justin Bieber's name while reading off the nominees for best pop vocal album. And the winner is...Lady Gaga. Wow, what is that get-up she's wearing? She appears to be getting legitimately choked up in thanking...Whitney Houston? Freaky...

9:25 -- David Letterman does a pre-taped bit, "Top-10 Surprises at the 2011 Grammy Awards," followed by an introduction of the Dylan-Avetts-Mumford & Sons bit.

9:26 -- Mumford & Sons sure are rushing the tempo, yet they're wonderfully, refreshingly ragged-but-right. And they look like they're having a blast as the horns kick in.

9:27 -- Avett Brothers just flat kill with "Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise," even though it's a truncated version, with great murmur-to-a-scream dynamics.

9:31 -- And here's Dylan, backed up by both on "Maggie's Farm," standing in a row behind him. This is fantastic! And both the Avetts and Mumfords look thrilled to be there.

9:40 -- Lady Antebellum paying tribute to Teddy Pendergrass? Now this is weird, especially doing it as a medley with their own stuff...Not bad, though. Not great, but inoffensive.

9:44 -- Miley Cyrus and Kings of Leon, together again to present best country album. Which goes to...Lady Antebellum, what a surprise. Thanks to God, family, friends, their producer. Country folks are so well-mannered, aren't they?

9:46 -- Jamie Foxx introduces Cee-Lo Green, whose performance set looks like the Candyland board game (plus Muppet backup singers!). And he looks like he raided Elton John's 1970s-vintage wardrobe closet. Way cool.

9:48 -- Gotta say, though, I don't like that song nearly as much when it's rendered as "Forget You."

9:49 -- Gwyneth Paltrow cameo: better than you'd think. But what is it with all these eight-inch cruel shoes?

9:57 -- Neil Patrick Harris introduces Katy Perry in a way that's probably raising the blood pressure at CBS. She appears to be sitting on a swing made out of...swan feathers, maybe? If she's singing live, she's got a decent voice, even if the song isn't much. Guess we'll find out later.

10:00 -- Now she's back in the realm of uptempo, elaborately choreographed bombast. Pretty wholesome stuff. I think I prefer Lady Gaga, freaky though she is.

10:02 -- Norah Jones, Keith Urban and John Mayer doing "Jolene," acoustically. Mayer looks like he wants to hide, but this is pretty good -- at least while the divine Ms. Jones is singing. This is in honor of lifetime acheivement award winner Dolly Parton.

10:04 -- And now it's time for song of the year. The banter between Urban and Mayer is awkward. Oh, what I wouldn't give for Cee-Lo's "(The Song Otherwise Known As Forget You)" to win this. And the winner is...Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now"? Seriously? I mean, it's perfectly okay. But song of the year? Wow.

10:12 -- Seth Rogen jokes about getting high backstage with Miley Cyrus, the most rock 'n' roll moment of the night. And he's introducing Eminem, doing "Love The Way You Lie." Here we go...

10:15 -- Eminem shows the demeanor of a coiled spring or possibly a snake about to strike. I sure wish they weren't bleeping so much of this. Whoops, an F-bomb slipped through! And now they're bleeping out even more of it. It's still pretty cool.

10:19 -- Dr. Dre is one large individual. But he, too, is no match for the censor on the bleep button.

10:20 -- Jewel and John Legend are out to present best new artist. Shrieks from the crowd for Justin Bieber, but the Grammy goes to...Esperanza Spalding, an unexpected choice. I can't decide which is cooler, her dress or her hair.

10:27 -- I was only half paying attention, but...was that Eminem in a soda commercial? The Super Bowl Chrysler ad was cool, but this...

10:28 -- And here's the PSA portion of the evening with the Grammy president out to talk up NARAS. Time for a run to the refrigerator.

10:32 -- The salute to people who have died since last year's ceremony: Lena Horne, Gerry Rafferty, Malcolm McLaren, John Barry, Ronnie James Dio, Doug Fieger, Don Kirshner, Eddie Fisher, Mitch Miller, Jimmy Dean, Alex Chilton, Solomon Burke and a bunch of others. On a personal note, I am saddened to see Bill Porter on this list; he was Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison's engineer, and one of the nicest folks I've ever met. I used to know him 20-some years ago, when we both lived out in Colorado.

10:35 -- Holy cow, Mick Jagger, slummin' it at the Grammys in tribute to Solomon Burke! Now this is a clinic in Rock Stardom 101. I hope everyone from Justin Bieber to John Mayer is paying very close attention. But it can't be taught. You either are, or you aren't. And Mick Jagger is!

10:45 -- Kris Kristofferson introduces his old "A Star Is Born" co-star Barbra Streisand, who for some reason is here to perform "Evergreen." It's hard to fathom just what this 35-year-old song supposedly has to do with popular music in 2011, but it's a big deal because Streisand almost never performs live anymore.

10:51 -- And in what may be the most jarring segue of the night, it's time for best rap album, which goes to Eminem's "Recovery." He doesn't exactly looked thrilled. But he manages a "thank you" and gives props to his producers, label, helpers, fans and Detroit. I am amazed there was nothing to bleep out.

10:59 -- Puff Daddy appears to be heavily medicated as he introduces Rihanna and Drake. And there are actual flames on the stage; but that ain't the hottest thing up there. She can shake a tail feather. This is more suggestive than anything that came out of Eminem's mouth during his performance.

11:02 -- And here we have J-Lo and her hubby, out to present record of the year. And the winner is...once again, "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum, who are looking like the night's big winners. I don't think anybody saw this coming.

11:12 -- Jason Siegel, of all people, introduces Arcade Fire. Who have been getting stiffed on winning anything all night, but they come out blazing anyway. Oh, this is great! Sloppy, out of tune, careening all over the place, guitar strings are snapping -- and why the hell is somebody riding a bike up there? But it's alive in a way that a lot of the night's more polished performances haven't been. This is going to make them even bigger than before.

11:16 -- Hard to tell on TV, but it sounds like Arcade Fire got the best crowd response of anybody all night.

11:22 -- Streisand and Kristofferson are out to present album of the year. Here is Merge's last chance -- which isn't much of a chance, between Eminem, Katy Perry and Ladies Gaga and (!) Antebellum. But here we go...

11:23 -- ARCADE FIRE WINS! MY GOD!

11:34 -- I'm still kind of incredulous about that, but good for Merge and Arcade Fire. Between them and the Chocolate Drops, we done good, folks!

Goodnight...