STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We now know the winners of the 56th annual Grammy Awards.
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And also what the winners wore.
INSKEEP: Members of the Recording Academy who vote on the Grammys spread the love.
MONTAGNE: Several acts split the top awards including the French dance music duo Daft Punk.
INSKEEP: And 17-year old New Zealander, Lorde.
MONTAGNE: Along with Seattle hip hop duo, Macklemore together with Ryan Lewis.
INSKEEP: Newcomer Kacey Musgraves took home the two top country Grammys.
MONTAGNE: The Grammy broadcast lasted three hours and 45 minutes, enough time for viewers to send out countless snarky tweets about what they saw - but only enough time to hand out 10 awards.
INSKEEP: Because most awards were handed out before the telecast. NPR's Mandalit del Barco was backstage and reports on the winners you didn't see.
MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: For artists who are not household names with multimillion dollar record deals, getting a Grammy Award is a really big deal. It was for gospel singer Tye Tribbet.
TYE TRIBBET: Wooo.
BARCO: For some, it was redemption for toiling for years in obscurity. Onstage, award-winning jazz critic Neil Tesser reminded people why album notes are important.
NEIL TESSER: For anybody who's over the age of 35, liner notes have been so important. They've provided insight and commentary and biography.
(APPLAUSE)
BARCO: For jazz artist Maria Schneider, whose collaboration with classical soprano Dawn Upshaw won four Grammies, it was a platform to scold those who don't pay for music.
MARIA SCHNEIDER: Most of us who are coming through here, that you've seen this afternoon, we're funding our own records.
BARCO: Backstage, Schneider said it was her Fans, not record companies, who helped pay for her album online.
Canadian Jennifer Gasoi won Best Children's Album for "Throw a penny in the Wishing well."
JENNIFER GASOI: I think it's going to elevate my career. I think it's going to give me opportunities that I've been hoping for.
BARCO: During the pre-telecast show, homegrown Los Angeles band La Santa Cecilia took the stage to perform.
LA SANTA CECILIA: (Singing in Spanish)
BARCO: The band won for best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album. Backstage, lead singer Marisol Hernandez dedicated their award to 11 million undocumented immigrants living in this country.
MARISOL HERNANDEZ: To all the people that are working behind the scenes, you know, in this country, all the gardeners and domestic workers - which are people like my mother - all the people that are working hard and that are living in the shadows.
BARCO: Hernandez says its independent musicians like herself who can provide a voice for the people you don't see on TV.
Mandalit del Barco, NPR News.
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