A Fayette County

resident has a chance to bring home a Grammy Award this weekend.

Ann Nesby has

been nominated for Best Traditional R & B Performance for her duet

"Put In On Paper" with Al Green. The record is a continuation

of a career for Nesby that has spanned three decades and seen various

levels of musical success.

Born in Joliet,

Ill., she moved to Rockford after high school as her father became a pastor

there. Having sung in church and directed choirs for her father, she later

was a part of three Grammy-winning performances with the Sounds of Blackness

and the Rev. James Cleveland. She also did some theater, including gospel

cabaret on Broadway.

Nesby spent

several years in Minneapolis, releasing a solo CD and working with noted

producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. She recorded on their Perspective

Records, a division of A&M Records, and also wrote for other artists

such as Patti Labelle and Gladys Knight.

She found her

way to Atlanta in late 1997 for a televised gospel concert during the

Christmas season. Around New Year's, she and her husband-manager, Tim

Lee, decided that the Atlanta area's climate was much more appealing during

the winter than Minnesota's.

Now living

in Millpond Manor in the Starr's Mill area, the couple runs their own

record label, It's Time Child Records, under which the most recent CD,

also titled "Put It On Paper," was released.

She toured

with Green last year, including a summer performance at Chastain Park

in Atlanta. She spends a lot of time on the road, although she has been

at home for the last couple of months, which is unusual for her.

It's no surprise

that business has picked up since the Grammy nominations were announced

a month ago. "The phone has been ringing quite a bit," she said.

Now she is

preparing for her next album, which is expected to have an April release.

For more information,

visit www.AnnNesby.com

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