Category Archives: awards

Listen Up! Mavis Staples Collaborates with Jeff Tweedy on “One True Vine” – Releases Funkadelic Cover

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MAVIS One True Vine

Mavis Staples comes from Gospel, soul and R&B royalty. Singing in the family band The Staple Singers, led by family patriarch Roebuck “Pops” Staples, she made history by being one of the moost ground-breaking spirituality-based group in America. By the mid-1960s The Staple Singers, helped support the civil rights movement when Pops became close friends with Martin Luther King, Jr. They also had hits with covers of contemporary secular pop hits with positive messages, including Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” and a version of Stephen Stills’ “For What It’s Worth.”

According to her Bob Dylan was so taken with her that he asked Pops for Mavis’ hand in marriage. I assume Pops didn’t care for that idea.

With that legacy it’s hard to believe that Staples’ first Grammy was won for the Best Americana Album category You Are Not Alone in 2011. I was at the event and in her acceptance speech a crying Staples said “This has been a long time coming.”

On her upcoming release ‘One True Vine (June 25th – Anti Records) will again partner with You Are Not Alone producer and collaborator Jeff Tweedy.

Tweedy and singer-songwriter Nick Lowe wrote songs specifically for the album. The Wilco frontman and his 17-year-old son Spencer played nearly every instrument on the record. Recorded at The Loft in Chicago, the 10-track album also includes Staples covering Funkadelic and Low.

Listen to her version of Funkadelic’s “Can You Get To That” and check out the full One True Vine track list below.

One True Vine Track List:
1. Holy Ghost
2. Every Step
3. Can You Get to That
4. Jesus Wept
5. Far Celestial Shores
6. What Are They Doing in Heaven Today
7. Sow Good Seeds
8. I Like the Things About Me
9. Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind on Jesus)
10. One True Vine

55th Grammy Awards : John Fullbright – “Gawd Above”

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Another Grammy highlight for me was seeing Okemah native John Fullbright perform “Gawd Above” from his Americana Album of the Year nominated “From The Ground Up” at the per-telecast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=D6NbD3U1Yi8

55th Annual Grammy Award Nominees – Americana, Country and Related Categories

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This year’s National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) 55th Annual Grammy Awards nominees reflect the rich and diverse community of talent that celebrates some of the genres finest old and new. From a CBS prime-time nominations concert LL Cool J and co-host Taylor Swift.

Some history – Nashville hosted the Official Grammy awards in 1973, but this marks only the fist time The Grammys have held the nomination event outside of L.A. This fortuitous event for Music City resulted from a scheduling conflict with the event usual home at the Staples Center but the city rose to the occasion and showed the performers and attendees a great time. Of course I would have preferred to have people from the lists below perform of national televised show but I’m biased by design.

As in recent years social media was a major conduit for the event. Music City was abuzz on mobile phones, computers ad tablets during the hour-long broadcast from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena (Go Predators!) . Nearly 12,000 posts on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites mentioned the word “Nashville” in connection with the Grammy nominations

Aside from the usual categories of Americana, Folk and Bluegrass roots music made an impressive showing for the coveted Album Of The Year , which includes a nomination for Mumford & Sons’ sophomore outing Babel, and Best New Artist with Alabama Shakes and the Lumineers.

I got 2 out of 7 of my predictions right for the Best Americana Album category with The Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons. The pleasant surprise in this category is John Fullbright who I’m willing to say here I’m pulling for. The legendary Bonnie Raitt is nominated in this category and I’ll also go on record as saying Bonnie has secured her legendary status in Blues and Rock. When there are performers from the community like Justin Townes Earle and Corb Lund have new albums out why poach legends from other genres.

Classic country was also celebrated with Nashville Western swing ensemble the Time Jumpers being nominated for two GRAMMYs for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “On The Outskirts Of Town” and Best Country Album for their latest self-titled release. Best Country Album also has another surprise with Jamey Johnson being nominated for his tribute covers album “Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran.” The “Gentle Giant” Don Williams is nominated for his duet with the woman that hold the record for the most Grammys by a female artists (27!), Alison Krauss for Best Country Duo/Group Performance with “I Just Come Here for the Music”

Here’s the full list of Americana and associated categories for the 55th Grammy Awards. The Awards will be presented on Feb. 10, 2013. Most of these will be presented in the pre-telecast ceremony before the televised portion that evening on CBS. To find ot the winners follow me on Twitter and watch live streaming at Grammy.com.

Best Americana Album
The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter
John Fullbright – From the Ground Up
The Lumineers – The Lumineers
Mumford & Sons – Babel
Bonnie Raitt – Slipstream

Best Bluegrass Album
Dailey & Vincent – The Gospel Side Of
The Grascals – Life Finds a Way
Noam Pikelny – Beat the Devil & Carry a Rail
Special Consensus – Scratch Gravel Road
Steep Canyon Rangers – Nobody Knows You

Best Country Album
Zac Brown Band – Uncaged
Hunter Hayes – Self-titled
Jamey Johnson – Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran
Miranda Lambert – Four the Record
The Time Jumpers – Self-titled

Best Folk Album
Carolina Chocolate Drops – Leaving Eden
Ry Cooder – Election Special
Luther Dickinson – Hambone’s Meditations
Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile – The Goat Rodeo Sessions
Various – This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark

Americana and Roots artists on other categories:

– Mumford & Sons – Album of the Year for Babel, Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for “I Will Wait”, Best Long-form Music Video for “Big Easy Express” from the Railroad Revival Tour with Old Crow Medicine Show , Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, “Markus Dravs nominated for Producer of the Year for Babel.”
– Alabama Shakes – Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance for “Hold On”, Best Recording Package for Boys and Girls
– The Lumineers – Best New Artist-
– Bruce Springsteen – Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Album for Wrecking Ball & Best Rock Song for “We Take Care of Our Own”
– The Goat Rodeo Sessions featuring Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile – for Best Folk Album, Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
– Don Williams (feat. Alison Krauss) – Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “I Just Come Here for the Music”
– Taylor Swift/The Civil Wars – Best Country Duo/Group Performance & Best Song Written for Visual Media for “Safe and Sound”
– Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection – Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, Best Historical Album
– Old-Time Smoky Mountain Music: 34 Historic Songs, Ballads, And Instrumentals Recorded In The Great Smoky Mountains By “Song Catcher” Joseph S. Hall – Best Historical Album
– Ryan Adams – Ashes and Fire – Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

Grammy Award for Best Americana Album – Predictions

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Live on CBS this Wednesday the Grammy organization will announce it’s nominees for all categories at The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! concert from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

The Music City event will be the first time the Grammys have hosted an official awards programs since the 1973 Awards was held there. Wednesday’s eclectic offering of Pop, rappers, rockers and country singers will reflect the Nashville Grammys that brought together Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Ringo Starr, Curtis Mayfield at the former Tennessee Theatre on Church Street.

The event will also feature a tribute to the legendary Johnny Cash. So far The Band Perry and Dierks Bentley also have been confirmed to take part in the tribute, though I argue that the manner in which Cash was treated by Music City late in his career a more fitting tribute would be populated by those on the Americana side of the fence. Hank III and Shooter Jennings anyone?

Though not reflected in performers on the stage that day (boo!) the Grammys nominees for the Best Americana Album of the Year will be announced. Personally I have no inside knowledge of who’s names will be called, but am willing to use what I can from over all three years of the the category’s existence. There are two obvious patterns that emerge, the nominees are well-known veterans in the music industry and all have been nominated for or won Grammys in the past.

But then there’s the Linda Chorney wild card from last year that blows away the first two patterns. So what do I know?

Set those DVRs for Dec. 5 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. Then tune back in on Feb. 10, 8 p.m. ET (CBS) for the 55th annual Grammy awards show.

Let’s address the obvious two choices first. Mumford and Sons are the indisputable kings of contemporary roots-based music. Sure they were beat out by Adele for the coveted Record Of The Year Grammy last year but their prime-time performance with roots cohorts The Avett Brothers and vet Bob Dylan significantly raised their awareness. This higher-profile status has resulted in impressive sales for their sophomore offering, Babel.

The Avett Brothers have enjoyed an expanded fan base for all the reasons detailed above, as well as benefiting from being around longer and having their latest, The Carpenter, being their second to be produced by Rick Rubin.

Gretchen Peters is no stranger to the Grammys. In 1995 Peters received both a Grammy nomination and a Country Music Association Song of the Year award, for Martina McBride’s version of her song “Independence Day.” Her latest “Hello Cruel World’ is arguably some of her best work and has a great chance of catching the Grammy voters attention.

Dwight Yoakam has said that he doesn’t just want to appeal only to the smaller audience from his superstar heyday, I’m certain these days Nashville has little room for his signature Bakersfield sound. though I’m sure he won’t balk at his current perch at #1 on the current Americana charts. Yoakam won the Grammy Award for “Best Male Country Vocal Performance” in 1993 for the song “Ain’t That Lonely Yet”.

Willie Nelson has been nominated in this category before, in 2011 for the T Bone Burnett produced Country Music. Hos latest, Heroes, is a wonderful if uneven body of work that could find no better home than here. Personally, this is my favorite dark horse.

ON EDIT:

After a day of reflection I’m compelled to add a couple of more contenders that had slipped past me while writing this post.

Marty Stuart’s collection of country memorabilia is legendary, but his songs are his greatest contribution to the legacy.Stuart snagged his 5th Grammy at last year’s 54th annual event for Best Country Instrumental Performance for his”Hummingbyrd,” a musical tribute to the Byrds’ guitarist Clarence White, Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives came out with the excellent release Nashville, Volume 1: Tear the Woodpile Down.

Chris Thile was a national mandolin champion at 12, a Grammy winner at 16 and one of this year’s MacArthur “genius grant” recipients. He can really screw up the bell curve for other musicians. His newest venture, The Punch Brothers, which I consider like Mumford and Sons with more depth and better chops, were nominated at the 54th Grammys for Best Country Instrumental Performance on the tune “New Chance Blues,” a bonus track on their second record Antifogmatic. They were also nominated for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for the song “Pride” with Dierks Bentley and Del McCoury.

Americana Music Conference Video Round-Up

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I’ve starting posting the few videos from the 2012 Americana Music Conference showcases and it’s awards event at the Twang Nation Twitter and Facebook  accounts. Here is a round up of the ones I’ve found so far. Look for more as I find them. Now take some time to run through all these fine performances and tell me this isn’t the greatest music on the planet.

Zoe Muth: “If I Can’t Trust You with a Quarter”

The Black Lillies “Goodbye Charlie”

Lee Ann Womack & Buddy Miller: “Out on the Weekend” (Neil Young cover)

Lera Lynn: “Ring of Fire” (Johnny Cash cover)

Billy Joe Shaver: “The Git Go”

Mandolin Orange: “Waltz About Whiskey”

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit : “Alabama Pines”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHHFPx195eA

Justin Townes Earle: “Look The Other Way”

Guy Clark, Shawn Camp & Verlon Thompson” “My Favorite Picture of You”

Lee Ann Womack, Peter Cooper & Tom T. Hall : “I Love”

Elizabeth Cook with Bones Hillman and Tim Carroll, along with Dottie Peoples and John Fullbright, – Thirty Tigers’ Gospel Brunch at The Station Inn

Bonnie Raitt & John Hiatt: “Thing Called Love”

Americana Honors & Award Show Tribute to Levon Helm: “The Weight

Americana Music Festival and Awards Recap – The Year Americana Goes Legit

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Finally winding down from my annual trip and I’m here to say that 2011 is the year the Americana went mainstream.

The Americana Music Association, the Nashville professional trade organization that puts on the whole shindig, just experienced its biggest year yet: Their membership is up by 45 percent compared to 2006. The festival showcased twice the number of bands it did five years ago; and this year’s overall attendance was around 15,000, as opposed to the roughly 10,000 reported in 2011. Jed Hilly and the good people of the AMA were able to do all this while maintaining the performance intimacy and musical quality I’ve experienced over my 5 years of attending the event. They have also been able to avoid the band-of-the-minute trading bazaar plaguing events like South-By-Southwest .

CMT.com know a good thing when they see it. With the commercial breakout of artists like Mumford & Sons, The Civil Wars and the Avett Brothers the cable music channel, that in many ways embodies everything Americana stands in contrast of,  is setting up a small section of it’s site branded “CMT Edge” focused on showcasing artists outside their usual fare of quasi-“outlaws” and warbling blondes. The venture is focusing on the heart of Americana’s best. The tapping that i attended while attending the AMA conference featured Jason Isbell and justin Townes Earle in performing a solo acoustic set of a few songs in a setting that was more Bluebird Cafe than the hell-raising arenas most SMT artists can be found.

Craig Shelburne, a CMT.com writer and producer is the driving force behind CMT Edge introduced the artists before their performances. I briefly spoke to Shelburne and he seemed to me to be a man doing good that wants to do well. CMT sees that the Americana brand is blowing up  (thanks in large part to the promotional efforts of the AMA and the sheer talent under the genre’s tent.) Sure CMT is a corporation concerned with eyeballs to sell soap, but they offer a much larger stage where deserving artists can make more money and upgrade their instruments and crappy touring vans. or as Jason Isbell told me when i ran into him at the Buddy Miller Lee Ann Womack show “We all need to make money.” Indeed.

The Americana Honors & Awards program was a tightly executed package to showcase exceptional talent for wider public consumption. The new two-year deal with Mark Cuban’s AXS TV to broadcast the event live was added to the already existing live broadcast on radio, satellite and the web via outlets including Nashville’s WSM, SiriusXM’s “Outlaw Country” and NPR.org, respectively. The show’s current TV partner, Austin City Limits, also broadcasts an edited special ACL Presents on November 10.  Voice of America and Bob Harris’ BBC Radio 2 will broadcast overseas in following weeks.

All this spiked with an official hashtag #Americanafest and the youTube videos from the festivals shows cropping up afterward and you have a full-scale media juggernaut.

The inclusion of Bonnie Raitt , Booker T Jones and Richard Thompson for lifetime achievement awards for performance, instrumentalist and songwriting respectively. There’s no denying the legendary status of these great artists and their appeal to an Americana demo that trends towards the Boomer generation, but – to polish an old chestnut – are they “Americana?”

Each of these artists have established themselves as legends in the well defined genres of blues, R&B & soul and folk & rock. Honoring these legends in an Americana awards ceremony undoubtedly allows the AMA to hitch the brand to established and well-repected talent, but at what cost? By seemingly playing a game of “me too” the AMA could be using their crown jewel awards program to further obscure the Americana brand at best. At worst there the risk that the AMA will lead Americana into being a cast as an always derivative genre, riding on the coattails of established genres in order to gain credibility and an audience.

I’m not sure which of these scenarios will play out but I see them both as unnecessary as the above numbers and CMT attention show that Americana is doing just firm staking out it’s own turf heading toward greater brand visibility. How can a genre that has legitimate ties to Steve Earle , Ryan Bingham and The Civil Wars  need to pilfer genre to create awareness?

But maybe I’m wrong. maybe Americana at it’s core crosses so many lines that those lines are the real outlines of what this movement we all  love is really about. Maybe it’s a result of that truly American phenomenon of a society emerging from a diversity of the melting-pot.

Maybe it’s like Jim Lauderdale said from the stage of the Ryman Auditorium the other night. “Boundaries are for cowards.

Maybe.

Americana Association Music Awards 2012

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It was another night when the disciples of roots music congregated within the hallowed walls of the Mother Church of Country Music, and the Ryman Auditorium, to homage to that which ties us together and makes us whole. Music.

The evening got off to a funk – soul start as Buddy Miller and the house band turned up the heat on Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist recipient Booker T Jones’ Green Onions. Drive-By Truckers front man Patterson Hood presented Jones with award recounting the DBT backing him on the Grammy winning “Potato Hole” and recognizing the legendary musician and producer for his contributions to the Stax Records and Memphis soul music sound.

“It means so much to me to receive this award, and it’s especially good to receive it from Patterson, I am so honored to accept this award in such great company. It really touches me.”

Bonnie Raitt presented the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting and guitarist extraordinaire Richard Thompson. Thompson’s songs have been recorded by The Del McCoury Band, Robert Plant, Los Lobos, Elvis Costello, Blind Boys of Alabama, REM, Linda Ronstadt, Buddy & Julie Miller and Raitt herself.

Thompson, a Brit, said “I know we’ve had our differences, and especially that whole 1776 thing. But we do share a love of the folk music from the old country.” It Then broke into a sizzling version of his Vincent Black Lightning.

Raitt herself received the Lifetime Achievement for Performance, presented to her by by singer/songwriter John Hiatt who’s song “Thing Called Love” was a big hit for her when she covered it on her “Nick of Time” album.  “I am proud to have an umbrella like Americana. Who cares what kind of music it is, if it is great music. Tonight we are putting aside generations and genres to celebrate roots music.”

Peter Cooper and Lee Ann Womack ‘s performance of Song of the Year nominated ” I Love” – Album from the Songs of Fox Hollow children’s album – was rendered even more eventful by a surprise appearance by the 76 year-old icon.

The greatest moment for me was an appearance by the legendary Guy Clark. The tribute This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark – produced by Tamara Saviano and Shawn Camp- won album of the Year. The noticeably frail Clark performed a song dedicated to his recently deceased wife Susanna, and “My Favorite Picture of You.”

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit snagged Song of the Year honors for “Alabama Pines.” Gillian Welch was named Artist of the Year, while The Civil Wars took home Duo/Group honors (and I won another bottle of whiskey from John Paul White!) Alabama Shakes were presented the Emerging Artist award and David Rawlings was named Musician of the Year.

Jim Lauderdale again was the perfect MC for the televised live event which moved at a more clipped pace than past years.

Excellent performances by Justin Townes Earle, Robert Ellis, The Mavericks, the Punch Brothers, Casey Chambers, Shane Nicholson, Hayes Carll, Cary Ann Hurst and the Carolina Chocolate Drops drew from the historic surroundings and often brought the crowd to their feet.

The evening closed with many performers joining by Emmylou Harris to pay tribute to the late Levon Helm, led by his daughter Amy Helm, who in a rousing version of The Band’s “The Weight.”

Americana Honors & Awards Picks

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One of the highlights of the Americana Music Festival and Conference is the Americana Honors and Awards program, which takes place at within the sacred walls of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. on Sept. 12. It’s a great event because not only do you have Buddy Miller leading a stellar house band and Jim Lauderdale, and tireless and engaging MC, deserving of the moniker “Mr. Americana,” but the performances are always some of the best I’ve had the good fortune to witness from those storied pews.

For the first time TV viewers get a new perspective. This year’s Americana Honors & Awards will be broadcast on AXS TV which will include live behind-the-scenes coverage.

The ceremony will also broadcast live on radio, satellite and the web via outlets including Nashville’s legendary WSM, SiriusXM’s “Outlaw Country” and NPR.org, respectively. As they did last year Austin City Limits, will broadcast an edited special ACL Presents on November 10, and Voice of America and Bob Harris’ BBC Radio 2 will broadcast overseas in the following weeks.

I’ve already opined on my views of the nominees, now it’s time to settle in for the ride. below find the nominees and my pick in bold.

Album of the Year
Here We Rest – Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive – Steve Earle
The Harrow & The Harvest – Gillian Welch
This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark – Various Artists

Artist of the Year
Gillian Welch
Hayes Carll
Jason Isbell
Justin Townes Earle

Emerging Artist of the Year
Alabama Shakes
Dawes
Deep Dark Woods
Robert Ellis

Song of the Year
“Alabama Pines” – Written by Jason Isbell and performed by Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
“Come Around” – Written and performed by Sarah Jarosz
“I Love” – Written by Tom T. Hall and performed by Patty Griffin
“Waiting On The Sky to Fall” – Written and performed by Steve Earle

Instrumentalist of the Year
Buddy Miller
Chris Thile
Darrell Scott
Dave Rawlings

Duo/Group of the Year
Carolina Chocolate Drops
The Civil Wars
Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
Punch Brothers

Americana Music Festival Unveils Schedule

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It’s undeniable that The Americana Music Festival is the premier showcase for the Americana genre. The showcases, award show and panels spans 4 days of some of the best music the genre has to offer. All in beautiful downtown Nashville, near the heart of Music City pop confectionery

Building on last year’s increase in attendance the good people at the AMA are making this 10th anniversary of the yearly event the best yet.

The already rich lineup for the event has now been sweetened with the addition of Corb Lund, Richard Thompson, Jill Andrews , Punch Brothers. Paul Thorn and, making the transition from mainstream country to the richer pastures of Americana, Lee Ann Womack.

This year’s tribute showcase performance will honor the recently deceased pioneer of the genre, Levon Helm. The winner of the 2010 and 2012’s Best Americana Album GRAMMY Helm will be honored by an as-yet unannounced bill in a performance titled “This Wheel’s on Fire: A Tribute to Levon Helm.”

Here is the full schedule of artists and venues for the Americana Music Conference 2012. Print it out and star highlighting your favorites!

Wednesday, September 12

The Basement

10:00 Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside
11:00 Blue Mountain
12:00 Shovels and Rope

The Station Inn

10:30 Carper Family Band
11:30 Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson

The Rutledge

10:00 Gretchen Peters
11:00 Bearfoot
12:00 Delta Rae

Mercy Lounge

10:00 Corb Lund
11:00 This Wheel’s On Fire: A Tribute to Levon Helm

The High Watt

10:30 Whitehorse
11:30 Chris Stamey

Cannery Ballroom

10:00 Star Anna
11:00 Brandi Carlile

Thursday, September 13

The Basement

8:00 Lydia Loveless
9:00 Angel Snow
10:00 Sons of Fathers
11:00 The Deep Dark Woods
12:00 Black Lillies

The Station Inn

8:00 The Amy Helm Band
8:45 Teresa Williams and Larry Campbell
9:20 The Dirt Farmers
10:00 Mary Gauthier
11:00 Richard Thompson

The Rutledge

The Music of Memphis
8:00 Star and Micey
9:00 Luther Dickinson Solo
10:00 TBA
11:00 The Bo-Keys
12:00 Songs of Big Star

Mercy Lounge
8:00 Turnpike Troubadours
9:00 Billy Joe Shaver
10:00 Steve Forbert
11:00 John Fullbright
12:00 Jason Boland & The Stragglers

The High Watt

8:30 The Mastersons
9:30 Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers
10:30 Eilen Jewell
11:30 Julie Lee

Cannery Ballroom

8:00 Blue Highway
9:00 Sara Watkins
10:00 Paul Thorn
11:00 Punch Brothers (with a Sara Watkins cameo?)

Live on the Green

6:30 The Dunwells
7:15 Delta Spirit
9:00 The Wallflowers

Friday, September 14

The Basement

8:00 Caitlin Harnett
9:00 American Aquarium
10:00 Cory Branan
11:00 Chuck Mead and His Grassy Knoll Boys
12:00 Buxton

The Station Inn

8:00 TBA
9:00 Della Mae
10:00 McCrary Sisters
11:00 Steep Canyon Rangers
12:00 Humming House

The Rutledge

8:00 Mandolin Orange
9:00 Mindy Smith
10:00 The World Famous Headliners
11:00 Belle Starr
12:00 BoDeans

Mercy Lounge

8:00 Jimbo Mathus & The Tri-State Coalition
9:00 Holy Ghost Tent Revival
10:00 TBA
11:00 Darrell Scott
12:00 Reckless Kelly

The High Watt

8:30 Max Gomez
9:30 Two Gallants
10:30 Sons of Bill
11:30 Andrew Combs

Cannery Ballroom

8:00 TBA
9:00 TBA
10:00 Robert Ellis
11:00 John Hiatt

Saturday, September 15

The Basement

8:00 Anthony da Costa
9:00 Chastity Brown
10:00 Fort Frances
11:00 The Pines
12:00 Chris Scruggs

The Station Inn

8:00 Brennen Leigh
9:00 Phoebe Hunt
10:00 Marvin Etzioni
11:00 Rodney Crowell

The Rutledge

8:00 Felicity Urquhart
9:00 The Wood Brothers
10:00 Kevin Gordon
11:00 Jordie Lane
12:00 The Trishas

Mercy Lounge

8:00 Lera Lynn
9:00 honeyhoney
10:00 Tift Merritt
11:00 Buddy Miller & Lee Ann Womack

The High Watt

8:00 Jill Andrews
9:00 Derek Hoke
10:00 Kasey Anderson and the Honkies

Tickets to the Americana Music Festival are available at the Americana Music Association website.

A Solid Selection of Americana Music Association Nominees ‎Announced

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Through a spotty online streamed event (at least on my side) from Grammy Museum’s Clive Davis Theatre in L.A. the Nashville-based Americana Music Association announced their 2012  announced their nominees for Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Emerging Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Instrumentalist of the Year.

On hand was “Mr. Americana,” and the premier host of the Americana Awards program, Jim Lauderdale. Buddy Miller lead the Americana All Star quartet with Don Heffington, Greg Leisz and Don Was. Featuring excellent performances by Lauderdale, Shelby Lynne,  Lucinda Williams and Texas’s own Robert Ellis.

Jed Hilly gave a gracious speech and then introduced the actor John C Reilly, and mighty fine roots musician in his own right, as M.C.  for the event.  Taking the stage and looking rather sheepish Reilly stated  “They call this the Americana Awards but really it should be the All the Great Artists Out Right Now Awards.”

The nominees are some of the most solid since I’ve been keeping score of the AMA awards.  Jason Isbell and  Gillian Welch lrad nominations with 4 and 3 respectively. The Artist of the Year noms Welch, Isbell as well as Hayes Carll and Justin Townes Earle leaves me for the first time with no clear favorite to root for. There is the staple legend that released something unexceptional but still gets a nod (  Steve Earle with an Album of the Year nod for  I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive ) but overall even this category is solid (not least of which because 2 of the nominees , Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit and Gillian Welch, were on my best  of 2011 list)

There appears to be some bandwagon jumping with the Emerging Artist of the Year nominees Alabama Shakes and Dawes. I could give you a list of a  dozen artists I’d replace them with. (one being already on the list, the exceptional Robert Ellis.) Buddy Miller is to the AMAs what Kenny Chesney is to the CMAs, is once again on the list for Instrumentalist of the Year.

The performers and the band then ended the ceremony with a rousing rendition of the traditional spiritual “Let the Circle Be Unbroken.”

Winners will be announced at the Americana Honors and Awards program  at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. -  Sept. 12. The ceremony is part of the Americana Music Festival and Conference, which takes place on Sept. 12-15.

Full list of nominees below:

Album of the Year
Here We Rest – Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive – Steve Earle
The Harrow & The Harvest – Gillian Welch
This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark – Various Artists

Artist of the Year
Gillian Welch
Hayes Carll
Jason Isbell
Justin Townes Earle

Emerging Artist of the Year
Alabama Shakes
Dawes
Deep Dark Woods
Robert Ellis

Song of the Year
“Alabama Pines” – Written by Jason Isbell and performed by Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
“Come Around” – Written and performed by Sarah Jarosz
“I Love” – Written by Tom T. Hall and performed by Patty Griffin
“Waiting On The Sky to Fall” – Written and performed by Steve Earle

Instrumentalist of the Year
Buddy Miller
Chris Thile
Darrell Scott
Dave Rawlings

Duo/Group of the Year
Carolina Chocolate Drops
The Civil Wars
Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
Punch Brothers