See the Winners of the 2023 Americana Honors & Awards

The Americana Music Association announced the winners of its 22nd annual Americana Honors & Awards this evening (September 20) at a star-studded show at the historic Ryman Auditorium during the week-long AmericanaFest conference and festival in Nashville. Performers at the marquee event – which felt, as it usually does, more like a concert interspersed with awards presentations than vice versa – included Bonnie Raitt, Bettye LaVette, S.G. Goodman, Noah Kahan, The Avett Brothers, Adeem the Artist, William Prince and many more with Buddy Miller once again as music director for the Americana All-Star Band.

The evening’s presentations also spotlit this year’s Lifetime, Trailblazer, and Legacy Award Honorees: The Avett Brothers, George Fontaine Sr., Bettye LaVette, Patty Griffin and Nickel Creek. Allison Russell, nominated in two categories, was bestowed the Spirit of Americana / Free Speech in Music Award by the infamous Tennessee Three, Tennessee state representatives Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, whose expulsion by the Tennessee General Assembly after protesting in support of common sense gun legislation earlier this year made international headlines.

A full list of categories, nominees and winners at the Americana Music Association’s 22nd annual Americana Honors & Awards is below, winners in bold. Congratulations to all of the honorees and awardees!

ARTIST OF THE YEAR:

Charley Crockett

Sierra Ferrell

Margo Price

Allison Russell

Billy Strings


ALBUM OF THE YEAR:

Big Time, Angel Olsen; Produced by Angel Olsen and Jonathan Wilson

Can I Take My Hounds To Heaven?, Tyler Childers; Produced by Tyler Childers

El Bueno y el Malo, Hermanos Gutiérrez; Produced by Dan Auerbach

The Man from Waco, Charley Crockett; Produced by Bruce Robison

Strays, Margo Price; Produced by Margo Price and Jonathan Wilson


SONG OF THE YEAR:

“Change of Heart,” Margo Price; Written by Jeremy Ivey, Margo Price

“I’m Just a Clown,” Charley Crockett; Written by Charley Crockett

“Just Like That,” Bonnie Raitt; Written by Bonnie Raitt

“Something in the Orange,” Zach Bryan; Written by Zach Bryan

“You’re Not Alone,” Allison Russell featuring Brandi Carlile; Written by Allison Russell


DUO/GROUP OF THE YEAR:

49 Winchester

Caamp

Nickel Creek

Plains

The War and Treaty


EMERGING ACT OF THE YEAR:

Adeem the Artist

S.G. Goodman

William Prince

Thee Sacred Souls

Sunny War


INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR:

Isa Burke

Allison de Groot

Jeff Picker

SistaStrings – Chauntee and Monique Ross

Kyle Tuttle


Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award

George Fontaine, Sr.

Legacy of Americana Award (Presented in partnership with the National Museum of African American Music)

Bettye LaVette

Lifetime Achievement

Patty Griffin

The Avett Brothers

Spirit of Americana / Free Speech in Music Award

Allison Russell

Trailblazer Award

Nickel Creek


Photo Credit: Bettye LaVette by Danny Clinch; Allison Russell by Laura E Partain; Billy Strings by Jesse Faatz; SistaStrings by Samer Ghani.

In This Unearthed 1968 Live Recording, Johnny Cash Sings “I’m Going to Memphis”

New music from Johnny Cash is coming in September from a surprising source. Members of the Owsley Stanley Foundation have partnered with Renew Records and BMG to release a never-before-heard capture of a Johnny Cash concert in 1968. The upcoming release, titled Bear’s Sonic Journals: Johnny Cash At the Carousel Ballroom April 24 1968, was captured by in-house sound engineer Owsley “Bear” Stanley only days prior to the release of Cash’s legendary live record At Folsom Prison. That means the new album will provide another window through which we’ll be able to hear Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, and the Tennessee Three (guitarist Luther Perkins, bassist Marshall Grant and drummer W.S. Holland) at their peak, performing songs that shaped an entire genre. John Carter Cash, the country stars’ son, describes it as “what I believe to be one of the most intimate and connected shows I have ever heard.”

Recorded in the heart of the counterculture movement of the ‘60s in San Francisco, the new collection is slated for a September 24 release on a CD/2 LP set. To promote the project (as if we needed anything more to be excited about), the Owsley Stanley Foundation and Renew/BMG have released “I’m Going to Memphis” from the concert, and it is absolutely brimming with Cash’s signature charisma and debonair delivery. So many of classic country’s textures line the recording: tick-tack electric guitar, train-beat shuffle, brash acoustic rhythm, and of course, rich, velvety vocals to round out the arrangement. It’s a snapshot of one of country music’s most fertile moments in history and we’ll be wearing this one out all summer in anticipation for the rest of the live album’s release.

Listen to the official audio and check out this feature from Rolling Stone about new music from Johnny Cash.


 

WATCH: Marty Stuart Shares the Johnny Cash Song He Dearly Loves

Artist: Marty Stuart
Song: “I’ve Been Around”
Album: Forever Words (Expanded)

In Their Words: “I dearly love ‘I’ve Been Around.’ The song and video are both filled with that unexplainable charisma that John R Cash specialized in. He was such a great writer. A true poet at heart. It’s hard to believe that he never got around to recording this song. The words are cinematic, timeless, classic JR.

“When John Carter Cash first presented me with the raw lyrics the music seemed to dance off the page. I instantly heard the sound of Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three in my mind. They were the north star band of my musical youth; in reality, they still are. They were my Beatles. I wanted the spirit of that group and the essence of that sound to follow me to that microphone. At the time the song was recorded the Tennessee Three’s drummer, W.S. ‘Fluke’ Holland, was the last band member standing. He played on the session and brought that classic sound with him to the studio. Fluke since passed away. ‘I’ve Been Around’ was to be his last recording and I will forever treasure it. The old line in Nashville is: It all begins with a song. And once again, Johnny Cash knocks one out of the park from 10 million miles away.” — Marty Stuart


Photo credit: Bill Thorup