The Americana Music Association Announces Lifetime Achievement Honorees

Courtesy: Marushka Media

(Press Release) The Americana Music Association is proud to announce this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipients. Six honorees will be celebrated during Americana’s 15th Annual Honors & Awards show to be held at the historic Ryman Auditorium on Wednesday, September 21.

The show officially kicks off the 17th Annual Americana Music Festival & Conference taking place in Nashville, September 20-25.

"This year's Lifetime Achievement recipients have inspired us through their culture-shaping music and art for years. It'll be nothing short of an honor to welcome them to the Ryman stage in September," says Jed Hilly, Americana Music's Executive Director. ​

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​Bob Weir has done the seemingly impossible by personally carrying on the Grateful Dead’s music and ethos for more than fifty years. This year, Americana honors him with a Lifetime Achievement honor in the category of Performer. Weir met Jerry Garcia at a Palo Alto music store in 1963 and soon formed the jug band that would morph into the Dead. The band redefined the relationship between roots music and improvisational rock and jazz, partly thanks to Weir’s intelligent rhythm guitar ideas. He was the writer on some of the band’s most beloved material, including
“Sugar Magnolia” and “Jack Straw.” During and after the Dead, Weir led other ensembles, notably Kingfish, RatDog and Further. 

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting goes to singer and songwriter William Bell. William released graceful sides on Stax Records in the 1960s and 70s, when the label ruled Southern soul. He penned songs that would be picked by such diverse artists as Jimi Hendrix, Etta James, Linda Ronstadt and Warren Haynes. In 1969, Bell moved to Atlanta, where he became a respected record maker and musical mentor, while maintaining ties to Memphis. Bell’s music had been out of the limelight for some time before he appeared as a performer in the documentary Take Me To The River, in which he reprised his song “I Forgot To Be Your Lover” with Snoop Dogg. Then in 2016, he released the acclaimed album This Is Where I Live, produced by John Leventhal, on a revived Stax label. 

In the 1980s, Billy Bragg — this year’s recipient of the Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award — brought a brawler’s toughness to the art of the political folk song, competing with the biggest punk rockers of the day for impact and truth-telling. With an electric guitar and a salty voice, the London native sang songs that mixed social commentary with insightful, personal stories. His artistic debt to Woody Guthrie reached a zenith with his 1998 album Mermaid Avenue, a collaboration with Wilco that set Guthrie lyrics to original music. Bragg remains active in social issues and music making, including a new duo project with Joe Henry. 

Shawn Colvin, this year’s Trailblazer honoree, launched her songwriting career a bit later in life than some of her contemporaries, the guests on her very first solo album (Bruce Hornsby, Suzanne Vega, etc.) helped validate her as a major talent who’d already impressed her era’s finest performers. She’s been a mainstay of contemporary folk music across the three decades since, right up to her current duet work with Steve Earle, who is another high profile fan. She triumphed at the 1998 Grammy Awards, winning Record and Song of the Year for “Sunny Came Home,” but her catalog is bursting with songs that are at least as good. Her unsentimental and candid memoir Diamond In The Rough, which chronicled struggles with depression and eating disorders was published to strong reviews in 2013. 

This year’s President’s Award is posthumously awarded to Woody Guthrie.  The stuff of American myth and a seeming extension of the work of Mark Twain, Woodrow Wilson Guthrie made himself a national character and commentator before mass media and without becoming a politician. His “machine,” the acoustic guitar, may not have killed any fascists directly (as promised on the exterior of the instrument) but they certainly put pressure on them during tumultuous years in American and World events. Guthrie directly inspired Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and uncountable others, elevating the protest song to high art. In a career that spanned the 1930s until his death from Huntington’s Disease in 1967, Guthrie moved people – to laughter, to tears and to action. 

Jim Lauderdale is this year’s WagonMaster recipient. Jim may be the most prolific and consistently excellent performing songwriter associated directly with the Americana music format, having released nearly 30 albums since his debut in the business in 1991. He has helped define Americana as much as anyone while adding significantly to the larger legacies of the country and bluegrass genres. He’s received two Grammy Awards and he was the recipient of the very first Americana Artist of the Year prize when the association launched its prestigious Honors and Awards. He has hosted that show at the Ryman Auditorium for 14 years. And his quick humor and unique personality has made him a favorite in broadcasting and emcee roles.

For more information on the Honors & Awards show, AmericanaFest, the Americana Music Conference and membership to the Americana Music Association, please visit: www.americanamusic.org. 

Festival wristbands are priced at $60 for the week and conference registrations are still available. 
 
About the Americana Music Association
The Americana Music Association is a professional not-for-profit trade organization whose mission is to advocate for the authentic voice of American roots music around the world. The Association produces events throughout the year; including the Americana Music Festival & Conference and the critically acclaimed Americana Honors & Awards program. The Americana Music Association receives enormous support from the Tennessee Department of Tourism, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, Lagunitas Brewing Company, Music City Networks, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SoundExchange, and AT&T. For more information, or to purchase an Americana Music Festival & Conference registration, please visit www.americanamusic.org.
 
About AmericanaFest
The 17th annual Americana Music Festival & Conference will take place September 20-25, 2016. The event brings together fans and music industry professionals alike, offering six days of celebration through seminars, panels and networking opportunities by day and raw, battery recharging showcases each night. The Americana Honors & Awards Show is the featured performance of the festivities, taking place at the historic Ryman Auditorium. T Bone Burnett will be delivering the keynote speech. For information on how to purchase a conference registration, please visitwww.americanamusic.org.
 
All-Americana Silver and Gold Fan Packages are now available for AmericanaFest 2016! Enjoy festival and conference access like never before! We’ve partnered with Curadora to help you browse the coolest hotel accommodations Nashville has to offer. With Curadora, you can search all local hotels based on price, proximity to the venue, and more. To find great hotel rates in Downtown Nashville, click here.
 
For more information on the Americana Music Association: 
Official Website: americanamusic.org
Facebook: facebook.com/americanamusicassociation
Twitter: twitter.com/americanafest
Instagram: instagram.com/americanafest