Feature photo by Getty Images for Americana Music
Story by Kailee Shores and Bailey Brantingham
As it celebrates its 25th anniversary, the Americana Music Association held the 23rd annual Americana Honors & Awards Wednesday night at the Ryman Auditorium. The evening’s hosts and performers took the audience on a journey through the art of gospel, blues, folk, honky-tonk and all the genres that encompass the expansive parameters of Americana music.
Sierra Ferrell, dubbed “equal parts Dolly Parton and Frank Zappa” by fellow performers and nominees The Milk Carton Kids, won the night, taking home awards for both Album of the Year and Artist of the Year. She performed “American Dreaming” off her winning LP “Trail of Flowers” in a massive Southern-belle hoop skirt surrounded by her clean-cut Kentucky Colonel tie-wearing band.
“Yo, first off I want to say thank you to God and Jesus Christ for having me here, and me being born,” Ferrell said before thanking her friends and crew.
Earlier in the night, Nashville’s favorite gospel group The McCrary Sisters warmed up the crowd with a sparkly and soulful rendition of “I’ll Take You There,” complete with organ and tambourine, before assuming their thrones beside the bongos as the star-studded house band’s choral section.
“God loves a great house band,” award show presenter, writer and musician Warren Zanes later said.
Engulfed in a scattering of oriental rugs and a semi-circle of amplifiers, the Americana All Star Band was comprised of legends hailing from every corner of the genre, including Jen Gunderman, Jim Hoke, Larry Campbell, Jerry Pentecost and the McCrary Sisters. Led by Buddy Miller, the six-piece band had no shortage of instruments on stage.
The Milk Carton Kids welcomed the audience and remarked on the significance of the AMA’s 25th anniversary.
“It’s time to get off your parents’ health insurance, Americana,” said one-half of the famous folk duo, Joey Ryan.
But, at just 18 years old, winner of Instrumentalist of the Year Grace Bowers hasn’t quite hit that threshold. Bowers and the Red Clay Strays, who won Emerging Act of the Year, were on the road Wednesday, unable to accept the awards in-person.
The “pride of Oklahoma” Kaitlin Butts acted as the Ryman’s own ballerina cowgirl, giving a stomping performance of her cautionary tale “You Ain’t Gotta Die (To Be Dead To Me).” Lifetime achievement award recipients The Blind Boys of Alabama followed, sporting sleek violet suits and sparkling loafers for a hand-clapping performance of “Work Until My Days Are Done,” a fitting gospel tune for the Mother Church.
The night had no shortage of young Americana voices, with Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee donning red ballet slippers for the performance of her song of the year-nominated “Right Back To It,” succeeded by Charles Wesley Godwin’s banjo-picking version of “All Again.” Jobi Riccio followed with a delicate performance of her waltz, “For Me It’s You,” which was reminiscent of a relaxed Parisian evening, even through the loudspeakers of the Ryman.
The AMA bestowed a sick-pack of Lifetime Achievement Awards to legendary artists, including The Blind Boys of Alabama, Dave Alvin, Shelby Lynne, Don Was and Dwight Yoakam, who each gave a performance after receiving the award. The late Rev. Gary Davis, also a recipient of the award, was honored by Fantastic Negrito’s life-giving rendering of Davis’ song “Samson and Delilah.”
“We are here tonight to celebrate this music that is filled with history, while looking toward a better future,” said songwriter, producer and guitarist T Bone Burnett. “Music that includes every person from every direction. Music that is the warp and woof, the very vibration of America. It is not a misnomer to call this art form Americana.”
Blazing red rootsy rock duo Larkin Poe ignited a spark in the audience with flashing lights and a heated performance of their new single “Bluephoria.” The sisters worked the stage with a silver sparkling electric guitar and custom holographic lap steel, shaking the pews and taking home the award for Duo/Group of the Year.
Treasured Nashville husband-and-wife duo The War and Treaty caught the audience by the ears, delivering octave-shattering high notes and opening with possibly one of the most powerful “Amens” the Mother Church has ever seen.
Brandy Clark, accompanied on stage by SistaStrings, gave a raw performance of “Take Mine” before winning Song of the Year for “Dear Insecurity,” which features Brandi Carlile.
“I have struggled most of my career with where my music fits, and you guys have made me feel at home,” Clark said after her win. “I remember at a time when I was really at a low point of not fitting in, Jed Hilly invited me to play AmericanaFest…And that’s what I love about Americana music. It is really a family.”
Rather than continuing in tradition and bringing the full cast of artists back to the stage for the finale, Margo Price introduced Emmylou Harris, patron saint of the genre, and Rodney Crowell for a performance of Gram Parsons’ “Return of the Grievous Angel,” on which Harris sang harmony back in 1974. Harris, harboring her unmistakable guitar half the size of her frame, and Crowell, anchored in his Texas troubadour roots, closed the night with a song that reaches the soul of Americana: simple, heart-felt story-telling.
2024 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards winners
- Instrumentalist of the Year: Grace Bowers
- Emerging Act of the Year: The Red Clay Strays
- Duo/Group of the Year: Larkin Poe
- Song of the Year: Dear Insecurity, Brandy Clark
- Album of the Year: American Dreaming, Sierra Ferrell
- Artist of the Year: Sierra Ferrell
Kailee Shores is the Editor-in-Chief of MTSU Sidelines; Bailey Brantingham is the Lead Lifestyles Reporter for MTSU Sidelines.
To contact the Lifestyles Editor, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com.
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