On Wednesday, an eclectic group of musicians including George Strait, Bob Weir, the Lumineers, and Jason Ibsell, gathered together in Nashville, Tennessee for the 15th annual Americana Honors & Awards show. The show honors distinguished musical accomplishments, and features live musical acts throughout the evening. Only six awards are given out, interspersed between 21 live performances. It’s the opening event to kick off the annual Americana Musical Festival, which runs through the weekend.
Two of the six awards went to Jason Isbell, who won the Album of the Year for his Something More than Free, and Song of the Year for “24 Frames.”
In his acceptance speech for his Song of the Year award, he shared some advice that has served himself well over the years: “If you can, keep people around you who will tell you when you’ve done something awful, whether it’s in a song or in your personal life, and listen to them.”
Country artists did well for themselves at the show. The Artist of the Year Award went to Chris Stapleton, the country-bluegrass singer/songwriter, in his first ever nomination at the event. Margo Price won the prize of Emerging Artist of the Year.
The show gave out a handful of lifetime achievement awards. Among that group included The Grateful dead’s Bob Weir, who won a deserved award in the Performance category.
Here’s a list of all the awards:
Album of the Year: Something More Than Free, Jason Isbell (Dave Cobb, producer)
Artist of the Year: Chris Stapleton
Group/Duo of the Year: Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell
Song of the Year: “24 Frames” Jason Isbell (Jason Isbell, songwriter)
Emerging Artist of the Year: Margo Price
Instrumentalist of the Year: Sara Watkins
Spirit of Americana/Free Speech in Music Award: Billy Bragg
Lifetime Achievement Award, Trailblazer: Shawn Colvin
Lifetime Achievement Award, Songwriting: William Bell
Lifetime Achievement Award, Performance: Bob Weir
Lifetime Achievement Award, Wagonmaster: Jim Lauderdale
President’s Award: The late Woody Guthrie
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