Prine, Shires and Simpson Take Top Americana Honors

The Mother Church of Country Music once again played the role of the Mother Church of Americana on Wednesday, as the venerable Ryman Auditorium hosted the 16th annual Americana Honors and Awards. Jim Lauderdale served as master of ceremonies for the 15th consecutive year, introducing presenters between performances by an all-star band led by Larry Campbell (filling in for Buddy Miller, who was ill) with a stunning array of honorees and guests. 

You could take any combination of nominees for this year’s Honors and Awards and come up with a picture of what Americana does best — namely, provide a platform for a broad range artists whose work draws on American roots musics without neatly fitting into any individual category. That includes five lifetime achievement honorees: Van Morrison, whose superb catalog was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting; Iris DeMent, whose dedication to her craft earned her the Americana Trailblazer Award; Hi Rhythm, the house band at Hi Records whose work with Memphis legends like Al Green and O.V. Wright was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist; Robert Cray, whose work in blues and soul received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance; and Graham Nash, whose activism on behalf of environmental and social justice earned him the Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award. 

Artist of the Year was awarded to John Prine — arguably the top Americana artist of any year. In the past year, the iconic singer-songwriter released For Better, or Worse, a stellar collection of duets following the form of 1999’s In Spite of Ourselves, and published Beyond Words, a book of his favorite songs from his own catalog and featuring lyrics, chords, annotations and more. 

Amanda Shires was recognized as Emerging Artist of the Year. That might seem a little strange, considering the fact that she’s been performing for two decades and released her fifth album, My Piece of Land, last fall. But no matter when you catch on to Shires’ sophisticated, poetic work — which explores deeply personal themes in a way that feels universally relatable — it’s worth celebrating. 

Also always worth celebrating is Sturgill Simpson, who took home the Album of the Year trophy for A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. The LP won this year’s Grammy for Best Country Album, though it has more easily recognizable connections to soul music. Regardless of how you classify it, it’s a beautiful record with messages about love and hope that are timeless but certainly feel timely in light of the global political climate.

Speaking of timely sentiments, Song of the Year went to Rodney Crowell for “It Ain’t Over Yet,” a folky shuffle about not quitting even if you feel like you have nothing left to offer. The elegantly crafted song takes the form of a conversation between Crowell, his ex-wife Rosanne Cash, and John Paul White, and it’s one gem among many on Crowell’s album Close Ties. 

Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives have been touring on Way Out West, an agile collection that highlights the connections between country music and the rock and pop made on the West Coast in the late ’60s and early ’70s. For that outstanding effort, they were awarded Group/Duo of the Year. 

Out of a field of contenders whose work is all jaw-dropping, Charlie Sexton was crowned Instrumentalist of the Year. Besides making his own records, the Austin, Texas, guitarist has deployed his skills in the service of a dazzling array of artists, from David Bowie and Roky Erickson to Lucinda Williams and Bob Dylan.

If you couldn’t catch the show, a program of highlights is slated to air on PBS stations on Nov. 19.