This past week The Vinyl District was fortunate enough to cover the Americana Music Association Festival in Nashville, Tennessee. The festival spanned four days and was filled with artist showcases, conference panels, a star-studded awards ceremony, and even a southern literature book fair. Once again Nashville proved that it sets the standard for throwing a top of the line music festival in any type of genre.
Of all the artist showcases we were able to attend, highlights definitely came from the smooth, sultry Secret Sisters set at Cannery Ballroom on Friday night.
Second on our showcase highlight list comes from a familiar face whom you might recognize from our coverage of SoundLand. None other than the king of Texas country-folk, Robert Ellis who played at Mercy Lounge on Friday night of the festival as well.
Even though it was a bit of a struggle we made it over to The Rutledge to see one of our favorite Nashville native folk acts The Vespers take the stage and blow the minds of all audience members in attendance.
One surprise highlight of the Americana Festival showcases comes from a a Memphis native known as Amy LaVere. She plays a mean stand-up bass with a raspy voice, which she uses to tell her soulful tales of sadness and anger. We’re definitely adding her to the “recommend” list for those who haven’t been fortunate enough to find her yet.
On Thursday 10/13 the Americana Music Association Awards hosted by Jim Lauderdale took place at the infamous Ryman Auditorium. Performances came from some of the greatest musicians around including Robert Plant, The Avett Brothers, The Civil Wars, Lucinda Williams, and Gregg Allman. Below is a list of winners for the awards:
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Band Of Joy, Robert Plant
ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Buddy Miller
INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR: Buddy Miller
NEW / EMERGING ARTIST: Mumford & Sons
SONG OF THE YEAR: “Harlem River Blues” by Justin Townes Earle
DUO / GROUP OF THE YEAR: The Avett Brothers
Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriter: Lucinda Williams
Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance: Gregg Allman
Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist: Jerry Douglas
Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award for Executive: Rick Hall
Trailblazer Award: Bob Harris
A highlight of the awards ceremony was definitely watching Robert Plant perform on stage. Even though he’s doing the Americana thing now you can still hear a tiny piece of Led Zeppelin in his music because he still rocks really hard. Others being The Avett Brothers special performance after picking up Group/Duo of the Year and The Civil Wars wowing the entire auditorium with a performance of their hit song “Barton Hollow”.
*Photos: Americana Music Association and Caitrin Collins
