Poss frequently acknowledged that he didn’t have a very conventional career path. “I used to joke that I had the perfect qualifications for being in the music business,” Poss once wrote. “I had no business training; in fact, no formal music background either but I teach Sociology of deviant Behavior.”

After graduating from Duke, he took a position with County Records in Floyd, Virginia. Poss and its owner, Dave Freeman, launched Sugar Hill Records in 1978, embracing what Poss called “contemporary music grounded in traditional music roots.” A self-described “wayward academic in an entrepreneurial role,” Poss assumed full control of the label in 1980, and moved it to Durham. He operated the label from there until its sale to Welk Music Group 20 years later. He became the group’s chairman in 2002. It’s now part of Concord Music, which also owns Rounder Records.

Among the many artists of note who recorded for Sugar Hill Records during Poss’ tenure were Pat Alger, Byron Berline, Ronnie Bowman, Sam Bush, Guy Clark, Mike Cross, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Douglas, Sara Evans, Cathy Fink, Butch Hancock, Hot Rize, The Infamous Stringdusters, Chris Hillman, Wanda Jackson, Sarah Jarosz, Robert Earl Keen, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Lonesome River Band, Lyle Lovett, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Nickel Creek, Tim O’Brien, Dolly Parton, Dirk Powell, The Red Clay Ramblers, Peter Rowan, Ricky Skaggs, Darrell Scott, Marty Stuart, Bryan Sutton, Chris Thile, Townes Van Zandt, Doc Watson, and Jesse Winchester.

“The identity peg for Sugar Hill is having that traditional connection to contemporary music,” Poss Told Blue ridge Outdoors in 2008. “Some have taken to describing a ‘Sugar Hill Sound,” but I am not going to try to define that. To me, it’s what connect Doc Watson to Chris Thile, ricky skaggs to Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt to dolly Parton. They all exhibit a rootedness in their contemporary expressions of music. I like it because the music comes from a place. It’s not prefabricated or manufactured.”

Douglas and Skaggs had been part of a bluegrass group called Boone Creek, whose One Way Track album was Sugar Hill’s first release in 1978. In a May 18 Facebook post, Douglas wrote of Poss: “His dream was to have a label that mirrored the same idea as Sam Phillips and his famous Sun label, which catered to a specific audience and created a new genre, Rockabilly Plus. Barry knew an audience was there for a specific form of music (bluegrass) and there were certain bands who could grow that audience and the music would evolve with the growth of that audience.”

Douglas, who also produced a number of recordings for Sugar Hill Records, noted that he and Poss were “very close friends. Confidants really. He was like my wingman and brother at any event we collided with. We would spend hours talking about the direction of the music and the parameters he wanted his label to maintain no matter the current climate.” Poss was also godfather to Douglas’ daughter Nola. “Barry loved my family, and Jill and I, along with our children, will forever press his memory closer to our hearts.”

In addition to spending many years at the helm of Sugar Hill Records, Poss was a founding board member of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky and helped to launch the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA).

“Barry Poss was not just a champion of roots music and the artists that made it, but he was instrumental in the founding of our organization,” Ken White, IBMA’s executive director, said in a statement. “For that and so much more, we will always be grateful.”

Poss was a recipient of the IBMA’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 1998. The Americana Music Association also honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 in recognition of Sugar Hill’s pivotal role in both preserving and reinvigorating traditional music, while he was inducted into the Oak Ridge Music Hall of Fame in 2023.

Closer to home, Poss also served on the boards of the Carolina Theater, the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, MerleFest, the North Carolina, Folklife Institute, and WUNC-FM.

While many artists and others have shared tributes to Poss since his passing, for his part Poss once said: “It’s the artists who make the music to which I’m the most indebted. They had something important to say. They needed to be heard. And I wanted to be part of their creative lives – because it mattered.”

Also featured will be Buddy Miller, the show’s musical director, leading his Americana All-Star Band comprised of Don Was, The McCrary Sisters. Bryon Owings, Jerry Pentecost, Jen Gunderman, Jim Hoke, and Larry Campbell. Check your local TV listings or click on the link that follows (https://www.pbs.org/tv_schedules/), insert your zip code and search for “Americana” to find out when the show airs in your area.

Winners in the 2024 Americana Honors and Awards were recognized during an awards show in Nashville, Tennessee in September that is a highlight of AMERICANAFEST, a six-day festival and conference celebrating American roots-inspired music that is hosted by the Americana Music Association.

Sierra Ferrell’s Trail of Flowers (produced by Eddie Spear and Gary Paczosa) was named Album of the Year, while Ferrell was named Artist of the Year. The Duo/Group of the Year award was bestowed on Larkin Poe, while The Red Clay Strays were named Emerging Act of the Year and Grace Bowers was named Instrumentalist of the Year. “Dear Insecurity” by Brandy Clark& featuring Brandi Carlile (written by Clark and Michael Pollack) was named Song of the Year.

In addition to the six awards that were voted on by members of the Americana Music Association, Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to Dave Alvin, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Rev. Gary Davis, Shelby Lynne, Don Was, and Dwight Yoakam

AMERICANAFEST annually draws thousands of artists, fans and music industry professionals to Nashville. It features daytime panel discussions and seminars and evenings chock-full of showcases throughout the Music City. The Americana Music Association (americanamusic.org), which produces the event, is a professional not-for-profit trade association whose mission is to advocate for the authentic voice of American roots music around the world.

The March 2024 top albums, songs and artists charts are based on 13,042 airplays reported on 429 playlists submitted by 111 different folk DJs. The number of reported spins is shown below in parentheses.

Folk Alliance International (folk.org) is a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen, and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion.

Top Albums of March 2024

[Here’s a link to view a video of Sarah Jarosz performing songs from Polaroid Lovers, the top album on folk radio during March 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTRNQfESd0k.]

Top Songs of March 2024

[Here’s a link to enjoy a video of Erik Balkey and Jessica Smucker performing their song entitled “If God is an Apple:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZAxyMCoepU.]

[And here’s one to view he official lyric video for Rhiannon Giddens’ song “The Ballad of Sally Anne:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TEjVW_AX1A.]

1 “The Ballad of Sally Anne” by Rhiannon Giddens (23)
1 “If God Is an Apple” by Erik Balkey and Jessica Smucker (23)
3 “World Brand New” by Mouths of Babes (18)
3 “Trapped in an Irish Drinking Song” by Miranda Hardy (18)
5 “One More Time Around the Sun” by Tom Rush (17)
6 “The Barley and the Rye” by Altan (15)
7 “Someone to Follow” by Aoife O’Donovan (14)
7 “Runaway Train” by Sarah Jarosz (14)
9 “Days Can Turn Around” by Sarah Jarosz (13)
9 “River Rock” by Meghan Cary (13)
11 “Worth” by Jillian Matundan (12)
11 “The Fields of Chazy” by Claudia Gibson (12)
11 “Pictures of You” by Mouths of Babes (12)
14 “Tree of Life” by Mara Levine (11)
14 “10 Dollar Show” by Jay Linden (11)
14 “Relic of the Rain” by Ordinary Elephant (11)
14 “When the Lights Go Out” by Sarah Jarosz (11)
14 “Her Voice Is a River” by Colleen Kattau (11)
14 “Nothing Says It’s Springtime Like the Redbud” by Chris Haddox (11)
14 “The Border” by Willie Nelson (11)
14 “Jubilee” by Mouths of Babes (11)
22 “Rhapsody in Blue(s)” by Bela Fleck (10)
22 “Frozen” by Jillian Matundan (10)
22 “Take the High Road” by Sarah Jarosz (10)
22 “Once Upon a Time” by Ordinary Elephant (10)
22 “Sailing” by Tom Rush (10)
22 “Beneath the Willow” by American Patchwork Quartet (10)
22 “The Donegal Selection: An Bothar Mor/Tommy Peoples’ Reel/Is Cuma Liom (Reels)” by Altan (10)

Top Artists of March 2024

1 Sarah Jarosz (92)
2 Tom Rush (76)
2 Altan (76)
4 Mouths of Babes (70)
5 Stan Rogers (57)
6 American Patchwork Quartet (53)
7 Jillian Matundan (51)
7 Susan Werner (51)
9 Malcolm Holcombe (50)
10 Jeff Talmadge (49)
10 Runa (49)
12 Rhiannon Giddens (48)
13 Jay Linden (43)
14 Eric Brace and Thomm Jutz (40)
14 Aoife O’Donovan (40)
16 John Smith (38)
16 Leslie Evers (38)
18 Mad Agnes (35)
18 Nanci Griffith (35)
18 Jim Kweskin (35)
21 Josh Fortenbery (34)
22 John McCutcheon (32)
22 Muireann Bradley (32)
22 The Heart Collectors (32)
22 Claudia Gibson (32)
26 Jesse Lynn Madera (31)
26 Doc Watson (31)
28 Simone Keane (30)
28 Charm City Junction (30)
30 David Francey (29)
30 Joni Mitchell (29)
32 The Chieftains (28)
32 Carole Wise (28)
32 Tim O’Brien (28)
32 Lisa Bastoni (28)
36 Bob Dylan (27)
36 Charlie Parr (27)
38 Ordinary Elephant (26)
39 Willi Carlisle (25)
39 Wayne Brereton (25)
39 Malcolm MacWatt (25)

Flaco Jiménez, Nanci Griffith and Swallow Hill Music to be Recognized for Lifetime Achievement

The Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented annually to honor the cultural impact of legendary folk music figures: one Living, one Legacy, and one Business/Academic. This year’s honorees are Conjunto accordionist Flaco Jiménez; the late singer-songwriter and interpreter Nanci Griffith; and folk music organization Swallow Hill Music.

Griffith, whose music straddled the line between folk and country, a style that she affectionately called “folkabilly,” died on August 13, 2021 at age 68. She was best known for her colorful, narrative tales of small town life that she sang in her warm, crystalline pure voice with a Texas twang. Many of her songs were covered and recorded by other notable artists. An early Kerrville New Folk Winner and a 1995 inductee into the Austin Music Hall of Fame, Griffith was honored by the Americana Music Association with its Lifetime Americana Trailblazer Award in 2008 and received a BBC Radio 2 Folk Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. She released her 18th and last studio album, Intersection, in 2012. Griffith’s1993 Elektra release Other Voices, Other Rooms – featuring interpretations of 17 songs by other songwriters who had inspired her – won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

Here’s a link to listen to Griffith’s poignant recording of “Love at the Five and Dime.”

Swallow Hill Music is a Denver, Colorado-based nonprofit music organization that provides music education, outreach, programming, and concerts for more than 138,000 people annually. Focused on diverse music traditions on stage and in the classroom, Swallow Hill’s organizational values promote inclusiveness. Its school offers music education to all ages, while Swallow Hill also hosts open stages and jams that are open to members and non-members alike. Its community and school outreach programs (including assemblies, field trips and in-school and after-school enrichment activities) have reached thousands of students in the Denver metro area.

Jason Mraz, Planet Bluegrass and Mali Obomsawin to be Honored

Jason Mraz, the multi-platinum Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter known for his positivity and commitment to conservation, ending world hunger, human rights, and LGBTQIA+ issues, will receive The People’s Voice Award, which is presented to an individual who unabashedly embraces social and political commentary in his/her/their creative work and public careers. Mraz took part in a nonprofit rescue mission in Ghana to liberate children sold into slavery, performed in Myanmar to raise awareness about human trafficking, Participated in Farm Aid, visited Antartica to help raise awareness about the environment and climate change, and was present at Standing Rock. His own foundation supports multiple organizations addressing issues to which he is committed and, in 2020, Mraz donated all profits from his Look for the Good album to Black Lives Matter and other groups working toward equality and justice.

Colorado-based Planet Bluegrass will receive the Clearwater Award, which is presented to a festival that prioritizes environmental stewardship and demonstrates public leadership in sustainable event production. For more than 30 years, the organization that produces Telluride Bluegrass, RockyGrass , and Rocky MTN Folks Festival has embraced a “Leave No Trace” ethic and demonstrated environmental leadership by engaging in strategic community-level plans and programs to center the idea of stewardship. Planet Bluegrass is a certified public benefit corporation— a legal entity recognized formally as committed to business practices that are sustainable and beneficial to society and the environment. At each of its respective festivals, Planet Bluegrass incentivizes reuse over recycling. This includes a reusable plate program, annually monitoring and reporting on waste diversion of more than 60% (twice that of the U.S. national average), employing solar power to offset more than 10 tons of CO2 emissions annually, providing composting and compostable bottles, offering free filtered water on site, and donating leftover festival food to local community organizations.

Mali Obomsawin will receive the Rising Tide Award that was established in 2021 to celebrate a new generation (under 30) artist who inspires others by embodying the values and ideals of the folk community through their creative work, community role, and public voice. An award-winning Smithsonian Folkways Recordings artist from Odanak Wabanaki First Nation, Obamsawin is a member of the band Lula Wiles, as well as a journalist and the founder and executive director of the Bomazeen Land Trust.

FAI Members to Determine Album, Song and Artist of the Year Award Recipients From Among 15 Finalists

A listing of the finalists for the 2021 album, song, and artist of the year awards based on US, Canadian, and international industry year-end lists, as well as folk DJ airplay, follows. Winners are determined by the voting membership of FAI (with the ballot open until April 15).

Album of the Year

They’re Calling Me Home by Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi
Wary + Strange by Amythyst Kiah
Un Canto por México, Vol. 2 by Natalia Lafourcade
Outside Child by Allison Russell
The Fray by John Smith

Song of the Year

“On Solid Ground” by Reggie Harris
“Painted Blue” by Sarah Jarosz
“We Believe You” by Diana Jones
“Call Me A Fool” by Valerie June
“Changemakers” by Crys Matthews

Artist of the Year

The Longest Johns
Kalani Pe’a
Allison Russell
Arooj Aftab
John Francis Flynn

Six Spirit of Folk Awards to be Presented

Spirit of Folk Awards honor and celebrate people and organizations actively involved in the promotion and preservation of folk music through their creative work, community building, and demonstrated leadership. The 2022 recipients will include Eugene Rodriguez (musician, educator, documentary producer, and founder of Los Cenzontles — both as a band and as a nonprofit music academy and community space for Latinx artists, youth, and families in the San Francisco Bay area); Lilli Lewis (composer, producer, performing artist, and vice president & head of A &R for Louisiana Red Hot Records); Gaelyn Lea (musician, disability rights activist, co-founder and vice president of RAMPD – Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities, 2016 NPR Tiny Desk Contest winner, and an in-demand speaker); Erin Benjamin (president & CEO of the Canadian Live Music Association, and formerly a singer-songwriter, label owner, and the first executive director of Folk Music Ontario); Amado Espinoza (Bolivian-American multi-instrumentalist, composer and instrument maker, and co-founder of Resonation Music and Arts — using educational programming to inspire curiosity and respect for world cultures through music, dance, and storytelling); and Shain Shapiro (Sound Diplomacy founder and CEO, whose work has influenced more than 75 cities and countries to invest in music and culture).

Folk Alliance International is a Kansas City, Missouri-based nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. For more information on the organization, its annual conference, Artists in Residence program, online programming, and the International Folk Music Awards, visit folk.org. Click here to view a recording of the April 7 awards announcement.

Brandi Carlile, a folk-rock and Americana singer-songwriter who was named Artist of the Year for a second time during the awards show that was presented at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee last September 22, is among the artists whose performances were captured for this special episode. Also featured — in order of appearance — are performances by Fisk Jubilee Singers with Leon Timbo, Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan and Joe Henry, Allison Russell, The Highwomen (Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hembry, Maren Morris, and Amanda Shires) with Yola, Jason Isbell, Valerie June and Carla Thomas, Emerging Act Award-winner Charley Crockett, Amythyst Kiah, Buddy Miller (the show’s musical director), and The Mavericks. The Fisk Jubilee Singers, The Mavericks and “Queen of Memphis Soul” Carla Thomas were recognized as Lifetime Achievement Award honorees last September.

The Americana Honors & Awards show is a centerpiece of the annual AmericanaFest, a multi-day celebration of American roots-inspired music put on by the Americana Music Association each fall. A combination festival and conference, it is filled with daytime panel discussions and seminars and evenings chock-full of artist showcases at venues throughout the Music City. Established in 1999, the Americana Music Association is a professional not-for-profit trade association whose mission is to advocate for the authentic voice of American roots music around the world.

Here’s a link to an article about the Americana Honors & Awards that was posted on AcousticMusicScene.com on September 23, 2021.

Prine, an internationally acclaimed and revered singer-songwriter who toured and plied his craft for nearly 50 year, posthumously received a Grammy for Best American Roots Performance for “I Remember Everything” and shared the Grammy for it as Best American Roots Song with co-writer Pat McLaughlin. Americana and folk-rock singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile performed the song during the telecast in honor of Prine, who died last April 7 at the age of 73 from complications of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Here’s a link to view Brandi Carlile’s performance:

https://www.grammy.com/grammys/videos/brandi-carlile-honors-john-prine-i-remember-everything%E2%80%AF-%E2%80%AF2021-grammy-awards-show

“John Prine is a hero and one of the most important and significant songwriters of our time,” said Carlile, who was, herself, the big winner in the American Roots Music Field during the 61st annual Grammy Awards in February 2019, with Grammy Awards for Best American Album, Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song. “I feel so lucky to have called him a friend. It was an absolute honor of my life to pay tribute to him on the Grammy Stage. His songs will live forever.”

“My sons and I thank The Recording Academy for recognizing John’s final recording. Brandi’s beautiful performance was perfect,” said Fiona Prine, his widow. “We miss John but are grateful too for the incredible legacy he left us – songs to enjoy and to learn about his capacity to love unconditionally.”

Named as Best Americana Album was World on the Ground by Sarah Jarosz, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (mandolin, claw hammer banjo and guitar) who previously won Grammy Awards for Best Folk Album and Best American Roots Music Performance in 2017, was an occasional guest host on Garrison Keillllor’s A Prairie Home Companion, and also has performed with Sara Watkins and Aoife O’Donovan in the trio I’m With Her.

All The Good Times by Gillian Welch & David Rawlings won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. The Nashville-based acoustic roots artists — whose music fuses elements of Appalachian, old time, classic country, bluegrass and Americana — are also recipients of the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting (2015), while she was named Artist of the Year (2012) in its Americana Music Honors & Awards.

The Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album went to Billy Strings for Home. He was previously named Guitar Player of the Year in the 2019 International Bluegrass Music Awards.

Blues Hall of Famer Bobby Rush’s Rawer Than Raw, was chosen as Best Traditional Blues Album — an honor the 87-year-old bluesman previously won for Porcupine Meat in 2017 — while the award for Best Contemporary Blues Album went to Fantastic Negrito for Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? The singer-songwriter also won the award in 2017 for The Last Days of Oakland.

New Orleans Nightcrawlers’ Atmosphere was named Best Regional Roots Album. It’s the first Grammy Award for the brass band.

Other Grammy Award winners that may be of particular interest to AcousticMusicScene.com readers include:

Best Country Song: “Crowded Table,” written by Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hembry and Lori McKenna for The Highwomen – a group featuring Carlile, Hembry, Amanda Shires and Maren Morris that burst on the country-American scene during the 2019 Newport Folk Festival and was the big winner in the 2020 American Awards & Honors — taking home awards for Album, Song (“Crowded Table”) and Duo/Group of the Year.

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: American Standard by James Taylor

Best Music Film: Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice

Besides its nomination for Best American Roots Music Performance for “Colors,” Black Pumas is also is nominated for two of the top Grammy Awards. The deluxe edition of the Austin, Texas-based psychedelic soul band’s eponymous debut album is among the nominees for Album of the Year, while “Colors” is up for Record of the Year. In addition to her nomination for Best American Roots Music Performance for “Short And Sweet,” singer-songwriter Brittany Howard, who formerly fronted Alabama Shakes, was nominated for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song (“Stay High”), Best Alternative Music Album (for her solo debut, Jaime) and Best R & B Performance (“Goat Head”).

Here’s a list of the nominees in the American Roots Music Field that were announced Nov. 24 during a first-ever livestream on Grammy.com:

Best American Roots Performance

• Colors (Black Pumas)
• Deep In Love (Bonny Light Horseman)
• Short And Sweet (Brittany Howard)
• I’ll Be Gone (Norah Jones & Mavis Staples)
• I Remember Everything (John Prine)

Best American Roots Song – a songwriter(s) award

• “Cabin” – Laura Rogers & Lydia Rogers, songwriters (The Secret Sisters)
• “Ceiling to the Floor” – Sierra Hull & Kai Welch, songwriters (Sierra Hull)
• ”Hometown” – Sarah Jarosz, songwriter (Sarah Jarosz)
• “I Remember Everything” – Pat McLaughlin & John Prine, songwriters (John Prine)
• “Man Without A Soul” – Tom Overby & Lucinda Williams, songwriters (Lucinda Williams)

Best Americana Album

• Old Flowers (Courtney Marie Andrews)
• Terms Of Surrender (Hiss Golden Messenger)
• World On The Ground (Sarah Jarosz)
• El Dorado (Marcus King)
• Good Souls Better Angels (Lucinda Williams)

Best Bluegrass Album

• Man On Fire (Danny Barnes)
• To Live In Two Worlds, Vol. 1 (Thomas Jutz)
• North Carolina Songbook (Steep Canyon Rangers)
• Home (Billy Strings)
• The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Vol. 1 (Various Artists)

Best Traditional Blues Album

• All My Dues Are Paid (Frank Bey)
• You Make Me Feel (Don Bryant)
• That’s What I Heard (Robert Cray Band)
• Cypress Grove (Jimmy “Duck” Holmes)
• Rawer Than Raw (Bobby Rush)

Best Contemporary Blues Album

• Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? (Fantastic Negrito)
• Live At The Paramount (Ruthie Foster Big Band)
• The Juice (G. Love)
• Blackbirds (Bettye LaVette)
• Up And Rolling (North Mississippi Allstars)

Best Folk Album

• Bonny Light Horseman (Bonny Light Horseman)
• Thanks For The Dance (Leonard Cohen)
• Song For Our Daughter (Laura Marling)
• Saturn Return (The Secret Sisters)
• All The Good Times (Gillian Welch & David Rawlings)

52. Best Regional Roots Music Album

• My Relatives: Nikso’Kowaiks Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Fort Collins (Black Lodge Singers)
• Cameron Dupuy And The Cajun Troubadours (Cameron Dupuy And The Cajun Troubadours)
• Lovely Sunrise (Nā Wai ʽEhā)
• Atmosphere (New Orleans Nightcrawlers)
• A Tribute To Al Berard (Sweet Cecilia)

Also of note: folk-rock and Americana singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile — who was the big winner in the American Roots Music Field during the 61st annual Grammy Awards in February 2019 with Grammy Awards for Best Americana Album, Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song — is in the running for Grammys for Best Song Written for Visual Media (“Carried Me With You” for Onward, co-written with Phil and Tim Hanseroth) and Best Country Song (“Crowded Table” for The Highwomen), co-written with bandmates Natalie Hemby and Lori McKenna. Hemby is also nominated in that category with co-writers Luke Dick and Miranda Lambert for “Bluebird,” recorded by Lambert on Wildcard, which is among the nominees for Best Country Album. Other nominees that may be of particular interest to AcousticMusicScene.com readers include Bela Fleck, whose Throw Down Your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions” is nominated for Best Historical Album; Alastair Moock and Friends, whose Be A Pain: An Album for Young (and Old) Leaders is vying for Best Children’s Music Album; Grace Potter, whose “Daylight” is in the running for Best Rock Performance; and James Taylor, whose American Standard is up for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. Nominees for Producer of the Year include Dave Cobb, who produced albums for Lori McKenna (The Balladeer), The Highwomen (The Highwomen), John Prine (I Remember Everything), Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit (Reunion), and William Prince (The Spark), among others. Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice is nominated in the Best Music Film category.

Lawrence Azerrad and Jeff Tweedy, art directors for Wilco’s Ode To Joy, are in the running for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. Brittany Howard’s aforementioned album, Jaime, is among the nominees for Best Engineered Album – non-classical (Brian Everett, engineer and mastering engineer) as are Sierra Hull’s 25 Trips (Shani Gandhi and Gary Paczosa, engineers; Adam Grover, mastering engineer) and Katie Pruitt’s Expectations (Gary Paczosa and Mike Robinson, engineers, Paul Blakemore, mastering engineer).

Yola, a 35 year-old rootsy British singer-songwriter who also was nominated for Best New Artist, received nods for Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song for “Faraway Look” and Best Americana Album for Walk Through Fire. Her critically acclaimed debut solo album, released in February, was produced by Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach (who is among the nominees for Producer of the Year). Yola showcased her talents at the Newport and Philadelphia Folk Festivals, SXSW, AmericanaFest, and Farm Aid, as well as such notable venues as the Hollywood Bowl during 2019.

Here are links to view the official video for “Yola’s “Faraway Look” and her performance of he song during the 2019 UK Americana Awards at which she was named UK Artist of the Year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWTwuQ3LeH4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0IZBHegbA4

I’m With Her is a female trio comprised of Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, and Sara Watkins – each of whom is a talented singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist in her own right. The harmonic trio is nominated for both Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song for ‘Call My Name,” which they co-wrote.

To listen to “Call My Name,” click on the following link:https://youtube.com/watch?v=gRZWhfuI6dQ“> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRZWhfuI6dQ

Here’s a list of the Grammy Award nominees in the American Roots Music Field:

Best American Roots Performance

Saint Honesty, Sara Bareilles
Father Mountain, Calexico and Iron & Wine
I’m On My Way, Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi
Call My Name, I’m With Her
Faraway Look, Yola

Best American Roots Song

“Black Myself,” Amythyst Kiah, songwriter (Our Native Daughters)
“Call My Name,” Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan & Sara Watkins, songwriters (I’m With Her)
“Crossing to Jerusalem,” Rosanne Cash & John Leventhal, songwriters (Rosanne Cash)
“Faraway Look,” Dan Auerbach, Yola Carter & Pat McLaughlin, songwriters (Yola)
“I Don’t Wanna Ride the Rails No More,” Vince Gill, songwriter (Vince Gill)

Best Americana Album
.
Years to Burn, Calexico and Iron & Wine
Who Are You Now, Madison Cunningham
Oklahoma, Keb’ Mo’
Tales of America, J.S. Ondara
Walk Through Fire, Yola

Best Bluegrass Album
.
Tall Fiddler, Michael Cleveland
Live in Prague, Czech Republic, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Toil, Tears & Trouble, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
Royal Traveller, Missy Raines
If You Can’t Stand The Heat, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen

Best Traditional Blues Album

Kingfish, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Tall, Dark & Handsome, Delbert McClinton & Self-Made Men
Sitting On Top of the Blues, Bobby Rush
Baby, Please Come Home, Jimmie Vaughan
Spectacular Class, Jontavious Willis

Best Contemporary Blues Album

This Land, Gary Clark Jr.
Venom & Faith, Larkin Poe
Brighter Days, Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Somebody Save Me, Sugaray Rayford
Keep On, Southern Avenue

Best Folk Album

My Finest Work Yet, Andrew Bird
Rearrange My Heart, Che Apalache
Patty Griffin, Patty Griffin
Evening Machines, Gregory Alan Isakov
Front Porch, Joy Williams

Best Regional Roots Music Album

Kalawai’anui, Amy Hānaiali’i
When It’s Cold – Cree Round Dance Songs, Northern Cree
Good Time, Ranky Tanky
Recorded Live at the 2019 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Rebirth Brass Band
Hawaiian Lullaby, (Various Artists)

Also of note: Pete Seeger: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection is among the nominees for both Best Album Notes and Best Historical Album (Jeff Place and Robert Santelli, compilation producers). Among the five nominees for Best Musical Theater Album is Hadestown (Anais Mitchell & odd Sickafoose, producers; Anais Mitchell, composer & lyricist), while David Crosby – Remember My Name is in the running for Best Music – Film.

[Winners of the Americana Music Association’s member-voted awards, shown above (l.-r.): John Prine, Brandi Carlile, I’m With Her, The War and Treaty, and Chris Eldridge. Composite image courtesy of the Americana Music Association ]

Singer-Songwriter John Prine was the big winner in The 2019 Americana Honors & Awards that were presented on Wednesday, September 11 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. His 2019 release, The Tree of Forgiveness, was named Album of the Year, while “Summer’s End” was voted Song of the Year.

An internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter, Prine has been touring and plying his craft for nearly 50 years. The Tree of Forgiveness is his first collection of new material since his Grammy-winning 2005 release, Fair and Square. It was the most-played album on folk radio during 2018 and also featured the year’s top song (“Knockin’ On You Screen Door”), according to charts compiled from radio playlists submitted to FOLKDJ-L, an electronic discussion forum for DJs and others in all folk-based music on the radio. Prine also was nominated for three Grammy Awards in the American Roots Music field last year — including Best Americana Album and Best American Roots Song (for both “Knockin’ On Your Screen Door” and “Summer’s End).”

Produced by Dave Cobb, Prine’s The Tree of Forgiveness bested two other Cobb –produced albums – Amanda Shires’ To the Sunset and Lori McKenna’s The Tree – as well as British newcomer Yola’s Walk Through Fire, produced by Dan Auerbach.

“Summer’s End, –which Prine co-wrote with Pat McLaughlin– took top song honors over “By Degrees” by Mark Erelli, “Mockingbird” by Ruston Kelly, and “People Get Old” by Lori McKenna (who also was among the artists featured on Erelli’s song).

Artist of the Year honors went to Brandi Carlile, a folk-rock and Americana singer-songwriter, who also was the big winner in the American Roots Music Field during the 61st annual Grammy Awards presented by the Recording Academy in February at which her eighth album, By The Way, I Forgive You, was named Best Americana Album, while one of its tracks (“The Joke”) was named both Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song. Carlile also is part of a newly-formed group called The Highwomen.

I’m With Her — the up-and-coming female Americana-folk trio comprised of Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan and Sara Watkins –- was voted Duo/Group of the Year. Named as Emerging Act of the Year was The War and Treaty, the husband-and-wife duo of Michael and Tanya Trotter, who initially wowed folks when they filled in for Buddy Miller (who produced their album, Healing Tide) during the 2017 Americana Music Festival & Conference at Nashville’s Cannery Ballroom. In accepting the award on 9-11, the duo paid tribute to everyone suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The custom-designed award for Instrumentalist of the Year was presented to Chris Eldridge, a guitarist and member of Punch Brothers, who also was a founding member of the bluegrass group The Infamous Stringdusters.

The recipients of the new Legacy of Americana Award, presented in partnership with the National Museum of African-American Music that is slated to open next year in Nashville, were Rhiannon Giddens and the late Frank Johnson. Giddens, honored for her “unstinting devotion to African-American folk tradition” currently performs solo as a powerhouse vocalist and as part of Our Native Daughters, a group of four female African-American artists that was among the nominees for Duo/Group of the Year. Formerly a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, Giddens also accepted the award for Jackson. In doing so, she referred to him as “an inextricable part of American music [whose] legacy I carry and will, God willing, pass on in my time.”

AMERICANAFEST, which began Sept. 10, continues through Sept. 15. Filled with daytime panel discussions and seminars and evenings chock-full of artist showcases at venues throughout the Music City, the annual event attracts several thousand artists, music industry professionals and fans.

Established in 1999, the Americana Music Association is a professional not-for-profit trade association whose mission is to advocate for the authentic voice of American roots music around the world. For more information, visit www.americanamusic.org.

“Caramoor is a nature paradise and the music takes place in several locations on the grounds so that folks can experience some of the environmental beauty as well,” says Maggi Landau, the festival’s artistic director. She notes that during the daytime artists will be performing acoustic, unplugged sets in the Sunken Garden – “a quiet grove with the audience sitting on the ground literally at the feet of the artist” – as well as on the larger Friends Field.

Artists slated to perform during the afternoon (12-6 p.m.) include The Mammals (featuring Mike & Ruthy), River Whyless, The Lonely Heartstring Band, Michaela Anne, Kaia Kater, Spuyten Duyvil, Anthony da Costa, Cole Quest & The City Pickers, The Brother Brothers, and the Eddie Barbash Band.

For the second consecutive year, Caramoor partners with the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance for NERFA presents Young Folk, an in-the-round song swap. Featuring Brian Dunne, Alice Howe and Ursula Hansberry, it “spotlights young folk artists who are new to the scene, and provides performance experience and feedback for them as they develop their music careers,” says Landau. Also scheduled is The Social Music Hour — an all-ages sing-along and play-along session patterned after one that Spuyten Duyvil’s Mark Miller has led here and at other music festivals. This year, it will feature a mix of old-time music and songs of The Grateful Dead.

$25 daytime only tickets (excluding the evening performances) and full-festival tickets, priced at $30-$90 (including reserved seating for the evening concert) may be ordered by visiting www.caramoor.org.

Attendees are advised to bring their own chairs for the daytime performances. Food and beverages will be available for purchase, while folks also can bring their own and enjoy picnicking on Caramoor’s spacious lawns.

Editor’s Note: As noted in the article, AcousticMusicScene.com is pleased to be associated with the American Roots Music Festival. As president of the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance’s board of directors, I look forward to emceeing NERFA Presents Young Folk.