Besides several jam-packed days and nights of music showcases, song swaps/in-the-rounds, open mics and informal jam sessions, the NERFA conference will also feature, informative panel discussions and workshops, one-on-one mentoring and peer & affinity group sessions, communal meals, awards presentations, an exhibit hall, a very special film screening, a reception, communal meals, a community meeting with NERFA’s volunteer board of directors, and lots of opportunities for schmoozing and networking. Singer-songwriters Flamy Grant and Janis Ian (best known for her early hits “Society’s Child” and “At 17”) will keynote the conference on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively.

Booking gigs may be the primary objective of some performers who attend the conference; and many presenters and folk DJs do scout out new artists and those whom they have not previously heard and seen in live performance. However, the conference experience is much more than that; it’s really about forging connections, building community, and taking advantage of learning opportunities that can help enhance and enrich your professional and personal lives.

The conference’s programming committee, under the leadership of Ron Olesko, a NERFA board member and the creator and director of Folk Music Notebook (a 24/7 online radio station and community hub), has arranged a diverse array of workshops, panel discussions and special events.

“We are excited to present a special pre-release screening of a new film You Got Gold: A Celebration of John Prine,“ said Olesko. Filmed during a star-studded two-night tribute to the legendary songwriter at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium in October 2022, its national theatrical release is slated for later in November. Prine’s widow, Fiona Whelan Prine, president of Oh Boy! Records and a producer of the film will engage in a Q & A session following the screening. Anna Canoni, president of Woody Guthrie Publications, will give a presentation about her grandfather and the newly released Woody at Home: Woody Guthrie’s Home Recordings, 1951-1952. Buskin & Batteau, Christine Lavin, John Forster, and Carla Ulbrich — who occasionally perform together as the April Fools –will share some very funny folk songs. Also slated is a Friday morning production of Ms. Music: The Jackie Alper Story, a folk musical written and directed by Andy Spence and Sarah Dillon, that honors the late folk music legend in the New York Capital Region and an influential figure in the folk revival.

Also on the conference schedule are the ever-popular On the Griddle instant critique session during which a panel of folk DJs listen to the first 60 seconds of a number of songs and provides snap feedback. Sonny Ochs, a longtime folk DJ and sister of the late troubadour and activist Phil Ochs, will again host a Wisdom of the Elders session. It will feature acclaimed singer-songwriters Janis Ian and Tom Chapin a, along with Terry Thai (Bob Dylan’s first manager and former wife of Dave Van Ronk). Olesko joins Ochs in posing questions to them in a conversational format. A number of workshops and panel discussions designed to help artists and presenters as they try to navigate the challenges currently faced by the folk community are also on the agenda.

Juried Showcases Slated for Friday and Saturday Nights      

Taking center stage during the conference will be 14 artists/acts selected by a panel of judges from among more than 160 submissions – with each to perform a 15-minute formal showcase set on Friday and Saturday nights – the most coveted performance opportunity at the conference. Showcasing their talents on Friday night will be Phil Henry, Judy Kass, Weary Ramblers, Connie Kaldor, Taylor Abrahamse, Elise Leavy, and Cassie and Maggie. Saturday night’s featured artists include The Levins, Sadie Gustafson-Zook, Beecharmer, Louie Lou Louis, Mystery Loves Company, Paul Colombino, and The Honey Badgers.

Judges for this year’s official juried showcases were Richard Cuccaro (publisher of Acoustic Live! in New York City & Beyond), Aaron Nathans (singer-songwriter and recording artist), and Mary Stewart (artistic director of Hugh’s Room Live in Toronto, Ontario)

On Thursday evening, the conference’s opening night, a Presenters Showcase will feature short performances by 14 artists/acts chosen by select folk DJs and concert & festival presenters. Listed in order of appearance, they are Haunted Like Human, Nico Padden, Christine Baillargeon, Nora Meier, Selena Tibbert, Halley Neal, Mirabelle Skipworth, Marc Apostoides, Sam Edelston, Ben Diamond (AKA Son Stone), Allison Strong, Francesca Panetta, Sam Berquist, and Mark & Jill.

Following the juried and curator’s showcases each evening, a number of presenters, performers and others will host private showcases in first floor hotel rooms that extend from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. AcousticMusicScene.com will host a series of song swaps in place of its longtime popular Midnight Hoot on Thursday overnight.

Here’s the AcousticMusicScene.com Showcase lineup:

10:30 p.m             Songs of Social Justice: Dan & Faith, Hank Stone

11:00 p.m.            Reggie Harris & Pat Wictor

11:30 p.m.            Long Island Sounds: James O’Malley, Roger Street Friedman

12:00 a.m.             Americana Folk: Lynn Crossett, Susan Kane, Carolann Solebello

12:30 a.m.             Mixed Bag: Miles & Mafale, Arielle Silver

1:00 a.m.                Funny Folk: Mark Allen Berube, Barry Rabin, Carla Ulbrich

1:30 a.m.                Tunes from Texas: Claudia Gibson, Mystery Loves Company

2:00 a.m.              Doug Mishkin, Stuart Markus

NERFA Leaders Share Their Thoughts on the Conference

“We are thrilled about our new location, nore central to our region in a beautiful and spacious hotel that offers ample opportunity for gathering on a single floor, which will encourage interaction and socializing,” Olesko told AcousticMusicScene.com. “It’s perfect for encouraging collaborations and sharing of best practices.”

Echoing his sentiments, Cheryl Prashker, president of NERFA’s board of directors, said:

“I am excited that we have brought the conference to Albany, New York for the first time. The Desmond Hotel is a perfect space for our community that gathers each year to share their music, their knowledge, and their passion for giving to each other. I cannot think of a more important thing at this time.” Expressing gratitude for a music community of which she’s been a part for more than 25 years, she said: “It has shaped who I am as a musician and a person. All I hope to be able to do is offer the young musicians coming up some love and support as they navigate the business of folk music.”

NERFA is one of five North American regional affiliates of Folk Alliance International (folk.org), a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. Although folks from throughout North America attend its annual conference, NERFA’s geographic boundaries extend from the eastern provinces of Canada south to the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. More extensive information on the organization and its annual conference may be found online at www.nerfa.org and www.nerfaconference.org. The four other North American regions – Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM), Folk Alliance Region – West (FAR-West), Southeast Regional Folk Alliance (SERFA), and Southwest Regional Folk Alliance (SWRFA) already held their 2025 conferences. Folk Alliance International’s next conference is set for January — — in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Editor’s Note: Besides hosting a late-night song swap-style artist showcase during the conference, as I have under the banner of AcousticMusicScene.com most years since the online publication’s inception in 2007, I will be assisting two of my artist PR clients (Lynn Crossett and James O’Malley) and offering some one-on-one mentoring sessions on artist bios and one-sheets, EPKS, social media promotion, and various other aspects of public relations and strategic communications. As president of the Folk Music Society of Huntington (a nonprofit presenting organization on Long Island, NY), I also curated and will co-host a private showcase under its banner on Friday overnight. As a past president and former 15-year board member of NERFA who was not at last year’s conference, I really look forward to this one.

Song of the Year honors went to Dan Navarro and Janiva Magness’ recording of “$20 Bill (for George Floyd) by the late singer-songwriter Tom Prasada-Rao. In accepting the award, Navarro (a singer-songwriter and voice actor perhaps best known for co-writing the hit song “We Belong”) noted that more than 100 artists recorded a version of Prasada-Rao’s song in 2020 “but because of the impact and the challenges of the pandemic, it never really had a proper release and we decided we would do something about that.“ Dedicating the award to Prasado-Rao, who died last year, Navarro said: “This is not just the song of the year; it’s the song of the century and the song of a lifetime.”

Here’s a link to view a video of Dan Navarro and Janiva Magness performing “$20 Bill (for George Floyd)”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeHdq817B7Y

Susan Werner’s Halfway to Houston was named Album of the Year. A prolific and versatile singer-songwriter who accompanies herself on both guitar and piano and is known for her sassy wit and classy Midwest charm, Werner was unable to be in Montreal to accept the award and sent a short video, while fellow singer-songwriter Dar Williams picked up the award on her behalf.

In addition to these FAI member-voted awards – which were open to recordings released between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024 – a number of special awards and honors were presented.

The People’s Voice Award recognizing an artist who embraces social and political commentary in his/her songs was presented to Gina Chavez, an Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter who has helped to amplify the voices of the marginalized.

The River Roads Festival received The Clearwater Award, honoring a festival that — like its Pete Seeger-founded namesake –- exhibits sound leadership in environmental stewardship and sustainable event production. A one-day event presented by Dar Williams and held in Easthampton, Massachusetts for the past two years, the next River Roads Festival is set for July 5 at Heuser Park in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Williams said that she was “so excited” to accept the award. She noted that, like Seeger was, she is a resident of New York’s Hudson Valley and recalled being on Conan O’Brien’s late-night TV talk show with him in 1998. Said Williams: “Music is an incredible force … The culture around the music can be a powerful vehicle for justice.”

The Rising tide Award, which is bestowed on an emerging artist/act of an age, went to OKAN, a female-led, Afro-Cuban roots and jazz duo.

Spirit of Folk Awards recognizing people and organizations actively engaged in the promotion and preservation of folk music were presented to Annie Capps, Innu Nikamu festival, Tom Power, and Alice Randall. Capps is a Michigan-based singer-songwriter and a longtime leader with Folk Alliance Region Midwest (FARM), who has served as both its board president and conference director. Innu Nikamu is a Quebec-based festival of Indigenous music and culture that has taken place for more than 30 years. Power, best known as the host of CBC Radio One’s Q program, is also a musician who performs and records with The Dardanelles, a Canadian folk band. Randall is a hit-making country music songwriter who has been a trailblazer in folk and country music. She’s also a college lecturer and the author of My Black Country, which she describes as both a memoir and a history.

“I owe my sanity to folk music,” said Randall in accepting the award. “In My Black Country, I tell the story of climbing out of the hell of being raped by holding on to the sound of John Prine singing “Angel From Montgomery.” Prine’s label, Oh Boy! Records, also released a collection of songs entitled My Black Country. Randall noted that her book “is about the Black folk, including Black folk musicians, who made country country.”

2025 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients included the folk-rock duo Indigo Girls (whose eponymous debut album won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording 35 years ago), the late Black Appalachian musician Lesley Riddle, and the global roots magazine Songlines. During the awards show, singer-songwriters Rose Cousins and Mary Bragg performed “Galileo,” one of the Indigo Girls’ hit songs, in tribute to the duo, while Black indigenous Canadian singer-songwriter Julian Taylor performed “Red River Blues” in tribute to Riddle.

Accepting the Legacy Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Riddle, who died in 1980 at age 75, Randall referred to him as a founder of country music and a practitioner of folk who collected and taught the Carter Family a lot of songs. “Tonight, Folk Alliance corrects an almost 100 year-old wrong” by recognizing him.

“We need folk music now more than ever,” said the Indigo Girls’ Emily Saliers in a pre-recorded video. “This Folk Alliance is a group that honors diversity, equity, inclusion, and access for all. Folk music is the music of truth telling. Amy [Ray] and I are, especially in this time, particularly honored to accept this award.” Echoing her sentiments, Ray urged folks to “Please stand up with us and make your voices heard in these times … Day by day, song by song, we can make this world a better place.”

Accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of Songlines, James Anderson-Hanney, its publisher, said: “I think we’re the last world music magazine on the planet.” The UK-based, glossy bimonthly that comes with CD is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary.Leading Quebecois folk ensemble Le Vent Du Nord, a 2023 Songlines award recipient, performed in honor of the magazine.

Five Inducted Into Folk Radio Hall of Fame

Eight years ago, Folk Alliance International established a Folk Radio Hall of Fame in order to recognize folk DJs and music directors for the vital role that they play by sharing the music with their listeners. Wanda Fischer, Longtime host of The Hudson River Sampler on WAMC Radio in Albany, New York and herself an inductee in the Hall of Fame, recognized this year’s inductees, while a video featuring visuals and information about them was also screened. The 2025 inductees include Taylor Caffery, Matthew Finch, Archie Fisher, MarySue Twohy, and Chuck Wentworth.

Taylor Caffery, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, has been the host Hootenanny Power of WRKF Public Radio in Baton Rouge, LA since it began airing in 1981. He’s also been recognized with WRKF’s Founder’s Award (2022) and with the Kari Estrin Founding President’s Award during the 2024 Southeast Regional Folk Alliance (SERFA) Conference.

Matthew Finch, who left our world unexpectedly in July 2024, was a beloved figure in New Mexico’s music scene, who devoted more than 20 years to KUNM in Albuquerque as its music director, and as a tireless advocate for local musicians. Through the programs Ear to the Ground and Studio 55, he created platforms for regional artists to share their music, showcasing live performances and celebrating the diversity of the state’s music community.

Archie Fisher hosted BBC Radio Scotland’s award-winning Traveling Folk program for 27 years – promoting artists and musicians of the folksong revival throughout the British Isles. A talented artist in his own right, he also hosted studio sessions and interviews with such notable American and Canadian artists as Joan Baez, Judy Collins, David Francey, and James Keelaghan. Queen Elizabeth II presented him with a MBE in 2006 for his services to music.

MarySue Twohy is a program director at SiriusXM, who currently manages The Village, its folk channel, among others. She conducts artist interviews and produces a wide array of radio programs. Formerly an artist herself, she moved into broadcasting by hosting a two-hour program 20 years ago and quickly rose to PD. She also served on the FAI board of directors for seven years and continues to serve on national music committees, and to participate in conference panels and as a songwriting contest judge.

Chuck Wentworth, who passed away last year, was a revered figure on the New England music scene – best known for his long-standing contributions as both a radio show host and a festival producer. He began hosting a folk radio show on WRIU-FM, the college radio station at the University of Rhode Island, while he was a student and Traditions aired for 38 years. He also served as the station’s folk and roots music director and expanded its folk programming from one show to five nights a week. Wentworth was also the founder and producer of the Rhythm & Roots Festival, a three-day music and dance festival in Rhode Island.

[Here’s a link to view the International Folk Music Awards Show, which also was livestreamed via YouTube and was available for viewing via Folk Alley and NPR Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVE29BZ6fBg

The International Folk Music Awards was just one part, albeit an important one, of the 37th annual Folk Alliance International Conference that extended from February 19-23 and drew nearly 2,500 attendees. In addition to more than 2,700 showcases featuring more than 700 acts (including 183 juried official showcases plus many more showcases extending into the early morning hours), the conference included a keynote conversation with Allison Russell and Ann Powers [see below], Black American Music and International Indigenous Music Summits, a one-day legal summit, 45 panel discussions and workshops, a number of affinity and peer group sessions, six film screenings and discussions, lobby jams, meetings of FAI’s regional affiliates, a town hall meeting on P2 Visas – Working Through Parity at the Canada/US Border, a popular Meet the Folk DJs session, morning yoga, an exhibit hall, agent-presenter speed networking sessions, and lots of other networking opportunities.

Artist & Activist Allison Russell Engages in Keynote Conversation with Music Journalist Anne Powers

Allison Russell — a widely acclaimed singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and activist –- returned to her hometown to engage in an hour-long keynote conversation with Anne Powers, a critic and correspondent for NPR Music. A soulful, Nashville, Tennessee-based, Montreal-born Scottish Grenadian Canadian, Russell is the recipient of more than a dozen awards. These include a Grammy Award for Best American Roots Music Performance for Eve Was Black,” a single off of her sophomore solo recording, Returner released in September 2023), Juno Awards for Contemporary Album of the Year (for her solo debut, Outside Child – 2022) and Music Video of the Year (for “Demons,” 2024), six UK Americana Music Awards, four Canadian Folk Music Awards, and two Americana Music Honors & Awards. In 2022, Folk Alliance International members voted Russell’s solo debut as Album of the Year and her as Artist of the Year. Outside Child was also named Contemporary album of the Year in the 2022 Canadian Folk Music Awards, while she was named Songwriter of the Year and New/Emerging Artist of the Year in recognition of the emotion-laden album featuring 11 original songs “about resilience and survival, transcendence and the redemptive power of art, community, connection, and chosen family.”

Russell has previously spoken of the abuse and trauma that she faced in her youth and the major role that music has played in helping her to overcome it .In her conversation with Powers, she recalled how, at age 15, while unhoused, she slept in the pews at a church just a few blocks from Le Sheraton Centre.

Asked about her latest album, 2023’s The Returner, she noted how she had been a challenged, broken yet brave girl. “”We come from long, broken lines of survivors. We’re all miracles. We’re all returners. We are all overcoming things.”

Much of her on-stage conversation with Powers focused on her recent portrayal of Persephone in Anais Mitchell’s award-winning Broadway musical, Hadestown. Russell noted that it was her first professional acting role and that she had not acted since performing in a Shakespearean play while in high school.

Sharing her reflections on Hadestown just days after she concluded her 50-week run as Persephone and in keeping with the “Illuminate” theme of the conference, she said: Persephone is Hades’ only source of light, of illumination in the underworld. She was the light in his life.”

Playing a mythic goddess in this time took on new connotations, she acknowledged, citing “the current fear-mongering administration in Washington” and “the bigotry and bias that can really harm communities.”

Referring to herself as “a geriatric millennial,” Russell said: “When I came up 24 years ago, there weren’t too many others who looked liked me.” Acknowledging that “our [folk] community is growing more diverse,” she spoke of being a curator during the 2021 Newport Folk Festival tasked with featuring Black and Black & queer women and their allies in the center of a 90-minute set focused on roots and revolution. ”What could be more beautiful than to be conscious, to be mindful [woke],” said Russell, noting that she’s “a queer woman who somehow married a white man with a guitar.”

Prior to embarking on her solo career, Russell was a co-founder of Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago and was part of Po’ Girl.

[Here’s a link to view a video recording of the keynote conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ne2-baY8g.]

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.

A list of winners in the Grammy Awards’ American Roots Music Field follows, while the complete list of Grammy Award recipients may be found at grammy.com.

Best Folk Album: Revealer – Madison Cunningham

Best American Roots Performance: “Stompin’ Ground” – Aaron Neville With The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Best American Roots Song: “Just Like That” – Bonnie Raitt, songwriter (Bonnie Raitt)

Best Americana Album: In These Silent Days – Brandi Carlile

Best Bluegrass Album: Crooked Tree – Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

Best Traditional Blues Album: Get On Board – Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder

Best Contemporary Blues Album: Brother Johnny – Edgar Winter

Best Regional Roots Music Album: Live At The 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – Ranky Tanky

Best Americana Performance: “Made Up Mind” – Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt also was the winner of the coveted Song of the Year award for “Just Like That” in the general field, while Brandi Carlile was recognized for Best Rock Performance for “Broken Homes” and Best Rock Song (“Broken Homes”) along with her co-writers Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth. Also of possible interest to AcousticMusicScene.com readers: Willie Nelson received Grammy Awards for Best Country Solo Performance (“Live Forever”) and Best Country Album (A Beautiful Time), while Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) was named Best Historical Album.

The Recording Academy (grammy.com) represents the voices of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and all music professionals. Dedicated to ensuring the recording arts remain a thriving part of our shared cultural heritage, the Recording Academy honors music’s history while investing in its future through the GRAMMY Museum, advocates on behalf of music creators, supports music people in times of need through MusiCares, and celebrates artistic excellence through the GRAMMY Awards.

Janis Ian, Molly Tuttle, Aoife O’Donovan, and Anais Mitchell Named 2023 International Folk Music Award Winners

A few nights prior to the Grammy Awards, Molly Tuttle & The Golden Highway’s Crooked Tree was named Album of the Year in the International Folk Music Awards presented by Folk Alliance International on the opening night of its annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri. In addition to winning the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass album, Tuttle was among the nominees for Best New Artist.

Although she did not win any of the three Grammy Awards for which she was nominated, Aoife O’Donovan – who also is part of the trio I’m With Her (with Sara Watkins and Sarah Jarosz) and formerly co-founded and fronted the string band Crooked Still – shared the International Folk Music Awards’ Song of the Year honors with Anais Mitchell. O’Donovan was recognized for “B61,” while Mitchell, who created the hit Broadway musical Hadestown, was recognized for “Bright Star.”

Here’s a link to view the official video for Aoife O’Donovan’s “B61” and a link to view the official video for Anais Mitchell’s “Bright Star.”

Janis Ian was named Artist of the Year. The singer-songwriter best known for her early hits “Society’s Child” and “At 17,” also was a recipient of an Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Award (Living) — along with the late Josh White (Legacy) and Oh Boy Records (Business/Academic). Ian was present in Kansas City to accept the award and share some remarks, while Josh White, Jr. accepted the award on behalf of his father – the most popular and influential Black folk singer of the 1930s and 1940s. Fiona Prine and her son accepted the award on behalf of their late husband/father John Prine, the revered, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and label co-founder. Following their remarks, Iris DeMent (who previously sang with Prine) and The Milk Carton Boys performed a couple of Prine’s songs.

In addition to the album, song and artist of the year awards that were voted on by FAI members, a number of other International Folk Music Awards were presented.

Singer-Songwriter Alisa Amador, a winner of NPR Music’s prestigious Tiny Desk Contest, was the recipient of the Rising Tide Award that was launched in 2021 to celebrate a new generation (under 30) artist who inspires others by embodying the values and ideals of the folk community through his/her creative work, community role, and public voice.

The Clearwater Award recognizing a festival that prioritizes environmental stewardship and demonstrates public leadership in sustainable event production was presented to the Shambala Festival — a four-day contemporary performing arts festival in Northamptonshire, England.

The People’s Voice Award was bestowed upon Leyla McCalla for unabashedly embracing social and political commentary in her creative work and career. The New Orleans-based artist, who grew up as part of a Haitian family in New York, is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. Besides being a solo artist, she has been a member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Our Native Daughters.

A recording of the International Folk Music Awards show appears on Folk Alliance International’s YouTube channel. Here’s a direct link to it.

Founded in 1999, 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.

Editor’s Note: As a Folk Alliance International board member (2014-2023), it was my pleasure to present a Spirit of Folk Award to Steve Edge, a veteran folk DJ on CITR and longtime concert & festival presenter in Vancouver, Canada. Other Spirit of Folk Award recipients included Amy Reitnouer Jacobs (the executive director of The Bluegrass Situation and a former FAI board president), Marcy Marxer (a multi-Grammy Award nominee and recipient, along with her partner Cathy Fink), Adrian Sabogal (a musician, producer, researcher, and founder of Marimbea – an organization dedicated to the well-being of the Afro-Colombian communities from Colombia’s South Pacific coast), and Pat Mitchell Worley (the longtime co-host of the syndicated roots radio show Beale Street Caravan, as well as the president and CEO of the Memphis-based Soulsville Foundation that seeks to perpetuate the soul of Stax Records).

The official showcases take place Friday and Saturday evenings from 7:15-10:15 p.m., with each artist/act performing a 15-minute set. Unplugged guerrilla showcases follow from 10:40 p.m. to 2 a.m. Also on the agenda are daytime panel discussions and workshops, a Wisdom of the Elders session, a couple of film screenings and Q & A sessions, several thematic song circles, an open mic, peer group and one-on-one mentoring sessions, an awards presentation, an exhibit hall, communal meals, and plenty of other opportunities to learn, share and network –- including during built-in afternoon breaks in the programming.

SERFA is a regional affiliate of Folk Alliance International (folk.org), a nonprofit organization that aims to serve, strengthen and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation and promotion. Formed in 2002, SERFA (serfa.org) exists to promote, develop and celebrate the diverse heritage of roots and indigenous music, dance, storytelling and related arts in the southeastern United States. SERFA has produced an annual conference since 2008. Its conference’s move to Black Mountain this year marks a return of sorts. Prior to the event’s move to Chattanooga, Tennessee in 2019, it had taken place for eight consecutive years at the Montreat Conference Center, a few miles down the road and also nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted SERFA– like other FAI regional affiliates – to pivot to an online event last year, SERFA in Session: A Virtual Gathering.

Acclaimed Songwriter Thomm Jutz to Deliver Keynote Address

Named Songwriter of the Year in 2021 by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Thomm Jutz (pronounced “Yootz”) has written a number of bluegrass hits and his songs have been recorded by Balsam Range, Nanci Griffith, John Prine, and The SteelDrivers, among others. A native of Germany who has called Nashville home for many years, Jutz toured with such artists as Griffith, Mary Gauthier, David Olney, and Kim Richey; built a recording studio and produced albums for other artists – including Country Music Hall of Famers Bill Anderson and Mac Wiseman. He received a Grammy nomination for Best Bluegrass Album in 2020 for To Live in Two Worlds, Volume 1 and is featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame’s American Currents exhibit, which is slated to extend from 2022-2023.

Afternoon Programming Includes Workshops, Film Screenings, Song Circles, Wisdom of the Elders, and More

Nearly 20 workshops and panel discussions will delve into such topics as African-American contributions to Southern Appalachian music and dance, basics of piedmont picking, creating in community: the Jack Hardy Songwriters Exchange method, expanding our folk community, free-range folklore: an introduction to the Music Maker method, getting the gig and being invited back, the magic of collaboration, media coverage and strategy, music off the radar: making money and making a difference, simple measures for drastic guitar playing improvement, social media & fan engagement, songwriter residencies, and trends in folk radio and radio promotion.

Besides the workshops and panel discussions, there will be screenings of two recent music documentaries – The Mountain Minor and Nobody Famous – followed by Q & A sessions, as well as a Wisdom of the Elders session, several thematic song circles (songs of joy, struggle, place, and the environment), and one-on-one mentoring sessions during the afternoons.

The Mountain Minor is an award-winning narrative feature film that provides an authentic and respectful glimpse of Appalachian culture, music and history; of the joys and challenges experienced by the folks who have kept traditional mountain music alive. Loosely based on a true story, the film follows five generations of a family from their roots in eastern Kentucky in 1932 to a stage in Cincinnati, Ohio today as told by a man who yearns to return to his Kentucky home after migrating with his family to southwest Ohio during the Great Depression. Written-and directed by Dale Farmer (himself an old-time musician) and produced by Susan Pepper, a Cincinnati native now based in North Carolina, the film notably features traditional Appalachian musicians in acting roles. Among them are The Tillers, Smithsonian Folkways artist Elizabeth LaPrelle, banjoist and fiddler Dan Gellert, and Pepper herself. Following a series of festival screenings, The Mountain Minor had a limited theatrical run in late 2019-early 2020 due to the pandemic. It has aired on some public television stations and is available for home viewing.

Named Best Documentary in the 2021 New Jersey Film Festival and Best Music Documentary in the Seattle Film Festival earlier this year, Nobody Famous is set against the backdrop of the socially and politically volatile 1960s and traces the quick rise and ready fall of the folk-pop trio Pozo Seco Singers as folk music’s zeitgeist gives way to the heavy rhythm of rock & roll. Nobody Famous features Taylor Pie (Susan Taylor), who helped form the trio with Don Williams in the early 1960s and has been a solo singer-songwriter and musician since it disbanded. As Taylor Pie – then fresh from her first year in college – recounts today, while Williams went on to become one of the most successful country music artists of the 20th century, she shied away from fame and fortune, instead choosing to “go where the folk wind blows” – embracing her own path, her own unique artistry, and her own individual identity in the process.

Dozens of Artists to be Featured in Official and Guerilla Showcases

Following the official showcases (as well as on Thursday overnight), late-night guerilla showcases will take place in various rooms for several hours. AcousticMusicScene.com, which has had a presence at the SERFA Conference since 2011, will host late-night song swaps and a midnight hoot (featuring two-dozen artists/acts – each performing one song) on Thursday, May 12, overnight. The AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot is a pre-arranged, round-robin song swap, a three-plus-hour version of which has been a popular staple at Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) conferences since 2007, will feature two-dozen artists/acts – each performing one song. The Midnight Hoot is intended to provide concert and festival presenters, folk DJs and others with an opportunity to get a small sampling of the music of a lot of artists in a short period of time on the conference’s opening night. It also enables artists to enjoy each other’s company and music before the conference really gets into full swing on Friday.

Here’s the AcousticMusicScene.com showcase schedule:

11 p.m. PuffBunny Records Songswarm: Taylor Pie, Nancy K. Dillon,Nicholas Edward Williams

11:30 p.m. Texas!: Andrew Delaney, Claudia Gibson, Scott Martin

12:00 a.m. AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot, Part 1:

(one song each, not necessarily in order of appearance)

Antonio Andrade, Ashley & Simpson, Meg Braun, Matt Burke, Cheryl

Cawood, Emerald Rae, Kala Farnham, Alice Hasen, Lara Herscovitch,

Lucy Isabel, Rob Lytle, Karyn Oliver

1:00 a.m. AcousticMusicScene.com Midnight Hoot, Part 2:

(one song each, not necessarily in order of appearance)

Amy & Mike Aiken, Crowes Pasture, Dan & Faith, Paul Helou,

Letters To Abigail, Crys Matthews, Brant Miller, Halley Neal, Sam

Robbins, Hank Stone, Annette Wasilik, Elly Wininger

Editor’s Note: In addition to hosting the AcousticMusicScene.com guerrilla showcase and moderating the Q & A session with Taylor Pie following the screening o the award-winning documentary Nobody Famous that features her, I will be assisting PuffBunny Records (Taylor Pie’s label, for which I handle public relations) with its Friday night guerrilla showcase and an exhibit hall table. I will also again be a mentor offering advice and counsel on various aspects of PR, social media and strategic communications. A board member of Folk Alliance International, I’m a past president of Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) and continue to serve on its board of directors. I have been an active participant at SERFA conferences since 2011.

Sturgill Simpson’s Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 (The Butcher Shoppe Sessions), his first bluegrass project, was named Album of the Year. It’s one of two albums that he released in 2020 featuring bluegrass interpretations of songs from his early solo recordings, as well as with his former band Sunday Valley. To date, Simpson, a Kentucky-bred and Nashville-based singer-songwriter who is often compared to outlaw country artists, has released seven solo albums — including The Ballad of Dodd and Juliana just last month. He was previously honored as Emerging Artist of the Year in 2014, while his “Turtles All the Way Down” was named Song of the Year in the 2015 Americana Honors & Awards. A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, his third studio album, received a Grammy Award for Best Country Album in 2017, while Simpson was named International Artist of the Year in the UK Americana Awards that year.

Fiona Prine, widow of the late John Prine and president of Oh Boy Records, accepted the award for Song of the Year on behalf of the late internationally acclaimed and revered singer-songwriter, who died in April 2020 at the age of 73 from complications of the coronavirus (COVID-19) Prine was recognized for “I Remember Everything,” a co-write with Pat McLaughlin, which was the last original song that he recorded. Earlier this year, Prine, who toured and plied his craft for nearly 50 years, posthumously received a Grammy for Best American Roots Performance for “I Remember Everything” and shared the Grammy for Best American Roots Song with McLaughlin. Carlile performed the song during the Grammy Awards Show telecast in his honor and was joined by Margo Price and Amanda Shires (with whom she is part of The Highwomen, the all-female group that dominated last year’s awards) in doing so during the Americana Honors & Awards show.

Known for his well crafted, observant, often humorous story songs featuring indelible characters and vivid imagery, Prine was a 2003 Americana Lifetime Achievement honoree for songwriting. He was named Artist of the Year in 2020 and was the big winner in 2019’s Americana Honors & Awards. His 2019 release, The Tree of Forgiveness, was named Album of the Year, while “Summer’s End” was voted Song of the Year. Prine, who previously won Grammy Awards for two of his albums, also was honored by The Recording Academy with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.

Black Pumas, an Austin, Texas-based psychedelic soul band, was named Group/Duo of the Year after having been voted Emerging Act of the Year in 2020. Actor Kiefer Sutherland accepted the award on the band’s behalf since its members were unable to attend. Charley Crockett, an Americana, blues and neo-country singer-songwriter from south Texas, who has released ten albums since 2015, accepted the Emerging Act of the Year Award, while Kristin Weber, a Nashville-based fiddler who has been touring worldwide and recording for 14 years, was honored as Instrumentalist of the Year.

Recognized as Lifetime Achievement Award honorees were the Fisk Jubilee Singers (Legacy of Americana Award), The Mavericks (Trailblazer Award), Keb Mo’ (Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance), Trina Shoemaker (Lifetime Achievement Award for Producer/Engineer), and ‘Queen of Memphis Soul’ Carla Thomas (Inspiration Award).

Musical highlights from the 20th Annual Americana Honors & Awards show will be featured on a special episode of Austin City Limits that is set to air on PBS television stations in February 2022.

AmericanaFest, which began Sept. 22 and continues through Sept. 25, is a festival and conference 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. Visit americanamusic.org for more information.

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

Comprised of Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, Natalie Hembry and Maren Morris, The Highwomen burst on the country-Americana scene during last summer’s Newport Folk Festival. Carlile and Hembry co-wrote “Crowded Table,” along with Lori McKenna.

Here’s a link to view the official video for “Crowded Table” by The Highwomen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubNY-CPAp_I

Carlile, a folk-rock and Americana singer-songwriter, who was named Artist of the Year in the 2019 Americana Honors & Awards and was among the nominees in that category this year, also was the big winner in the American Roots Music Field during the 61st annual Grammy Awards presented by the Recording Academy 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.

John Prine, the revered songwriter, who died April 7 at the age of 73 from complications of the coronavirus (COVID-19), was named Artist of the Year. He was the big winner in last year’s Americana Honors & Awards. His 2019 release, The Tree of Forgiveness, was named Album of the Year, while “Summer’s End” was voted Song of the Year. Prine, who previously won Grammy Awards for two of his albums, also was honored by The Recording Academy with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.

Black Pumas, an Austin, Texas-based psychedelic soul band was named Emerging Act of the Year, while Nashville, Tennessee-based fiddler Brittany Haas – a solo artists who is also in the quartet Hawktail and has been part of the chamber-grass band Crooked Still and the house band for Live From Here, among others_ — was honored as Instrumentalist of the Year.

The Americana Honors & Awards is usually a highlight of Americanafest, a six-day festival and conference celebrating American roots-inspired music that is put on by the Americana Music Association. Since the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the professional not-for-profit trade association from hosting the live event this fall, it announced the winners via its website (https://americanamusic.org) and social media channels.

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).

The Highwomen, Brittany Howard and Tanya Tucker lead the nominees with three nods each. In addition, Brandi Carlile, a member of The Highwomen, was nominated for Artist of the Year and also co-produced Tanya Tucker’s album While I’m Living and co-wrote two of the nominated numbers for Song of the Year: “Bring My Flowers Now” (with Tucker and Phil & Tim Hanseroth) and “Crowded Table”(with Natalie Hemby and Lori McKenna) for The Highwomen. Black Pumas, Drive-By Truckers, Nathaniel Ratliff and Aubrie Sellers each received nominations in two of the six Americana Music Association member-voted awards categories.

The Highwomen – comprised of Carlile, Amanda Shires, Maren Morris and Natalie Hamby – burst on the country-Americana scene during last summer’s Newport Folk Festival. The much-heralded quartet’s self-titled debut release received a nomination for Album of the Year, while one of its tracks (“Crowded Table”) is up for Song of the Year and The Highwomen are among the nominees for Duo/Group of the Year.Here’s a link to view the official video for “Crowded Table”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubNY-CPAp_I.

Singer-Songwriter Brittany Howard, who formerly was the lead vocalist and guitarist for Alabama Shakes, is among the nominees for Artist of the Year and also received nominations for both Album and Song of the Year for her debut release Jaime and “Stay High,” respectively. Here’s a link to view the official video for “Stay High”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfizQsGWOxI.

Tanya Tucker, who won two Grammy Awards earlier this year for Best Country Album and Song and has 10 additional Grammy nods to her credit, received nominations for Artist, Album (While I’m Livin’) and Song of the Year (“Bring My Flowers Now”). The singer-songwriter first drew attention at age 13 with her hit country song “Delta Dawn” in 1972.

Click on the video link below to watch Tanya Tucker and Brandi Carlile perform “Bring My Flowers Now”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oR5OZ-egXw.

Brandi Carlile, a folk-rock and Americana singer-songwriter, who was named Artist of the Year in 2019, 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.

In addition to Carlile, Howard and Tucker, Artist of the Year nominees include the late revered John Prine and Yola, Prine, a songwriter’s songwriter, who died April 7 at the age of 73 from complications of the coronavirus (COVID-19), was the big winner in last year’s Americana Honors & Awards. His 2019 release, The Tree of Forgiveness, was named Album of the Year, while “Summer’s End” was voted Song of the Year. Prine, who previously won Grammy Awards for two of his albums, also was honored by The Recording Academy with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. Yola, a rootsy British singer-songwriter, was selected by AMA-UK members as UK Artist of the Year in January, while her critically acclaimed debut album Walk Through Fire was voted UK Album of the Year. She also was nominated for four Grammy Awards in 2019.

Here’s a listing of the nominees:

Album of the Year:

And It’s Still Alright, Nathaniel Rateliff, Produced by James Barone, Patrick Meese and Nathaniel Rateliff

Country Squire, Tyler Childers, Produced by David Ferguson and Sturgill Simpson

The Highwomen, The Highwomen, Produced by Dave Cobb

Jaime, Brittany Howard, Produced by Brittany Howard

While I’m Livin’, Tanya Tucker, Produced by Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings

Artist of the Year:

Brandi Carlile

Brittany Howard

John Prine

Tanya Tucker

Yola

Duo/Group of the Year:

Black Pumas

Drive-By Truckers

The Highwomen

Buddy & Julie Miller

Our Native Daughters

Emerging Act of the Year:

Black Pumas

Katie Pruitt

Aubrie Sellers

Billy Strings

Kelsey Waldon

Instrumentalist of the Year:

Ellen Angelico

Annie Clements

Brittany Haas

Zachariah Hickman

Rich Hinman

Song of the Year:

“And It’s Still Alright,” Nathaniel Rateliff, Written by Nathaniel Rateliff

“Bring My Flowers Now,” Tanya Tucker, Written by Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth and Tanya Tucker

“Crowded Table,” The Highwomen, Written by Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Lori McKenna

“My Love Will Not Change,” Aubrie Sellers featuring Steve Earle, Written by Billy Burnette and Shawn Camp

“Stay High,” Brittany Howard, Written by Brittany Howard

“Thoughts and Prayers,” Drive-By Truckers, Written by Patterson Hood.

The Americana Honors & Awards is usually a highlight of Americanafest, a six-day festival and conference celebrating American roots-inspired music that is put on by the Americana Music Association. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the professional not-for-profit trade association will not be hosting it this fall. However, the newly formed Americana Music Association Foundation will be presenting its first initiative at that time. More information will be posted on https://americanamusic.org as details become available.

Musical performances will be interspersed with reflections and remembrances from those who knew Prine and some previously unseen filmed footage of him in the virtual tribute produced by his family and Oh Boy! Records. Among the notables slated to appear, according to Rolling Stone, are Dan Auerbach, Brandi Carlile, Eric Church, Stephen Colbert, Peter Cooper, Iris DeMent, Vince Gill, Jason Isbell, Kacey Musgraves, Bill Murray, Margo Price, Bonnie Raitt, The Secret Sisters, Amanda Shires, Sturgill Simpson, Todd Snider, Billy Bob Thornton, and Sara Watkins – as well as Prine’s band.

Picture Show: A Tribute Celebrating John Prine, which takes its name from a song that appears on his 1991 release The Missing Years, also aims to raise funds for several charitable organizations: the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Make The Road New York (a nonprofit organization that seeks to empower immigrant and working class communities to achieve dignity and justice) and Alive Hospice, whose grief center provides free counseling to anyone in Middle Tennessee who has had a family member die of COVID-19.

As previously noted on AcousticMusicScene.com, Prine was known for his well crafted, observant, often humorous story songs featuring indelible characters and vivid imagery. In addition to recording his songs on his own albums — 15 of which made the Billboard 200 chart — many of them have been performed and recorded by a number of other artists. He won Grammy Awards for his albums The Missing Years (1991) and Fair and Square (2005). The Recording Academy honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020, while he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame last year and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. He also was named Artist of the Year by the Americana Music Association in 2017 and received PEN New England’s Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award in 2016.

Prine’s The Tree of Forgiveness (2018) was named Album of the Year in the 2019 Americana Honors & Awards presented by the Americana Music Association, reached #5 on the Billboard 200 chart, and was the most-played album on folk radio during 2018 and again in April 2020. It was Prine’s first (and last) collection of new material since Fair and Square.

Prine released his self-titled debut album in 1971. It features such classic songs as “Sam Stone” “Hello In There,” and “Paradise,” which also were the first three songs he ever performed live on stage. While a 23-year-old mailman in 1970, Prine sang his songs every Thursday night for a couple of months at The Fifth Peg, a Chicago folk club. Then-young journalist Roger Ebert stopped in for a set one night and wrote a glowing review for the Chicago Sun Times that essentially launched Prine’s career, according to his official bio. Credit Kris Kristofferson as well. He and Prine became good friends and toured extensively together over the years. Kristofferson introduced Prine to New York folk fans in 1971 by inviting him on stage during his own gig at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village.