Nominees Announced for 2019 Americana Music Awards
The Americana Music Association has announced the 2019 nominees for their annual Americana Music Awards to be held this September at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. In a video hosted by The Milk Carton Kids taped at Soundcheck Nashville on Tuesday, May 14th, four nominees in six categories were unveiled to be voted on by the Americana music community for the genre’s top honors.
The amount of women and the amount of diversity evidenced by the nominees will be the big takeaway from the 2019 selections. Artist of the Year is a clean sweep for the women of Americana, and three of the four nominees for Album of the Year are from women. All four of the Duo/Group nominees includes female members, while two are solely female groups. Emerging Act of the Year also includes three women out of the five nominees, and no white men.
Leading the nominees is Lori McKenna, who picks up an Album of the Year nomination for The Tree, as well as a Song of the Year nomination for “People Get Old,” which won Saving Country Music’s 2018 Song of the Year. McKenna also receives a nomination for her participation in the song “By Degrees” by Mark Erelli. Dave Cobb receives three nominations out of four as a producer in the Album of the Year category.
2-time reigning Americana Artist of the Year, John Prine, receives nominations for his album The Tree of Forgiveness, as well as for the song “Summers End.” Rhiannon Giddens receives two nominations as well, one for Artist of the Year, and another with the group Our Native Daughters. Yola, who has already won an Americana award in the UK, also comes in with two nominations. Brandi Carlile and Kacey Musgraves, who both won three Grammy Awards in February, pick up Artist of the Year nominations as well.
Though many will praise the diversity showcased in the nominees, expanding nomination lists from four to five would have resulted in even more attention and diversity of potential winners. The Americana Music Association seems to work on a sliding scale between four to five nominees each year, with the only category in 2019 including five names being Emerging Artist of the Year. One more nominee in each group would have helped round out the nominees.
Also with all the emphasis on diversity, it might be fair to question if the “who” is being selected before the “what,” with the most curious omission being Brent Cobb, who was nominated by the Grammy Awards for Best Americana Album, but receives no nominations here. Colter Wall continues to be elusive in the eyes of Americana despite wide reception, critical acclaim, and popularity. And American Aquarium, which put out a highly-regarded album during the eligibility period with Things Change feels like they could have received a nomination in an expanded field. Also, if Kacey Musgraves is going to be considered for awards, perhaps the Pistol Annies could have been too. The Annies courted Americana radio with their last record.
Winners will be announced on Wednesday, September 11th at the Americana Music Awards as part of the greater AmericanaFest conference. Find the full list of nominees below.
Album of the Year
- To the Sunset, Amanda Shires, produced by Dave Cobb
- The Tree, Lori McKenna, produced by Dave Cobb
- The Tree of Forgiveness, John Prine, produced by Dave Cobb
- Walk Through Fire, Yola, produced by Dan Auerbach
Artist of the Year
- Brandi Carlile
- Rhiannon Giddens
- Kacey Musgraves
- Mavis Staples
Duo/Group of the Year
- I’m With Her
- Our Native Daughters
- Tedeschi Trucks Band
- The War and Treaty
Emerging Act of the Year
- Jade Bird
- J.S. Ondara
- Erin Rae
- The War and Treaty
- Yola
Instrumentalist of the Year
- Chris Eldridge
- Eamon McLoughlin
- Chris Powell
- Michael Rinne
Song of the Year
- “By Degrees,” Mark Erelli, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Lori McKenna, Anais Mitchell and Josh Ritter, written by Mark Erelli
- “Mockingbird,” Ruston Kelly, written by Ruston Kelly
- “People Get Old,” Lori McKenna, written by Lori McKenna
- “Summer’s End,” John Prine, written by Pat McLaughlin and John Prine
Trigger
May 14, 2019 @ 6:40 pm
Overall I think these nominations are fine, but a little predictable and thin, which is normal from Americana, and avoidable if they would just nominate one more person in each category. I definitely would have put Colter Wall in for Emerging Artist of the Year over others in the field. American Aquarium deserved something, either song or Album of the Year. Brent Cobb could have also been a good 5th Album of the Year nominee. And why not nominate the Pistol Annies for Artist of the Year? You can still have your all women nominees, but make this list of nominees a little more engaging. Can’t complain about Lori McKenna, John Prine, and Yola receiving some deserved love and being the top nominees.
Gina
May 14, 2019 @ 7:03 pm
I agree. A lot of people I nominated didn’t make it. The nominees are fine but they definitely need to add another slot. I’m a member of the Association and will definitely be suggesting this when the time comes.
Trigger
May 14, 2019 @ 8:01 pm
I just don’t see the reason to only nominate four people instead of five. I guess if you’re worried about it diluting the quality of nominees that’s one thing, but Americana is so vast and stacked with talent, I can’t see that being an issue. Both the Academy Awards and Grammys have expanded nominees to a lot of positive reception. Five seems like a minimum.
Jody
May 14, 2019 @ 9:54 pm
I think one of the reasons is that they want to try and give most all of the nominees performance spots. When you add in the lifetime achievement award performances, it becomes a real time issue to think about potentially adding another 4 or so performances.
Trigger
May 15, 2019 @ 8:32 am
I guess I can understand that as a concern, but in my opinion the awards are a one off thing, while a nomination is something that an artist can cite as a resume point for the rest of their career. The point of the Americana Awards is to give attention to artists who normally don’t get it. I think five nominees is fair, and you can use collaborations to try and for them all on stage.
Moses Mendoza
May 14, 2019 @ 7:13 pm
Predictable, and a bit boring, but not bad. Kind of like Burger King.
Jack Williams
May 15, 2019 @ 6:11 am
I see what you did there. The “Americana is the Burger King of music” comment by Daniel Romano was a shallow one and here you are trolling with a reference to it.
Moses Mendoza
May 15, 2019 @ 6:20 am
I like almost all of the artists nominated here. (And the ones I don’t are because I’m not familiar with their music.) But I think Romano ends up being more right than wrong. As a genre, Americana doesn’t mean much more than “music you could play in the car if you’re mom is riding with you.”
Jack Williams
May 15, 2019 @ 7:05 am
No he’s not more right than wrong, but based on your reduction of Americana (which is more of a format than a genre), I can see why you might think so. I think what he said is a hot take from someone outside the roots music world and who sees himself as a punk rock dude, similar to how Ryan Adams sees himself. It’s not nearly as offensive as what Adams has said in the past, however.
Moses Mendoza
May 15, 2019 @ 7:26 am
By format you mean a radio format?
Black Boots
May 15, 2019 @ 11:07 am
No, Burger King is absolutely vile shit.
Moses Mendoza
May 15, 2019 @ 11:18 am
It can’t be that bad. Zac Brown wrote a hit song about their Chicken Fries.
Cool Lester Smooth
May 15, 2019 @ 6:05 pm
I respect what Colter does…but Jade Bird blew his ass out of the water when she opened for him.
I’d paid through the ass for my tickets, and was pumped to see him, but the entire set felt like a letdown after her bit…and a few of the songs she played didn’t even make the album.
(Am I a straight up “stan” at this point? Maybe. Am I embarrassed? Not at all – only issue with the debut is similar to Margo Price’s, and pre-Cobb Isbell’s, in that the sheen of the production smooths the edges of the raw presence she brings to concerts).
albert
May 15, 2019 @ 12:21 am
so happy to see Yola acknowledged … my current favourite album…something new on each listen ….something musical and real …..songwriting and arrangements that echo the great, adventurous pop writing of the 60’s and 70’s but with a country soul . and that VOICE …..she nails it every time with pitch , tone and conviction and she always sings a melody ….not some bluesy vamp .
Gabe
May 15, 2019 @ 3:25 am
So nothing for Rosanne’s “She Remembers Everything”?
I guess americana awards now chooses to distance itself from politics
Trigger
May 15, 2019 @ 6:02 am
Rosanne Cash was given a Lifetime Achievement Award last year, and the year after she challenged the diversity of Americana in a Rolling Stone article. Last year the big topic around Americana was the lack of diversity which resulted in these nominations, which in my opinion put diversity over quality and exclude important candidates like Rosanne Cash, Hayes Carll, Colter Wall, Brent Cobb, and American Aquarium. These artists don’t score you any diversity points.
Kevin Smith
May 15, 2019 @ 9:12 am
Trig nailed it exactly. 1-800-politics. Gotta look good to the music media, see how progressive we are! Quality? Eh…overated..Now , the folks nominated are talented, no doubt, and that Yola gal is something, but do all the albums nominated represent the absolute best musically out of all the artists in the Americana category? My personal favorite out of last year’s releases in Americana was the Robbie Fulks and Linda Gail Lewis album Wild,Wild,Wild. Was this even a contender? Nope. Never had a chance.
But, I suppose Americana isn’t alone in having political motivations, Grammys get it wrong fairly regularly as do CMA’s and ACM’s.
Can’t think of any music awards that are truly about rewarding the best quality music. Politics, popularity ,chart performance etc seem to dictate who wins.
I am a fan of Ameripolitan as the music fans vote who wins, but even in that it can turn into a popularity contest.
albert
May 15, 2019 @ 9:29 am
well….let’s face it …the pop award shows are almost always popularity contests( duh …its right in the name )…all about what’s hip and not what’s GOOD .
my impression is that the grammys get it right most often, when it comes to country nominations …..they seem to acknowledge what SHOULD be acknowledged , at least
Jack Williams
May 15, 2019 @ 6:44 am
I’m rooting for Rhiannon Giddens to win Artist of the Year. I think she’s overdue for an AMA award and with her leading up the Our Native Daughters project and just releasing a stellar roots music album (There is No Other), she’s having a great year. Her new album was released after the deadline for Album of the Year consideration, but that didn’t stop John Prine from winning last year. With her shear talent and vision, I think she’s a great ambassador for roots music.
Ann Stokman
May 15, 2019 @ 8:47 am
Excellent list of nominees.
CeeCeeBee
May 15, 2019 @ 11:10 am
As others have said, they should have 5 nominations per category. There are plenty of worthy artists who were shut out.
This diversity thing is driving me nuts. Can’t we just get to a place where those women who deserve recognition get it? Why is this so hard? Mainstream country awards ignore worthy women and Americana seems to be overcompensating.
And please – don’t preach to me about mainstream awards not ingnoring women based on the name Miranda Lambert. She is an aberration, the exception that proves the rule. Yes, she has dobe stellar work but she is FAR from the only female country artist who deserved accolades over the past 10 years.
Kevin Smith
May 15, 2019 @ 12:24 pm
I vote ceceebee comment of the day! You killed it with a Louisville slugger made of fire forged steel! Out of the park girl!. Yes, Yes, Yes! Country radio has the issue but Americana is waaay over compensating to the point that we can see through their not so cleverly veiled scheme!
Trigger
May 15, 2019 @ 2:29 pm
In fairness, Kacey Musgraves just swept the Album of the Year categories at the CMAs, Grammys, and ACMs, and that’s a non gender-specific category. She also won the all-genre Grammy Album of the Year. This is an extremely rare feat by a woman in country or anyone else. Saving Country Music was the only outlet to report on it, probably because it didn’t fit some people’s narratives that mainstream country is purposely trying to keep women down exclusively because they’re women as opposed to a more complex issue to why they’re being unfairly represented at the moment.
Generally though I think you’re right. I think the media is way overblowing these calls for diversity. As any genre or trade organization, you want to put your best foot forward. Yes, diversity is important, but if you’re simply handing out awards due to gender and skin color in a transparent manner, what is the value to these artists? They want to be rewarded for what they did, not who they are. I think a lot of these candidates are deserving, but I also think there was a clear effort here to present diversity in the face of fear of being called not diverse by the media, and that is the wrong motivation to hand out nominations. Nominate artists because they’re great, not because of their skin color, gender, or sexual orientation, and if your scene of music is healthy, plenty of women and minorities will be represented and in fair portions, which they always have in Americana.
CeeCeeBee
May 15, 2019 @ 3:36 pm
Your point about Musgraves is well taken, but TBH, I wonder if she isn’t the new exception that proves the rule.
Kacey 100 percent deserved the alcolades she received for her album. But was it truly the album of the year? In the field of nominations at the CMAs and the ACMs, it was a worthy winner, but it wasn’t the best country album of the year – it wasn’t even close. And can you inagine the screams of sexism had she NOT won?
And I guess, in a nutshell, that’s why these Americana nominations bother me. The ACMs and the CMAs have long since stopped awarding the best music…their agenda is to stay relevant to mainstream country fans. I hate to see Americana stop awarding the best work to fulfill an agenda, even one as well intentioned as diversity.
Cool Lester Smooth
May 15, 2019 @ 6:16 pm
At the same time…who on that “Artist of the Year” isn’t deserving?
Same for “Album of the Year.”
Hell. My biggest snub, for an admittedly WELL under the radar artist, was a woman.
I really don’t think you can point to any of these noms as a “diversity pick” rather than an instance of good-faith disagreement between you and other people who love music.
5 nominees would be a good idea, tho.
Marmarbama
May 27, 2019 @ 7:45 am
I dont think kacey even belongs on this list. I didnt know she was in Americana realm. She shouldnt be.
CeeCeeBee
May 27, 2019 @ 11:57 am
Musgraves isn’t Americana. Tigger brought her up to point out a woman who was being honored by mainstream country awards after I made the comment t that they overlook women artists not named Miranda Lambert.
Cool Lester Smooth
May 15, 2019 @ 6:10 pm
Fuck yeah, Jade Bird (whose reaction to this was essentially “Holy shit, I’m in the same category as Erin Rae!”) and Lori McKenna!
Wish Lindsay Lou had gotten a nod for emerging artist, Southland is absurdly good and her voice is up their with Courtney & Margo in terms of the biggest I’ve seen live, but this is a damn solid list.