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NPR streamed this year’s Americana Music Association Awards live from Nashville. When I clicked the link on my iPad it came up a Flash thing so I skipped it and read a book. Probably a good choice.
As I saw the winners roll by on Twitter later in the evening, I had a growing sense of unease. As one cranky outsider observed, it seemed more like Volvo commercial than a Celebration of Roots music.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Band Of Joy, Robert Plant
ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Buddy Miller
INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR: Buddy Miller
NEW / EMERGING ARTIST: Mumford & Sons
SONG OF THE YEAR: “Harlem River Blues” by Justin Townes Earle
DUO / GROUP OF THE YEAR: The Avett Brothers
Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriter: Lucinda Williams
Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance: Gregg Allman
Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist: Jerry Douglas
Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award for Executive: Rick Hall
Now, don’t get me wrong, I do have most of the AMA winners in my iPad. They are good. They’re just not Great. I feel like the AMA has been taken hostage by 1970s soft-rock FM DJs. My “Americana” just leans towards more Hank.
Tho any show with Alison Krauss ain’t all bad.
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