Van Morrison to Receive Americana Lifetime Achievement Honor
Just days after the announcement of the nominees for this year’s Americana Music Association Awards and Honors, Van Morrison has been named 2017’s Americana Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting recipient.
The legendary songwriter will also headline AmericanaFest, with a performance slated for September 14th at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater. His daughter Shana Morrison, a musician herself, will join him for the performance.
AmericanaFest takes place September 12th – 17th in Nashville. The annual Americana Awards and Honors show will be held at Ryman Auditorium on September 13th. Additional Lifetime Achievement Award winners will be announced at a later date. Last year’s trophy for the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting went to soul artist William Bell, who composed “You Don’t Miss Your Water” and “Born Under a Bad Sign,” among others.
Other artists poised for big evenings at the awards ceremony include Sturgill Simpson, who leads the pack with three nominations, as well as Rodney Crowell, Lori McKenna, and Drive-By Truckers, who follow Simpson with two nominations apiece.
Last month, Morrison released The Authorized Bang Collection, a three-disc compilation chronicling his short stint on the famed Bert Berns label Bang Records in the late Sixties. The collection includes original stereo mixes of Morrison classics like “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Madame George,” as well as an entire disc of songs that were never made commercially available until this point.
Morrison currently has a handful of U.S. and international tour dates scheduled through late October.