Jason Isbell Triumphs at Americana Awards
Despite heartwarming lifetime achievement award acceptance speeches from the likes of Jackson Browne and Loretta Lynn, and a surprise appearance from rock god Robert Plant, last night’s 13th Annual Americana Honors and Awards show in Nashville belonged to Jason Isbell. The former Drive-By Trucker took home awards for Artist of the Year and Song of the Year (for “Cover Me Up”), as well as the night’s top honor: Album of the Year, for his post-sobriety triumph Southeastern. In one of the evening’s best-received performances, he also sang “Cover Me Up” with wife Amanda Shires.
“I just wanna say something, I’m glad of this award, his album is stupendous and beautiful,” presenter Lucinda Williams interjected into the mic as Isbell walked onto the Ryman Auditorium stage to accept the Album honor.
“I don’t want to keep making the same damn record over and over, so help me get out of that,” Isbell recalled telling Southeastern producer Dave Cobb. Clearly, it was mission accomplished.
Other big winners last included the Milk Carton Kids, who nabbed Group/Duo of the Year, and house bandleader Buddy Miller, who won Instrumentalist of the Year. Country music’s great white hope Sturgill Simpson took home Emerging Artist of the Year, beating out Parker Milsap, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Valerie June and St. Paul and the Broken Bones in the closest, most-heated race of the night.
“Thanks to everybody. I could say the names but I’d be up here way too long, so I’ll just thank my family,” Simpson said in a terse acceptance speech. Perhaps he’d said all he needed to say with a red-hot, intensely focused performance of his Metamodern Sounds in Country Music stomper “Life of Sin” minutes earlier.
Like most awards shows, last night’s was all about the performances. And, unlike most award shows, said performances were gimmick free, unless you consider excellence a gimmick. It seems — for an association with a tent big enough to include Southern fried R&B revivalists St. Paul and the Broken Bones alongside a grizzled country troubadour like Rodney Crowell — rootsy quality control and rustic excellence are, in a broad sense, what Americana is all about.
And a surprise appearance from Robert Plant is definitely some high-quality excellence. The Led Zeppelin legend accompanied former flame Patty Griffin, taking a backseat singing harmony on a stirring, climactic rendition of her American Kid standout “Ohio.”
Par for the course, many of the show’s best performances came courtesy of the Emerging Artist nominees. Hurray for the Riff Raff’s Alynda Lee Segarra commanded the Mother Church of Country Music’s undivided attention leading her band through a spellbinding performance of its feminist murder ballad “The Body Electric.” Artist of the Year nominee Robert Ellis gave a similarly emotional rendition of his moody, steel-guitar shrouded heartbreaker “Only Lies.”
Jason Isbell Triumphs at Americana Awards, Page 1 of 3