Alison Krauss & Robert Plant photo by Pamela Springsteen, courtesy of Rounder Records.
Sept. 19, 2008 — Honoring the imaginative mash-up of a pristine bluegrass vocalist and a hard-rock pioneer, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant were the only multiple winners Thursday during the Americana Music Honors & Awards at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.
They took home Duo/Group of the Year and Album of the Year, for Raising Sand, an album that mystified many in concept but won over critics and fellow musicians after its release last October. Their double shot of victory was a symbolic representation of the Americana genre, which embraces acts who employ a melange of roots forms, including country, blues, folk and traditional rock ’n’ roll influences.
"It’s perfect," says John Hiatt, who collected a Lifetime Achievement Award as a songwriter. "You got Robert Plant in there, who is not only so connected to American Southern roots music, but is also connected vis a vis his mining of old English folk music, which of course is connected to us and connected to Southern American music, and thus Americana music. It’s all these long threads. So him being here is a perfect piece of the puzzle."
Levon Helm, who came to prominence as a member of The Band, was named Artist of the Year, following the release last year of his Dirt Farmer album. The award came on the heels of a mass Ryman concert the previous night in which Levon trotted out a ton of friends and fellow musicians for multiple collaborations. The guest list included unannounced performers Alison and Robert, plus Steve Earle, Allison Moorer, Sheryl Crow, Buddy Miller, Sam Bush, Billy Bob Thornton, Delbert McClinton and John Hiatt, for whom the activities were a full-circle event.
John’s first visit to the Ryman came as an audience member when Bob Dylan, the rock era’s most acclaimed singer-songwriter, taped a now-legendary installment of The Johnny Cash Show for ABC. As a member of The Band, Levon worked the road with Dylan. Thus performing with Levon and then collecting the songwriter trophy on the hallowed Ryman stage was overwhelming.
"It’s unbelievable," John observes. "It’s some kind of dream or somethin’. I just sort of been floatin’ around. I got home from Meridien, Miss., [Wednesday] mornin’. We’ve been on the road all summer, and my feet haven’t touched the ground since we got off the bus. I just sorta feel like, ‘What kind of a fantasy world did I just walk into? Who is this man that they’re talking about?’"
The complete list of winners at the seventh annual Americana Honors & Awards, hosted by Jim Lauderdale, follows:
Alison Krauss & Robert Plant, Raising Sand , Album of the Year
Levon Helm, Artist of the Year
Alison Krauss & Robert Plant, Duo/Group of the Year
Buddy Miller, Instrumentalist of the Year
Mike Farris, New Emerging Artist of the Year
Hayes Carll and Brian Keane, "She Left Me for Jesus," Song of the Year:
Joan Baez, Spirit of Americana Free Speech in Music
John Hiatt, Lifetime Achievement/Songwriting
Terry Lickona, Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement/Executive
Jason & The Scorchers, Lifetime Achievement/Performance
Jerry Garcia, Presidents Award
Larry Campbell, Lifetime Achievement/Instrumentalist
Nanci Griffith, Trailblazer
Tony Brown, Lifetime Achievement/Producer/Engineer