Alison Krauss, Robert Plant Lead Americana Noms

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss photo by Pamela Springsteen, courtesy of Rounder Records.

June 12, 2008 — Unlikely as the duo seemed when they first got together, Alison Krauss & Robert Plant continue to win over fans and the music industry alike. Yesterday they joined James McMurtry and Levon Helm as triple nominees for the seventh annual Americana Honors & Awards Show.

Alison and Robert’s Raising Sand nabbed an Album of the Year nomination, "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)" is up for Song of the Year, and the pair was also tabbed for Duo/Group of the Year. James was picked as an Artist of the Year finalist, while Just Us Kids is in the running for Album of the Year and "Cheney’s Toy" has a shot at Song. Levon is nominated in the same categories as James: Artist; Album, for Dirt Farmer; and Song, for "Poor Old Dirt Farmer."

Abigail Washburn and banjo wizard Bela Fleck announced the slate of nominees at BMI, where Mayor Karl Dean hailed the musicians in the Americana movement as "a key part of Nashville’s reputation as Music City." They are, he said, "true to themselves. They write and sing what they know about and what they believe."

Among the artists on hand were Hal Ketchum; Ray Kennedy; Chuck Mead; "Fats" Kaplin, of Kane Welch Kaplin; and Jason Ringenberg and Warner Hodge, of Jason & The Scorchers. The Scorchers will reunite during the awards show Sept. 18 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, where they’ll receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The complete list of nominees, announced by the Americana Music Association, follows:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
• Alison Krauss & Robert Plant, Raising Sand
• Hayes Carll, Trouble In Mind
• James McMurtry, Just Us Kids
• Levon Helm, Dirt Farmer

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
• Steve Earle
• Levon Helm
• Jim Lauderdale
• James McMurtry

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR
• Buddy Miller
• Chris Thile
• Gurf Morlix
• Sam Bush

NEW EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR
• Justin Townes Earle
• Mike Farris
• Ryan Bingham
• The Steeldrivers

SONG OF THE YEAR
• "Broken," Tift Merritt
• "Cheney’s Toy," James McMurtry
• "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)," Alison Krauss & Robert Plant
• "Poor Old Dirt Farmer," Levon Helm
• "She Left Me for Jesus," Hayes Carll

DUO/GROUP OF THE YEAR
• Alison Krauss & Robert Plant
• Drive By Truckers
• Kane Welch Kaplin
• The Avett Brothers