The Twentieth Annual Americana Music Awards ceremony, held Wednesday, September 22, 2021, at the Ryman Auditorium opened strong with the Aaron Lee Tasjan singing “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking?” as a salute to the Rolling Stones’ late drummer Charlie Watts, backed by the talent-filled house band led by Buddy Miller. As Brandi Carlile took the mic, she sang, “What a band, what a band, what a mighty, mighty good band,” a fit description for all the performers who took the stage throughout the evening.
Carlile left her mark on the show, performing first with The Highwomen, as Yola joined the other members Margo Price, Natalie Hemby, and Amanda Shires for their eponymous song. She also sang “I Remember Everything” with Shires and Margo Price, after Fiona Prine and her three sons Jody, Jack, and Tommy accepted the “Song of the Year” award on behalf of her late husband John Prine, the “Godfather of Americana Music.”
Tributes to performers and songwriters lost over the past months continued through the night. Miller sang, “That’s How I Got to Memphis,” a song he said he was proud to have sung three times for the late Tom T. Hall, who wrote the song. Aoife O’Donovan and Joe Henry sang “Gulf Coast Highway” in memory of Nanci Griffith. One particularly touching tribute came as Steve Earle performed his late son Justin Townes Earle’s “Harlem River Blues,” adding, “See you when I get there, Cowboy” as he finished.
The Americana Music Association pitches a bigger tent year by year, with presenters, performers, and nominees representing a genuine cross-section of American music. Allison Russell, one of the nominees for Emerging Artist, introduced a number of performers, including Margo Price, whom she called “a real one. . . my chosen sister,” and Valerie June, who performed with Carla Thomas, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Inspiration.
Other Lifetime Achievement Awards were given to Keb’Mo’, the Mavericks, and producer/engineer Trina Shoemaker. The Fisk Jubilee Singers were recognized with the Legacy Award for their 150-year history.
Charley Crockett of San Benito, Texas, was rendered nearly speechless after winning the Emerging Artist Award. “Lord have mercy, I don’t know what to say,” he told the crowd, adding, “I’m ten records in. Twelve years ago, I signed my first record deal on a New York City subway car. I guess emerging is whenever they see you.”
While a handful of the winners were not present to pick up their award, representatives of the AMA acknowledged their gratitude that artists are able to be back out on the road again. One of those absent was Sturgill Simpson, whose “Cutting Grass, Volume 1” picked up Album of the Year, presented by Shooter Jennings.
Brandi Carlile returned to the stage to perform “Right on Time” shortly before receiving 2021 Artist of the Year. Accepting, she admitted, “It was hard to be an artist this year.” Anthony Mason of CBS This Morning, who presented the final award to Carlile, recapping his favorite lines from the evening, noted that hearing music “makes me feel like a human again.”
The night ended not with the usual grand finale with all the performers filling the stage, still iffy in this time of precautions, but with a final medley of “Let It Be Me” and “Bye, Bye Love,” a tribute to Don Everly of the Everly Brothers by Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell.
The award ceremony kicks off four days of the Americana Music Festival and Conference with performances at venues across Nashville.