Tonight’s Americana Music Awards show sent two clear messages about the Americana Music Association:
1. The genre is inclusive, embracing young and old, rock, folk and country.
2. Forget all that. We love Buddy Miller.
Miller, an extraordinary guitar player and tonight’s awards show bandleader, won both the artist of the year and instrumentalist awards, and is a member of Robert Plant’s Band of Joy, which had the album of the year.
This continues Miller’s domination of the awards over a span of years, so much so that Emmylou Harris has joked that the Americana award should be called the “Buddy.”
The awards:
Album of the Year: Band Of Joy, Robert Plant
Artist of the Year: Buddy Miller
Instrumentalist: Buddy Miller
New/Emerging Artist: Mumford and Sons
Song of the Year: “Harlem River Blues” by Justin Townes Earle
Duo/Group of the Year: The Avett Brothers
Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriter: Lucinda Williams
Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance: Gregg Allman
Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist: Jerry Douglas
Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award for Executive: Rick Hall
Trailblazer Award: Bob Harris
(More coverage and photos to come.)