Once again the Americana Music Festival took over most of the well-known clubs in Nashville for the third week in September. Â As always it was anchored by the Americana Music Awards show at the fabulous Ryman Auditorium. Â We’ll post our full coverage of the event over the next few days, and to kick it off, here are some of the highlights of the awards show.
NASHVILLE, TN – SEPTEMBER 13: Old Crow Medicine Show perform onstage during the 2017 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards on September 13, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Americana Music)
Things started off with a bang, literally, from Old Crow Medicine Show. Â They added a couple of marching band drums and threaded their way through the crowd doing a version of Dylan’s Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 that would have made John Phillips Sousa proud. Â Jim Lauderdale then jumped in to do his usual hosting gig, with Larry Campbell fronting the always amazing house band.
NASHVILLE, TN – SEPTEMBER 13: Iris DeMent and John Prine perform onstage during the 2017 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards on September 13, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Americana Music)
A few performances and awards later, the first of the evening lifetime achievement awards went to Iris Dement. Â John Prine presented the award and gave support to his long-time friend and collaborator during her tearful acceptance. Â She then did an outstanding Morning Glory, followed up by a duet with Prine on In Spite Of Ourselves, and then Prine with the house band doing Lake Marie. Â Somehow those 15 minutes really captured a lifetime of music and friendship from two of the folk music greats.
NASHVILLE, TN – SEPTEMBER 13: Joey Ryan, Graham Nash, and Kenneth Pattengale perform onstage during the 2017 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards on September 13, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Americana Music)
A little while later the Milk Carton Kids walked out to present an award with their usual comic banter.  It was sort of head-scratching why they were there (no new album, no performance at the show) until Graham Nash got his lifetime achievement award and brought them on stage to do a replica of a performance of So Sad he did in the sixties with the Everly Brothers.  It was a pretty spectacular re-creation and the audience loved it.
NASHVILLE, TN – SEPTEMBER 13: Van Morrison performs onstage during the 2017 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards on September 13, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Americana Music)
The final award recipient was Van Morrison. Â Morrison was in his usual loquacious, elegant-speaking mood and I captured his entire acceptance speech: “thank you.” Â He then did his new single, Transformation, and, true to form, walked off the stage before the band finished the final notes. Â But hey, it’s Van Morrison for goodness sake, and if you expected anything different you haven’t been paying attention the last 5 decades.
The night wrapped up with virtually all the performers, except Van, doing Tulsa Time. Â Then it was on to the after-party at Robert’s Western World. Â Here’s the complete list of this year’s award winners.
Americana Music Honors & Awards 2017 Winners and Honorees:
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.