2015 was a breakthrough year for throwing country music back to its glory days. When the word “whiskey” in a song wasn’t prefaced by “girl get up in my lift kit Chevy and drink some…” and folks sung words with enough conviction that you actually believed they may have lived through some shit. Perhaps throwing a generic term on the music from artists like Margo Price and Jason Isbell isn’t the right thing to do. It’s just songs that are sung and played with a genuine honesty and heart that so much of the whitewashed, cellophane inauthenticity that we get on the radio these days. I mean, that kind of music has its place and will likely always sell. I would be lying if I didn’t tap my foot a bit to the mainstream stuff when it comes on the radio from time to time. The shit is catchy. I mean, they have an algorithm or something to churn out those pop country hits, right? But, I digress.

The AMA has a longstanding history of recognizing the folks in the realm of Americana, Folk and Roots music that are doing great things and remaining true to themselves and their audience. Receiving the email last evening with the nominees list for the 2016 Honors and Awards was a joyous occasion as I read through and saw names like Boston’s own Lake Street Dive, songwriting heartbreaker John Moreland, and country heartstealer Margo Price topping the lists off.

See below for the list full list and more info. This is always a wonderful thing to see.