Americana Music Association Annonces 2017 Honorees!

From the Americana Music Association:

We are thrilled to announce our 2017 Honorees for this year's Honors & Awards!

Robert Cray will be honored with this year's Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance.

Cray has been bridging the lines between blues, soul and R&B for over four decades with five GRAMMY® wins. After bursting onto the scene as band leader for the Robert Cray Band in 1974, he and his band became responsible for bringing the timeless soul sound of their mentors John Lee Hooker, Etta James and Albert Collins to a younger audience. Throughout his expansive career, he has performed with the likes of Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, BB King, Bonnie Raitt and the late Chuck Berry. His latest album Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm (Jay-Vee Records) was produced by Steve Jordan at the historic Royal Studios in Memphis, Tenn.

Iris DeMent will be honored with this year's Americana Trailblazer Award.

DeMent exemplifies what it means to forge your own path in the music industry. Her independently released 1992 debut Infamous Angel garnered such palpable buzz that it landed her a deal with Warner Bros. the following year without any support from mainstream country radio. Over the next two decades, DeMent never shied away from using her ethereal voice and songwriting craft to showcase introspection as well as to address more political topics such as sexual abuse, religion and government policy throughout her work.

The Hi Rhythm section will be honored with this year's Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist.

These guys are not your average group of musicians. During the '70s, they served as the late producer Willie Mitchell's secret weapon for his vision of Memphis soul, providing their incomparable musicianship for hit Hi Records albums by artists like Al Green and Ann Peebles at the historic Royal Studios in Memphis, Tenn. Originally formed in the late '60s, members include the late Mabon "Teenie" Hodges (guitar), Rev. Charles Hodges (organ), LeRoy "Flick" Hodges (bass), Howard Grimes (drums), the late Al Jackson, Jr. (drums) and Archie "Hubbie" Turner (keyboard).

Graham Nash will be honored with this year's Spirit of Americana Free Speech in Music Award (Co-presented by the First Amendment Center).

A two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee for his roles as a member of the Hollies and supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (and later Young), the GRAMMY® Award-winning singer's passionate voice continues to be heard in support of peace and social and environmental justice. The No Nukes/Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) concerts he organized with Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt in 1979 remain seminal benefit events. In 2011, Nash was instrumental in bringing MUSE back to the forefront with a concert to benefit Japan disaster relief and groups promoting non-nuclear energy worldwide.

HighTone Records founders Larry Sloven and Bruce Bromberg will be honored with this year's Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award for Executive.

In the mid-'80s, these industry partners bonded over their wide-ranging roots music tastes and sought out an opportunity to create a label home for the melting pot of influences that is now Americana music. Artistic freedom was imperative to their business model from day one, and it made all the difference in providing a liberating platform for artists who have paved the way in Americana such as The Blasters, Big Sandy, Buddy Miller and more. For 25 years, HighTone Records produced 300 album releases and a number of landmark achievements including the release of the first and longest running #1 Americana Radio Airplay album, Tulare Dust: A Songwriter's Tribute to Merle Haggard, and even a GRAMMY® Award for Dale Alvin's King of California.

Van Morrison will be honored with this year's Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting.

After establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with in his British R&B group Them in the late '60s, the six-time GRAMMY® Award winner's unparalleled songwriting talents and evocative vocal delivery have pioneered his legendary career spanning over four decades. From the Sinatra-like soul of Moondance to the country-inflected Tupelo Honey, Morrison's myriad of influences are equally matched by his consistency as an artist, leading his work to transcend generations upon generations to come.

Want to share this moment of Americana history with us? Join us on Wednesday, September 13 at the historic Ryman Auditorium for our 16th annual Honors & Awards. Tickets are made available for purchase with an AMERICANAFEST℠ conference registration, which can be bought here.