2008 Americana Music Association Awards and Honors Winners

The Americana Music Association is a professional organization representing artists who perform Americana music, raising awareness about the history of the genre, and working to preserve it as an artform. Each year, they honor Americana artists in a ceremony at the end of their annual conference in Nashville, Tenn.

The 2008 Americana Music Association Awards and Honors were presented at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., on Sep. 18, 2008. The nominees were as follows (winners in bold print):

Album of the Year

Winner: Alison Krauss & Robert Plant - Raising Sand
Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind
James McMurtry - Just Us Kids
Levon Helm - Dirt Farmer

Artist of the Year

Steve Earle
Winner: Levon Helm
Jim Lauderdale
James McMurtry

Instrumentalist of the Year

Winner: Buddy Miller
Chris Thile
Gurf Morlix
Sam Bush

New Emerging Artist of the Year

Justin Townes Earle
Winner: Mike Farris
Ryan Bingham
The Steeldrivers

Song of the Year

Tift Merritt - "Broken" (purchase/download)
James McMurtry - "Cheney's Toy" (purchase/download)
Alison Krauss & Robert Plant - "Gone Gone Gone" (purchase/download)
Levon Helm - "Poor Old Dirt Farmer" (purchase/download)
Winner: Hayes Carll - "She Left Me For Jesus" (purchase/download)

Duo/Group of the Year

Winner: Alison Krauss & Robert Plant
Drive By Truckers
Kane Welch Kaplin
The Avett Brothers

For more information about the Americana Music Association Conference and Awards, visit the Americana Music Web site