First awarded 2010 Official website grammy.com Instituted 2010 | Last awarded present Presented by The Recording Academy Category of Grammy Awards | |
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Awarded for quality Americana albums People also search for Grammy Award for Best American Roots Song Winners & Nominees This Is Where I LiveWilliam Bell, This Is Where I Live, Winner, Kid SisterThe Time Jumpers, Kid Sister, Nominee, The Cedar Creek SessionsKris Kristofferson, The Cedar Creek Sessions, Nominee, True SadnessThe Avett Brothers, True Sadness, Nominee, The Bird and the RifleLori McKenna, The Bird and the Rifle, Nominee, Something More Than FreeJason Isbell, Something More Than Free, Winner, The Traveling KindEmmylou Harris - Rodney Crowell, The Traveling Kind, Nominee, MonoThe Mavericks, Mono, Nominee, The Phosphorescent BluesPunch Brothers, The Phosphorescent Blues, Nominee, The Firewatcher's DaughterBrandi Carlile, The Firewatcher's Daughter, Nominee, The River & the ThreadRosanne Cash, The River & the Thread, Winner, Metamodern Sounds in Country MusicSturgill Simpson, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, Nominee, A Dotted LineNickel Creek, A Dotted Line, Nominee, Terms of My SurrenderJohn Hiatt, Terms of My Surrender, Nominee, BLUESAmericanaKeb' Mo', BLUESAmericana, Nominee, Old Yellow MoonEmmylou Harris - Rodney Crowell, Old Yellow Moon, Winner, Buddy and JimJim Lauderdale - Buddy Miller, Buddy and Jim, Nominee, One True VineMavis Staples, One True Vine, Nominee, SongbookAllen Toussaint, Songbook, Nominee, Love Has Come For YouSteve Martin - Edie Brickell, Love Has Come For You, Nominee, SlipstreamBonnie Raitt - Ryan Freeland, Slipstream, Winner, The CarpenterThe Avett Brothers, The Carpenter, Nominee, The LumineersThe Lumineers, The Lumineers, Nominee, From the Ground UpJohn Fullbright, From the Ground Up, Nominee, BabelMumford & Sons, Babel, Nominee | ||
The Grammy Award for Best Americana Album is an honor presented to recording artists for quality albums in the Americana music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
In 2009, the Academy announced that the award for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album would be split into two separate categories: Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Americana Album. The distinction between the two award categories is based on the use of acoustic versus electric instruments; acoustic instruments predominate in "contemporary folk" and electric instruments are characteristic of Americana. Jed Hilly, executive director of the Americana Music Association, called the new category's inclusion "a huge acknowledgment" of the music genre. Hilly admitted to working hard at convincing the Academy to include Americana as its own category. The music industry had been using the term "Americana music" for about 15 years before the new award was created. Following is the award's purpose, according to the category description guide from the 2011 Grammy Awards:
Americana is contemporary music that incorporates elements of various American roots music styles, including country, roots-rock, folk, bluegrass, R&B and blues, resulting in a distinctive roots-oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw. While acoustic instruments are often present and vital, Americana also often uses a full electric band.
The award was first presented in 2010 to Levon Helm at the 52nd Grammy Awards for the album Electric Dirt. He is also the only artist to receive the award twice. Emmylou Harris has been nominated most times (three).
Recipients
^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.