Awards & Winners

Grammy Award for Best Americana Album

Grammy Awards

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:

Check all the winners of Grammy Award for Best Americana Album presented under Grammy Awards since 2009 .


Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris

Honored for : Old Yellow Moon

Nominations 2013 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Emmylou Harris Old Yellow Moon
Rodney Crowell Old Yellow Moon
Steve Martin Love Has Come For You
Edie Brickell Love Has Come For You
Buddy Miller Buddy and Jim
Jim Lauderdale Buddy and Jim
Mavis Staples One True Vine
Allen Toussaint Songbook

Bonnie Raitt, Ryan Freeland

Honored for : Slipstream
(Artist & Producer, Engineer/Mixer)

Nominations 2012 »

Nominee Nominated Work
The Avett Brothers The Carpenter
John Fullbright From the Ground Up
The Lumineers The Lumineers
Mumford & Sons Babel
Bonnie Raitt Slipstream
Ryan Freeland Slipstream

Levon Helm

Honored for : Ramble at the Ryman

Nominations 2011 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Levon Helm Ramble at the Ryman
Linda Chorney Emotional Jukebox
Ry Cooder Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down
Emmylou Harris Hard Bargain
Lucinda Williams Blessed

Mavis Staples, Jeff Tweedy, Tom Schick

Honored for : You Are Not Alone
(Engineer/mixer, Producer, Artist)

Nominations 2010 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Mavis Staples You Are Not Alone
2011 Best Americana Album
Tom Schick You Are Not Alone
2011 Best Americana Album
Jeff Tweedy You Are Not Alone
2011 Best Americana Album
Rosanne Cash The List
Los Lobos Tin Can Trust
Willie Nelson Country Music
Robert Plant Band of Joy

Levon Helm, Justin Guip, Larry Campbell

Honored for : Electric Dirt
(Producer, Artist, Engineer/Mixer)

Nominations 2009 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Bob Dylan Together Through Life
Levon Helm Electric Dirt
Willie Nelson Willie and the Wheel
Asleep at the Wheel Willie and the Wheel
Wilco Wilco (The Album)
Lucinda Williams Little Honey