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2006 Americana Music Association Conference Report by Bill Frater This year was the 7th annual Americana Music Association conference and like any 7-year old kid,we're getting a little cocky and starting to feel comfortable with who we are in the world. The music is finally starting to get some much-needed attention. They've renamed what used to be the Folk category at the Grammy awards to Folk-Americana. So when they show the stills of the winners on next year's Grammy Awards telecast people watching at home can say "what's Americana?". That's always been the blessing and the curse of the genre. How to describe it to the uninitiated. I have a difficult time myself. But I know it when I hear it, and I heard a lot in 4 days.
So we might as well start with the awards show, which ran much more smoothly than the last 2 years. There were many musical highlights including soulful English newcomer James Hunter and Alejandro Escovedo singing "Baby's Got New Plans" letting house band leader Buddy Miller bring to a roaring finish. Rosanne Cash sang "House By The Lake" with husband John Leventhal on guitar. Vince Gill followed a beautiful solo acoustic version of "Till I Can Gain Control Again" with a heartfelt story about how Rodney Crowell helped him get his start in music and inspired him to write his own songs. After the show some questioned whether Gill was hopping on the Americana "bandwagon", (as small as it is), but he's one of Nashville's nicest guys his humble and funny speech won me over. Many of Americana's mainstays like Rosanne, Marty Stuart and Rodney have had big Nashville radio hits too and they're still loved and accepted. In fact, some of the other tributes were the highlights of the show, Costello talking about Allen Toussaint and Marty Stuart giving a comical tribute to Kenny Vaughn who won for Instrumentalist of the Year. Some of the winners weren't able to make it like the Greencards and of course, Neil Young. Giving James McMurtry the song of the year award for his honest take on America today, “We Can't Make It Here” was a bold statement that Americana fans aren't afraid to speak up about our current troubled times. Costello tried to engage the crowd with a sing-a-long but an awards show doesn't have the momentum and excitement of a regular concert. More talk broken up with single songs. The show ended with an unrehearsed finale of "Blowing In The Wind". All in all, it was an entertaining show. Check out Peter Cooper's story from the Tennessean for more about the Awards Show.
So let's go out to the clubs. They added one more this year to make a total of five official venues: The Station Inn, 3rd & Lindsley, The Basement and the twin clubs of the Mercy Lounge and Cannery Ballroom. The Cannery is the largest and was reserved for the bigger acts but it also had the worst sound, either due to room design or inept sound men, depending on who you talked to, but it was a common complaint. 3rd & Lindsley was the new addition this year and felt intimate despite being a decent size room with chairs and tables. The music was more plentiful than ever and it made the choices very difficult. Who to see and who to miss was a quandary. It also left some very worthy artist like Chris Smither and Jeffrey Foucault working half empty rooms because of shows at the other clubs. The Hacienda Brothers continue to blow me away with their combination of being tight and loose at the same time. Producer and songwriter Dan Penn came out to sing backup vocals on "What's Wrong With Right" for about 20 seconds. Shy and humble I guess. Carlene Carter looked happy and sober and sounded better than ever. Jim Lauderdale was everywhere, from The Station Inn Tuesday night with his bluegrass band to The Basement for the Yep Roc party to the final night at 3 AM at the Chicken & Waffles Party at Ernest Tubb's Record Store. Tony Joe White was hiding under a floppy hat and shades stubbornly holding his swamp blues close to the ground. The Derailers badly need a tune-up and even Dave Alvin sounded a little tired. With only 45 minutes for their set, band like the Gourds and Alvin's are usually only warming up so they can be excused. The Hunger Mountain Boys were fun and carry the torch or the Delmores and the Blue Sky Boys, while James Hunter's taking care of Sam Cooke's and Bobby "Blue" Bland's torches. Who I saw that I liked: Carlene Carter, Jeffrey Foucault, Elizabeth Cook, The Hunger Mountain Boys, Mando Saenz, Chris Knight, The Hacienda Brothers, Corb Lund, Tony Joe White, Shawn Mullins, The Waybacks, Ed Pettersen, Will Kimbrough, The Gourds, Amy LaVere, James McMurtry, Keiran Kane, Kevin Welch & Fats Kaplin, Chatham County Line, Paul Burch, James Hunter (solo and w/band)... Who wanted to see but missed: Thad Cockrell, Jon Langford, Abigail Washburn (w/ Bela Fleck and others), Dale Watson, Marty Stuart, Sarah Borges, The Waybacks, Pat McLaughlin, James Hand, Nathan, Tim Easton, Shawn Camp, Charlie Louvin, Carrie Rodriguez, Lucky Tomblin Band, Last Train Home, Darrell Scott Band, Elana James, Bob Delevante... more to come...
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The Awards Show, held for the second year at the hallowed church that is the Ryman Auditorium, was again hosted by Jim Lauderdale, who has a wonderfully sarcastic way of walking out on the stage after someone finishes a song and proclaiming "Now That's Americana!" Everyone knowingly laughs because we all know what he means. It could be Elvis Costello or Charlie Daniels, if we like it then it must be Americana. Most of us equally love bluegrass, R&B and honky-tonk, as long as it done with passion and sincerity. 
One of the big perks of doing a radio show was getting invited to a special mexican breakfast at Darrell Scott's house Friday morning. He has a beautiful home with a well-equipped kitchen where he cooked scrambled eggs, chorizo, quiche and hillbilly beans for over 20 people. When I asked Darrell what made the beans "hillbilly", he said "that's because a hillbilly made 'em". He was obviously into cooking and took great joy in hosting us. Besides the radio and publicity folks Kenny Malone, Harry Stinson and Darrell's fiance Suzi Ragsdale were there. 
