Americana Awards 2023: Billy Strings, Charley Crockett, Allison Russell earn nods

Noisemakers in country, bluegrass, folk, rock 'n' roll and roots music earned nominations this week for the upcoming Americana Music Honors and Awards.

Top nominees unveiled Tuesday by the non-profit Americana Music Association include country crooner Charley Crockett, Midwest-raised storyteller Margo Price and standout folk singer Allison Russell. Crockett and Price earned three nods, while Russell competes for two honors. All three earned a nomination for Artist of the Year — top prize at the annual show.

The Americana Music Association announced nominees at a daytime event inside the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville. The gathering included performances from Price, Kentucky singer-songwriter S.G. Goodman, and Nashville gospel group the McCrary Sisters.

In its 22nd installment, the Americana Honors and Awards returns Sept. 20 to the Ryman Auditorium. The show anchors AmericanaFest, a long-running Nashville event known for taste-making roots music showcases and sought-after panel discussions. AmericanaFest runs Sept. 19-23.

Backed by his standout 2022 album "The Man from Waco," Crockett competes for the aforementioned Artist of the Year title, as well as Album of the Year and Song of the Year. Price also earned Artist, Album and Song of the Year nods behind her latest full-length effort, "Strays."

They join an Artist of the Year nomination class that includes Russell, breakout country singer Sierra Ferrell and bluegrass bellwether Billy Strings, who won the award in 2022. For the first time in a decade, Artist of the Year does not include Americana heavyweights Brandi Carlile or Jason Isbell.

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Album of the Year nominees include titles from Crockett, Price ("Strays"), Hermanos Gutiérrez ("El Bueno y el Malo,"), Tyler Childers ("Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven") and Angel Olson ("Big Time"). Song of the Year features Crockett's "I'm Just a Clown," Russell and Carlile's collaboration "You're Not Alone," Price's "Change of Heart," Bonnie Raitt's Grammy Award-winning "Just Like That," and Zach Bryan's wildly popular 2022 single "Something in the Orange."

Additional nominees include Goodman, breakout country band 49 Winchester, husband-wife duo War and Treaty and East Tennessee's Adeem the Artist.

See a full list of nominees below.

2023 Americana Honors and Awards nominees

Artist of the Year

• Charley Crockett

• Sierra Ferrell

• Margo Price

• Allison Russell

• Billy Strings

Album of the Year

• "Big Time," Angel Olsen; produced by Angel Olsen and Jonathan Wilson

• "Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven?" Tyler Childers; produced by Tyler Childers

• "El Bueno y el Malo," Hermanos Gutiérrez; produced by Dan Auerbach

• "The Man from Waco," Charley Crockett; produced by Bruce Robison

• "Strays," Margo Price; produced by Margo Price and Jonathan Wilson

Song of the Year

• “Change of Heart,” Margo Price; written by Jeremy Ivey, Margo Price

• “I’m Just a Clown,” Charley Crockett; written by Charley Crockett

• “Just Like That,” Bonnie Raitt; written by Bonnie Raitt

• “Something in the Orange,” Zach Bryan; written by Zach Bryan

• “You’re Not Alone,” Allison Russell featuring Brandi Carlile; written by Allison Russell

Duo/Group of the Year

• 49 Winchester

• Caamp

• Nickel Creek

• Plains

• The War and Treaty

Emerging Act of the Year

• Adeem the Artist

• S.G. Goodman

• William Prince

• Thee Sacred Souls

• Sunny War

Instrumentalist of the Year

• Isa Burke

• Allison de Groot

• Jeff Picker

• SistaStrings — Chauntee and Monique Ross

• Kyle Tuttle

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Americana Awards: Billy Strings, Charley Crockett among nominees