UK Americana Awards wraps up three days of Americanafest UK

31 January 2019 - Press release

Winners included Frank Turner, Brandi Carlile, Graham Nash and Joe Boyd

Performers included Jade Bird, Seth Lakeman, Graham Nash, Rhiannon Giddens and Yola

 

Hosted by Bob Harris OBE, The fourth UK Americana Awards took place tonight at a packed Hackney Empire in East London.

Winners on the night included such names as Frank Turner (Best Selling Americana Album for Be More Kind), Graham Nash (Lifetime Achievement Award), legendary producer Joe Boyd (Trailblazer Award), Bennet Wilson Poole (UK Artist of the Year) and Brandi Carlile (International Song of the Year for The Joke).

The talented winners were presented with their unique 'Woodys'. These awards are hand-crafted representations of 7" singles turned in a variety of woods. The special 12" Lifetime Achievement Awards was presented to Graham Nash. Full winners:

 

Lifetime Achievement Award – Graham Nash

UK Album of the Year – Shorebound by Ben Glover

International Album of the Year – May Your Kindness Remain by Courtney Marie Andrews

UK Song of the Year – Southern Wind by Dean Owens

International Song of the Year – The Joke by Brandi Carlile

UK Artist of the Year – Bennet Wilson Poole

International Artist of the Year – Mary Gauthier

UK Instrumentalist of the Year – CJ Hillman

Trailblazer Award – Joe Boyd

Bob Harris Emerging Artist Award – Curse of Lono

Best Selling Americana Album – Be More Kind by Frank Turner

Grass Roots Award – The Green Note, Camden

 

Playing to a sold-out venue, the house band helmed by esteemed producer and songwriter Ethan Johns, welcomed performers on the night including Graham Nash, Rhiannon Giddens (who was also a keynote speaker at the AMA UK Conference), Jade Bird, YOLA, Seth Lakeman, Chris Hillman and Curse of Lono.

The awards were presented by Bob Harris who was joined on stage by Countryfile's Ellie Harrison, 10 CC's Graham Gouldman, US Country star Ashley Monroe, Glastonbury Festival's Emily Eavis and US comedian and musician Rich Hall to hand out the coveted gongs.

Earlier in the week, The Americana Music Association UK took over 5 venues in Hackney to showcase well over 50 artists representing the wide spectrum of the Americana genre. The week also saw AMA UK members attending conferences and talks from industry speakers and artists including John Oates (in conversation with Bob Harris), Deacon Blue's Ricky Ross (in conversation with Fiona Bevan) and Rhiannon Giddens delivering the Keynote speech.

 

More information and photos from the Awards at https://theamauk.org/