Americana Music Association Announces Streaming ‘Thriving Roots’ Conference

Thriving Roots

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has rolled the music industry keeping musicians from coming together together to create music and keeping musicians off the road and deriving them of a much-needed revenue source. Many have tackled the technical hurdles to stream performances to connect with fans and collect online tips and perhaps move a t-shirt or a slab of vinyl.

It follows that music festivals would follow much the same path. Americana Music Association’s AmericanaFest as a face-to-face event has been scrapped for their charitable and educational branch, the Americana Music Association Foundation, will hold a ‘Thriving Roots,’ a virtual festival complete with industry-focused panels and live-streamed performances.

Set for September 16th-18th the event will include guest speakers Jackson Browne, Mavis Staples,Brandi Carlile, Yola, Emmylou Harris, Ken Burns, Taj Mahal, Mary Gauthier, Rhiannon Giddens, T Bone Burnett, Rosanne Cash, and Black Pumas. Topics slated to be covered are representation, advocacy and staying true to your art, the healing qualities of music, and the business challenges and decisions faced by a developing artist.

The full agenda for ‘Thriving Roots’ will be announced in late August.

Early bird passes for conference registration are $99 and available now.

Loretta Lynn, Flaco Jiménez, Jackson Browne and Taj Mahal to Receive Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Awards

AMA Lifetime Achievement

Loretta Lynn, Flaco Jiménez, Jackson Browne and Taj Mahal have been selected to receive Lifetime Achievement Award winners to be presented at its 13th Annual Honors and Awards. The ceremony will take place on Wednesday, September 17 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The show will be taped for air on PBS later this year in the Austin City Limits time slot and titled ACL Presents: Americana Music Festival 2014.

Jackson Browne will receive the “Spirit of Americana Award, Free Speech in Music” co-presented with the First Amendment Center. The Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting goes to country music legend Loretta Lynn. Texas tejano accordion master Flaco Jiménez will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award as an Instrumentalist.
The Lifetime Achievement in Performance will go to Grammy Award-winning blues luminary Taj Mahal.

The 15th annual Americana Music Festival & Conference will take place September 17-21, 2014 in Nashville, Tenn. Tickets for the Honors & Awards are only available with the purchase of a conference registration.

Purchase here.