Allison Russell gained each artist of the yr and album of the yr on the 2022 Worldwide Folks Music Awards, which have been offered Wednesday (Could 18), the opening evening of the thirty fourth annual Folks Alliance Worldwide Convention in Kansas Metropolis, Mo.
Russell took album of the yr for her first solo album, Exterior Youngster, which has been an awards magnet in latest months. Final November, it was nominated for a Grammy for finest Americana album. On Saturday, it gained a Juno Award in Russell’s native Canada for up to date roots album of the yr. On Monday, it grew to become an Americana Honors & Awards nominee for album of the yr.
Crys Matthews’ “Changemakers” garnered music of the yr honors. Matthews carried out on the present, as did fellow nominees John Smith and Diana Jones. The present opened with a music by gospel artist Isaac Cates & Ordained.
Accordionist Flaco Jiménez, the late songwriter and interpreter Nanci Griffith, and Denver-based folks music heart Swallow Hill Music have been this yr’s recipients of the Elaine Weissman lifetime achievement awards. The awards are offered annually to honor the cultural impression of legendary folks music figures.
Jason Mraz, recognized for his consideration to conservation, human rights and LGBTQIA+ points, acquired The Individuals’s Voice Award, which is offered to a person who “unabashedly embraces social and political commentary of their artistic work and public careers.” Previous recipients embody Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ani DiFranco and Bruce Cockburn.
On receiving the award, Mraz stated, “I used to be somewhat shy at first, considering I’m too younger for this award, that I haven’t accomplished or stated sufficient. Then I noticed these ideas and emotions by no means go away, that nagging thought that I haven’t accomplished sufficient. Nevertheless it’s that nagging thought that’s a sign that we nonetheless have vitality to present and need to and can.”
Mali Obomsawin, a Smithsonian Folkways Recordings artist, member of the band Lula Wiles and journalist, acquired the Rising Tide Award. The award was launched in 2021 to have a good time a brand new era (underneath age 30) artist who evokes others by embodying the values and beliefs of the people group.
The 2022 recipients of the Spirit of Folks Awards included musician, educator and documentary producer Eugene Rodriguez of Los Cenzontles; composer, producer, performing artist and Louisiana Purple Scorching Data vice chairman and head of A&R Lilli Lewis; NPR Tiny Desk contest winner, musician and incapacity rights activist Gaelynn Lea; Canadian Dwell Music Affiliation president & CEO Erin Benjamin; Bolivian-American multi-instrumentalist, composer and instrument maker Amado Espinoza; and Sound Diplomacy founder Shain Shapiro. These awards are offered to honor folks and organizations actively concerned within the promotion and preservation of people music.
Colorado-based Planet Bluegrass acquired the Clearwater Award, which is offered to a competition that prioritizes environmental stewardship and demonstrates public management in sustainable occasion manufacturing.
Angela Web page and Dr. Johnathan Øverby have been inducted into the Folks DJ Corridor of Fame, which was established to acknowledge radio DJs who’ve made excellent contributions to the preservation, promotion and presentation of people music. Web page has hosted Folks Plus because the early Nineteen Nineties on hydro-powered WJFF 90.5 FM Radio Catskill in Jeffersonville, N.Y. Dr. Øverby is a DJ and Wisconsin Public Radio host and a famous ethnomusicologist and scholar.
Folks Alliance Worldwide was based in 1989. Its greater than 3,000 members represent a worldwide group of artists, brokers, managers, labels, publicists, arts directors, venues, festivals and live performance collection presenters.
Folks Alliance Worldwide produces the world’s largest convention for the people music business, the Folks Alliance Worldwide Convention; the Worldwide Folks Music Awards; an artist-in-residence program; the Folks ExChange market growth program; the Ethno USA gathering (on behalf of JM Worldwide); group outreach; and a Most interesting Folks live performance collection.
Folks Alliance Worldwide defines folks broadly as “the music of the folks” (reflective of any group they’re from), and applications a various array of sub genres together with Appalachian, Americana, blues, bluegrass, Celtic, Cajun, world roots, hip-hop, old-time, singer-songwriter, spoken phrase, conventional, zydeco, and varied fusions.
Listed below are the winners in key classes:
Artist of the yr
The Longest Johns
Kalani Pe’a
WINNER: Allison Russell
Arooj Aftab
John Francis Flynn
Album of the yr
They’re Calling Me Residence, Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi
Cautious + Unusual, Amythyst Kiah
Un Canto por México, Vol. 2, Natalia Lafourcade
WINNER: Exterior Youngster, Allison Russell
The Fray, John Smith
Music of the yr
“On Strong Floor,” Reggie Harris
“Painted Blue,” Sarah Jarosz
“We Imagine You,” Diana Jones
“Name Me A Idiot,” Valerie June
WINNER: “Changemakers,” Crys Matthews
