The Grammy Award for Best Americana Album is an honor presented to recording artists for quality albums in the Americana music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
In 2009, the Academy announced that the award for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album would be split into two separate categories: Best Contemporary Folk Album and Best Americana Album. The distinction between the two award categories is based on the use of acoustic versus electric instruments; acoustic instruments predominate in "contemporary folk" and electric instruments are characteristic of Americana. Jed Hilly, executive director of the Americana Music Association, called the new category's inclusion "a huge acknowledgment" of the music genre. Hilly admitted to working hard at convincing the Academy to include Americana as its own category. The music industry had been using the term "Americana music" for about 15 years before the new award was created. Following is the award's purpose, according to the category description guide from the 2018 Grammy Awards:
The award was first presented in 2010 to Levon Helm at the 52nd Grammy Awards for the album Electric Dirt. Lucinda Williams is the artist with most nominations (three) without a win (see below for a table with artists with most wins and nominations).
Recipients
2010s Year Work Artist2010 Electric Dirt Levon Helm Little Honey Lucinda Williams Together Through Life Bob Dylan Wilco (The Album) Wilco Willie and the Wheel Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel2011 You Are Not Alone Band of Joy Robert Plant Country Music Willie Nelson The List Rosanne Cash Tin Can Trust Los Lobos2012 Ramble at the Ryman Levon Helm Blessed Lucinda Williams Emotional Jukebox Linda Chorney Hard Bargain Emmylou Harris Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down Ry Cooder2013 Slipstream Bonnie Raitt Babel Mumford & Sons The Carpenter The Avett Brothers From the Ground Up John Fullbright The Lumineers The Lumineers2014 Old Yellow Moon Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell Buddy and Jim Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale Love Has Come for You Steve Martin and Edie Brickell One True Vine Mavis Staples Songbook Allen Toussaint2015 The River & the Thread Rosanne Cash BLUESAmericana Keb' Mo' A Dotted Line Nickel Creek Metamodern Sounds in Country Music Sturgill Simpson Terms of My Surrender John Hiatt2016 Something More Than Free Jason Isbell The Firewatcher's Daughter Brandi Carlile Mono The Mavericks The Phosphorescent Blues Punch Brothers The Traveling Kind Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell2017 This Is Where I Live William Bell The Bird and the Rifle Lori McKenna The Cedar Creek Sessions Kris Kristofferson Kid Sister The Time Jumpers True Sadness The Avett Brothers2018 The Nashville Sound Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Beast Epic Iron & Wine Brand New Day The Mavericks Shine on Rainy Day Brent Cobb Southern Blood Gregg Allman2019 By the Way, I Forgive You Brandi Carlile The Lonely, the Lonesome & the Gone Lee Ann Womack One Drop of Truth The Wood Brothers Things Have Changed Bettye LaVette The Tree of Forgiveness John Prine
2020s Year Work Artist 2020 Oklahoma Keb' Mo' Tales of America J.S. Ondara Walk Through Fire Yola Who Are You Now Madison Cunningham Years to Burn Calexico and Iron & Wine 2021 World on the Ground Sarah Jarosz El Dorado Marcus King Good Souls Better Angels Lucinda Williams Old Flowers Courtney Marie Andrews Terms of Surrender Hiss Golden Messenger 2022 Native Sons Los Lobos Downhill From Everywhere Jackson Browne Leftover Feelings John Hiatt and the Jerry Douglas Band Outside Child Allison Russell Stand for Myself Yola 2023 In These Silent Days Brandi Carlile Good to Be... Keb' Mo' Just Like That... Bonnie Raitt Raise the Roof Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Things Happen That Way Dr. John 2024 Weathervanes Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit Brandy Clark Brandy Clark The Chicago Sessions Rodney Crowell The Returner Allison Russell You're the One Rhiannon Giddens 2025 Trail of Flowers Sierra Ferrell No One Gets Out Alive Maggie Rose The Other Side T Bone Burnett Polaroid Lovers Sarah Jarosz $10 Cowboy Charley Crockett Tigers Blood Waxahatchee 2026 Big Money Jon Batiste Bloom Larkin Poe Last Leaf on the Tree Willie Nelson Middle Jesse Welles So Long Little Miss Sunshine Molly Tuttle
Artists with multiple wins
3 wins Jason Isbell
2 wins Brandi Carlile Levon Helm
Artists with multiple nominations
3 nominations Brandi Carlile Rodney Crowell Emmylou Harris Jason Isbell Keb' Mo' Willie Nelson Lucinda Williams
2 nominations The Avett Brothers Rosanne Cash Levon Helm John Hiatt Iron & Wine The Mavericks Robert Plant Bonnie Raitt Allison Russell Mavis Staples Yola
See also Americana Music Association Heartland rock List of Grammy Award categories Roots rock
References
General Note: User must select the "American Roots" category as the genre under the search feature.
Specific