In the midst of this week’s Americanafest affairs, which features four days of appearances from the likes of Charles Wesley Godwin, Reckless Kelly, Noeline Hofmann, Kashus Culpepper, S.G. Goodman, Kairlin Butts and more, last night the American Music Association (AMA) gathered together at the Ryman Auditorium for the 24th annual Americana Music Honors & Awards.
Unlike the ACMs and CMAs, the Americana Awards have had a long history of nominating and subsequently awarding some of the best and brightest stars in both the alt. country and folk scene. With Sturgill Simpson, Charley Crockett, Billy Strings, The Red Clay Strays and Tyler Childers (who famously criticized the award show) all winning awards over the past five years, it’s clear that the Association has its finger on the pulse of what many consider the heart of today’s budding country, folk and Americana landscape.
Last year, the big winner was none other than Sierra Ferrell, taking home Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for Trail of Flowers. This, of course, set the stage for her to sweep all four of her nominations at the 67th Grammy Awards in February, winning Best Americana Album (Trail of Flowers), Best Americana Performance (“American Dreaming”), Best American Roots Song (“American Dreaming”) and Best American Roots Performance (“Lighthouse”).
This year was no different for the “In Dreams” singer as she took home her second-straight Artist of the Year trophy, becoming just the third artist and first female artist ever to win in back-to-back years. Despite winning the award, Ferrell was unable to attend the show due to her previously scheduled show in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Host of the show, comedian and actor John C. Reilly, would text her and congratulate her on the win. In response, she simply said:
“Tell everyone I’m so thankful for the love. God and Jesus got me here. Thankful for the gifts to sing to everyone, I’ll never stop.”
It should come as no surprise, given that Ferrell has become a torchbearer for Americana over the past few years. Beyond her incredible music output that flawlessly blends elements of country, folk, bluegrass, Americana and even jazz, her crossover into the mainstream has pushed both her and the genre into the public eye. In addition to her success at the Grammys, she’s notably appeared on a plethora of different mainstream artist’s albums, including Zach Bryan’s 2023 self-titled album on “Holy Roller,” Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion on “Never Love You Again” and even on Shaboozey’s Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going on “Hail Mary.”
Couple her brilliant music itself and features with her extended spot on Post’s Big A*ss Stadium Tour, and it’s no surprise why she’s at the top of the Americana game. It’s hard to point to another artist that’s continually putting out quality music in the underappreciated genre while simultaneously elevating it to a bigger stage the way Ferrell is.
Other notable winners at the 24th annual Americana Awards include Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats taking home Album of the Year for South of Here, I’m With Her (the supergroup consisting of Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan and Sara Watkins) winning Song of the Year for “Ancient Life” and Jesse Welles accepting the Spirit of Americana/Free Speech in Music Award.
2025 Americana Music Awards Winners
Artist of the Year
Sierra Ferrell
Album of the Year
South of Here – Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Song of the Year
“Ancient Light” – I’m With Her (Written by Sara Jaroz, Aofie O’Donovan and Sara Watkins)
Duo/Group of the Year
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
Emerging Act of the Year
MJ Lenderman
Instrumentalist of the Year
Alex Hargreaves
Spirit of Americana/Free Speech in Music
Jesse Welles
