Elvis Costello, Delbert McClinton to Receive Americana Lifetime Achievement Awards

English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello and blues-rocker Delbert McClinton are among the diverse group of artists who will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 18th annual Americana Honors and Awards. The show will be held at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on September 11th.

Costello will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting, with a wide-ranging catalog of lyrically rich songs that span everything from punk and new wave to country and soul. The 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award winner for Performance is McClinton, whose more than 50 years of experience in music includes playing harmonica on Bruce Channel’s 1961 hit “Hey! Baby” and releasing the album Tall, Dark and Handsome in 2019. Songwriting team Felice and Boudleaux Bryant will be recognized with the 2019’s President’s Award for their creative partnership that yielded classic songs like the Everly Brothers’ “Bye Bye Love” and “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” and “Love Hurts,” with versions recorded by Roy Orbison, Gram Parsons, and Nazareth. And finally, performer Maria Muldaur will receive the Americana Trailblazer Award for her forward-thinking Seventies recordings that included “Midnight at the Oasis.”

Additionally, the Americana Music Association will present the inaugural Legacy of Americana Award to Rhiannon Giddens and late folk musician Frank Johnson as part of a partnership with the National Museum of African American Music. Singer Mavis Staples, who won the 2007 “Spirit of Americana” Free Speech Award, will also be recognized during the ceremony.

The 18th annual Americana Honors and Awards is the marquee event of the 2019 AmericanaFest, which takes place in Nashville September 10th to 15th and features nightly showcases from artists including the Vandoliers, Lori McKenna, Drivin N Cryin, and Lilly Hiatt.