(Rosanne Cash photo: Deborah Feingold)
Rosanne Cash will be the 2009 keynote interview subject during the Americana Music Association’s Festival and Conference on Thursday morning, September 17, at the Nashville Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Author and journalist Michael Streissguth, whose latest book, Always Been There: Rosanne Cash, The List and the Spirit of Southern Music, chronicles the making of her forthcoming album, will pose questions to the Grammy Award-winning artist, who has had more than 20 top 40 country singles over the course of her 30-year career to date.
Although the interview will be wide-ranging, Cash is sure to speak about The List, her 12th studio album and the singer-songwriter’s first-ever covers recording. The album, slated for release on Manhattan Records in October, will feature her contemporary interpretations of 12 classic songs culled from a list of “100 Essential Country Songs” that her late father, Johnny Cash, compiled on a legal pad and gave her when she was 18 and just starting to write songs of her own.
As Cash recalls, her father was alarmed upon hearing from her one day while they were sitting in the tour bus that she was not familiar with one American roots and country song after another that he mentioned to her. He compiled a list and handed it to her, saying “This is your education,” and advising her to learn them all.
“The List was far-ranging and thorough,” says Cash, noting that “it was assembled from my father’s intuitive understanding of each critical juncture in the evolution of country music. There were old Appalachian folk ballads, and the songs of Jimmie Rodgers and Woody Guthrie. The influence of gospel and southern blues were crucial. Then he segued into rockabilly and the birth of modern country music by way of Hank Williams, and up to the present, which was then 1973.” She notes that he also included a couple of his own songs, and that she sought to learn them all. “I looked to that as a standard of excellence, and to remind myself of the tradition from which I come,” Cash continues, noting “That standard is something I’m always trying to reach.”
Cash, who acknowledges that she was initially resistant to the idea of recording the classic songs herself, having never recorded an album just as a singer before, says The List “enables me to validate the connection to my heritage rather than run away from it, and to tie all the threads together: past and future, legacy and youth, tradition and timelessness.”
In addition to the keynote interview with Rosanne Cash, the 10th annual Americana Music Festival and Conference, slated for September 16-19, will feature a wide array of professional development seminars and panel discussions during the day, an exhibition hall-trade show, nearly 100 nightly Americana music showcases at five venues in the “music city,” and plenty of opportunities for networking.
As previously reported on AcousticMusicScene.com, the eighth annual Americana Honors and Awards ceremony — a previous edition of which featured Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash’s last live performance together – takes place Sept. 17, from 7-9:30 p.m., at the historic Ryman Auditorium. Jim Lauderdale hosts the event, while Buddy Miller’s All-Star Band will be featured. A listing of the 2009 Americana Music Association Honors and Awards nominees was posted in June and follows below.
Album of the Year: Real Animal by Alejandro Escovedo, Written in Chalk by Buddy and Julie Miller, Jason Isbell and the 40 Unit by Jason Isbell and The 40 Unit, Midnight at the Movies by Justin Townes Earle
Artist of the Year: Alejandro Escovedo, Buddy Miller, Justin Townes Earle, Raul Malo
Instrumentalist of the Year: Buddy Miller, Gurf Morlix, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush
New & Emerging Artist: Band of Heathens, Belleville Outfit, Justin Townes Earle, Sarah Borges
Song of the Year: “Chalk,” written by Julie Miller, performed by Buddy Miller and Patty Griffin; “Country Love” by the Gourds; “Homeland Refugee” by Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, performed by the Flatlanders; “Rattlin’ Bones,” written and performed by Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson; “Sex and Gasoline,” written and performed by Rodney Crowell
Duo/Group of the Year: Buddy and Julie Miller, Flatlanders, Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson, Reckless Kelly
Recognition for Lifetime Achievements and awards in performance, songwriting and the Spirit of Americana Award honoring free speech in music also will be presented.
Established in 1999, the Americana Music Association is a professional trade association dedicated to building and promoting the Americana genre and the individuals who participate in the industry. More information can be found at www.americanamusic.org.
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