Sturgill Simpson, Lucinda Williams take top Americana Awards

Sturgill Simpson won two awards at the Americana Music Honors and Awards Show at the Ryman Auditorium Wednesday night, but the critically acclaimed country singer was more than 500 miles away, playing a sold-out show in Charlottesville, Va.

The Kentucky-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter, who took home the Emerging Artist trophy in 2014, won both Song of the Year for "Turtles All the Way Down" and Artist of the Year.

"Metamodern Sounds in Country Music" was also nominated for Album of the Year; however, those honors went to Americana cornerstone Lucinda Williams for her record "Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone." This win was a poignant one for Williams: the album title comes from "Compassion," a poem written by her father, Miller Williams, who died on New Year's Day.

SCROLL DOWN: For a complete list of this year's winners.

Singer-songwriter Shakey Graves, who described standing on the Ryman stage as a "continual, massive, semi-religious experience," was named this year's Emerging Artist.

Genre-blending music veterans The Mavericks won Duo/Group of the Year, and John Leventhal, who co-wrote, produced and performed on wife Rosanne Cash's Grammy-winning record "The River and The Thread," received the Instrumentalist of the Year Award.

"Musicians always have been and always will be my heroes," Leventhal said in his acceptance speech.

The bulk of the program was composed of live performances, beginning with Robert Randolph, the Fairfield Four, and the McCrary Sisters rattling the rafters with a captivating rendition of "Rock My Soul." Nearly two dozen artists — who were backed by a top-notch house band led by Buddy Miller — performed over the course of the evening, including all of this year's Lifetime Achievement Award recipients: Ricky Skaggs, Don Henley, Los Lobos, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.

"The Lord has put so many great people in my life," Skaggs said after accepting his award from Ry Cooder. "Getting to play with Bill Monroe, playing with Flatt & Scruggs and with Ralph and Carter Stanley … I’m so blessed."​

BB King's beloved guitar Lucille was brought onstage as Keb' Mo paid tribute to the blues legend with a soulful rendition of King's "How Blue Can I Get." King, who died in May, was posthumously honored with the Americana Music Association President's Award; Wednesday would have been his 90th birthday.

An edited version of the awards show will air on PBS as a special episode of "Austin City Limits" later this year.

2015 winners:

Album of the Year (Award goes to artist and producer)

“Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone,” Lucinda Williams; Produced by Lucinda Williams, Tom Overby and Greg Leisz

Artist of the Year

Sturgill Simpson

Emerging Artist of the Year

Shakey Graves

Duo/Group of the Year

The Mavericks

Song of the Year (Award goes to Artist and Songwriter)

"Turtles All the Way Down" - Sturgill Simpson; Written by Sturgill Simpson

Instrumentalist of the Year

John Leventhal

President’s Award: BB King

Lifetime Achievement Award, Trailblazer: Don Henley

Lifetime Achievement Award, Instrumentalist: Ricky Skaggs

Lifetime Achievement Award, Songwriting: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

Lifetime Achievement Award, Performance: Los Lobos.

Spirit of Americana/Free Speech in Music Award co-presented by the Americana Music Association and the First Amendment Center: Buffy Sainte-Marie

