Americana Spirit

9/11/2007 Stephen L. Betts The Americana Music Association will honor songwriter Townes Van Zandt with the President's Award during their annual awards show on Nov. 1 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Songwriter Guy Clark, Townes’ longtime friend, will accept the award and will also perform one of the legend’s songs during the awards show. Townes Van Zandt died of a heart attack on Jan. 1, 1997. He was 52. Emmylou Harris, who recorded Townes’ “If I Needed You” (as a duet with Don Williams) and “Pancho and Lefty,” has also been added to the list of performers for the awards show. The Hacienda Brothers, Elizabeth Cook, the Avett Brothers and Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby are also scheduled to appear. Of interest to Americana listeners is today’s (9/11) release of the superb Kane, Welch, Kaplin. Talk about a supergroup! Kieran Kane and Kevin Welch are prolific, inventive songwriters as well as the owners of a revolutionary record label (Dead Reckoning) and Fats Kaplin is a ridiculously talented multi-instrumentalist who joined the pair for 2003’s rootsy Lost John Dean. Picking up where that album left off (and adding Kieran's son, Lucas to the mix) with a cool, spontaneous and jazzy vibe, Kane, Welch, Kaplin sounds like a group of close friends jamming in the living room with nothing in mind but a good time. And ya gotta love the wacky cover art, painted by Kieran Kane. On the Americana airplay chart this week, the Subdudes are still on top with their album, Street Symphony. Lyle Lovett and His Large Band jump from No. 10 to No. 4 with It’s Not Big, It’s Large, and Steve Earle has the top debut of the week with Washington Square Serenade (out 9/25), coming in at No. 11. One album to be on the lookout for is the three-disc compilation, Song of America, which will be released next week (9/18). A 50-song set compiled by former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno (yes, you read that correctly!), the album tells the story of America through songs like “Sweet Betsy from Pike” (BR549), and “Rosie the Riveter” (Suzy Bogguss) to “Get Together” (Kim Richey) and “This Land Is Your Land” (John Mellencamp). Inspired, humbling and completely thrilling.