XM Satellite Radio’s XM15 The Village will present the first live broadcast of the Folk Alliance Awards from Memphis, TN this Wednesday Feb 20 at 8 PM ET on XM15 The Village. If you are not a subscriber to the service, you can receive an online trial at www.xmradio.com and the channel is also streaming live on AOL radio at www.aol.com (XM 15 is listed under “country” stations as “folk”).

Mary Sue Twohy, XM15 on-air personality, will be on site for this live broadcast in Tennessee.

This two hour special will include presenters Janet Reno, Former Attorney General Janet Reno, Kathy Mattea, and Eliza Gilkyson. It will also feature live music from Tom Russell and emerging folk artists Eilen Jewell, Anthony deCosta, Twilight Hotel.

Now in its third year, the Folk Alliance Awards Show (FA Awards Show) features performances and awards to honor merit and achievement within the Folk field. Mavis Staples, Tommy Jarrell, and Rounder Records will receive The Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Awards during the show.

Held at the Cook Convention Center, in Memphis the Awards Show will be hosted by Folk Alliance Board President, Dan Navarro.

Here are the final nominees and presenters for the Third Annual Folk Alliance Awards are:

Welcome To The Show: Dan Navarro, (Your Host)

Performance: Eilen Jewell (Emerging Artist Nominee)

Legacy Recording (presented by Si Kahn)
Woody Guthrie, “The Live Wire – Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949” (Woody Guthrie Archives)
Various Artists, “People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs” (Tompkins Square Records)
Various Artists “Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, And Chanteys” (Anti Records)
Various Artists “Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook, Vols. 2 & 3” (Bloodshot Records)

Legacy Lifetime Achievement Award: Tommy Jarrell

Booking Agency (presented by Greg Johnson)
Concerted Efforts
Folklore Productions
Mongrel Music
The Roots Agency
Skyline Booking

Broadcaster (presented by Wendy Waldman)
Susan Forbes Hansen – WHUS
Ron Olesko – WFDU
John Platt – WFUV
Mike Regenstreif – CKUT
Rich Warren – WFMT

Contemporary Artist (presented by Sara Hickman)
Peter Case
Lucy Kaplansky
Anais Mitchell
Tom Russell
Susan Werner

Album of the Year (presented by William Biff Kennedy)
(based on Folk-DJ Chart airplay)
Uncle Earl – Waterloo, Tennessee (Rounder)

Song of the Year (presented by Eliza Gilkyson)
(based on Folk-DJ Chart airplay)
Tom Russell – Who’s Gonna Build Your Wall (Hightone Records)

Performance: Tom Russell (Winner: Song of the Year 2008)

Lifetime Achievement Award: Mavis Staples

World Music Recording (presented by Hershel Freeman)
Cheick Hamala Diabate and Bob Carlin
Kobo Town
Loreena McKennitt
Mighty Popo
Sones de Mexico Ensemble

Small Folk Venue (presented by Anya Siglin)
Café Lena – Saratoga Springs, NY
Freight & Salvage – Berkeley, CA
Hugh’s Room – Toronto, ON
Iron Horse-Northampton, MA
Tin Angel – Philadelphia, PA

Traditional Artist (presented by Kathy Mattea)
David Bromberg
John Wort Hannam
Levon Helm
Joel Mabus
Uncle Earl

Performance: Twilight Hotel (Emerging Artist Nominee)

Large Folk Venue (presented by Val Denn)
The Ark-Ann Arbor, MI
The Birchmere-Arlington, VA
Cedar Cultural Center-Minneapolis, MN
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage – Washington, DC

Folk Festival (presented by Tom Neff)
Boston Folk Festival – MA
Edmonton Folk Festival – AL
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival – NY
Philadelphia Folk Festival – PA
Ottawa Folk Festival – ON

Performance: Anthony DaCosta (Emerging Artist Nominee)

Emerging Artist (presented by Janet Reno)
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Anthony daCosta
Eilen Jewell
Devon Sproule
Twilight Hotel

Lifetime Achievement Awards for Business: Rounder Records

* * *
Personal Note – As you might notice, I am one of the nominees this year. I’ve always had mixed emotions about awards for the arts, or awards for any job. I am fully supportive of the Folk Alliance Awards, and I am really honored to be nominated.

All awards ceremonies, like the Oscars and Grammys, provide fodder for watercooler conversation and can never be a definitive judgement on who or what is the best. It is subjective judgement and while there are always basic criteria for grading merit, it becomes impossible to distinguish artistic visions that express individual thought and purpose. Yet, they bring attention to the work.

The reason the Academy Awards were first created was an attempt by the movie industry, regarded at the time as a poor cousin to legitimate theater, to recognize artistic merit. The Awards soon captured the attention of the public and help the movie industry take its rightful place as a worthy art form. Other awards in other creative industries do the same – the Grammys, the Tonys, even the Pulitzer and other literary awards.

Folk music seems to suffer from an image that it is an out of the back of the station wagon operation. Poorly attended shows in dank church basements, aging audiences in flannel shirts and paisley dresses, old hippies and radicals trying to reclaim their youth, and other stereotypes have plagued what is a beautiful artistic expression. The Folk Alliance Awards were created in an attempt to publicize current trends in the living folk traditions, and to honor the past with lifetime achievement awards to recongize the trailblazing work.

I am very honored to be recognized with a nomination. To see my name mentioned along with four other individuals whose talents and work have inspired me is a very humbling experience. Someone explained to me that the nominations are not made solely on the basis of broadcasting talents, but rather on the contribution to the individuals local community and their work to expand the horizons. I try my best, and I know that the other nominees work with such committment that I can only hope to emulate.

It may sound cliche, but being nominated is such a great recognition that I honestly do not care (or expect) if I win or lose, although I would enjoy the honor. The idea of “winning” an award is not the main purpose for their existence. The greater “good” in such an event as the Folk Alliance Awards is to help expand the audience that purchases music, attends concerts and festivals, listens to radio – and most importantly – to inspire others to make music. Everyone wins when attention is paid to folk music.

I’m tired of seeing “folk” events buried among “country music” or “pop” listings in newspapers – if they show up at all, or having “folk music” featured on Public Television ONLY during fund raising periods. Folk music is given occasional attention by the media when a film like “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” or “A Mighty Wind” draws attention as the subject matter, often in a disparging or stereotypical fashion.

The recent film “The Great Debaters” used folk music, notably from the Carolina Chocolate Drops who had a small role in the film, as an integral part of the film’s soundtrack. It showed folk music as it has always been – a part of the fabric of everyday life. THAT is what needs to be celebrated and recognize.

I applaud the Folk Alliance for creating the awards, and I do not say that because of my recent recognition. It is important to create such media events to show “the other side” of the genre, the reasons that those of us who dedicate a part of our lives to sharing. Focus on the “Emerging Artists” that will be heard at the event. These are voices that deserve wider recognition, and I hope will be the beneficiaries of this ceremony. The future is the reason we all work so hard.

I’ve got my fingers crossed! 🙂