AMA honors Williams, Isaak, Indigos, Fairfield Four, Bell

Tuesday, August 23, 2022 – The Americana Music Association will honor Don Williams, the Indigo Girls, Chris Isaak, the Fairfield Four and Al Bell with Lifetime Achievement Award at the 21st Annual Americana Honors & Awards show on Sept. 14.

The Fairfield Four (Legacy Award, co-presented by the National Museum of African American Music), Al Bell (Executive), Chris Isaak (Performance), Indigo Girls (Spirit of Americana Award, co-presented by the First Amendment Center), and Don Williams (President's Award, posthumous).

The Legacy of Americana Award will be presented to the Fairfield Four, in partnership with the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM). The Four transformed American gospel music from the 1930s onward with its rhythm-and-blues influenced a cappella singing. Launched at the Fairfield Baptist Church 101 years ago as a youth group, the Fairfield Four went national after Rev. Sam McCrary took over as leader in the 1930s. They found an audience on radio station WLAC and toured relentlessly, becoming a key influence in their genre and beyond, including Elvis Presley and B.B. King.

Isaak will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance. He took rockabilly revival and country noir mainstream in the 1990s. Isaak's songs "Wicked Game," "Somebody's Crying" and "Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing" were highlights of his career. As an accomplished actor, Isaak appeared in productions directed by David Lynch and Bernardo Bertolucci, as well as two TV series under his own name.

The Spirit of Americana Award, presented in partnership with the First Amendment Center, will be presented to the Indigo Girls. "When they launched their harmony-forward folk-rock duo in the mid 1980s, the idea of out lesbians commanding a huge fan base was radical, but that changed, thanks in part to Emily Saliers and Amy Ray's advocacy and example," the AMA said in a press release. The lifelong friends honed their artistry in high school and college in their native Atlanta, GA before their first album did well and was picked up by Epic Records.

Bell — one of the most impactful African American music executives, having steered Stax Records in Memphis to some culture-shaping moments before moving on to run Motown Records in the 1980s — will receive the Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award for Executive. As a young DJ, Bell played records by artists from Memphis on the Stax label. In 1965, Bell joined Stax as head of promotions and would go on to own the company, in the meantime overseeing 1972's legendary Wattstax festival and elevating the careers of Isaac Hayes and the Staple Singers.

The President's Award will go posthumously to Williams, the laid back Texas-born singer and songwriter who quietly was on the country charts between 1974 and 1991. His breakout came with the Pozo-Seco Singers folk group, and he was ushered into Nashville by Cowboy Jack Clement. Williams' style and relatable hits like "You're My Best Friend" and "I Believe In You" helped "The Gentle Giant" become a global star who entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010.

"This year's Lifetime Achievement honorees represent the diverse sounds that contribute to American roots music," said Jed Hilly, Executive Director of the Americana Music Association. "Our honorees have inspired this community individually and have collectively changed the landscape of the music industry. I can't wait for this show."