Grammy awards add Americana category

Friday, June 13, 2014 – The Americana part of the Grammy awards will have a new honor.

The Recording Academy announced Thursday that starting with the 2015 awards, one of the new categories will be Best American Roots Performance in the American Roots Music Field

An artist's award, the new honor will encompass all of the subgenres of the field (Americana, bluegrass, blues, folk, regional roots music) and recognizes singles/tracks only as well as solo artists/duos/groups/collaborations.

This puts the Field in line with the Pop, Rock, Rap, R&B, Country, and Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Fields, all of which have performance categories," the Academy said in a press release.

"The Academy's Board of Trustees continues to demonstrate its passionate commitment to keeping The Recording Academy a relevant and responsive organization in our dynamic music community," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. "This year's changes to our Awards process are thoughtful, inclusive, and reflective of the current musical landscape, and we look forward to implementing them for the upcoming 57th Annual Grammy Awards.

"The Americana Music Association applauds the Recording Academy for adding a new category," the association said in a statement.

Other Americana categories are Best American Roots Music Song and Best Americana Album.

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