Jason Isbell Wins 2018 Grammys for Americana Album of the Year – Best American Roots Song
Jason Isbell now has a third and fourth Grammy Award to add to his already-decorated mantle.
The Americana stalwart won the 2018 Grammy for Best Americana Album at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards held in New York City on Sunday (1-28) during the pre-telecast ceremony that takes place before the big awards show broadcast. The award goes to his record The Nashville Sound that he shared in namesake with his long-time backing band, The 400 Unit, and that was produced by Dave Cobb. He also won for Best American Roots Song for “If We Were Vampires.”
“I’m not running for the Internet,” Isbell said as he reached the podium. “But I will say this. I feel like this particular part of the ceremony is I think joined by a lot of people who are trying to keep a certain thing alive. And for me, I’m really trying to keep the spirit of the song alive. That’s the most important thing to me about my job.”
The Grammy for The Nashville Sound adds to an already-impressive list of accolades for the record, including winning the Americana Music Award for Album of the Year, as well as the very surprising nomination for Album of the Year by the Country Music Association, or CMA.
Isbell said about “If We Were Vampires,” “I have to thank my wife Amanda Shires, because on this particular day, I was sitting on the bed watching reality television. And I was going into the studio in three days, and my wife said, ‘Anybody could sit on the bed and watch reality television, you should be writing a song right now. And I wrote this particular song.”
The nominations and multiple wins speak to the continuing influence and appreciation Jason Isbell has been able to garner throughout Music City as an independent artist, not just from the Americana crowd, but from a wide swath of the music community. Along with the awards, Jason Isbell was also able to sell out an unprecedented six consecutive nights at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium in 2017, and was also named a Country Music Hall of Fame Artist in Residence.
Some wondered if Isbell would be nominated for Best Country Album by the Grammy Awards, or the all-genre Album of the Year. But as artists like Isbell have grown, so has the genre of Americana from beyond just a farm system for country, but a community that can create its own superstars, and support them throughout their careers.
January 28, 2018 @ 3:31 pm
Well deserved, great album..
January 28, 2018 @ 3:32 pm
That is pretty cool.
January 28, 2018 @ 3:39 pm
Glad to hear it. I have become a HUGE Jason Isbell fan, and seeing him live for the first time recently just stoked the fire. I first heard of him years ago on this very website. Iād have probably heard of him by now anyway, but it surely would have taken longer. I am so indebted for that. So indebted. As so many are to this site for helping them to discover incredible music.
However, you should hear my rambling answer when someone asks me what genre of music he makes or what Americana is. (I am floored by how many people have literally never heard of the genre at all.)
Anyone have a succinct answer?
January 28, 2018 @ 4:18 pm
In an interview, Isbell described it as “folk music with varying degrees of volume.”
January 28, 2018 @ 5:01 pm
I’ve heard Dave Alvin say something like that about his music for quite a while. Some of it’s quiet. Some of it’s loud.
January 28, 2018 @ 4:56 pm
I know I’ve shared this a few times over the years, but I love what a commenter once said on NoDepression.com. He said that when he says he likes Americana, it feels like he’s lying about something, but he doesn’t know what.
I can’t bring myself to say I like Americana music. I might say I’m a roots music fan and list various rootsy genre/subgenres that I like (roots rock, blues, various forms of good country, various forms of folk, classic soul, singer-songwriter). I might bring up the term Americana.
January 28, 2018 @ 5:31 pm
Too Rock for Country, Too Country for Rock is my go-to reply.
January 29, 2018 @ 12:35 am
He sits right at the intersection of folk, rock, blues and country.
January 29, 2018 @ 7:44 am
I played in a band back in the early days of the genre and whenever people asked me what kind of music we played I always answered gruntry folkabilly.
February 1, 2018 @ 7:07 pm
It’s kind of like trying to explain what American food is
January 28, 2018 @ 3:39 pm
Darn, I missed it. Good for Jason and the 400 unit!
January 28, 2018 @ 3:48 pm
Isbell put himself in Americana instead of country, I was curious if he’d sneak into the all genre categories though.
Two wins already for Chris. Reba took home one as well.
And sad what has happened to rock, doesn’t make the main telecast at all anymore.
January 28, 2018 @ 4:10 pm
Eh! He doesn’t ring my bell!
May 20, 2018 @ 6:55 pm
perhaps your bell is broken……i’ve got two or three he and wife ring…so i’ll carry it for you.
May 20, 2018 @ 9:23 pm
No thanks. He’s not the god some make him out to be but you go ahead and genuflect when you hear his name.
May 20, 2018 @ 11:09 pm
There was no call for that. I just said I’d like him enough to sub in for you. Wasn’t even hostile. I love music. I enjoy what I enjoy and let others do the same. I don’t tend to spend my time going to articles about artists I don’t like just to put them down. I don’t genuflect to anyone or anything. I get something out of Isbell’s musicianship, border-blurring. Honesty and compassion. And the 400 Unit is a kickass band in My opinion. Obviously you do not. So why don’t you go listen to someone who DOES make you feel good or like you’ve gained something instead of letting the anonymity of the internet bring out the worst in you and cause you to waste the precious moments of your life.
May 21, 2018 @ 2:24 am
Thank you Mahatma Coat. Take a nap why don’t you. Put on some Isbell and fall asleep. That’s what happens when I hear him.
May 21, 2018 @ 10:51 am
nini, hon.
January 28, 2018 @ 4:39 pm
Vampires is an odd song (the way the vocals follow the standard finger picked progression way too closely) that I have always thought was overrated, and sappy. But do see why people get all twisted up in it. On another note, just saw a glimpse of the Midland clown show in their costimes, as my wife is watching the red carpet thing. What an embarrassment and slap in the face to those who came before them.
January 28, 2018 @ 4:40 pm
*costumes, that is.
January 28, 2018 @ 4:56 pm
I thought that the first time I heard it but I like how they kind of weave together. Just googled Midland so I could see their costumes…. wow.
First thing I came across was appropriately a Vogue Magazine post praising their getups that said:
āIn case you havenāt heard, Midland is the coolest music trio to hit the country scene. Equal parts heartthrobs and fashion risk-takers.ā Yikes.
January 28, 2018 @ 5:04 pm
Haha. I am too harsh on isbell, Iāll be the first to admit. Glad he won but I donāt think that is the best song on the album. I love that midland quote. Says it all.
January 28, 2018 @ 5:32 pm
Agree, not my faveorite on the album either. Though I wish I could turn off the TV and come up with something half that good.
January 28, 2018 @ 8:18 pm
Hint: just write a standard song about a parent losing a child. Even more of a tear jerker than the spouse thing. Not to make light of that, but itās an easy way out and a sure fan favorite / emotional song. just like vampires. You can give me a small cut, for inspiring you : ).
January 29, 2018 @ 12:37 am
Tupelo is definitely the class of the album.
If We Were Vampires is brilliant, though.
May 20, 2018 @ 6:59 pm
I like that we all like different things and different songs? I don’t like being bored. For me, “Last of my Kind” and “White Man’s World” get played over and over again.
January 28, 2018 @ 5:01 pm
Isbell is here in Pittsburgh tomorrow. I just can’t stand theater shows, so I’m unfortunately sitting this one out.
January 28, 2018 @ 7:05 pm
McMurtry opens in PA I think. I saw show in big rock hall and it sucked(venue). Theatre suits his music IMO and also, too, in addition…McMurtry.
January 28, 2018 @ 9:26 pm
McMurtry is the opener tomorrow night Iād love to see him, but itās just to sedated environment. Iām too rowdy. I like to stand, sing and breathe.
We saw Isbell in a theater setting in 2016 (my last). The guy next to me was snoring.
January 30, 2018 @ 10:41 am
I had been planning a trek down to NY to see him…but then the Birds made the Super Bowl; and my priorities changed.
January 28, 2018 @ 5:24 pm
Good for him! š
January 28, 2018 @ 5:30 pm
Nice.
It almost makes up for the complete lack of any Roots music representation in the major categories.
January 28, 2018 @ 5:44 pm
This Mavericks fan is not happy:(
January 28, 2018 @ 10:40 pm
Aimee Mann got one, much deserved. Best album, best two live shows I experienced in 2017 Carole King was never this good.
January 28, 2018 @ 11:10 pm
Happy for him. Love If we were vampires. Hope Jason is well he doesn’t look in the video I saw. Waxy.
January 29, 2018 @ 4:50 am
Bigger Yawn! than Brady playing in another SB
January 29, 2018 @ 5:27 am
Not on my fAvorites list, but I do appreciate the statement he made regarding the music being relegated to the internet. And his wife.” Honey get out of bed and get your ass moving! “. For me that would mean clean the bathroom or take out the garbage, not write a bit tune.
January 29, 2018 @ 5:28 am
Hit tune!
January 29, 2018 @ 6:04 am
“…Iām really trying to keep the spirit of the song alive…” Love that sentence š
January 30, 2018 @ 8:32 pm
Isbell picks up a couple of Grammys. Consolation prizes for missing out on SCM top honors. : )
February 8, 2018 @ 5:02 pm
Surely Rhonda Vincent deserves a news listing of her own finally winning a Grammy on her seventh nomination – and one of the few female artists to win on a rather notorious night.
February 8, 2018 @ 7:14 pm
There is no busier day on Saving Country Music than Grammy day. I try to cover as much as I can.