BONUS TRACKS: Ameripolitan Award Nominees, A New Indie Label, and More

The nominees have been announced for the 10th annual Ameripolitan Music Awards, with winners to be revealed at a live show in Austin in February. You can check out the full list of nominees and vote for your favorites in categories honoring honky-tonk, western swing, rockabilly, and outlaw, plus venues and events, here. Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson will be honored with the 2024 Master Award, and original Texas Tornados members Augie Meyers and Flaco Jimenez have been named the 2024 Founders of the Sound honorees. The awards show, hosted by Ameripolitan organization founder Dale Watson, is part of the annual Ameripolitan Weekender, which also presents showcases, parties, a guitar pull, a vintage Western artisan market, and other events Feb. 16-18. Learn more about the Weekender here.

Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy, and Bill Nowlin — collectively known as the Rounder Founders, as in Rounder Records, which they launched in 1970 — along with several other figures in Rounder’s history have partnered with Exceleration Music for a new independent music label: Down the Road. Early releases in the works include new albums from banjo legend Tony Trischka, bluegrassers Blue Highway, and Irish traditional powerhouses Dervish, as well as some reissues from the Rounder catalog. Exceleration has been expanding quickly over the past few years, including acquisitions of Redeye and its Yep Roc and Sundazed labels, blues label Alligator, Bloodshot Records, Kill Rock Stars, and more. The company was founded in 2020 by independent music executives with an aim to “invest in the future of independent labels and artists.” Learn more about Exceleration here.

The “Best New Artist” category at any awards show is always kind of hilarious. In most cases, the nominees have been in the trenches for a while — the only “new” thing about them is a breakout hit or wider attention for some other reason, often the result of years of working their way up in the music business and managing to survive. This story from Billboard takes a look at this year’s potential nominees for the Best New Artist Grammy, including Noah Kahan (fair), The War and Treaty (far from new to ND readers, but we love seeing them reach a wider audience), Morgan Wade (we just reviewed her third album), and Joy Oladokun (here’s our review of her second) in a field of more than 400 names that have been ruled eligible. Nominees will be announced Nov. 10, and winners will be named at the Grammy Awards show in Los Angeles Feb. 4.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

Here’s a sampling of the songs, albums, bands, and sounds No Depression staffers have been into this week:

The Isley Brothers – Go For Your Guns (RIP Rudolph Isley)
Leyla McCalla and Alynda Segarra – “Zanj” (Manno Charlemagne cover)
Nefesh Mountain – “The Narrow Bridge,” from their new EP, The Cabin Sessions, coming in February
Bronwyn Keith-Hynes feat. Molly Tuttle and Sam Bush – “Can’t Live Without Love”
Corb Lund – “Old Familiar Drunken Feeling,” from his new album, El Viejo, coming in February
Amigo the Devil – “Cannibal Within,” from his new album, Yours Until the War Is Over, coming in February
Tobacco City – “AA Blues”
Jackie Straw – Mosaic
Lilli Lewis – “Sin Eater,” from her new album, All Is Forgiven, coming in December
Wilder Woods and Abraham Alexander – “Bring It On Home to Me” (Sam Cooke cover) from Dualtone’s upcoming Discovered & Covered album
Sincere Engineer – Cheap Grills
Kim Gordon’s audiobook memoir Girl in a Band
Shooter Jennings and the Werewolves of Los Angeles – “Excitable Boy,” from their live album Shooter Jennings and the Werewolves of Los Angeles Do Zevon, coming in November
Lankum – The Livelong Day
Woody Guthrie – Struggle
Brandy Clark feat. Brandi Carlile – “Dear Insecurity”