Lifetime Achievement Award To Be Bestowed to Indigo Girls
Kansas City, MO and Montréal, QC (February 13, 2025) – Folk Alliance International (FAI), a 501(c)3 and the foremost global nonprofit for folk music, presents the International Folk Music Awards on Wednesday, the first night of FAI’s 37th annual conference, in Montreal, QC. NPR Music, WMOT.org, and Folk Alley will be live-streaming the awards.
The NPR Music live-stream will be here.
Photos of nominees and recipients.
Bios of recipients.
Apply for press credentials to attend.
Video of awards announcement from the FAI office (OK to share).
Lifetime Achievement Awards will be granted to Indigo Girls, GRAMMY Award-winners and seven-time GRAMMY nominees, four of whose albums have been certified by the RIAA as platinum-sellers; Lesley Riddle, the African-American musician who gathered songs for the Carter Family with patriarch A.P. Carter, taught Mother Maybelle Carter guitar techniques, played the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and recorded with Mike Seeger; and Songlines, the magazine celebrating its 25th anniversary which covers global roots music from traditional and popular to contemporary and fusion.
The following are the finalists for Best of 2024 awards:
Artist of the Year (sponsored by Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame):
Powerhouse vocalist, intrepid songwriter, and drag queen Flamy Grant, winner of the 2023 Kerrville New Folk Competition;
Four-time GRAMMY Award-winner Sarah Jarosz, who appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this fall;
Canadian-Grenadian “star in the making” (Folk Alley) Kaïa Kater;
Nick Lowe, “one of the greatest living songwriters” (NPR) and Elvis Costello collaborator;
2022 International Folk Music Award Song of the Year winner Crys Matthews;
GRAMMY Award-winner and eight-time GRAMMY nominee Allison Russell, who is soon to star in Broadway’s Hadestown;
Album of the Year:
Trail Of Flowers by Sierra Ferrell (Rounder Records), which debuted atop Billboard’s Emerging Artists, Heatseekers, and Tastemakers charts;
Australian four-piece The Heart Collectors’ The Space Between (Spins the Gold Records), who mounted a sold-out 2024 North American tour;
The “superb” (The Guardian) Strange Medicine by Kaïa Kater (Free Dirt Records), which celebrates the power of oppressed people and act as an antidote to centuries of exploitation, fear, and greed and features guest spots by Allison Russell, Aoife O’Donovan, and Taj Mahal;
Aoife O’Donovan’s All My Friends (Yep Roc Records), which was inspired by the passage of the 19th amendment and the evolving landscape of women’s rights in America over the past century;
The “beautiful, soulful, exquisitely simple, and totally essential” (Bandcamp Daily) self-titled album by Ordinary Elephant (Berkalin Records);
And Halfway to Houston (self-release) by Susan Werner, who “brings literacy and wit back to popular song” (The New Yorker).
Song of the Year:
“Tenzin Sings with Nightingales,” written by GRAMMY Award-nominated Tibetan-Australian artist Tenzin Choegyal, who has collaborated with Laurie Anderson, performed by Tenzin Choegyal and Michael Askill;
“Woman Who Pays,” written and performed by the legendary Connie Kaldor, who has been awarded the Order of Canada, a Western Literature Association Award of Merit, as well as three JUNO Awards;
“How I Long for Peace,” written by Abena Koomson-Davis, legendary multi-instrumentalist Peggy Seeger, and two-time GRAMMY Award-winner Rhiannon Giddens, performed by Rhiannon Giddens, who was featured on Beyonce’s 2024 album Cowboy Carter, Crys Matthews, and the Resistance Revival Chorus, which is a collective of more than 60 women, and non-binary singers;
“Ukrainian Now,” written and performed by Tom Paxton, “one of the most important figures in American songwriting and the folk music tradition” (Billboard) & John McCutcheon, whom Johnny Cash called “the most impressive instrumentalist I’ve ever heard”;
“$20 Bill (for George Floyd),” written by Tom Prasada-Rao, performed by Dan Navarro, whose music has been featured in Deadpool 2, Pitch Perfect 2, The Office, Talladega Nights, Robots & seven-time Blues Music Award-winner Janiva Magness.
The People’s Voice Award, which is presented to an individual who unabashedly embraces social and political commentary in their creative work and public careers, will be awarded to Gina Chavez. Of Chavez, NPR said, “If you don’t know her already, I dare you to walk away and not become a fan.”
OKAN, the women-led, Afro-Cuban roots and jazz duo who have won two JUNO Awards and appeared on the NPR Tiny Desk Concert series this year, will be honored with The Rising Tide Award (sponsored by Levitt Foundation). The Rising Tide Award was launched in 2021 to celebrate a new generation artist who inspires others by embodying the values and ideals of the folk community through their creative work, community role, and public voice. The Rising Tide Award’s scope was expanded in 2024 in acknowledgement of the fact that some find their voice in art later in life, and therefore seeks to celebrate emergent artists of any age who inspire others by embodying the values and ideals of the folk community through their creative work, community role, and public voice.
The Spirit of Folk Awards are presented to honor and celebrate people and organizations actively involved in the promotion and preservation of folk music through their creative work, their community building, and their demonstrated leadership. Spirit of Folk Awards will be presented to:
Tom Power, celebrated Canadian musician and broadcaster, best known as the host of *Q* on CBC Radio One and a member of the award-winning folk band, The Dardanelles;
Alice Randall, a trailblazer in folk and country music, master songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash (among others), and founder of production company Midsummer Music, whose new collection of songs and book of poetry is out now via Oh Boy Records;
Longtime Folk Alliance Region Midwest pillar Annie Capps;
And Quebec’s Innu Nikamu festival, which has exemplified commitment to the promotion and preservation of Indigenous culture through music and community building for over thirty years.
The Clearwater Award is presented to a festival that prioritizes environmental stewardship and demonstrates public leadership in sustainable event production. This year’s award will go to the River Roads Festival in Easthampton, MA. Founded in 2023 and presented by Dar Williams in collaboration with Laudable Productions in partnership with the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC).
Archie Fisher (BBC Scotland); MarySue Twohy (SIRIUS XM); Taylor Caffrey (WRKF); Matthew Finch (posthumous, KUNM); and Chuck Wentworth (posthumous, WRIU) will be inducted into the Folk Radio Hall of Fame. The Folk Radio Hall of Fame has been established to recognize radio DJs, programmers, hosts, and podcasters who have demonstrated and inspired leadership in the broadcast field and who make outstanding contributions to the preservation, promotion, and presentation of folk music.
Folk Alliance International Executive Director Jennifer Roe said, “The recipients and nominees reflect the richness, breadth, and cultural impact of folk music to speak to various experiences of our moment. After all, folk music is the music of the people. I can’t wait to see some of these artists on stage in Montréal!”
FAI confirmed that GRAMMY Award-winner and eight-time nominee Allison Russell, who made her Broadway debut in November performing as Persephone in Anais Mitchell’s Hadestown, will be the Keynote Speaker at its 37th annual conference. Celebrated author and NPR Music journalist Ann Powers will be interviewing Allison. FAI also unveiled its programming lineup for the conference, with over 300 panels, roundtables, discussions, film screenings, Official Showcase performances, meet-ups, and other programs. The conference takes place February 19-23, 2025 in Montréal, QC.
FAI has confirmed the schedule for 2026 and future conferences at an event in New Orleans, LA. FAI’s conference will be held in the following cities:
January 21-25, 2026: New Orleans, LA
January 27-31, 2027: Chicago, IL
January 26-30, 2028: Kansas City, MO
2029: TBD
January 23-27, 2030: New Orleans, LA
2031: Canada (city TBD)
January 21-25, 2032: New Orleans, LA
All conference attendees will have access to attend the IFMAs. FAI members submit recordings for the 2025 International Folk Music Awards (IFMAs) in the Best-of-the-year categories (Song, Album, and Artist). New recordings released between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024 were eligible. This new procedure allows for a more democratic, community-led approach to the IFMAs.
FAI’s 37th annual conference will feature over one hundred and seventy-five artists, representing thirty-eight countries of origin, nineteen U.S. states, and all thirteen Canadian provinces, one of the larger slates of showcases in the conference’s history. The conference will be held at Montréal’s Sheraton Hotel February 19-23, 2025. Complete list of Official Showcase Artists.
