Aleep At The Wheel was honored at this year's Americana Awards for Lifetime Achievement in Performance. At a recent celebration of the award, the CMA also presented them with a plaque in recognition of 40 years of furthering country music. Pictured L-R: Business Manager Peter Schwarz, Asleep At The Wheel's Ray Benson, CMA's Hank Adam Locklin and ASCAP's Herky Williams.

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Kieran Kane will give a free in-store performance at Grimey’s Thirsty Friday celebration (Free PBR!) today (9/18) at 6 PM. He’ll play songs from his new CD Somewhere Beyond the Roses. It’s a full band show featuring Deanna Varagona (Lambchop), Richard Bennett (Mark Knopfler), and Lucas Kane (Kane, Welch, Kaplin).

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Rockabilly boogie master Sleepy Labeef will bring his brand of American roots music to the grand opening of the new Sun Records Store in Music Valley today (9/18) from 7- 9 p.m. He is a one-time Sun Records artist who worked with Elvis, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison. Admission is free.

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Lost Highway’s Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears will make their national television debut Sept. 21 on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. The band released its first album, Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!, in March.

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Nashville-based singer-songwriter Rob Blackledge released his debut album, Inside These Walls, this week (9/15), through One Revolution Entertainment (ORE). Among his other recent success is co-writing Love And Theft’s first single “Runaway.”

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Thad Cockrell’s first solo album in six years, To Be Loved, is due out Oct. 13. He worked with producer/engineer Jason Lehning (Alison Krauss, Guster, Lyle Lovett) to make the record which he says is a dramatic departure from his three previous recordings.

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Girls, Guns & Glory released its debut CD for the Lonesome Day label, Inverted Valentine, on Sept. 15.
The Alt-Country outfit garnered much acclaim on the New England club scene, earning 2 Boston Phoenix awards, a Boston Music Award and a spot on the Boston Globe’s list of “Top 15 Local Albums of 2007.”

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The Americana cruise returns in 2010. The trip called Caribbean on Cayamo 2010: A Journey Through Song will depart from Miami on Feb. 21, 2010 and make stops in Belize City, Belize and Costa Maya, Mexico. The five-day journey will include returning artists Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, Brandi Carlile, Buddy Miller, John Hiatt, Darrell Scott, Shawn Mullins, Vienna Teng and Katie Herzig, alongside Cayamo newcomers Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen, Allison Moorer, Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers, Rachael Yamagata, and plenty more artists that will be announced throughout the year.

Rosanne Cash will be the subject of the Americana Music Association’s Festival and Conference 2009 Keynote Interview. The interview, conducted by author/journalist Michael Streissguth who recently wrote a book about the artist, will take place Thursday, September 17 from 10:45 until noon at the Nashville Convention Center.

Cash has built an acclaimed career over 30 years of inspired music making. The Grammy Award-winner is embracing her roots with The List, a collection of cover songs culled from more than 100 classics she was encouraged to explore by her legendary father, Johnny Cash, when she was 18 years old. A handful of special guests, including Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy and Rufus Wainwright join her on the record, which will be released on Manhattan Records October 6.

Interviewer Michael Streissguth’s latest book, Always Been There: Rosanne Cash, The List and the Spirit of Southern Music (DaCapo Press), chronicles the making of The List, providing readers with an intimate look behind the scenes of the album’s creation through in-depth interviews with Cash and husband/producer John Leventhal in the studio, at home and on tour.

The 10th Annual Americana Festival and Conference runs Sept. 16-19 will offer seminars, panels and networking opportunities at the Nashville Convention Center by day, while the evenings bring nearly 100 stacked Americana music showcases to five venues. The capstone is the Honors & Awards Show, Thursday September 17th at the legendary Ryman Auditorium. For details on how to attend visit Americana.org.