The 2025 Folk Alliance International (FAI) conference wrapped up over the weekend, and it was another occasion which made us wish that the petty cash was a rather larger pot… one day, one day… It’s an event that is about connection, inspiration, and bringing those who work in the folk world together, and it takes a very broad view of what constitutes folk across the musical showcases and the conference keynote discussions. And nothing really demonstrates that more than the FAI Awards which were held on the first evening of the conference.
So – there’s just one thing we need to know – who won?
The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awards were 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. Alice Randall spoke movingly about the obscuration and rewriting of history that surrounds Lesley Riddle, saying “he’s an artist who played a central role in the founding of country music – Riddle taught the Carter family a lot of songs” adding that his role had been left out of the official history of Country adding “know him to be a founder of Country and a practitioner of folk….it is not the story The Carter’s told us.” This tribute was capped by a performance of one of Riddle’s song by nominee for the song award Julian Taylor.
Susan Werner won the 2024 Album of the Year Award for Halfway to Houston.
Song of the Year went to ‘$20 Bill (for George Floyd),’ written by Tom Prasada-Rao, performed by Dan Navarro. Navarro said, “Over one hundred of us recorded a version of that song in 2020 but because of the impact and the challenges of the pandemic, it never really had a proper release and we decided we would do something about that.”
Crys Matthews won the 2024 Artist of the Year Award (sponsored by Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame), her second International Folk Music Award.
The Clearwater Award was presented to a festival that prioritizes environmental stewardship and demonstrates public leadership in sustainable event production. This year’s award went 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).
The Spirit of Folk Awards are presented to honour 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 were 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;
Annie Capps – a longtime Folk Alliance Region Midwest pillar;
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.
Spirit of Folk Award-honouree Alice Randall said, “In My Black Country, I tell the story of climbing out of the hell of being raped by holding on to the sound of John Prine singing Angel from Montgomery. I write about discovering the Joan Baez Ballad Book, a double album set of English, Irish and Scottish folk songs that became my stepping stones to joy after trauma. I owe my sanity to folk music. For the past forty years I worked writing folk songs that I hoped would help people get to joy after trauma. In 2024 Oh Boy Records, John Prine’s label, put out the My Black Country album featuring some of the greatest folk singers and pickers of our time including Rhiannon Giddens and Leyla McCalla. On the new album, Country charting songs were stripped of pop productions that erased Black characters and muted political intent. My songs were restored to their folk roots. My book My Black Country is about the Black folk, including Black folk musicians, who made Country, country. I accept this award in honor of ‘Traditional’ and my father who long ago asked me a question I will now ask you, ‘What you bet ‘Traditional’ was a Colored Gal?'”
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, was awarded to Gina Chavez.
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, were honored with The Rising Tide Award (sponsored by Levitt Foundation).
Archie Fisher (BBC Scotland); MarySue Twohy (SIRIUS XM); Taylor Caffery (WRKF); Matthew Finch (posthumous, KUNM); and Chuck Wentworth (posthumous, WRIU) were 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.
And the rest of the conference – well, talks, workshops, hundreds of showcases, a showing of ‘A Complete Unknown‘… and all of this we’ll just have to imagine for now. Thinking of going to a future event? Well here’s where you’ll need to be:
