_Stephen Bloch_

Last night, the Americana Honors and Awards took place at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium, presenting a night that honored both the past and present of Americana music with performances, speeches, award presentations and more.

As The Tennessean reports, the night kicked off with introductory performances from Alison Krauss, Joe Henry, Steve Earle and Bob Weir, who would later receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance. All four performers honored the late legends who have passed away this year, playing songs from Ralph Stanley, Allen Toussaint, Guy Clark and Merle Haggard. Watch a video of Earle performing Clark’s “Desperados Waitin’ for a Train” below.

Some of the biggest awards of the night went to the giants of modern Americana, as Jason Isbell took home both Song and Album of the Year for “24 Frames” and Something More Than Free, respectively, and Chris Stapleton won Artist of the Year.

Other winners of the evening included Margo Price, who won the Emerging Artist award, Billy Bragg, who garnered the “Sprit of Americana” Free Speech Award and spoke on the late Woody Guthrie, who was honored with the President’s Award by Lucinda Williams, Sara Watkins, who was dubbed Instrumentalist of the Year, Shawn Colvin, who was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Trailblazer Award by Bonnie Raitt and William Bell, who was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting.

Performance highlights of the night included Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats playing their “Wasted Time” just two days after their first headlining set at the Ryman, Duo/Group of the Year winners Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell playing “Bring It on Home to Memphis” and George Strait playing “King of Broken Hearts” with longtime ceremony host and iconic songwriter Jim Lauderdale, who penned the tune. Watch the performance, along with the speeches from Strait and Lauderdale, below. The night rounded out with an all-inclusive rendition of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” led by the legendary Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.