| Grammy Award for Best American Roots Song | |
| Awarded For: | Quality songwriting in the American Roots subgenres (folk, bluegrass, regional roots music, etc.) |
| Presenter: | National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |
| Country: | United States |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Holder: | Jason Isbell – "Cast Iron Skillet" (2024) |
| Website: | grammy.com |
The Grammy Award for Best American Roots Song is an award category at the annual Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards,[1] to recording artists for quality songs in the American Roots Music genres such as blues, bluegrass, folk, Americana, and regional roots music. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".[2]
The award was first approved by the board of trustees of the Grammy Awards in Spring 2013.[3]
As with all other songwriting awards at the Grammy's, the award for Best American Roots Song goes to the songwriters of the winning song, not to the artist(s) (except if the artist is also the songwriter).
The award was first presented at the 2014 Grammy Awards ceremony to Edie Brickell and Steve Martin, the songwriters of the awarded song.[4] Jason Isbell is the only person who has won this award more than once, with three wins (as of 2024).
| Year | Recipient(s) | Work | Performing artist(s) | Nominees (Performer(s) in parentheses) | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | "Love Has Come for You" | Steve Martin & Edie Brickell | [5] | |||
| 2015 | "A Feather's Not a Bird" | Rosanne Cash | [6] | |||
| 2016 | Jason Isbell | "24 Frames" | Jason Isbell | [7] | ||
| 2017 | Vince Gill | "Kid Sister" | The Time Jumpers | [8] | ||
| 2018 | Jason Isbell | "If We Were Vampires" | Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit | [9] | ||
| 2019 | Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil and Tim Hanseroth | "The Joke" | Brandi Carlile | [10] | ||
| 2020 | Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O'Donovan & Sara Watkins | "Call My Name" | I'm with Her | [11] | ||
| 2021 | Pat McLaughlin & John Prine | "I Remember Everything" | John Prine (posthumous) | [12] | ||
| 2022 | Jon Batiste & Steve McEwan | "Cry" | Jon Batiste | [13] | ||
| 2023 | Bonnie Raitt | "Just Like That" | Bonnie Raitt | [14] [15] | ||
| 2024 | Jason Isbell | "Cast Iron Skillet" | Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit |
| [16] |