CMT News

Veteran record producer Jim Rooney will receive the Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award for producer/engineer at the eighth annual Americana Honors and Awards Ceremony taking place Sept. 17 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Rooney's credits include Nanci Griffith's Grammy-winning Other Voices, Other Rooms and other Grammy-nominated albums by John Prine, Iris DeMent, Tom Paxton and Peter Rowan. He began his career in the Boston area during the early '60s and served as director and talent coordinator for the Newport Folk Festival. He moved to Woodstock, N.Y., in the early '70s to manage Albert Grossman's Bearsville Sound recording studio. After moving to Nashville, Rooney released a series of solo albums and produced projects by Townes Van Zandt, Hal Ketchum, Bonnie Raitt and others. The awards show is part of the 10th annual Americana Music Festival and Conference scheduled for Sept. 16-19 at the Nashville Convention Center.