Aaron Lee Tasjan, Sunny Sweeney And More Show Their Stuff At AmericanaFest

The Americana Music Associations’ first female Instrumentalist of the Year honoree didn’t make it to Wednesday’s awards show, but she made her presence known Thursday at the New West Records party with a simple statement: “I’m Sara Watkins. I’m happy to be playing for you tonight.”

The singer-songwriter and fiddler relied on her guitar and voice to do so, gently luring listeners into her beautifully spun musical web. Later, Aaron Lee Tasjan and his band rocked the same outdoor stage, set in the driveway behind the label’s Berryhill offices, going far from gently into the night with “Bitch Can’t Sing” and the slightly southern vibe of “Success.” Tasjan even glitzed it up some with sparkly gold footwear. Perhaps he’ll change to silver when his new album, Silver Tears, drops Oct. 28.

At the High Watt, singer-songwriter Bonnie Bishop unleashed her powerful soul voice on a packed room, singing songs from her Dave Cobb-produced album, Ain’t Who I Was, and thanking the AMA for giving a home to artists like her who don’t fit neatly into other genres. “We just make music,” she said, before delivering a killer version of Elton John’s “Take Me to the Pilot.”

Sunny Sweeney, a woman under the influence of strong country women, brought hurt and humor to the same stage with a mix of catalog songs and new ones from an album she’ll release Feb. 17 on Thirty Tigers. Austin’s Bonnie Whitmore handled bass and terrific harmonies, including those sung by Tricia Yearwood on the new song, “Pass the Pain.” Texas-born Sweeney also sang another new one, “Nothing’s Wrong with Texas,” a tune co-written with Massachusetts-born Lori McKenna, and joked that she wanted to rename a song from her last album, Provoked. It’s called Uninvited, but after getting “a big fat apology” from the character it’s about, she wants to call it “Closure.”

While labelmates Reckless Kelly left the crowd roaring for more in the Mercy Lounge, Thirty Tigers’ David Macias discussed upcoming projects. He’s particularly excited about a LeAnn Rimes’ project he characterizes as a pop record, “like Tina Turner doing ‘Private Dancer.’”

Macias also talked enthusiastically about signing gospel great CeCe Winans, who will release a new album in February.

Downstairs at the Cannery Ballroom, Rodney Crowell and his band had the honky-tonk blues, partly because Emmylou Harris wasn’t around to duet on “Bring it on Home to Memphis,” which they recorded together on The Traveling Kind.

Back upstairs at the Mercy Lounge, sultry Aubrie Sellers sang “Sizzle,” which she clearly does.

One of the joys of AmericanaFest is being able to wander from venue to venue, catching whole sets or short snippets of veterans like Crowell, new talents like Tasjan or mid-career artists like Reckless Kelly, who may not take home top awards but always bring it, no matter what size stage they play.