NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) – Country singer Sturgill Simpson and singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, both eclectic genre-bending artists, took home top honors at the Americana Honors and Awards show.
The Kentucky-born Simpson, who was touring and not available to accept the prize in person at the roots music awards show Wednesday night, won for artist of the year and song of the year for his psychedelic honky-tonk jam, “Turtles All the Way Down.”
His producer, Dave Cobb, accepted the song of the year award on his behalf and recalled being in the studio when Simpson came up with the memorable lyrics about “reptile aliens made of light.”
“When he came up with the reptilian line, I couldn’t hold it in,” Cobb said. “It was really hard.”
Williams, who has been labeled a country, folk and rock artist, won album of the year for her 2014 double album, “Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone.”