Berklee to Present American Master Awards to T Bone Burnett, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings

Berklee will present American Master Awards to legendary record producer, songwriter, and recording artist T Bone Burnett, as well as to the acclaimed roots duo of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on a special Tuesday night edition of Music City Roots, the variety weekly music broadcast from the Factory in Franklin, Tennessee. The show, set for March 15, will feature performances by outstanding Berklee alumni Sierra Hull ’11, Liz Longley ’10, and Maureen Murphy '99. Berklee alumni Welch '92 and Rawlings '92 will perform as well, closing the show following presentation of the awards.

Berklee at Music City Roots, Live from the Factory is open to the public and tickets are available at musiccityroots.com. The show will air on participating public radio affiliates around the country on a future date.

The American Master Award is presented by Berklee to industry leaders whose openness, generosity, and deep commitment to music education have made a positive impact on the lives of young musicians, providing them opportunities to grow as artists and leaders. Past recipients of the award include Grand Ole Opry manager Pete Fisher, drummer Eddie Bayers, and recording executive Jim Ed Norman.

“We’ve enjoyed the music of quite a few Berklee graduates and students on Music City Roots over the years, and we know what an important role the college has played in supporting roots and Americana artists to develop fresh and original takes on tradition, so this special show means a lot to us,” says the show’s journalist and artist-interviewing co-host Craig Havighurst.

Gillian Welch and her singing and guitar-playing partner David Rawlings made an immediate impact on American music with the release of their 1996 album Revival. Since then, they’ve released a string of acclaimed albums that update the atmosphere of Appalachian folk music and participated in key milestones of Americana, including the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack of 2000. Multi-Grammy Award-winner T Bone Burnett produced Welch and Rawlings’s first album and the O Brother soundtrack, plus dozens of other recordings by artists as varied as Los Lobos, Ralph Stanley, Elton John, and Diana Krall. Burnett has been a member of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue, a Grammy-nominated recording artist, and a facilitator of numerous careers.

The March 15 show and award ceremony coincides with and celebrates Berklee’s spring break trip to Nashville, now an honored annual tradition. For 31 years, a group of Berklee students has spent its spring break in Nashville, getting deep music industry insight through clinics and workshops with accomplished alumni artists, songwriters, producers, and engineers. The trip, which began with five students, has grown to more than 100 students per year and is led by Pat Pattison, professor of songwriting, and Stephen Webber, program director for the Music Production, Technology, and Innovation Program at Berklee’s campus in Valencia, Spain. More than 3,000 students have attended the program since its inception. Longley and Hull participated in the Nashville trip as Berklee students. Welch and Rawlings first connected and started playing together as a result of the trip.

“This feels like a homecoming and a new beginning at the same time,” said Berklee President Roger H. Brown. “We're thrilled to recognize T Bone, Gillian, and David for their immeasurable contributions to music here in Nashville, where so many Berklee alumni have become integral to the music community, and to forge a partnership with Music City Roots, a show that is so important to the tradition of live radio.”

The show will be webcast free via Livestream at 7:00 p.m. CST on March 15 at musiccityroots.com. 

Margot Edwards is a manager in the Office of Media Relations. Media inquiries: medwards@berklee.edu