Grammy Award for Best Americana Album

[1] 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".

[4] Jed Hilly, executive director of the Americana Music Association, called the new category's inclusion "a huge acknowledgment" of the music genre.

[5] Hilly admitted to working hard at convincing the Academy to include Americana as its own category.

[4] Following is the award's purpose, according to the category description guide from the 2018 Grammy Awards: Americana is contemporary music that incorporates elements of various American roots music and vocal styles, including country, roots-rock, folk, bluegrass, R&B and blues, resulting in a distinctive roots-oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw.

While acoustic instruments are often present and vital, Americana also often uses a full electric band.