John Fogerty receives Americana honor at the Ryman tonight

September 17, 2009

Good chance lots of folks were betting early on that John Fogerty was the "SPECIAL SURPRISE GUEST" at the Mercy Lounge's Americana Music Festival show Wednesday night: He's accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting at the Americana Music Association's 8th Annual Honors and Awards ceremony tonight at the Ryman. And, well, the famed Creedence Clearwater Revival leader warrants an all-caps billing.

By Wednesday afternoon, news was zipping around the internet that Fogerty was indeed the extra-special addition to the show, which included local throwback-country rabble-rousers Those Darlins and Alabama garage-rock crew Dexateens, among others. To read more about the show and to see a photo gallery, go to Tennessean.com/music.

Fogerty fans who missed it can still catch him tonight at the Honors & Awards, hosted by Jim Lauderdale and featuring Buddy Miller, Jerry Douglas, John Prine and more. That starts at 7 p.m.; tickets are $55 (www.ryman.com). Fogerty's honor tonight comes with fine timing; he released his new, country-leaning covers album, The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again in August.