Jason and the Scorchers Reunion

[Jahfin]

Americana Music Association to Bestow Lifetime Achievement Award on Jason & the Scorchers

Band to Reunite for Performance during Ceremony

"Wild-eyed rock-and-roll meets the mythic South in the music of Jason

and the Scorchers...one of the great rock bands of the 1980's."

Jon Pareles, New York Times (April 9, 1985)

NASHVILLE, June 9, 2008 - The Americana Music Association is proud to

announce pioneers Jason and the Scorchers will receive the

prestigious Lifetime Achievement in Performance Award at the annual

Americana Honors and Awards show Thursday, September 18 at the Ryman

Auditorium. Original Jason and the Scorchers members Jason

Ringenberg, Warner Hodges, Jeff Johnson and Perry Baggs will be on

hand not only to accept the honor, but to perform together for the

first time in more than a decade.

Directly following the awards ceremony, Ringenberg and Hodges will

front a band performing a set of Scorchers' originals at a venue to

be announced; more details surrounding the red-letter show will be

released soon.

It's a mantra – a cliché: "To succeed, you have to be first,

different or better." Many pioneers whose music is savored from the

moment of conception to generation after generation have fallen under

this sing-songy definition of success in one way or another. But

Jason and the Scorchers embodied all three prongs of the hypothesis.

They were punk. They were country. They were rock. Perhaps most of

all, they were originals. Jason and the Nashville Scorchers, as they

were originally called, were messiahs for a 1980's American rock

scene suffering from a slight inferiority complex and aching for

pride and grit. Together, frontman Jason Ringenberg, guitarist Warner

Hodges, bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer Perry Baggs, personified

roots music experimentation, boasting an unparalleled respect for and

familiarity with honky tonk, while wielding innate punk savvy. It

wasn't just how they said it: What they were saying also resonated.

Ringenberg's songwriting often drew heady thematic comparisons to

Southern Gothic literary giants like Flannery O'Conner or William

Faulkner, and Hodges' influential guitar work roared in response as

the punk-rock backbone of their euphoric sound's dual-personality.

The group's spirited interpretations of traditional country classics

by journeymen including Hank Williams were uninhibited celebrations

of hillbilly soul.

Their arguably unprecedented mix's live translation is now legendary:

The Scorchers infused the soul of Gram Parsons with the fury of the

New York Dolls, shepherded by a lead vocalist who channeled both

Faron Young and Iggy Pop. National and subsequent international

acclaim arrived on the heels of major label albums and on the

strength of live shows, released in conjunction with and steadily

guided by early indie hometown believers Praxis. Instead of shying

away from their southern roots, Jason and the Scorchers owned them,

and quite simply, they made Nashville proud.

It's often said that art's impact is most accurately gauged looking

backward, after the silt settles to the bottom and some sort of clear

context emerges. Jason and the Scorchers' profound effect on the

international music scene and more specifically, what Nashville rock

bands felt they could accomplish, was historic, with ramifications

still blissfully felt today.

Hosted by Jim Lauderdale and featuring a band led by Buddy Miller,

the Honors & Awards ceremony will also toast winners in six member-

voted categories: Album, Artist, Instrumentalist, New and Emerging

Artist, Song and Duo/Group of the Year. The AMA will also recognize

iconic troubadour John Hiatt with the Lifetime Achievement Award in

Songwriting.

Slated for Wednesday, September 17 through Saturday, September 20,

the 9th Annual Americana Festival and Conference will offer daily

seminars, panels and networking opportunities at the Nashville

Convention Center. Each evening brings stacked Americana showcases to

key venues throughout Nashville.

One ticket to the Americana Honors and Awards is included in each

conference registration packet. The general public may also purchase

tickets for the ceremony for $45 each. In addition, showcase

wristbands granting admission to the Jason and the Scorchers venue

show and all other evening showcases on all four nights are also

available for $35. To buy tickets, learn more about becoming a member

of the Americana Music Association, and access detailed conference

information and please visit www.americanamusic.org or call 615-386-

6936.