NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Americana Music Association will bestow the organization’s only posthumous award to Meridian’s own Jimmie Rodgers during a festival that runs today through Sunday.

    “The Music of Mississippi” will be featured at the festival which will pay homage to the state’s rich musical history.

    During the the Americana Music Festival & Conference, Rodgers, who is known as the Father of Country Music, will be recognized with the Presidents Award.

     Among the anticipated highlights that will take place includes the Americana Honors & Awards show, where Cassandra Wilson will pay homage to the blues and Marty Stuart, while the Fabulous Superlatives will commemorate Rodgers.     

    The Americana Honors & Awards takes place today and will broadcast live on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country and filmed for a PBS special titled ACL Presents: Americana Music Festival 2014 to be broadcast Nov. 22.

     Earlier today, Grammy Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli will moderate a panel featuring Wilson, author Holly George Warren, Mississippi Tourism’s Malcolm White and Blues Trail researcher Scott Barretta titled Mississippi Rising: The Melting Pot of American Music.  

    Thursday night, Stuart will headline a group of Mississippi artists featuring Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife & Drum Band, Luther Dickinson, Leo “Bud” Welch, Webb Wilder and The Paul Thorn Band.

     A special edition of Thacker Mountain Radio, the first ever out-of-state broadcast of the show, will be free and open to the general public and convention goers on Friday at 5 p.m. at the Hutton Hotel in Nashville.

     Many of Visit Mississippi’s partner Convention and Visitors Bureaus will participate in the conference expo, sharing travel and tourism information with conference attendees.  

    For a full list of performers, panels, and ticket and registration information, please visit americanamusic.org.