Mavis Staples was awarded the Americana Music Association's (AMA) "Spirit of Americana" Free Speech Award at the association's awards gala at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN on November 1, 2007.
Prior recipients of the Free Speech Award include Kris Kristofferson, Judy Collins, Charlie Daniels and Steve Earle. American icon Johnny Cash, a friend of Mavis's father, Pops, received the inaugural Free Speech Award in 2002. The "Spirit of Americana" honorees are selected by a Lifetime Achievement Award Committee of the AMA.
Mavis was unable to attend the event to receive her award as she was on tour with the Solid Blues company-production in Illinois. She performed at the event in 2004, appearing with that year's Instrumentalist of the y (continued...)
