The 2014 Americana Music Awards were held on September 17 at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium (home of the Grand Ole Opry). New Orleans' Hurray for the Riff Raff was nominated for Best Emerging Artist but lost out to Sturgill Simpson. However, HFRR did play their song "Body Electric" during the awards ceremony and received high praise from all who witnessed it.

Though HFRR has been on tour for much of the last two years, Alynda Lee's ties to New Orleans remain strong. In a recent interview, she talked about her growth as a musician and the start she got playing in the Quarter. “It wasn’t until I got to New Orleans that I realized playing music was even possible for me. The travel[ing musicians] really taught me how to play and write songs, and we’d play on the street all day to make money, which is really good practice. You have to get pretty tough to do that, and you put a lot of time into it.

“The community I found in New Orleans was open and passionate. The young artists were really inspiring to me. Apathy wasn’t a part of that scene. And then the year after I first visited, Katrina happened, and I went back and saw the pain and hardship that all of the people who lived there had gone through. It made we want to straighten out my life and not wander so much. The city gave had given me an amazing gift with music, and it made me want to settle there and be a part of it and help however I could.”

It's been great to see the recent successes of HFRR, and her entry onto the international stage with attention from the New York Times, NPR, Mojo, and many other high profile outlets. Last May, HFRR stopped in at the Sirius XM studio while in Nashville for the nominations announcement and played a few tunes. The following month, she performed the same song that brought the Americana Music Awards crowd to their feet on the Late Show with David Letterman. Check out the performances below: