At a Belmont University ceremony, the International Country Music Conference awarded the University of Illinois Press a Lifetime Achievement Award for the book series, Music in American Life. It was the 26th annual event for the country music conference.

The Illinois UP series includes "Bluegrass: A History" by Neil V. Rosenberg, and a wide range of other titles that range from topics like Mexican American music to opera.

Here's more about the series: "Music in American Life is a longstanding series that embodies the twin goals of documenting the place of music in American culture and the cultural life that gives rise to particular musical forms. Encompassing the broadest range of music, from classical through all forms of American vernacular music, the series welcomes a variety of approaches to the topic of music in American life, including monographs, biographies, memoirs, reference books, readers, and edited collections."