NASHVILLE – In its 16th year, the Americana Music Festival is still looking for a definition of Americana music. One panelist suggested that it's American roots music that won't get played on commercial radio. That may be one apt description, but whatever the music is, this month's weeklong Americana fest — concerts, panel discussions, trade show and other events — provided these memorable moments.

• The annual Americana Music Honors and Awards show dragged on for more than three hours, but the performances made it worthwhile. Some of the highlights included Keb Mo getting down on B.B. King's "How Blue Can You Get" with one of King's Lucille guitars in a stand onstage with him; the Lone Bellow getting super soulful with the help of horns, cello and the gospel harmonies of the McCrary Sisters; Jason Isbell, accompanied by his fiddler wife, Amanda Shires, three weeks after she gave birth to their daughter, showing why he's an Americana favorite on "Something More Than Free"; Rhiannon Giddens and Hubby Jenkins, her partner in Carolina Chocolate Drops, getting lost in the gospel holler "Waterboy," and newly emerged veteran Doug Seegers doing an emotional "Angel Song."

• Shortly after they led the all-star finale at the awards, Los Lobos rocked the Cannery Ballroom, especially when former Allman Brothers slide guitarist Jack Pearson took turns jamming with Lobos guitarists David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas. The band also performed the title track, the Grateful Dead-like "Gates of Gold," from its album, which was released last week.

• British singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock, who lives in Nashville, explained during a panel on Bob Dylan's four recorded-in-Nashville albums that if you turn the cover of "John Wesley Harding" upside down, you can see sketches of the Beatles amid the trees. He then pointed to the faces on a giant slide turned upside down at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

• Luther Dickinson, known for his days with North Mississippi All-Stars and the Black Crowes, delivered some potent slide guitar-spiked gospel blues, spiked with flute and a drum march through the sparse crowd at show's end.

• The HillBenders, a bluegrass quintet from Missouri with a dobro player who looks like late 1960s Elvis Presley, did an interpretation of the Who's rock opera "Tommy." They actually rocked on acoustic instruments, although a couple of numbers got bluegrasssy treatments. They did not fiddle about, but they harmonized and roared, especially co-lead singer/mandolinist Nolan Lawrence, who had "Fiddler on the Roof"-like presence.

• After experiencing all kinds of problems with the sound system at a Pandora-sponsored performance, Irish bard Glen Hansard just sang without a microphone, forcing the crowd to become quiet to hear him. The highlight was when singer-songwriter Josh Ritter joined him (with the sound working again) for a slowed down, Van Morrison-evoking reading of Bruce Springsteen's "Drive All Night."

• In an interview in front of about 500 people at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to promote his new solo country album, "Cass County," Don Henley talked about his first meeting with Merle Haggard, who sings a duet on the new album. The Eagles co-leader had invited Hag to perform in Henley's tiny hometown of Linden, Texas. Hag said to him: "So you're in an Eagles tribute band."

• Not everything at Americana fest was twangy. The Suffers, the Houston soul band fronted by big-voiced, big-haired Kam Franklin, came across like early Alabama Shakes with horns. Nicely done.

• Ray Wylie Hubbard, who went from a disaffected recording artist to a beloved Texas and Sirius XM DJ, lived up to his legend as a quirky cosmic cowboy singing country/folk/blues/rock songs filled with characters who are genuine characters. One of his sons couldn't make the gig because he had bowling league that night, but guitarist Cody Canada from Cross Canadian Ragweed sat in for a bit.

• Jim McGuinn, program director for 89.3 the Current, sparkled on a panel on terrestrial radio at the Hutton Hotel, explaining how the Twin Cities public-radio station has built an audience with an eclectic mix of indie rock, hip-hop, Americana, Minnesota music and classic tracks. He also got a lesson in sparkling when he visited Manuel, Nashville's tailor to country stars, whose assistant taught McGuinn how to affix rhinestones to a T-shirt he bought for his wife.

Twitter: @JonBream • 612-673-1719