My Picks for Americana Conference
Every year I look forward to the club showcases during the Americana Music Conference in Nashville. As always, I need to investigate a few unfamiliar bands, but for the most part I have my plan of attack in place. Here are 10 shows where you'll find me this week:
Wednesday, Sept. 16: Reckless Kelly at midnight at the Cannery. My favorite Texas band. They're the last act of the night so I hope they shut the place down. Earlier in the evening: the intriguing international bluegrass band, the Greencards, and the charming singer-songwriter, Antje Duvekot.
Thursday, Sept. 17: For sure, I want to see Yarn, who made one of my Top 10 lists last year. Otherwise I'll poke around the clubs that night and get some recommendations, too.
Friday, Sept. 18: I'll start the night at 9 p.m. with soothing singer-songwriter Shannon Whitworth, then I'm off to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (who will release a new album next week) and Scott Miller & the Commonwealth. Man, I hope they play "Freedom's a Stranger." Americana can be so sexy!
Saturday, Sept. 19: I gotta catch Charlie Pate & Dixie's Finest in the afternoon at the Basement, playing their exceptional, original, traditional country songs. I am so eager to hear their upcoming record. And my goal is to stay up late for Hot Club of Cowtown. Their new album, Wishful Thinking, is a winner. Of course, I never miss Buddy Miller. I highly recommend this rendition of "Written in Chalk." I'll never forget the first time I heard it at the Americana Honors show in 2007. It floored me. Still does. To me, it represents Americana music at its absolute finest.
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Robin says:
Where are you RedMaz. This might be a good spot to “educate” people.
countryiscool says:
American blogs get no where NEAR the response that pop country does, so Robin, this probably ISN’T the spot to “educate” people on Americana because the folks that listen to it already frequent these blogs, whereas the country pop crowd favor the other blogs. Red has to hit them where THEY go.
countryiscool says:
Americana, whoops
drdjwu says:
You are so right about “written in Chalk”
countryiscool says:
This, and the other blog on Patty Griffin (with 0 comments) proves my point about Americana blogs, not highly frequented as Pop country. Hmmm…
Redmaz says:
Think of it this way, everytime you read my posts, you get an education whether you like it or not;) Watch this…the picture above is of the band Reckless Kelly. They feature the Braun Brothers Cody and Willy, and if you really want to hear a powerful tune just listen to their song “American Blood” from their “Bulletproof” CD. Cody and Willy’s brother is Mickey Braun. He is the founder and leader of the group “Mickey and The Motorcars” another great band. Check them out sometime…I dare ya;) Come on Mainstreamers…free your mind, and the tunes will follow.
Rich says:
I agree about Buddy Miller and also about Antje Duvekot…both outstanding artists and Antje really deserves more exposure.
This Americana Music Association bothers me greatly however. Antje for instance is not going to charicterize her own music as Americana but thats what the powers in Nashville want to make big bucks. Americana is a hollow marketing gimic for the big money producers in Nashville that takes over where “Alt-country” fizzled as a catagory they could exploit.
“Americana” is being marketed to be a coverall for bluegrass, Cajun, blues, folk, singer songwriters and also the few country singers who don’t have make up artists and hairdressers and who sing about things other than drinking, dogs, divorce and trailer life. But by this marketing ploy to encompass all of these distinct genres is just homoginizing a select few performers and the broad range of artists in each of these types of music are being left out. Americana is very dangerous and harmfull to our various music traditions and the artists exploring them and performing them. Unlike mainstream country music it takes real musicians and singer songwriters for proficiency in these established individual genres and not just pretty faces singing (and not even playing) songs written for them.
“Americana” was just invented in Nashville a few years ago not because the artists lacked identity but simply as a tool for making money by the record labels, Clear Channel and management companies. “Americana” doesn’t mean anything.
Redmaz says:
Now THAT’s funny!!!! Good one “Rich”!
solongsowrong says:
You left off “once upon a time” in your fairy tale, Rich.
drdjwu says:
“Rich”, …so this is all a huge ploy by “the big money producers in Nashville”? Seriously??? And who are some of the people you feel should be included as Americana artists but “are being left out”?
Rich says:
Chris Parton of CMT.com described a performance at the Americana Music Association Honors and Awards show with an acurate charicterization of it’s “slightly awkward, corporate event nature of the gig”. Is that not enough to reinforce my asertation that “Americana” is just a quite recent slick marketing invention of corporate interests in Nashville?
Rich says:
Reply to solonsowrong: If “Americana” is a legit category of music where did it come from just a couple of years ago then? Was there a groundswell I missed by artists of different genres saying “please re-categorize us into something less descriptive”? Go to the Americana Music Association web site and it is clear who started this and who has the economic interests in maintaining this. It is about selling commercials on radio stations and selling CD’s and downloads of “hit” songs by certain artists that couldn’t be buttonholed previously by their music style. Alt-country radio stations were failing and changing formats right and left a few years ago and so there was an invention of something by those who were loosing money (not by the artists) to replace the cash flow. If you think I am wrong and that “Americana” stands for something then please don’t just criticize me and define it for me.
Rich says:
Reply to drdjwu: I like many of the artists now being promoted as Americana. I buy their recordings and attend their performances. But as for the artists who are left out, look at the top 50 radio station play list songs now and over the last two years since the Americana Music Association web site started tracking them in detail and what you will find is that 98% of the bluegrass, Cajun, acoustic singer songwriters, folk singers and blues artists are being left out. I am talking about prolific recording artists that have a good following and tour every year to club circuits and festivals but who are produced on labels not aligned with the Nashville power base. If you want lists go to the schedules for the clubs where these types of musicians perform regularly and see how the Americana play lists don’t match up with who audiences outside of Nashville are actually going to see at the clubs over the next coming months - see clubs like Passim in Boston, The Ark in Ann Arbor, Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, McCabes in Santa Monica, The Freight House in Berkley, The Cactus Cafe in Austin, etc. Calling this music of multiple genres that is packaged in Nashville “Americana” is exactly like calling the Dallas Cowboys “America’s Team”. How does that make the Titans fans feel? Just because some big money interests want to say it doesn’t mean it is anything real.
Rich says:
My last posting - sorry to monopolize this forum. The Americana Music Association refers to Americana music as “a genre”. That is laughable, and here is how they spefically define Americana on their web site:
What is Americana Music?
Americana is music that honors and is derived from the traditions of American roots music. It is music inspired by American culture traditions which is not only represented in classic man made / roots based sounds but also through new and contemporary artists whose music is clearly inspired by these great traditions. It is a great genre, vast, like jazz which encompasses a wide range of music. Like jazz, which spans from Miles Davis to Harry Connick to the Preservation Hall, Americana’s range includes artists like Gram Parsons, Soloman Burke, The Band, Lucinda Williams, Lyle Lovett, Mavis Staples…
Now that makes no sense to me - how about you?
drdjwu says:
Actually, it’s not a bad description.
solongsowrong says:
What makes no sense to me is why you think Americana artists who are currently on top of the airplay charts and use independent record companies based out of such places as Texas, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Connecticut, California, Missouri and Vermont…just to name a few… are making money for Nashville?
If that was the case, why aren’t they promoting these artists like they do for Nashville artists such as Paisley, Underwood, Urban, Chesney and Swift? Commercial radio ignores Americana artists on independent labels. Doesn’t sound like a very good way to drum up business to me, if making money is their only motive. Not that I would listen to commercial radio, even if they did…. too much garbage that I don’t like at all, and I see no reason to listen to radio that plays music I don’t like. The Pop Country of Mainstream, and the Roots Country of Americana, are miles apart as far as I’m concerned.
While I’ll agree not everyone get played equally on Americana radio stations, I have never had a problem getting them to play what I request… unlike Commercial stations who flat out tell me they’re not allowed to play these artists. I also have found stations who play Bluegrass, Blues, and other styles you mentioned as being less played, that actually play these styles exclusively. So I don’t really see where my listening enjoyment of Bluegrass music, for instance, is being short changed at all, just because some of its artists don’t make the top Americana airplay charts.
If I understand you right, even though you do listen to artists of the Americana genre, and hopefully enjoy them, you see some of the patterns of commercial radio rearing its ugly head already in the young Americana airplay system. Only time will tell, of course, if you’re right, and unfortunately, greed and money always seem to rise to the top even when most have the integrity to try to do the right thing.
For me though, I’m just happy that there are formats to hear this music, that Mainstream ignores completely. I’d much rather listen to a genre that at least acknowledges these other artists exist. I also have found I don’t need radio, to be able to listen to artists I like.
My favorite artist is one who doesn’t label her music in any way, just sings the music she likes, and lets others decide how to label it. If she makes a record that has Bluegrass, Folk, Country, the Blues, Gospel, and maybe even a little Rock thrown into it, how would you propose to decide where the music should be played, if Americana means nothing?
drdjwu says:
“Rich”, I’m not a big fan of sticking artists into boxes and slapping labels on them. And some of the artists claimed as “Americana” don’t require a new genre home — what was wrong with Howling Wolf and John Lee Hooker just staying “Bluesmen”? Why does Bruce Springsteen need any label other than Superstar?
But MOST of the artists listed as “Americana”, especially the newer artists, don’t seem to fit into any other existing genre, get very little recognition or airplay from most radio stations. So what I’m wondering is why movement seems to bother you so much?
What re-categorizing? Where were they before? Why is Americana so “damaging and harmful to our musical traditions… and artists”? Again, which specific artists are being left out? Who is gaining from this “ploy”? Why did John Fogerty feel so at home at this Awards ceremony? W
Rich says:
I don’t really think any musicians need “Americana” to be able to be described. For a good example, look at the October schedule for The Ark in Ann Arbor, MI at http://theark.org/October_2009.html and you will see they do not have difficulty categorizing performers using real and established genres. Sometimes they do use “Americana/alt-country” as a category but scrutinize which acts they use that for and if just “alt-country” wouldn’t have been descriptive enough absent this new Americana marketing campaign.
drdjwu says:
Rich, again, you didn’t my main questions.
In your Sept. 18 post you say: “Americana is very dangerous and harmful to our various musical traditions and the artists …performing them.” I asked, “Why?” How, specifically, is this label harming anyone?
And who, specifically, are some of these artists you claim are being left out. And how are they being left out? Just because they don’t get airplay?
Hey, in some parts of the country, the whole genre is being ignored by radio. Not everybody lives in Ann Arbor.
drdjwu says:
Sorry, “you didn’t ANSWER my main questions”.
solongsowrong says:
I noticed too that you don’t really seem to be answering too many of the questions that were asked of you. Doesn’t really matter though, the first part of you response sums it all up, when you said you don’t really think…that means you’re just stating an opinion. You want to talk opinion, I think Americana is a better discription than Alt- Country. Why should roots music, be the alternative?
Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with marketing, as long as it’s done for the right reasons, and everyone maintains their integrity.
One act in particular that displayed integrity to me, is the Lovell Sisters. Signed to a major label, and given to a handler who does one of Mainstream Country’s top acts, the sisters balked when they saw how the label wanted to change their music around, to make it more sell able to a Mainstream audience. The hand writing read quite clearly that the label wanted to make them into the next Dixie Chicks. They very quickly hired a lawyer, and got out of their contract. They since have started their own label, produced their own album, and do their music the way they intended it to be performed. They list themselves as Americana and were on the Americana charts.
Now once again…. how is this little independent label of a group of sisters from Georgia, making money for the Nashville labels?
Russell Hanning says:
very cool journal. Filled me with a much better know-how about the economic crisis. I am grateful buddy
Makaila says:
You’ve hit the ball out the park! Incribedle!