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WTF is...?
WTF is… Americana?
Next up in our series of music genre deep dives is intrinsically tied to American identity: Americana
Americana is a music genre that consistently incites discussion, curiosity, and a fair dose of bafflement. Predominantly because it’s one of the kinds of music that is perhaps, well, indefinable. Strictly speaking.
A great way to start an article dissecting the very nature of Americana music, you might say – maybe we should be the ones asking “WTF is… Americana?” But consider this more of an investigation into rather than a definitive ‘guide to’ Americana music, mainly because there is no such simple thing.
Americana music’s hallmarks and characteristics bleed into numerous other kinds of genres. It’s ultimately an umbrella term which covers the entire gamut of American roots music such as blues, folk, country, bluegrass, and even rock. It’s simple to distinguish if you know, but if you don’t then it could very well seem indistinguishable from any of the aforementioned genres.
When you listen to Americana, it’ll feel authentic, it’ll feel rural. Americana is intrinsically tied to American identity – the optimism, the opportunity, the misfortune, the frontier, the American dream, and the American experience.
Still scratching your head? Let’s delve a little deeper then.
The origins of Americana
In the early first half of the 20th century, musicians began to blend traits from blues, country and folk, writing songs using all instruments associated with the genres – acoustic guitar, the banjo, the fiddle, the mandolin and the double bass. These songs were generally written to express the musician’s struggles with everyday life.
Woody Guthrie, one of the most significant figures in American folk music, is widely regarded as a progenitor of Americana. His songwriting famously has a socialist, anti-fascist agenda, which influential staples like ‘This Land Is Your Land’ and ‘Tear the Fascists Down’ state pretty evidently. Guthrie was the idol – both on a musical and personal level – of a young Bob Dylan, but we’ll get to that.
Throughout the 1940s to the mid-1960s, folk music underwent a major revival, with New York City becoming the central hub of the scene. Artists like Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and The Kingston Trio helped popularise folk, putting their own individual slants on the music genre, with artists like Judy Collins, Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver, Fred Neil, Phil Ochs, and Arlo Guthrie – son of Woody – coming later.
When rock music boomed in the early 1960s, musicians began fusing folk’s traditions with the electric guitar, stretching the genre’s possibilities further and further. Bob Dylan going electric was arguably the first instance of folk rock, controversial as it was at the time. But the folk rock movement spawned some of the most indelible albums of the era – Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, Simon & Garfunkel’s Bookends, as well as The Byrds’ Mr. Tambourine Man, for instance.
So, how can you define Americana?
Well, Brit folk troubadour Billy Bragg said: “Americana is country music for people who like The Smiths.” What he may have meant by that, is that Americana musicians don’t necessarily abide by the same laws, both musically or culturally, as country musicians.
Country music tends to revolve around romance, conservatism, immovable faith and big ol’ cowboy hats. Americana is regarded as different however, as the genre draws from a varied range of other influences. Dare we say, Americana could be deemed as country music’s more complex, explorative cousin.
The Americana Music Association states: “Contemporary music that incorporates elements of various, mostly acoustic, American roots music styles; including country, rock, folk, gospel and bluegrass, resulting in a distinctive roots-oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw.”
If that doesn’t clear it up, maybe just go by Sturgill Simpson’s definition, who once quipped: “It takes an Americana song five minutes to say what a country song says in three.”
Which artists are classed as Americana?
You have the aforementioned greats like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Simon & Garfunkel, and The Byrds. But as rock music began to lead the way creatively, bands like Creedence Clear Revival became the new definition of Americana. Their blend of Southern imagery – despite being from California – roots rock and folk on albums like Bayou Country and Green River broke through to the mainstream, resulting in the band being the first name to be announced for Woodstock in 1969.
Artists like Gram Parsons (who referred to his music as ‘Cosmic American Music’) and Gene Clark were also innovators during that time. Townes Van Zandt took Americana to its darker edges throughout the 1970s, whilst John Prine had a more sardonic take altogether. Then there’s The Band. It could be argued that the likes of Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen are Americana artists, given their music exemplifies the very essence of America in music.
After the release of his 1986 debut album, Guitar Town, Steve Earle has been a consistent voice for the genre, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest Americana artists of all time. The term ‘alternative country’ was coined in the 1990s, with artists like Lucinda Williams and Wilco distancing themselves from major country stars of the time like Shania Twain and Garth Brooks. They helped renew interest in traditional forms of music when grunge, pop and electronica had a stranglehold on the then-youth.
Thanks to the likes of Mumford & Sons (yes, who are British), Of Monsters And Men (yes, who are Icelandic), The Avett Brothers and The Lumineers, Americana underwent a resurgence throughout the 2010s and was absorbed by a wider audience than ever. Albeit with a ‘stomp clap hey’ vibe which the purists would no doubt wince at. Jason Isbell and Brandi Carlile are also two of Americana’s greatest recent success stories, both of which have won multiple Grammy Awards.
What is considered culturally Americana?
Anything that relates to America or encompasses the American cultural milieu, in short. It’s a broad term…
Trucker caps, dusty open roads, tailgate parties, cook outs, hoedowns, denim jackets, denim jeans, baseball, hamburgers, hot dogs, the Wild West, warm apple pie resting on a window sill, Route 66, enormous automobiles, drive-in cinemas, the Grand Canyon, you name it. If it’s stereotypically American and symbolic of America’s cultural heritage, it’s Americana.
Americana’s global influence
British audiences have been absorbing American culture for decades now, but in recent years many homegrown artists are putting their own spin on Americana. Mumford & Sons are one of the biggies, but it was in fact The Shires who became the first British country act to crack the Top 10 of the UK charts for the first time, with their 2015 debut studio album Brave. Hampshire twin-sister duo Ward Thomas went one better and became the first-ever UK country album to top the charts in 2016 with their second album, Cartwheels.
Us Brits have been admiring Americana from afar for a long time. But the genre has firmly planted its flag in British soil thanks to a variety of new festivals popping up around the country.
Take State Fayre for instance, a brand new festival set to unfold in Chelmsford, Essex inspired by American state fairs, funnily enough. Promising to bring barbeque and bangers from across the Atlantic to British shores, the festival’s inaugural edition will be headlined by Kings Of Leon, Alanis Morissette and The Lumineers, with The Black Crowes, Orville Peck, Kip Moore, Dylan Gossett and numerous others joining them in Hyland Park. Likewise, The Long Road will see Bailey Zimmerman and timeless goddess Emmylou Harris headline.
What does Americana sound like today?
Americana isn’t just surviving. Nuh uh, no sirree. It’s thriving: leading lights in contemporary Americana are Billy Strings, a multi-disciplinary guitar technician who can literally master any instrument with strings it seems. The name suits you Billy.
Then there’s Jesse Welles. Thanks to his whipsmart lyricism – which he seems to knock out almost instantaneously – Welles uses his music and social media platform to take on most topical issues, usually dismantling America’s increasingly absurdist politics. No wonder the acoustic guitar-toting singer has been pedestalled as the next great folk protestor.
Katie Crutchfield aka Waxahatchee is in possession of the most gorgeous Southern lilt. Even though she tends to lean more towards the indie rock end of the spectrum, we’d bet our bottom dollar that you’d think of nothing other than sitting beneath a weeping willow whilst the star twinkle upon a creek at dusk.
Zach Bryan on the other hand is a bonafide mega star, taking Americana by the scruff of the neck and presenting his raw, rugged songwriting to audiences in their thousands.
By the sounds of it, Americana is in safe hands.
State Fayre Festival takes place in Chelmsford, Essex from 26-28 June. Find tickets here.
