– Let’s Talk Americana

Have you ever noticed the number of new music genres that have popped up over the last, say 10 years or so? Now, prior to the last couple years, I had my head down in the rock genre pretty solidly, so when I started opening my eyes to the wider popular music world the genre selection was all very confusing and fascinating. As a musician and a fan, I questioned not only what genre I was in personally, but what would you call the music that I liked to listen to? So many of these “smart” playlist systems try to push specific genres on you and I’d choose one and then say, “oops, that’s not it” when I heard the artists they thought fit there.

One exciting genre I had never heard of before recently is Americana. Now, I’m not much of a country fan, but I grew up listening to a bit of John Denver, the occasional Kenny Rogers, and even watched Hee Haw here and there. Not necessarily big into folk either, but folk/rock a la Crosby, Stills, and Nash or Simon and Garfunkel are okay with me. But as country itself has gone more toward rock, and folk has people going every which way, I hear more and more about “alt-country” and “Americana” as a description for a style of music that’s not quite country, not really folk, not rock, but perhaps a bit of all three. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong on that description or has a better one.

To add to the possible confusion, it seems each artist who calls him or herself Americana has a slightly different take on it. Even in my small circle of friends, I’ve got David Rix, who adds a bit of bluegrass, Jessica Lynne, who leans more country, The Lucky Suns, who push toward roots rock, and Charles Danek (aka Coin), who has a jazzy edge. All of them are excellent musicians and songwriters who fall into the Americana category yet sound distinctly different.

My curiousity in the genre is also piqued as I’m involved with a number of Americana side projects, mainly with Jessica and David named above. You can even hear a few relevant songs that I’ve done working with them both live and on recordings. These collaborations continue and you can expect more from these creative and fun side projects. Songs like “Carry On” and “Colored Life” would probably count in my book. Speaking of Colored Life, I’ve got a new final mix of that one with Jessica that I think is the best yet. I’ll put that one up this week and I think it will become the definitive version of that song.

So what are your thoughts on Americana? New genre or just re-imaging of old genres? Can you define it better than I? Who are your favorite artists you would put in the Americana category?

Written by Chris Klimecky