6 Modern Artists Who Are Carrying the Torch of Classic Americana

There’s a question in modern music today that has a difficult answer. What is Americana? But for the multi-time Grammy winner Brandi Carlile, who is one of the genre’s biggest stars, the answer is simple. “It’s a community of roots-based artists and enthusiasts,” Carlile has said.

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Here below, we wanted to highlight four members of that community who are helping to push the genre forward and grow its reach. Indeed, these are six modern artists who are carrying the torch of classic Americana.

Adia Victoria

The 39-year-old Nashville-based artist released her latest studio album in 2021. That LP, A Southern Gothic, was a stunner. One of the tracks that especially stood out was the almost spell-like “Magnolia Blues”. While Americana can be a numinous genre, with toes in folk, blues, rock, and more, Victoria can lead the way forward as well as anyone.

Allison Russell

Allison Russell is one of those performers who smile as they hypnotize. She lulls you into a delighted state and then all of a sudden, you realize her talent has wrapped itself around you, and there is no escape. The good news is that you’d never want to. Russell’s debut LP, Outside Child, put her on the map in 2021. Her follow-up, The Returner, kept the hype train rolling. And today, she is a marquee name in American music.

Jesse Welles

We are definitely not trying to get political here. But it’s hard not to tread on political lines when talking about Jesse Welles. The songwriter gets his ideas from the newspaper headlines. He is a mirror, reflecting back what he sees and hears. Many music fans found out about Welles with his protest song, “Join ICE”. But whether or not you agree with his politics, his facility for language and his connection to the sounds and flavors of American roots music are clear. Woody Guthrie 2.0, anyone?

Courtney Marie Andrews

In 2018, Courtney Marie Andrews released her seventh studio LP, May Your Kindness Remain. With it, she garnered tens of thousands of new fans. She’d arrived, and her emotive voice had become an essential part of the Americana pastiche. And one of the great deep cuts from that record is “Border”. The song rips at your guts like a miner pulling coal from the mountain.

Valerie June

Americana fans have long loved Valerie June. Her wild hair and her magician’s voice are signatures from festivals to recording studios to venues all over the country. In 2021, June earned her first Grammy nomination for Best American Roots Song. It was an acknowledgement of a great career—one that has decades more time ahead of it, too.

Brandi Carlile

In one sense, Carlile has become the leading voice in the Americana genre. In another sense, she is one of many people keeping the ship’s sails full of wind. While many around Carlile’s Pacific Northwest home have known about her, she had her breakout in 2018 with the release of her LP, By the Way, I Forgive You. Her track “The Joke” solidified her as an all-timer. And she’s been using her voice largely for good ever since.

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