Videos by American Songwriter
Early on in his keynote address at last week’s Americana Music Festival and Conference, Neil Portnow—head honcho of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences—made a point to note that the creation of an Americana Grammy category and the inclusion of an Americana definition in the dictionary affirm the distinct identity of the genre. And before he left the stage, the Americana Music Association’s Jed Hilly presented him with a long sleeve t-shirt bearing a triumphantly tongue-in-cheek response to the question of what Americana is: “Look it up!”
Still, ongoing conversations throughout the conference suggested that the genre’s boundaries are hardly airtight, and, more importantly, that permeable boundaries have their upsides—especially for those making the music.
One panel discussion explored what it takes for blues-based musicians—who have a comparatively smaller market in blues—to crossover to the Americana world. Old-timey showman Pokey LaFarge is presently straddling both, and so have hot pianist Marcia Ball, gritty country-bluesman Watermelon Slim and string band-redefining sensations the Carolina Chocolate Drops. The way the music is framed, from producers and guest performers to arrangements and instrumentation—the rootsier the better, and working with somebody as synonymous with Americana as Buddy Miller or Gary Nicholson can’t hurt—makes a difference in how it’s received. Colin Linden—the veteran guitar-slinging singer and songwriter—noted that Americana is a more song-driven genre than blues, which can mean that really good songs have a chance of getting played on Americana radio even if they’re the work of a performer with a blues pedigree.
On the subject of adaptability, Portnow reported that independent record labels are gaining on the majors, thanks to all that things like unlimited digital shelf space and satellite radio are doing to level the playing field. It was only fitting, then, that a case study of the Civil Wars—steered by NPR’s Ann Powers—unpacked the story of how a commercial pop singer like Joy Williams and a rock guy like John Paul White could, after meeting at a Music Row songwriting camp, form a harmony-singing and songwriting duo, become an online sensation and, with the help of a savvy producer, a trusted support team and their own tiny label, win over college-friendly radio, get videos on CMT and earn both Americana and CMA award nominations. It’s evident that Williams, White and company are doing well at making up the script as they go along.
A panel on Americana hit-makers benefited from the experience of Matraca Berg, Angel Snow, John Oates and Jim Lauderdale, all of whom are rootsy songwriter-artists who’ve also had mainstream cuts. A couple of their career arcs drove home the fact that Americana and commercial country aren’t entirely separate universes. Berg put out major label country albums—she’s happily following the indie route these days—and other performers covered a slew of the quality songs on them. Lauderdale initially aimed for a mainstream recording career; he’s been free to make exactly the albums he wants to make—witty bluegrass, hardcore country or otherwise—because of hits other country singers have had with his songs. Snow has songs on Alison Krauss’s new album, and more doors are opening for her own recording career because of it. And Oates—who enjoyed blockbuster blue-eyed soul-pop success with his duo Hall & Oates—explained that he’s never seen creativity and commerciality as being mutually exclusive, or bought into the idea that radio hits are, by definition, uncool. As panel moderator and song publisher John Allen pointed out, acts like the Civil Wars prove that hits come in a much wider variety of forms these days. And considering the dire reports the record industry’s been getting for years, news of flexibility and ingenuity at work in Americana is good news indeed.
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