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The night of the Triple Bill, as I was leaving, I'd bumped into Mike Trotman, a promoter of concerts in the Buckingham area, focusing mainly on... Americana. His forthcoming attractions include a wonderful coup of Buddy Miller playing a small intimate venue, as well as shows by Eliza Gilkyson and Tom Russell. [The Buddy Miller gig was a gem, by the way, a blissful encounter with a legendary branch of the Americana tree. And Buddy's band turned out to be The Amazing Pilots!] I arranged a meeting with Mike and, having loosened him up with a frothy coffee, I put the definition question to him.
"My view is that the whole Americana thing started with Uncle Tupelo, blossoming into Wilco and Son Volt. Jeff Tweedy went one way and Jay Farrar went another. To my mind, Americana is a mixture of rock 'n' roll, American folk, and country." He suggested that music made from these basic elements, used in combination, has been around for a long while, and the Americana tag is just a way of identifying the current incarnation.
I mentioned Monica Ferguson's use of the word "contemporary" in her definition. Mike readily agreed.
"Yes, that is the point. Americana does seem to be a music of now. Everyone is writing his or her own songs, it's definitely today's music based in a tradition. People on both sides of the Atlantic are writing in a traditional vein--Kate Rusby over here, you hear a song of hers and you think, where did that come from? Cumberland in 1737? But no, she wrote it herself last week. Or Gillian Welch, for instance."
We also talked about the Americana that's being created by British musicians. Mike enthused about Peter Bruntnell, whose latest album has Eric Heywood of Son Volt playing on it. Others that spring to mind include Broken Family Band, The Havenots, and Nick Stuart & The Federales. And I think Amy Wadge would fit in the family snapshot quite well, too. (Visit the Listen page for audio clips from several of these artists.)
OK, those of you who expected a definitive answer were always holding a losing ticket. While Americana may be in some ways a lazy musical shorthand, trying to crowd a whole lot of people under one umbrella, if it leads those of us with a less-than-perfect knowledge of the music scene in the U.S.A. towards a new favourite artist, how bad can that be? That was the way I got pointed in the direction of Laura Veirs, recommended to me by a big Laura Cantrell fan. Would we consider Ms. Veirs' music to be Americana? In the typically British idiom that I favour (and that sometimes gets me into trouble), I couldn't give a toss. I'm off to see Laura Veirs in concert tonight, my second time, and I know it'll be a fine night of brilliant music. That's the definition I like best.
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greenow.co.uk stables.org billmallonee.net
stevedawsonmusic.com dollyvarden.com
theamazingpilots.com buddyandjulie.com
peterbruntnell.com nickstuart.com amywadge.com
thebrokenfamilyband.com havenots.co.uk
uncletupelo.com sonvolt.net wilcoworld.net
lauracantrell.com lauraveirs.com bobharris.org
americana-uk.com americanamusic.org
themusicianpub.co.uk more greenow in puremusic
