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Americana - thread of country, folk, rock, blues and everything in between

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Kaladin

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Americana, as defined by the Americana Music Association (AMA), is "music that honors and is derived from the traditions of American roots music. It is music inspired by American culture traditions which is not only represented in classic man made / roots based sounds but also through new and contemporary artists whose music is clearly inspired by these great traditions. It is a great genre, vast, like jazz which encompasses a wide range of music.American roots music based on the traditions of country."

Recent releases in Americana:

pZZSh.jpg

The Avett Brothers - The Carpenter
Down With The Shine (Live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFgXcNSspzA

Xt3L1.jpg

Justin Townes Earle
Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now
Am I That Lonely Tonight? (Live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6aNNGEa0W0

JoCLC.jpg

Ryan Bingham
Tomorrowland
Guess Who's Knockin' (video, sorry couldn't find a good live version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH6sOJwwAgY



Anyone here a fan of this kind of music? I'm a big fan and always love to find new stuff and there seems to be plenty of it out there.

What have you been listening to?
 
I'm pretty sure we've tried this thread in the OT before and seen it die a miserable death.

I am a fan of this sort of thing - it's got many names. In the 90's, people were calling it "Alt-Country" or "No Depression", after the Uncle Tupelo album. Americana can be used to describe it, although Americana also includes bluegrass/etc as well. I've been a huge fan of this genre since the early 90's and nearly all of my favorite bands can be traced to this movement or share some of the same DNA.

Everyone knows about Wilco, Son Volt...and most recently, Mumford and Sons/Avett Brothers/etc - so I'll start off with my favorite band that seems to be lesser-known to those outside of AltCountry/Americana fandom - the Old 97's.

Old97s-GrandTheatre-cover.jpg


No youtube links since im at work, will update when I get home.
 
Enron said:
I'm pretty sure we've tried this thread in the OT before and seen it die a miserable death.

I am a fan of this sort of thing - it's got many names. In the 90's, people were calling it "Alt-Country" or "No Depression", after the Uncle Tupelo album. Americana can be used to describe it, although Americana also includes bluegrass/etc as well. I've been a huge fan of this genre since the early 90's and nearly all of my favorite bands can be traced to this movement or share some of the same DNA.

Everyone knows about Wilco, Son Volt...and most recently, Mumford and Sons/Avett Brothers/etc - so I'll start off with my favorite band that seems to be lesser-known to those outside of AltCountry/Americana fandom - the Old 97's.

No youtube links since im at work, will update when I get home.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with a little bluegrass either. Americana is the best catch-all term I can think of though. Speaking of No Depression, there is a great blog by the same name:

http://www.nodepression.com/
 
Can I throw my own album in? I'm pretty proud of it.


For fans of The Tallest Man On Earth

Timberwolf400.png


Some reviews . .

From Beatsperminute.com 79%
"...And if you combine this with his delivery style, which is earnest (as said), but simultaneously sort of charmingly flamboyant, you have a portrait of a guy who is trying to work out his problems in front of you. . .Once you become familiar with Young’s stories, you’ll be happy to lend him an ear to listen, or even a shoulder to cry on."
Click to expand...

From theYorker.co.uk
"And whether it’s the ambiguity of where the divide is between Young himself and the character of Timberwolf, or the plethora of instruments utilised throughout, or the beautiful imagery and allegory he employs lyrically, whatever it is, the album has an inescapable sense of fantasy, magic and mystery all over it. Overall there is just something irresistible about it."
Click to expand...

From hazyacres.com
". . Timberwolf is a pretty original thing. . .His tracks remind me a lot of John Vanderslice the way the layers are added on slowly and then stripped down. It’s easy to get into Timberwolf and just let the tracks play."
Click to expand...

From Music Without Labels:
“I’m a fan, simple as that and it’s hard to ignore the talent you are about to listen to . . I mean, come on, the voice and the guitar work? This dude must clean house when it comes to the ladies.”
Click to expand...

From absolutepunk.net 9/10
Yet the words here are earnestly and wittily written, packed with imagery, declarations, and one-off reflections on the feelings we all experience at one time or another . . The refusal to sum up feelings into catchy platitudes or to simplify them to character beats makes them worth listening to.
Click to expand...

​

EDIT:

And for reasons of discussion, anything and everything by The Tallest Man On Earth absolutely belongs. The man is a genius, as is his beautiful music.
 
Fidelis Hodie said:
Can I throw my own album in? I'm pretty proud of it.

EDIT:

And for reasons of discussion, anything and everything by The Tallest Man On Earth absolutely belongs. The man is a genius, as is his beautiful music.
Click to expand...

Certainly, I remember when you posted it. I liked what I heard but haven't listened to it much since then honestly.

Never heard of TTTMOE......gonna give it a listen.
 
Mr. Sandman said:
Certainly, I remember when you posted it. I liked what I heard but haven't listened to it much since then honestly.

Never heard of TTTMOE......gonna give it a listen.
Click to expand...

Doooo it. His first two albums are incredible. They are pretty much . . just his live performances. So beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5DyCIdYfpA

EDIT:

And yes, I pull so much from him it's ridiculous. Can't help it, his music is the basis of my guitar playing soul. :)
 
FelixOrion said:
These guys are a weird mixture of Americana and electronic and ambient they call "bootgaze"...

...and it works somehow.
Click to expand...

If you want a weird mix that somehow works, check out Those Poor Bastards. The best way I can describe it is Gothic Country.

Crooked Man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=326WpN3wMUo

Glory Amen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdPI96S-eiE

I Walk The Line (Johnny Cash Cover)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgJkYpukzBc

Pills I Took:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVDPYZWuSOo
 
Big fan of American Primitivism, which Rate Your Music defines as...

"American Primitivism is a musical style originated by guitarist John Fahey in the late 1950s. By blending avant-garde and neo-classical compositions with traditional country blues fingerpicking techniques, the primitive guitar style was a major component of Fahey's Takoma Records label."

http://rateyourmusic.com/genre/American+Primitivism/

Far and away my favorite "style" of guitar playing.

John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Leo Kottke, and in the last 10 years it's seen a great revival with artists like James Blackshaw, Jack Rose, Glenn Jones, Richard Bishop and Steffen Basho.

Will post some videos later, I am already slacking off my work tremendously...

Alright, here's one quick one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSh-YsyjpXk
 
desertdroog said:
JD McPherson, doing Rock n Roll and Rhythm and Blues like it is 1958.

North Side Gal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZGn4LncY0g

Signs and Signifiers (dig that reverb!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-JzpbUKyVU

Firebug
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKBmHEtpg5E


Wolf Teeth (I swear this is an homage to the Blues artist Howlin' Wolf)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMadIMJZDu4

Support this group, they are knocking it out of the park.
Click to expand...

I bought this album just this week off Amazon because they have it for $3.99, good stuff.
 
We tried this thread under the "folk" heading and it flopped. But yes, absolutely my favorite genre. The stuff Enron listed makes me wonder if he is my evil twin. My exact tastes.

Also, he may not be American, but The Tallest Man on Earth is putting out the best Americana today. Someone wisely brought him up in the last thread and I've been hooked ever since.

Some other favorites are The Jayhawks, Avett Brothers, and whatever Danny Malone is currently working on.
 
Tragicomedy said:
We tried this thread under the "folk" heading and it flopped. But yes, absolutely my favorite genre. The stuff Enron listed makes me wonder if he is my evil twin. My exact tastes.

Also, he may not be American, but The Tallest Man on Earth is putting out the best Americana today. Someone wisely brought him up in the last thread and I've been hooked ever since.

Some other favorites are The Jayhawks, Avett Brothers, and whatever Danny Malone is currently working on.
Click to expand...

Americana catches a lot more than folk so hopefully this thread doesn't die a horrible death.
 
Tragicomedy said:
We tried this thread under the "folk" heading and it flopped. But yes, absolutely my favorite genre. The stuff Enron listed makes me wonder if he is my evil twin. My exact tastes.

Also, he may not be American, but The Tallest Man on Earth is putting out the best Americana today. Someone wisely brought him up in the last thread and I've been hooked ever since.

Some other favorites are The Jayhawks, Avett Brothers, and whatever Danny Malone is currently working on.
Click to expand...

*brofist.jpg*

See? I'm not crazy!
 
I second the JD McPhereson rec.

In case some of you weren't aware, a lot of these acts get play on Minnesota Public Radio's 89.3 The Current. Streaming, and have apps for ios and android. It's the only stream you'll ever need, check it out at thecurrent.org you wont be sorry.


As promised earlier, Old 97s! (If you are familiar with the Vince Vaughan movie "The Breakup", they were the band in the movie. VV is a huge fan of these guys.)

Big Brown Eyes - this one's my favorite

Niteclub

Perfume (from their newest album)

Dance With Me

Rollerskate Skinny

Color of a Lonely Heart is Blue

Timebomb (some of you may recognize this from Rock Band)


Check 'em out.

Rhett Miller, the lead singer, has also done several solo albums that are great as well and occassionally gets guest appearances in random tv shows, including (most recently) 30 Rock.

Tragicomedy said:
We tried this thread under the "folk" heading and it flopped. But yes, absolutely my favorite genre. The stuff Enron listed makes me wonder if he is my evil twin. My exact tastes.

Also, he may not be American, but The Tallest Man on Earth is putting out the best Americana today. Someone wisely brought him up in the last thread and I've been hooked ever since.

Some other favorites are The Jayhawks, Avett Brothers, and whatever Danny Malone is currently working on.
Click to expand...

What's up bro~

The Tallest Man on Earth is great stuff. He recently did an NPR Tiny Desk Concert that was fantastic - find that on youtube.

I forgot to list the jayhawks earlier. I've seen them like 10 times. Seen Wilco at least 20, and I can't even begin to count how many Old 97s shows I've been too.

True story - we attended an Old 97's in-store here in Atlanta a few years ago. We grabbed some pizza at the joint next door before walking down to the Variety Playhouse to attend their show, and as we walked outside Murray Hammond (the bassist) was leaning on my car talking to some guy, so I got to meet and chat with him for a bit! Made my day.
 
Rattlin Bones is a fantastic album by Shane Nicholson and Kasey Chambers.

Tallest Man on Earth is one of my favorite current Americana acts, Shallow Graves and Wild Hunt being my favorite albums of his. Did not particularly enjoy him live though.

First Aid Kit is pretty good, and also Swedish like TMOE.

The obvious like Mumford and Sons, Ryan Adams, Son Volt, Whiskeytown, are all great.

Railroad Earth is an awesome band I don't see mentioned all that awesome. At my wedding we left the altar to Good Life.
 
Yaboosh said:
Rattlin Bones is a fantastic album by Shane Nicholson and Kasey Chambers.

Tallest Man on Earth is one of my favorite current Americana acts, Shallow Graves and Wild Hunt being my favorite albums of his. Did not particularly enjoy him live though.

First Aid Kit is pretty good, and also Swedish like TMOE.

The obvious like Mumford and Sons, Ryan Adams, Son Volt, Whiskeytown, are all great.

Railroad Earth is an awesome band I don't see mentioned all that awesome. At my wedding we left the altar to Good Life.
Click to expand...

Whiskeytown! I have a faded-ass, holes-in-it Whiskeytown Tshirt that I still wear sometimes. Too bad Ryan Adams is such a dick. It's also totally unfair his reward for being a dick is Mandy Moore :x

First Aid Kit is pretty good. The video for for Emmylou is kinda funny though - Swede teenage girls' image of the American Southwest.
The Swedes produce consistently excellent music, it seems. They are legendary for their pop already, and so many other good acts come out of there.
 
Glad to see JD McPherson get some love. By the way, he is a Computer Science teacher by career who happens to make great music.

I <3 Americana with all my <3. Here is some of my favorite bluegrass:

Trampled by Turtles

Empire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSEKQsPPWfc

Arming of Infants
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIQLqdx3gfk

Duluth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUC61zwxCV8

Alone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejfMrZQU3Eo

Old Crow Medicine Show

Alabama High-Test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anpX29aJnho

Wagon Wheel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gX1EP6mG-E

James River Blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-hmhF9cn_k


Busted Hearts (Arizona Blue Grass band made up of members of the Punk Rock community, incl. Chip Hanna [drummer from U.S. Bombs] who does an awesome solo act) Free music here with their blessing: http://archive.org/details/bustedhearts

Cold Virginia Mist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmBX5dr3kMk

Chip Hanna

Just a Cowboy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXekV8_YYo4

Chip Hana and the Berlin three
Old South Jamboree
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Fz8jZjCNA

Beetle Boot (Cover from his other band US Bombs -> the original version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvoHJgsblm4)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6kBCcoj54c
 
desertdroog said:
Glad to see JD McPherson get some love. By the way, he is a Computer Science teacher by career who happens to make great music.

I <3 Americana with all my <3. Here is some of my favorite bluegrass:

Trampled by Turtles

Empire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSEKQsPPWfc

Arming of Infants
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIQLqdx3gfk

Duluth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUC61zwxCV8

Alone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejfMrZQU3Eo

Old Crow Medicine Show

Alabama High-Test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anpX29aJnho

Wagon Wheel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gX1EP6mG-E

James River Blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-hmhF9cn_k


Busted Hearts (Arizona Blue Grass band made up of members of the Punk Rock community, incl. Chip Hanna [drummer from U.S. Bombs] who does an awesome solo act) Free music here with their blessing: http://archive.org/details/bustedhearts

Cold Virginia Mist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmBX5dr3kMk
Click to expand...

Trampled by Turtles are a Minneapolis act - they played an amazing live show not long ago that The Current streamed, and I think its archived on their site. See if you can find it, its worth the effort.
 
Punk Rock and Americana? What? More common than you think:

John Doe (guitarist of X) & the Sadies (Canadian Group who are awesome in their own right and play the Boyfriends part of Neko Case and her Boyfriends from the Virginian album--> Timber)

Stop the World and Let me Off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieQq87uoKHs

I Still Miss Someone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLYieJcd_Eo

The Knitters (Pretty much X as a country act)

Silver Wings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdnZlifjT6Q

Poor Little Critter on the Road
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdFIAGzHoqU

Sean Wheeler (Throw Rag) and Zander Schloss (Circle Jerks)

Retablo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBpztxby6ho

So Low She Rose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL_VAmtZm1Y

Kissing Rust
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NEXOcPx-kU
 
Enron said:
What's up bro~

The Tallest Man on Earth is great stuff. He recently did an NPR Tiny Desk Concert that was fantastic - find that on youtube.

I forgot to list the jayhawks earlier. I've seen them like 10 times. Seen Wilco at least 20, and I can't even begin to count how many Old 97s shows I've been too.

True story - we attended an Old 97's in-store here in Atlanta a few years ago. We grabbed some pizza at the joint next door before walking down to the Variety Playhouse to attend their show, and as we walked outside Murray Hammond (the bassist) was leaning on my car talking to some guy, so I got to meet and chat with him for a bit! Made my day.
Click to expand...

Wilco was my favorite band in high school and college. I've only seen them one time, so nowhere near your level on that front. But I saw Jeff Tweedy live once, and that was amazing. I still listen to Being There fairly often.

I like quite a bit of Jay Farrar's solo work after the Uncle Tupelo breakup. He's worth mentioning, as well.
 
Lucky enough we get all the awesome acts due to the Hillgrass Bluebilly record label, which originated here Phoenix, Az, now is based out of Austin, Tx.

Caught Trampled by Turtles (great band Enron! I agree I also love the Old 97's), JD McPherson and Old Crow Medicine Show on accident due to Hillgrass Bluebilly promoting shows and bringing all sorts of great Americana through town.
 
desertdroog said:
Punk Rock and Americana? What? More common than you think:

John Doe (guitarist of X) & the Sadies (Canadian Group who are awesome in their own right and play the Boyfriends part of Neko Case and her Boyfriends Timber)

Stop the World and Let me Off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieQq87uoKHs

I Still Miss Someone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLYieJcd_Eo

The Knitters (Pretty much X as a country act)

Silver Wings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdnZlifjT6Q

Poor Little Critter on the Road
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdFIAGzHoqU
Click to expand...


Ah yes, good 'ol cowpunk. X gets a LOT of love in this fandom. The Old 97's did a song with Exene Cervenka way back 15 years ago or so - Four Leaf Clover
 
Now that I am home, my favorite Americana albums are:

Gram Parsons GP/Grievous Angel
The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo (perhaps my absolute favorite, I fucking loving Parsons)
Alison Krauss and Union Station - Live
Cowboy Junkies - Trinity Session
Grateful Dead - American Beauty
Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind
Johnny Flynn - A Larum
Kasey Chambers/Shane Nicholson - Rattlin Bones
Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
Lucero - Tennessee
Lucero - Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers (Lucero is amazing live, seen them a few times)
Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on the Gravel Road
Mumford and Sons - Babel
Railroad Earth - Good Life
Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker (just behind Sweetheart of the Rodeo, freaking amazing album)
Ryan Adams - Gold
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Jacksonville City Nights
Son Volt - Trace
Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Graves
Tallest Man on Earth - Wild Hunt
Whiskeytown - Strangers Almanac
Whiskeytown - Pneumonia
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot


So good. All of it.
 
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