What is Americana music? Your ultimate guide to the genre
27.09.2022 - 14:31
/ officialcharts.com
Americana is undeniably one of music’s fastest-growing scenes. Whether you’re a recent recruit or consider yourself an aficionado, there are always new learnings as Americana evolves; with what was once a niche pocket of artistry constantly citing new inspiration and adopting more mainstream artists keen to explore its roots.
Here, we give an overview of the Americana scene, its origins, the exponential growth it’s experiencing and discover how the Americana Music Association UK champions its artists.
This is a great question, the answer to which isn’t so clear-cut. Not so much a genre in itself, see Americana as more of an umbrella label encompassing an extensive array of musical styles.
The Americana Music Association (AMA) explains that Americana as ‘contemporary music that incorporates elements of various American roots music styles, including country, roots-rock, folk, bluegrass, R&B and blues, resulting in a distinctive roots-oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw. While acoustic instruments are often present and vital, Americana also often uses a full electric band.’
In a recent interview with , Americana icon Lucinda Williams concurred that the genre can often prove difficult to define. “I think it's confusing for some people,” she said. “It's easier to pinpoint if you're in the industry," she says. "For me, in the beginning when it first established, it appeared to be anything that wasn't more commercially accepted.
"It was the stuff that fell through the cracks; the songs that didn't get a lot of radio play. It was the anti-commercial genre.”
Americana music originated in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The first commercial recordings of blues