Recommended for Americana Fans: Amanda Ann Platt and the Honeycutters

I think Tift Merritt deserves inclusion. I saw her my first time,  on the Traveling Alone tour. Had a great pedal steel player named Eric Heywood. Was once in Son Volt. Gotta mention John Coverntino on drums

Been listening to Fred Neil some. Think he qualifies.

@slaw 

Uncle Tupelo -- from what I've heard, Yes. I think most would agree that  Alt Country fits within Americana.

Tift Merritt is interesting. She's clearly not pure Country, Rock or Pop. What's the dividing line line between the Singer Songwriter and Americana genres?  I'm not sure it's clear-cut. The fact that many singer-songwriters release recordings that vary significantly in terms of production, writing approaches, instrumentation, etc. doesn't make this any easier. The question I'd ask is: how closely does "Travelling Alone" adhere to the Roots? How does it compare to this, for example: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WczcBuUk2XY&list=OLAK5uy_m9D2aChpR-LNvdXnLmLqtapzh7Ey_5FFI&index=2

When I saw Kelly Willis, Brennen Leigh, and Melissa Carper about a year ago, Brennen started the evening by mocking the term Americana. She said it seemed to her to be a term used by those feeling that pure Country music wasn’t cool, by those who wanted to distance and differentiate themselves from what is called Country music. She said Country was already cool.

But of course Brennen was referring to "Traditional" Country, not the schlock now played on Country radio: "Bro Country". You know, the guys who drive down to the river in their pickup truck to drink beer with their baby. Duh.

There are those who call The Band’s second album---the s/t "brown" album---the first Americana album, and I guess that case can be made, though I don’t do it myself. I think of Americana as an umbrella under which may be collected the artists who combine elements of Traditional Country, Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Rockabilly, Hillbilly, Bluegrass---in other words, basically acoustic music played by whites. Plus maybe some Blues.

Lucinda Williams is a perfect example. Not really Country, only partly Folk, lots of Singer-Songwriter, and a fair amount of Blues. She was one of the first of the "modern" artists to include all those elements in her music, starting back in 1979, with her two albums on Folkways Records. Her later success with her breakout album Car Wheels On A Gravel Road was the first big-selling album in the "Alternative" Country genre. Earlier albums by the new breed of Alt-Country males (Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam, Randy Travis, Lyle Lovett, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart) is a different matter. They are all more purely Country, without Lucinda’s other influences.

I realize there are those whose introduction to what is considered Americana was with the No Depression gang of young fellas. Sorry, but Uncle Tupelo sounded like little boys trying to sing a man’s music. Jay Farrar of Son Volt is pretty good, but Jeff Tweedy of Wilco leaves me cold. I have a real problem with flat singing .

Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives don’t get nearly enough attention. The current best band in the world!

@bdp24

I was hoping you’d chime in.

I’ve not been a fan of Alt Country, but it generally seems to be accepted by reviewers as Americana and I haven’t felt confidemt challenging this characterization.

I don’t understand Ms Leigh’s objection. Apparently she believes Country "owns" a certain stylistic slice of American music. I’d love to hear her try to define what she means.

I feel the same way about flat singing.