Ask a hundred musicians and you'll likely get a hundred different answers, or variations. It's a question I love to ask people, that usually gets them thinking, and seldom do they have an immediate answer.
Is it folk music, roots music, country, bluegrass, or an amalgamation of various genres? Is there a definitive answer, or is the answer interpreted differently by different people, and how do genres evolve over time?
According to the Americana Music Association's definition; "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."
The wider question we need to ask is what is Americana itself? Merriam-Webster's definition; materials concerning or characteristic of America, its civilization, or its culture
broadly : things typical of America.
This is my first blog; I trust you'll join me and contribute, as we ask these questions, and create a community of folk interested in one-of-a-kind America and Americana. We'll focus strongly on Americana music and road-trips, a journey that began for me in the UK in 1976. That year, I made countless trips crisscrossing the United States by Greyhound. The sad reality however was, it was just Simon & Garfunkel, a Sony Walkman and my imagination riding through Pittsburgh. I hadn't actually hitchhiked 4 miles from Saginaw and didn't have any of Mrs Wagner's pies. It would be another ten years before I would set foot here.
In 1986 I visited the United States for the first time and never looked back. My first beer was a Michelob, the first live music venue was on Bleecker Street in New York, and the first rude New Yorker I met, was the first New Yorker I met.
Now here in Kansas City, enjoying the BBQ, the sport and being in the 'middle-of-everywhere USA', whilst thriving in the vitality of Knuckleheads Saloon, and a plethora of live music, and acts such as Hayes Carll, Chris Knight, James McMurtry, Steve Earle, Poco. ... the list goes on.
Join me on the journey as we share unique experiences, music and venues, road-trips and anything Americana.
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