"Americana" defined?

[dclaassen]

As someone who was born and raised in rural America, lived in both the Midwest and Texas, I am at a bit of a loss to discover what the heck "Americana" really is. Best definition I have seen is "a fusion of all American forms of music", which could also be rock, country, blues, etc. Is this just another attempt to subdivide music into yet another category that doesn't really exist? Is it that some folks are just ashamed of real country music, or real bluegrass music? Who inspires Americana? Alison Krause? B.B King? Carlos Santana? George Strait? 

 

I would love to be educated, please...... 

[Maude]

I suppose, although I'm no aficionado, it's a catch all, umbrella term for country, bluegrass, blues, jazz, etc without having the snobby "that's New Orleans Jazz not Appalachian Mountain Bluegrass" catagorising. 

 

One of the bands I play in does Mod(60s & rivival), Ska(1st & 2nd wave) and Northern Soul, there is also a crossover from punk where ska was prevalent. We could do with a similar catch all term as I usually just say "the Mod band" but you can get the odd '"The Clash aren't Mod", or similar comments. 

 

Unfortunately, catagories are annoying and useful in equal quantities. 

[TimR]

I'm in an originals band headed up by a guy from Seattle. 

 

He has a 'style', can't quite put my finger on, but it's all the US influences from the 50s really. None of it would be out of place in an American diner. I've been calling it Americana.

 

It's not bluegrass, or country, or blues.

 

 

 

 

[Leonard Smalls]

I take Americana to mean white square US music, so not blues, funk, jazz etc but more 70s singy AOR stuff - anything from Melanie to Woody Guthrie to the wetter end of Chicago etc...

Basically nothing that's got too much of a groove as the last thing you want is to be dancing to music 😁

But then I'm with Chuck Brown - "If it ain't funky..."

[Rosie C]

We used "Americana" as it seemed less niche, more accessible, trendier than Bluegrass, Country, etc. Planet Rock say "Americana" when they play Country songs. Rather than an attempt to subdivide it I guess we were using it as a catch all for a range of American music. 

 

[Beedster]

It's not a style or genre, it's a term that describes music influenced by the artist's or listener's idea of what American music is; The Band, Little Feat, Black Crowes, Wood Brothers, all fit into the Americana mould but all play very different styles of music. 

 

So not a style or genre, more a concept or idea 👍

[Dad3353]

'Americana' is music designed to appeal to a USA audience, inspired by USA themes, idioms and culture. Brit-pop is the same, but for a British audience. K-pop is the same, but for a Korean audience. Some of each (and many others...) creep across borders. 

[Beedster]

3 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

'Americana' is music designed to appeal to a USA audience....

 

I don't think it is, I think Americana is a broad category of music music that appeals to non-Americans who feel that it respresents something authentically American, I'm not sure many Americans would recognise it as a thing? 

[Linus27]

To me Americana was always those singer songwriters singing about themes that American's can relate to, usually with a bit of a political slant so artists such as John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Ry Cooder etc. 

Edited May 6 by Linus27

[Skybone]

4 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

To me Americana was always those singer songwriters singing about themes that American's can relate to, usually with a bit of a political slant so artists such as John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, John Cash, Ry Cooder etc. 

 

That's certainly what comes to my mind when I hear the term "Americana".

[dclaassen]

31 minutes ago, Beedster said:

 

I don't think it is, I think Americana is a broad category of music music that appeals to non-Americans who feel that it respresents something authentically American, I'm not sure many Americans would recognise it as a thing? 

Agree with this….

[Mykesbass]

Isn't it all about music influenced by 'roots' styles - Bluegrass, Zydeco, Cajun, Blues? From memory, when I was working in the record business, there was an Alt Country movement - Steve Earle, Cowboy Junkies etc. a kind of antidote to the other development of the time, New Country. Alt Country then merged with other sub genres, a couple of big acts (Springsteen) went back to a more traditional sound, and a new marketing tool was born. 

[Staggering on]

Neil Young and the Cowboy Junkies are Canadian, Young has spent a large part of his life in the US but started his musical career in Canada and The Junkies still are based in Canada. Just sayin'.....🇨🇦

[Mykesbass]

2 hours ago, Staggering on said:

Neil Young and the Cowboy Junkies are Canadian, Young has spent a large part of his life in the US but started his musical career in Canada and The Junkies still are based in Canada. Just sayin'.....🇨🇦

...which is in the continent of North America. I think for a concept as broad as Americana many Canadian acts would fit in, as do some influences from Mexico.

[asingardenof]

23 hours ago, dclaassen said:

As someone who was born and raised in rural America, lived in both the Midwest and Texas, I am at a bit of a loss to discover what the heck "Americana" really is. Best definition I have seen is "a fusion of all American forms of music", which could also be rock, country, blues, etc. Is this just another attempt to subdivide music into yet another category that doesn't really exist? Is it that some folks are just ashamed of real country music, or real bluegrass music? Who inspires Americana? Alison Krause? B.B King? Carlos Santana? George Strait? 

 

I would love to be educated, please...... 

It's basically intended to be country as country used to be without all the glitz, glamour, homogeneity and mediocrity that's been associated with "mainstream" country for decades. I'm using "country" as a catch-all term including bluegrass and other American folk genres or sub-genres, but if you swap it out for "Americana" then that's where we're at.

[MrCrane]

5 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

...which is in the continent of North America. I think for a concept as broad as Americana many Canadian acts would fit in, as do some influences from Mexico.

The Band, a classic example of Americana if there ever was one, were 4/5 Canadian

Edited May 7 by MrCrane

[Staggering on]

6 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

...which is in the continent of North America. I think for a concept as broad as Americana many Canadian acts would fit in, as do some influences from Mexico.

 

Up to a point that is true of course but most Canadians don't want to be referred to as "Americans" simply because we share a continent. I expect it would be much the same if we were talking about "British" music and included music from all of the countries and regions in the UK, or maybe we could talk about "European" and include everyone... maybe not.

Probably not worth debating I guess but we Canadians are proud of our contributions to "Americana", whatever that actually is, and to music in general. Interesting discussion though. 😊🇨🇦

[ezbass]

8 minutes ago, Staggering on said:

Probably not worth debating I guess but we Canadians are proud of our contributions to "Americana", whatever that actually is, and to music in general. Interesting discussion though. 😊🇨🇦

If Canada's only contribution to music was Rush, that's be OK with me. However, The Great White North's contribution to music is huge, thinking just of Americana, the aforementioned Robbie Robertson, springs to mind, as do Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and , so a certain degree, Bryan Adams and k d Lang.

[Cliff Edge]

16 hours ago, Linus27 said:

To me Americana was always those singer songwriters singing about themes that American's can relate to, usually with a bit of a political slant so artists such as John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Ry Cooder etc. 

 

I was in a band that played all those artists music. We just called it country rock. 

[dclaassen]

5 hours ago, asingardenof said:

It's basically intended to be country as country used to be without all the glitz, glamour, homogeneity and mediocrity that's been associated with "mainstream" country for decades. I'm using "country" as a catch-all term including bluegrass and other American folk genres or sub-genres, but if you swap it out for "Americana" then that's where we're at.

Okay, but, to me, “Country” is most pre-1970’s artists of the genre, and ending with George Strait and Scotty McCreary. Bluegrass is different…Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs, Allison Krause…Folk is way different…Dylan, Kingston Trio, Weavers…

 

Most new country is really pop music. The best definition of country music I’ve heard is “three chords and the truth.”

[badger]

2 hours ago, dclaassen said:

The best definition of country music I’ve heard is “three chords and the truth.”

three chords, wife gone & a dead dog.

[BillyBass]

Every time I hear one of the DJs from Planet Rock (on in my van) mention 'Americana' I listen to see if I can decode it.  That one of our resident Americans also struggles to understand the 'genre' gives me hope.

 

Once, on the Scotts Bass lessons forum, I asked someone what sort of music his band played.  He replied "Americana" and proceeded to list artists they covered; I didn't recognise any of them.

 

Steely Dan is the name that pops into my head when I hear the term but I might be completely wrong.

[Mediocre Polymath]

9 hours ago, asingardenof said:

It's basically intended to be country as country used to be without all the glitz, glamour, homogeneity and mediocrity that's been associated with "mainstream" country for decades. I'm using "country" as a catch-all term including bluegrass and other American folk genres or sub-genres, but if you swap it out for "Americana" then that's where we're at.

Yeah, this is more or less the definition I've reverse-engineered from the bands I've seen it applied to – sort of a country-music-in-exile thing.

 

At least as it's used in the US, I think it also serves to cover bands who are neither rhinestone-and-trucks pop-country, nor straight-down-the-line trad country/bluegrass. I'm thinking of the jazz and classical influenced world of bands like Hawktail, Billy Strings or the Punch Brothers – performers who sit very much in the country tradition, but aren't averse to some fruity jazz harmony or weird prog-rock epics.

[gjones]

It's a difficult genre to pinpoint.

 

Some Springsteen can fit the category, some Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Band, The Delines. It's somewhere between country and rock, n, roll.

 

It's one of those, 'I know it when I hear it genres'. 

[Hellzero]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americana_(music)