Americana (music)

Background

In the first half of the 1990s, with the advent of artists such as Garth Brooks and Shania Twain , there was an increase in the popularity of country ^[3] . These musicians brought pop sound to the genre, focused on a mass youth audience instead of rural listeners from the southern states, actively filmed vivid video clips, were successful on MTV ^[3] . If a decade earlier a gold album was considered extremely successful for a country musician, then new performers sold platinum and even multi-platinum disks ^[3] . The Nashville music industry relied on them as the most promising commercially ^[3] . As a result, by the fall of 1994, many critically acclaimed, popular and actively performing artists who did not meet the new standards were outside the industry ^[4] . Radio stations did not know in what format they were assigned, and record labels did not understand how to promote them now ^[4] .

At the same time, country radio refused not only from external or alternative influences, but also from the classics of the genre. As a result, the interests of many country lovers turned out to be unaccounted for ^[4] . Among the unclaimed mainstream were Emmylou Harris , Rodney Crowell , Joe Eli , Lucinda Williams , Robert Earl Keane , Johnny Cash , Junior Brown , Jim Lauderdale , Dave Alvin , Merle Haggard , The Bottle Rockets , Tim O'Brien , Iris Dement and many others ^{[ 4]} . Some accepted the more open radio format Adult album alternative (AAA), but those who used traditional country pedals , fiddle or banjo could not count on rotation even there ^[4] . The situation for such artists in those days was often described by the formula: too rock for country, too country for rock ^[5] . The answer to this was a new movement - American ^[6] . However, before taking root as a genre, it existed as a radio chart, ensuring the identity of an alternative country and becoming a landmark around which industry and fans united ^[7] .

Radio Format

The creator of the Americana radio chart was Rob Blitshtein, editor of the weekly magazine for music industry workers Gavin Report , who thus decided to support artists who did not fit into the narrow and clearly delineated radio formats of the time ^[8] . As a radio journalist and a country fan, he hoped to launch an independent radio format for alt-country by analogy with alternative rock ^[4] . The Gavin Report magazine at that time already published 11 charts based on data on music rotation on the radio - ranging from Top 40 pop hits to jazz , and helped to successfully launch the AAA format two years earlier ^[9] . However, the use of the words “alternative” and “country” in the name of the new chart at that time was unacceptable. The first in the 1990s was extremely hackneyed, and the second created a confrontation with Nashville , and could also scare away a rock audience that had negative stereotypes about country ^[10] . At that time, Blitshtein joined forces with music promoter John Grimson, who promoted similar ideas in the recording industry and was previously marketing artists such as Iris Dement , Dwight Yokam and Uncle Tupelo on Warner Bros. Records in Nashville ^[11] . With the filing of Grimson, the chart received an expressive, but devoid of these shortcomings, name "Americana", and he registered his rights to it ^[12] . This approach helped to indicate the independence of the emerging genre from country both at the industry level and the audience, and at the same time did not give a hint of a war with Music Row ^[10] .

The Americana chart was first published in the Gavin Report magazine on January 20, 1995 and reflected radio broadcasts of traditional music that was ignored by mainstream country or AAA ^[2] . In an accompanying article, Blitshtein described the new radio format as progressive, rebellious, eclectic and alternative music based on country traditions that does not fall into the mainstream standards, emphasizing the combination of history, heritage, modern influences and the triumph of style guitars, mandolins and acoustic sound over synthesizers and line-dance mixes ^[13] . Robert Earl Keene , Lucinda Williams , Joe Eli , Jim Lauderdale and Emmila Harris (the latter immediately received the informal title “The Godmother of America”) ^[14] as pillars and landmarks of the new format in the rubric. The first issue of the chart included, among others, Nancy Griffith, Jim Lauderdale , Nick Lowe and The Mavericks ^[2] . If 47 radio stations gave information in the first week, then by the end of the 1990s the number had grown to 96 ^[8] . These were radio stations broadcasting alternative country at least 12 hours a week - about two-thirds of them were commercial and simultaneously turned on Garth Brooks and Shania Twain , and a third - public or at colleges ^[8] . Meanwhile, the mainstream country at that time was broadcasting about 2500 radio stations ^[8] .

In its content, the new format was based on the artists themselves and the need to create perspectives for them, rather than on the desire to form accurate hit playlists ^[15] . The music that sounded in "American" was distinguished by an extraordinary stylistic variety ranging from authorial folk , techno and bluegrass to honky tonka , western swing and country rock with punk influences ^[8] . So, in one of the weeks among the artists popular on the chart, side by side, for example, the author-singer Lyle Lovett ; Newgrass Banjoist Bela Fleck ; a legend dedicated to the Country Hall of Fame, Willy Nelson ; alt country poet Kevin Welch and blue -inspired folk singer and protagonist of Tom T Hall Hall Nancy Moore ^[8] . Performers, who did not have significant commercial success, usually got to “American” ^[15] . Compared to mainstream country stars like Garth Brooks or Alan Jackson , who sold millions of copies, their albums usually ranged from 5,000 to 100,000 copies ^[15] . Such artists as Steve Earle or John Prine could reach the bar in the range from 100 thousand to 250 thousand or with the most successful releases, even gold status ^[16] . These figures often illustrate the fact that low sales expectations allow artists and labels to decide on creative and successful experiments, because they simply have nothing to lose ^[16] .

At that time, the chart had a negligible impact on the record industry, dominated by commercial conglomerates, but designated and gave a name to the new traditionalist movement, uniting previously disparate listeners ^[8] . Nevertheless, Americana initially received the support of renowned country producer Tony Brown , director of the Nashville division of Warner Bros. Records by Jim Ed Norman , ASCAP , independent labels Bloodshot , Sugar Hill , Rounder, and the Alt-Country edition of No Depression ^[4] . The latter, outplaying the flexibility and ambiguity of the boundaries of the new format, had the subtitle The Alternative Country (Whatever That Is) Bimonthly (from the English - “About alternative country (whatever that means) twice a month”) ^[17] . The alt-country phenomenon was fueled both by the formation of a cohesive audience, and by the ability of a business to master new niches discovered by the success of alternative rock ^[18] . However, this was facilitated by new trends in the mainstream, where the climate gradually began to change ^[18] . The country boom of the early 1990s, even within the industry, was increasingly perceived as Nashville’s inability to experiment with new or old sounds and his destruction of the “middle class” music business ^[18] . It was this vacant niche that America was able to occupy, finally separating alt-country from the mainstream by the establishment of its own association ^[19] .

The hybrid genre

In 1999, Blitshtein and Grimson, with the participation of other industry enthusiasts, created the American Music Association (AMA). Grimson transferred his rights to the name “Americana” to this organization ^[20] . Other founders included previously supported individuals and organizations: Grant Alden of No Depression ; Jesse Scott, now head of the alt-country radio holding company XM Radio ; Marie Arseno from the Twangfest festival; representatives of the labels Rounder , Sugar Hill , Dualtone , E-Squared and others, as well as the largest Internet distributor of the American Miles of Music ^[18] . In 2000, the Gavin Report stopped publishing the Americana chart, citing the fact that the format did not grow enough to be regularly covered, but the association continued to publish the hit parade on its own ^[21] . Radio format continues to exist in the modern realities of America, accumulating data from approximately 80 American radio stations in two charts - Top 50 Albums and Top 50 Singles. In September of the same year, the new association held its first congress in Nashville ^[2] . The annual Americana Honors & Awards began in 2002 ^[2] . This additionally helped the very term “American” come into use ^[22] . The first awards for life achievements were received by T-Bone Burnett , Emmila Harris and Billy Joe Shaver ^[23] . In 2008, the annual event expanded to four days and by that time was called the Americana Music Festival and Conference (AmericanaFest) ^[24] . In 2007, the category “ Best Album of Contemporary Folk ” as part of the Grammy Award was expanded and renamed to “Best Album of Contemporary Folk / American” ^[25] .

Over the years, the very understanding of America has gradually been adjusted and expanded. As a result, country has lost its paramount importance and has become just one of the styles, elements that can be present in America along with blues , gospel , folk , soul , root rock and others ^[26] . If the alt-country concept itself was originally connected by country traditions and the resulting stylistic, racial and gender restrictions, then America overcame this framework while maintaining a creative approach, emotional authenticity, the connection of music with the past and unsteady boundaries, and the alt-country musical properties became part of it variety. Within the framework of America, there was a place, for example, the African-American traditions of Keb 'Mo' , Mavis Staples , Rhiannon Giddens from Carolina Chocolate Drops and the Latin American influences of Raul Malo from The Mavericks and Alejandro Escoverdo ^[27] . Over the years, various artists such as The Avett Brothers , Solomon Burke , Elvis Costello , Steve Earl , Patti Griffin , Levon Helm , Alison Krauss , Mavis Staples and Neil Young have been honored at the AMA Awards ceremony. ^[24] Due to the lack of clear musical boundaries, America has become a space of intersection of performers and preferences that do not fit elsewhere ^[28] . At the same time, the tendency of Americans to combine elements of different genres dates back to the folk rivele of the 1960s and especially the movement of performers and country rockers of the 1970s, when artists like Emmylou Harris and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band created a new sound, drawing on this on the early tradition of styles ^[29] . However, the lack of racial, stylistic, and gender diversification of America is often criticized today. .

As music journalist Michael Scott Kane notes in his study, it is difficult for an American to determine specifically: even among artists and founders of AMA, understanding is often different ^[30] . However, such artists have in common a craving for traditional sound, the connection of music with the past and the inability to categorize their work unambiguously ^[31] . Americana rejects the categories: this is not alt country , but it includes it; not rock , although it is present in it; not folk , but its elements are also here; not Celtic music , but American is imbued with its traditions ^[32] . This is a mixture of forms - music, drawing inspiration from various influences ^[32] . According to musicologist Bill Malone , the success of a number of American performers bypassing traditional promotion channels reflects not just the emergence of an American as a genre, but new realities when the genre framework itself is less and less important, since listeners are no longer guided by clear industrial categories ^[33] . Like its ancestor, alt-country, America is built on the idea of ​​separating musicians who seek to keep in touch with the traditions of the past from the commercial mainstream ^[34] . Therefore, performers within the framework of America are united not so much by specific musical parameters, but by their ideas about the authenticity or sincerity of music ^[35] . In this regard, American is sometimes described as a movement ^[36] . The expansion of the boundaries of the genre, as before, was mirrored in the magazine No Depression , which changed the subtitle to the broader Quarterly Journal of Roots Music (from the English - “The quarterly magazine of root music ”) ^[17] .

In 2010, America received a separate category as part of the Grammy Award - Best American Album ^[24] . It was the understanding of American as music that combines elements of various American root styles that formed the basis for the description of the nomination by the National Academy of Art and Recording Science ^[37] . Among the first winners were Levon Helm , Mavis Staples , William Bell and Jason Isbell. ^[22] The latter, along with The Avett Brothers , Mumford & Sons and other artists, managed to achieve some success in the mainstream at the same time, which additionally attracted attention to the American ^[38] . Since 2012, the Americana Music Honors & Awards has been broadcast on the PBS channel, and AMA itself has already had more than 2,000 official members by 2016 ^[39] . In May 2016, Billboard magazine renamed its Folk Albums chart to Americana / Folk Albums ^[40] . The publication noted that such a change reflects the growth of America as a genre and the increase in the weight of the term in the music industry - therefore, the greatest attention in the charts will now be paid to exactly the American ^[41] . In this context, the magazine highlighted the presence on the chart of such artists as The Lumineers , Jason Isbell , Stergil Simpson , James Bay and Margo Price ^[41] . In October of the same year, the publication reported that albums in the American genre overtook R&B , hip-hop , dance music and country music for the first time, losing only to rock , which indicates the growth of America commercially ^[42] .

In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine noted that although America today is positioned not as a “rebel” branch from the country industry, but as a fusion of various American styles, racial and cultural influences, in reality it is dominated by white artists, country is a component and remains in close contact with Music Row ^[27] . According to observer Jonathan Bernstein, America was originally based on such a paradox - a group of professionals closely associated with Nashville, trying to cover all or at least southern American music ^[27] . Billboard magazine columnist Isaac Weeks noted that less than 10% of the 300 artists at AmericanaFest that year weren’t exclusively white musicians, and at the AMA award ceremony, only two of the 21 nominees were white ( Rhiannon Giddens and Hurray for the Riff Raff ) ^{[43 ]} . In total, over 18 years in the categories by which the jury votes, “colored” performers won only twice ( Alabama Shakes and The Mavericks ). In an article for MTV, Charles Aaron noted that although conditions for women and older musicians in America are milder than everywhere, “color” artists received less recognition than even in the mainstream country music of the 1970s, and the genre’s fan base is mostly white ^[44] . The dominance in American white male artists, as well as their ideas about music, was also indicated by Giovanni Russonello from The Atlantic magazine. In his opinion, a genre representing American identity cannot be so homogeneous and archaic in this sense ^[45] .

The author Rich Gordon from No Depression magazine spoke critically about expanding the boundaries of America, because country is now positioned not as the main one, but just one of the elements ^[46] . According to him, this happened for the sake of receiving his own Grammy Award category and expanding the audience. According to him, this, on the contrary, narrows the circle of fans and the American should return to the original concept of alt-country , and expand the horizons with country-punk , country-rock and artists of the 1960s like Buddy Holly and The Everly Brothers , which will provide an influx of fans, but will retain a connection with the country, which, according to Gordon, needs to be read, not leveled ^[46] . For his part, The Guardian columnist Grady Smith believes that America is a boon to country, because its hospitality and creative freedom allow artists to maintain the tradition of the genre, which cannot be done in pop-trendy mainstream country ^[39] . The term "American" itself is applied more and more massively, including to representatives of the world of blues and R&B ; The status and popularity of America is steadily growing even on Music Row , which opens up broad prospects for its performers ^[39] . According to Smith, fans of traditional country should not see a threat in America, but the possibility of preserving the identity of the genre, even if traditionalists like Emmylou Harris , Brandy Carlisle and Jason Isbell joined the American once cease to call themselves “country” ^[39] .

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• The full version of the movie Nashville 2.0. The Rise of Americana on Vimeo