1969: A Watershed Year For Americana Music Half a century ago, in a single calendar year, an avalanche of albums were released that would go on to have a lasting and monumental impact on what would become known as alt-country and more recently Americana music. Looking back at 1969 and pursuing the list of albums … Continue reading
SONGS OF TRIBUTE For my Waitin’ Around to Die column in Rhythms I recently took a look at some of the outstanding releases in the field of tribute albums. Specifically those that fall under the umbrella of Americana and alt-country, whether it’s in recognition of an artist’s body of work or a fundraiser to assist them … Continue reading
ACROSS THE DITCH In musical terms, and to Australia audiences, New Zealand may be best known for its indie exports (based around the Flying Nun label), the various pop shapes of Neil Finn and associates and heavier acts such as Shihad. Yet there is, and always has been, a fertile country & folk scene throughout … Continue reading
LOST GEMS AND REISSUING NOSTALGIA One of the features of the last few decades has been the ever increasing proliferation of reissues. They come in all forms – remastered, remixed, re-pressed and expanded and thankfully the world of Americana music is no exception. Reissues serve two important purposes. Firstly they cater to the nostalgia crowd … Continue reading
EXPLORING THE GUITAR FRONTIER The guitar is synonymous with country and folk music, it’s the glue that ties it all together and has always been an essential songwriting and performing instrument in those genres. In the world of Americana music the guitar is also a medium for exploration and experimentation on the outer fringes of … Continue reading
Each year in September the Americana Music Festival & Conference is held in Nashville TN with dozens of music showcases from labels, genres and collected offerings from specific countries. Australia has a good profile at the event with shows like Tamworth Presents: Australiana @ Americana, Sounds Australia Presents: The Aussie BBQ and other smaller shows organised by … Continue reading
Here’s a piece I wrote for an issue of the fantastic print mag One More Robot. Follow the link at the end of this post to download the full article including some great photos by Eimear Forrestal. Unlike many other musical trends and genres, folk music never disappears and new artists are consistently emerging. Chris … Continue reading
POST TO WIRE 