Americana / Roots Americana
Contemporary roots music that blends country, folk, roots rock, blues, soul, gospel, and bluegrass without fully belonging to any one of them. It typically favors organic drums, acoustic guitar, Telecaster twang, organ, fiddle, mandolin, and vocals that sound lived-in rather than glossed over.
History
Although its ingredients are older than the label, this family cohered in the 1990s and 2000s through alt-country, roots-rock, singer-songwriter folk, and revivalist acoustic scenes, then gained infrastructure through Americana radio, festivals, East Nashville and Austin networks, and the Americana Music Association; records by Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile, and many peers turned it into the main public-facing home for modern American roots songwriting.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Americana Music Association, "About"
- GRAMMY, "Americana's Global Reach"
- Rolling Stone, "How Americana Went Mainstream in the 2010s"
- MasterClass, "Americana Music Guide." citeturn6search4turn6search1turn6search2turn6search3