The 2024 installment of AmericanaFest transpired in Nashville last week, giving fans, members of the industry, and fellow artists an opportunity to check out much of the talent in the independent side of country and roots.
Last Thursday through Saturday (Sept. 21-23) over 16,000 thousand people came together at the State Fair Grounds in beautiful Lewisburg, West Virginia to celebrate recovery, raise awareness and promote education…
The annual Healing Appalachia concert will be happening with Tyler Childers headlining the event. Basically anybody and everybody in the resurgent Appalachian songwriter scene will be there.
Though the film means well, and is generally well-made with superb cinematography and high production value, the approach and information conveyed in the film is problematic to say the least, actively participating in erasing the legacy of Black country artists in a film that purports to be championing them.
Chapel Hart have been around for a while now, originally forming in 2014 and releasing their first of two LPs in 2019. They are also one of the most egregious victims of discrimination in country music. No, not just because they are Black, because they are country.
Just like so many of the characters in today’s popular music space, Jason Isbell has transformed from one of the most universally-revered independent artists of our time, to being reviled by large swaths of the listening population for his active and often ostentatious displays.
Floydfest in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and just off the Blue Ridge Parkway has formally announced their 2022 lineup, and it’s a doozy. Not exclusively a country or roots festival, they consider themselves more a “world” festival, but they always include a healthy dose of cool country.
The Grand Ole Opry is currently facing sharp criticism for allowing Morgan Wallen to perform on Saturday night’s Opry on January 8th. The first detail that everyone must understand is that Morgan Wallen was not a scheduled performer for Saturday evening’s Opry.
Yola’s 2021 album ‘Stand For Myself’ leans much heavier into the vintage soul space, and further away from country roots of her previous projects. ‘Stand For Myself’ also happens to be a very enjoyable listen, and a really inspiring work.
Oh the irony of so many people demanding all music sound the same in the name of “diversity.” The only reason we’re even having a discussion of where Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” should be placed on the charts is because you can’t tell the difference between most any given piece of popular music anymore.
For many years, the influence and contributions of African American musicians in country music went mostly overlooked, or overshadowed by their Caucasian counterparts. However there has been a recent trend by media and even some artists to overstate the influence of African Americans.
2018 was a high water mark when it came to the amount of diversity showcased by the organization and its community. But still the criticism for Americana’s lack of diversity have grown louder, bolstered by the current political climate where many feel they need to insist upon more diversity.