is americana music just too cool for DU?

[KG]

since it's my flava fave, i think the answer would be yes.

[leftofthedial]

1. to appreciate Americana, you have to be literate

that's too much to ask of the ADD-SAS-chronically lazy majority in Murka.

If you are among the few who are able to get past the level of beating two rocks together, who are able to parse musical ideas that are more than a short-attention-span regurgitated pastiche of work from previous creators, and who require more than just unfocused, inarticulate anger passing for gravitas, you can appreciate Americana.

About 1% of rap is excellent. For that reason, elements of it (looping, rhythmic spoken-word) are being absorbed into Americana. As a genre, though, rap is already exhausted. It has already cannibalized pretty much all of the available cultural detritus it can. It's a fire that has burned down to hot coals, but there is no new fuel. It's very nearly run its course as a stand-alone form. It's a snake so voracious that is now swallowing its own tail.

Americana, on the other hand, is an expansive form that allows for creativity and the literate expression of both simple and complex ideas. It welcomes almost any feel, groove, technique, sound, or idea that serves the purpose of the song. It will last as long as at least a few of us can still read and think and concentrate longer than 3.5 seconds at a stretch.

[chicagojoe]

2. So, which artists fall into this "Americana" genre?

[KG]

3. it's a big tent.

for me, it's folk, rock, rock-abilly, and other twangy stuff. afficianados consider aussies like kasey chambers and brits like richard thompson americana.

[hickman1937]

4. What about The Blues?

is that americana? Nobody ever talks about the blues.

[KG]

5. the blues is big enuff for it's own genre.

tho, many of the americana fans i know are big blues fans.

[chicagojoe]

20. So, basically, if it's folk or true c&w, it's now called "Americana" ?

[Tsiyu]

6. Why do you ask?

Has someone bashed the Americana crowd lately?

I'm an Iris Dement, Steve Earle, Drive By Truckers, Emmilou, Tom Waits, Guy Clarke, Sun Volt, Blue Mountain, Delbert McCLinton, Peter Rowan, Christine Cain ( sp? sp? sp? sp? sp?) Kinda Gal.

Wuss yer problem, Cowboy?

[enigmatic]

7. Listen to Richmond Fontaine and Richard Buckner, too..

The 2 best bands/artists out there right now..

[KG]

8. no problem, sister

this is just another annoying copycat thread... :)

[Tsiyu]

9. Well I'll be a monkeys sumthin'

How dare you bait me that way? Then again, I have posted to several of the copycats so there's my Instant freakin' Karma.

[Tweed]

10. What about Edgar Meyer?

[eyepaddle]

11. Ohhhh Maa---annn! I shouldn't do this, but

since you asked:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=2668773&mesg_id=2669187

Ju's sayin' is all! ;)

[KG]

12. my point.

[eyepaddle]

13. I'm still lookin' for that drummer! nt

[Tsiyu]

15. WEll now. Eyepaddle

I have to SORT of agree, but my beef is with the young male ( and sometimes female) songwriters who have figured out the plan of life and sing these preachy baby songs.

And I'm sick of guys who write these one-dimensional songs about women, because all they're telling me is that if a relationship goes sour, they are going to trash the woman and turn her into a caricature of a human rather than getting humble and seeing their part of things.

Nothing irks a 45-year-old musician listening to baby boys and girls waxing prophetic about the meaning of life when their mothers are probably still doing their laundry.....

But in your vein - the sparse arrangement backing morose lyrics - I have to say that "the Day After Tomorrow" by Tom Waits is just the most beautiful song and it fits in that category you despise.

[Tsiyu]

16. Here Ya Go....

I got your letter today
And I miss you all so much, here
I can't wait to see you all
And I'm counting the days, dear
I still believe that there's gold
At the end of the world
And I'll come home
To Illinois
On the day after tomorrow

It is so hard
And it's cold here
And I'm tired of taking orders
And I miss old Rockford town
Up by the Wisconsin border
But I miss you won't believe
Shoveling snow and raking leaves
And my plane will touch tomorrow
On the day after tomorrow

I close my eyes
Every night
And I dream that I can hold you
They fill us full of lies
Everyone buys
About what it means to be a soldier
I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel
About all the blood that's been spilled
Look out on the street
Get me back home
On the day after tomorrow

You can't deny
The other side
Don't want to die
Any more than we do
What I'm trying to say,
Is don't they pray
To the same God that we do?
Tell me, how does God choose?
Whose prayers does he refuse?
Who turns the wheel?
And who throws the dice
On the day after tomorrow?
Mmmmmmm...
I'm not fighting
For justice
I am not fighting
For freedom
I am fighting
For my life
And another day
In the world here
I just do what I've been told
You're just the gravel on the road
And the one's that are lucky
One's come home
On the day after tomorrow

And the summer
It too will fade
And with it comes the winter's frost, dear
And I know we too are made
Of all the things that we have lost here
I'll be twenty-one today
I've been saving all my pay
And my plane will touch down
On the day after tomorrow
And my plane it will touch down
On the day after tomorrow


TOM WAITS - "Day After Tomorrow" lyrics

[eyepaddle]

18. That's why I like instrumental stuff

pssst check out my first ever poll!

And always remember: as longs as YOU feel the groove it IS good! :hi:

[Withywindle]

14. Robbie Fulks, the Handsome Family, the Mammals, Boxstep...

...Neko Case, Waco Brothers, the Sadies....


Oh HELL yeah.

[NashVegas]

17. Not If You're Talking About Tim Erikson / Cordelia's Dad, It's Not

But if you're talking about the dime-a-dozen singer-songwriters, I'd say it's so cool it's not breathing.

But that's just me.

[welshTerrier2]

19. www.folkAlley.com

i'm talking folk, folk-rock and yeah, some rockabilly too ... love some of the old Carl Perkins stuff and even good old rock and roll ...

fwiw, i still call it Folk, not Americana ...

is it too cool for DU? folk isn't cool ... and, although it is very popular in the Boston radio market, it doesn't command a large audience share ...

to quote one of my favorite folkies, Cheryl Wheeler, "there are literally hundreds of dollars to be made in folk music."

[phusion]

21. Hell no, dude...

I'm going to Telluride Bluegrass fest for the 3rd time in a row in June...

I like it all...But, I have a huge weakness for jamgrass of any kind, i.e. flecktones, railroad earth, strength in numbers, etc.

On edit: sounds like we have very different ideas of what "Americana" means...:)