Tag: americana music festival

7 Acts We Can’t Wait to See at Americana Music Festival

Posted on by Editor

It's finally starting to cool off outside and the leaves are just beginning to fall, so you know what that means … the Americana Music Festival is right around the corner. Dozens of performers are taking over Nashville's best venues from September 20 – 25 to make this the festival's biggest and best year yet. With so many amazing artists to choose from, making a schedule can be a bit overwhelming, so we did a little of the leg work for you and rounded up seven acts that we can't wait to see at this year's AmericanaFest. See you there!

Darrin Bradbury

East Nashville folk singer and satirist Darrin Bradbury just released his newest album, Elmwood Park: A Slightly Melodic Audiobook. Check him out, if you've got a thing for love songs about meth labs.

William Bell

William Bell was an integral part of the Stax Records family before the label's shuttering in 1975 and he continued to put out new music on his own in the following years. Now he's back with This Is Where I Live, a soul record that conjures plenty of that famed Memphis sound.

Molly Parden

She may have gotten her start as a back-up singer, but indie folk songwriter Molly Parden is a veritable solo talent. She released a stellar EP, With Me in the Summer, this past July.

Dwight Yoakam

We're fans of anything our September Artist of the Month Dwight Yoakam does, but we're particulary excited about his forthcoming bluegrass album — Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars — and we'd be willing to bet a guitar or a Cadillac that his AmericanaFest set is going to be a memorable one.

Kaia Kater

Banjo wiz and Quebec native Kaia Kater will bring her singular, old-time-influenced Appalachian sound to AmericanaFest. Her wonderful LP, Nine Pin, came out this Spring.

Brent Cobb

Brent Cobb got a lot of attention earlier this year for "Down Home," his contribution to his cousin Dave Cobb's compilation, Southern Family. Now he's earning heaps of solo recognition for his forthcoming album, Shine on Rainy Day, due out October 7.

Rose Cousins

Nova Scotia's Rose Cousins is one of a few great artists holding it down for Canada at this year's AmericanaFest, heading down south with thoughtful folk-pop tunes in tow. Rumor has it, she'll be premiering material from her upcoming, Joe Henry-produced album.

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Recap: The BGS Late Night Windup at AmericanaFest 2015

Posted on by Editor

The Americana Music Festival & Conference is, as its name would imply, a festival, but it's also something of a family reunion. For music industry folks, journalists, and especially, artists, the annual Nashville festival can serve as one of the only times of year the gang is all together, and as such is one of the year's biggest parties.

Spirits were high at The Basement, a music venue beneath famed record shop Grimey's, for The BGS's Late Night Windup, one of the festival's first official events, where attendees could pick up their badges before going inside to enjoy a stacked night of music.


[The BGS's Amy Reitnouer with the house band]

Della Mae and the Wood Brothers kicked off the event with their own solo sets, before taking their spots in the crowd to await the jam. Both played to a packed room, treating the audience to tunes new and old.

Our own Amy Reitnouer introduced Punch Brothers' banjo extraordinaire Noam "Pickles" Pikelny as the evening's master of ceremonies. Pikelny was joined by a house band consisting of fiddle player Christian Sedelmyer, Casey Campbell, Mike Bub and fellow Punch Brother (and newly bearded) Chris "Critter" Eldridge. Together, they provided a backdrop for a long list of special guest and surprise artists over the course of the next couple hours.

 

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The first guest was Sedelmyer's own project 10 String Symphony, a duo with fellow Nashville musician Rachel Baiman. It ended up being a mostly covers affair, with Eddie Berman following with a cover of Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al," trailed by Caitlin Canty paying homage to Dolly with her own take on "Wildflowers."

One of the highlights of the night was what Pikelny dubbed "Mandolin Armageddon," in which all of the musicians on stage packed up their instruments, hopped on a space ship and saved us all from an asteroid. Just kidding — it was cooler. Sierra Hull, Casey Campbell and Della Mae's Jenni Lyn Gardner joined forces for an incendiary performance of Bill Monroe's "Big Mon," and we think that, had an asteroid been headed our way, it would have stopped in its tracks so those talented kids could finish their tune.

 

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After Mando-geddon came shuitar time, when The Wood Brothers returned to the stage to cover Bob Marley's "Stop That Train." Kelsey Waldon then schooled the audience on lesser-known country singers when she performed a Vern Gosdin tune. Rayland Baxter, a self-described "super stoner" who only rememebers the lyrics to his own songs, required a little audience help for his take on Graham Nash's "I Used to Be King," and the audience happily obliged.

As the night wore on, guest after guest, including Leigh Nash, Shakey Graves, and Della Mae, joined the house band for jam after jam, each one rowdier than the last. We couldn't think of a better way to kick off one of our favorite events of the year. If you joined us for last week's jam, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Sorry about that hangover.

Photos courtesy of Kim Jameson