THROUGH THE LENS: AMERICANAFEST 2024 — A Moveable Feast

To paraphrase Ernest Hemingway: If you are lucky enough to have experienced AMERICANAFEST, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for AMERICANAFEST is a moveable feast.

This week’s column features three takes on the fest by ND regulars Chris Griffy (Crowdfunding Radar columnist and album reviewer), Sonja Nelson (Advertising), and yours truly. Scads of photos by Brian Miller, Jill Kettles, Alan Perry, Jay Kelly, Chris Griffy, and, again, your intrepid columnist. I venture to say that you will not find a more complete set of AMERICANAFEST photos anywhere.

AMERICANAFEST 2024 — Groovin’ in the Face of Adversity by Amos Perrine

“You got to groove in the face of adversity.” — Don Was

Several years ago, when driving into Nashville, I saw a skyline littered with construction cranes. Even though there are still some scattered around town, the offspring of their efforts have come to fruition. Holy temples such as the Ryman, the Station Inn, and 3rd & Lindsley now seem out of place, out of step with the new cosmopolitan spit-and-shine that’s been put on the town. Yes, Nashville has changed a lot since I began attending the Americana Music Association’s AMERICANAFEST over a dozen years ago.

All the more reason to appreciate and celebrate the week that AMERICANAFEST comes to town. With it come Americana and roots artists from not just around the country but also the world, as well as the nooks and crannies of Nashville itself, to display their talents. While some have the highly coveted nightly showcases, most appear, multiple times, at the numerous day events scattered around the area — from Robert’s Western World on the bustling, tourist drenched Broadway of downtown to Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge in nearby Madison. All in all, there were too many performances to count at 51 venues.

A prime example of that fortitude, both emotional and physical, was India Ramey. Coming on the heels of a highly-regarded new album, Baptized by the Blaze, Ramey had a showcase but also performed with her full band at six other events during the four days of the fest. As she said in a Facebook post, “Hoo Wee!! What a WEEK! This year’s #americanafest was seriously one of the best weeks of my life. Thank you [everyone by name] for making this week not only possible but so so very special. I am deeply grateful for every moment.” Now, she and the band are off to Texas for more shows. 

Ramey was but the tip of my iceberg that also included: Amelia White, who’s immortalized my moniker, “Queen of the East Nashville Underground” on t-shirts); Cindy Emchy, who, as Secret Emchy Society, has taken back hard drivin’, raunchy country music from the good ol’ boys; KP Hawthorn, who’s a one-woman empowerment force; and Alice Wallace, who got the last unfilled showcase slot then had to cancel at the last minute due to COVID.

While I spent most of my efforts at those all-day happenings, one cannot overlook the Association’s big night at the Ryman — the Honors & Awards show — where six extremely deserving artists received Lifetime Achievement Awards and six others received the member-voted annual awards. Those twelve awards were interspersed with nineteen performances, all broadcast live by NPR Music. 

Everyone I spoke with agreed that, from the Honorees to the on-stage performances, this was the Association’s most outstanding show. It was especially rewarding to hear Don Was’s extremely personal, inspirational speech on how he came to roots music at a very young age. It was also nice to see the Association’s members catching up with what its fans have wanted for quite some time — five of the six voted-on awards went to women artists, including two to Sierra Ferrell from my hometown in West Virginia.

One final observation on that night. While many awards shows are, by design, conspicuous exercises in self-congratulation, what I witnessed at the Ryman was the quite the opposite. I saw and felt a lot of love, devotion, and appreciation in that hallowed hall. No one onstage got there alone. Each may have trekked their own unique road of adversity that brought them to the mountaintop, but there was a lot of support by family, friends, and fellow artists along the way. And it was acknowledged — sometimes tearfully so. 

AMERICANAFEST 2024 —  What is Americana? by Chris Griffy 

When you walk around Nashville with a big badge that reads AMERICANAFEST, you get questions. “What is AMERICANAFEST?” This leads to the dreaded “What is Americana?” It is a question with an answer so nebulous, I never know how to properly answer it. 

This year’s AMERICANAFEST hasn’t gotten me any closer to answering that question, at least in any more concrete terms. Over the course of five days, I saw everything from pure bluegrass (Wyatt Ellis) to ’60s honky-tonk revival (Whitney Rose) to a blues power trio (Danielle Nicole) to a country/R&B hybrid (The Kentucky Gentlemen). What do all of those things have in common? The heck if I know, but they were all good.

Each year, the fest gets bigger and, as one performer stated, “Even if you’re having a good time, you know you’re missing so much else.” I left a lot of great music on the table as a sacrifice of seeing others, but also caught a number of new acts I wouldn’t have known about had I attempted to venue-hop.

So, I’m not any closer to being able to tell those random people at the grocery store what Americana is. But, as always, I come away impressed with both the quality of the music and the organizational planning that has to go into something this massive.

AMERICANAFEST 2024 — The Kids Are Alright by Sonja Nelson 

It’s the special time of year when Amos and I begin texting frantically with each other, planning how best to divide and conquer coverage of AMERICANAFEST. The growth of the fest and conference never ceases to amaze me since I first began attending in the early aughts. Jed Hilly, Danna Strong, and the whole army of talent who bring this all to life have my unwavering admiration.

I find it almost impossible to pick my “highlights” or “faves,” because everything I attended was top notch, 10/10, 5 stars, highly recommended. Seriously, there was not a stinker in the bunch.  But here’s just a small rundown of the many events I got to enjoy:

Americana Music Association Honors and Awards:  Amos and I tag teamed the Red Carpet this year, taking photos and speaking with the artists who help keep the roots/folk/alt-country world spinning. I like to imagine that Hurray for the Riff Raff, Noah Kahan, Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman, and Jobi Riccio are going to be the soundtrack of the lives of the generations below me. All these artists performed at the show and the Ryman was rocking. Guitars were loud and the audience sang along.  It was my kind of night.

Honky-Tonks: When I lived in Nashville, honky-tonks were my jam — Robert’s Western World to be exact. Emily Nenni is a honky-tonk woman, right down to the little knee flair she does while singing. She pours herself and her life experiences into her songwriting and the outcome is not to be missed. To my delight, I was able to catch two Nenni sets this year, and my urge to do some honky-tonk dancing has never been greater. Her latest release, Drive & Cry is always on repeat in the Nelson household.

Jobi Riccio: I consider myself an early adopter and evangelizer of Jobi Riccio. I met her last year at the festival, where she performed at the Honors and Awards show, and I also caught a couple of her sets around town. To say I was smitten is an understatement. Her 2023 album, Whiplash, clearly put her on many people’s musical radar.  She writes, she sings, and she plays a mean guitar.  That is my kind of a triple threat. This year I caught her set at the Analog, which is the perfect room to witness Jobi. When I say it was pin drop quiet and the crowd was transfixed, I tell no lies. Do yourself a favor and join the Jobi Riccio bandwagon.

Click on any photo below to view the gallery as a full-size slideshow.