The Americana Music Association of Australia (AMAA) bring five exciting local and interstate acts to the Umbrella Festival this year with Americanathon 2018.
Kelly Brouhaha, Panacea, Kelly Menhennett, Lachlan Bryan and Courtney Robb will all take to the stage offering something for every roots lover.
For newbies to the genre, and patriots who think it should be called ‘Australiana’ instead, showcase organiser Paul Heggart explains it as a musical style that looks back to American roots music. “So much of our music now comes from blues, country, soul, funk, all those genres that were born in America and went out to the world,” he says.
“But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with talking about your life growing up in Adelaide and singing with an Australian accent.”
Americana now has its own category in the Grammy Awards and US Billboard charts, and the AMAA launched last year. The genre comes from a long line of styles slightly outside the country stereotype – from Linda Ronstadt and '70s country-rock, to Lucinda Williams in the '80s LA cowpunk scene and '90s alt.country outfits like Richmond Fontaine.
The modern-roots revival can be seen all over the music scene today with acts like Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and Mumford & Sons. “It’s got different names, but it’s all had country as a backbone, and pulling in different elements has made it cool to a wider audience,” Paul says.
“Artists who [don’t] consider themselves to be country or folk or pop or rock or whatever often find a fit in Americana.”
Panacea incorporate elements of blues into their music, while Kelly Brouhaha sneaks in some reggae from time to time. And there’s Lachlan Bryan, who Paul says is “almost a sort of country Paul Kelly”. While there is a lot of diversity in the line-up, guests can be sure to catch high-quality instrumentation and musicianship across the board, with beautiful, soaring harmonies and plenty of rich emotion.
The acts are also consistent in their strong storytelling nous, keeping with the tradition of Americana. “[They’re] writing about those normal things in life, the pain and the happiness,” Paul says.
“It’s not this music that talks about anything too esoteric or preachy or whatever. It’s very down to earth, just like a lot of folk music.
“It’s for everyone, it crosses a lot of age barriers. I can’t wait for people to come along and see it, because I think it’ll be such a fantastic night.”
