I enjoyed hugely this news item from Nodepression.com about the song the Milk Carton Kids wrote for a recent Americana awards show:
“Missing from this year’s Americana Music Awards & Honors show in Nashville last week was longtime host Jim Lauderdale. For many years, Lauderdale, flashing his wry grin, would shout out the familiar cry, “Now, that’s Americana!” when an act finished its performance. Lauderdale’s slogan served as a tongue-in-cheek response to the often-asked question, “What is Americana?” This year’s hosts, The Milk Carton Kids, decided that we needed an even clearer answer to the that question, so they wrote a song that had the crowd nodding knowingly and roaring with laughter. Here are the lyrics to “What Even Is Americana?”:
Lyrics in comment below.
A country song that’s a little too political
A feminist anthem that’s a bit too literal
Your lyrics are biblical your twitter feed is liberal
You ain’t mainstream cause you look atypical
Forget the pop charts, you ain’t on ’em
you need Americana.
A folk song with no discernible chorus
Bluegrass waltzes and Civil War stories
Zydeco, Tejano, original, traditional
Old-time stringband clothing is conditional
An R&B cover with pedal steel on it
I guess that’s Americana.
So what if your songs are a little too sad
And your publicist is your mom and dad
But you keep on rolling in the back of that van
Ain’t no clue when you’ll be home again
But when you’re up on stage every night it don’t seem so bad.
What even is Americana?
A trade group a Grammy category subgenre
An annual award show with Emmylou on it
Don’t need to see the envelope Isbell won it
A home for all of us who don’t fit in
Who just want to write, and play, and sing
And hear real music whatever you call it
I say it’s called Americana
So what do you say, Americana?
You paid $500 for a weeklong conference so let’s get on the same page and stop asking the question.
It’s Americana.
Written by Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale, The Milk Carton Kids
Sad songs with no discernible chorus? That’s more or less what I said about their latest album.
You told me on that thread to start with the final song on the album which was lovely (the title song). You were right, I have played it many times since.
They’re wonderful.
Check out their Live from Columbus Ohio show, available on youtube, for a real show.
The between song patter is bone dry. Listen out in particular for Joey Ryan’s brief lecture on the origins of the ampersand.
Thanks, sounds great, will go and have a look,
As it happens I’ve just presented an Americana Song Session at the Edgworth Folk Festival, about 200 yards from my house. Initially I thought it was going to be more of a workshop, and my co-presenter and I spent a while writing some notes, knowing we’d be asked “What is Americana?”. The one thing that we did agree on was that it is a recent term that has been retrospectively applied. It’s common these days to hear that The Byrds “Sweetheart Of The Rodeo” is a seminal Americana Album, or for many fans their “Gateway to Americana”. I’d go along with that, with the proviso that it wasn’t called Americana when that album was released back in 1968
Wow! I think they have nailed the description, mind.