Welcome , To Tsp The Americana Collection as you probably have gathered since you're here the Americana Collection is basically an off shoot from Tsp Country Radio. Generically a place to play all the songs that don't fit neatly into the " Country" classification.
Now what exactly does roots / americana cover ? Does your music fall into this category ?
This may seem like a simple question, but the answer is anything
but simple. Part of the confusion
surrounding the use of the term "Americana"
is that there is really no consistent use of the
term.Some fans favor a limited use of
the term to describe traditional American music styles such
as traditional folk music and bluegrass.
Increasingly, however, Americana
refers to just about any
form of music influenced by or derived
from these traditional American music styles. This more
expansive use of the term includes a
variety of musical styles which originated or developed in
North America. Thus, bluegrass,
folk
music, blues,
zydeco,
country
rock, and
alternative country all
fit under the umbrella known as
Americana.Despite the variety of musical styles involved, there are
some common threads which run through
all Americana
music. First, all of these styles exist to
some extent outside of the commercial
mainstream of popular
music. In fact, to many fans,
Americana is synonymous with
"non-commercial." However, obscurity is not a requirement of
Americana. Many Americana artists are very well known and
successful in both country and
popular music circles. For example, Alison
Krauss, Ricky
Scaggs, Bob
Dylan and Emmylou
Harris
are all Americana artists who have achieved
commercial breakthroughs into the country and/or
rock
mainstream. But even with their commercial success, these artists retain a
commitment to
traditional musical styles which form
the basis of Americana.Another common characteristic of
Americana is its rural roots.
Most Americana styles originated or developed in
rural America.
Whether it was the Appalachian
home of bluegrass, the Mississippi
home of the delta
blues, or the
Louisiana bayou home of cajun
and zydeco, all of these styles share a common rural ancestry. It is
this characteristic of Americana which distinguishes it from other
musical styles native to the
United
States, such as jazz
and hip-hop
which originated in a more urban environment. Of course,
the original rural musical styles have
developed though the years and much of today’s Americana
may bear little resemblance to its rural
past. A final shared characteristic of all Americana music is
perhaps the most obvious, as it provides
the source for its name. Americana
music is music which
is native to America. Its styles and sounds
developed from a complicated mix of outside sources,
including Irish,
Scottish,
African,
Spanish,
Carribeanand many other musical influences.
However, the result of this mixture was
a variety of new and unique musical styles which were
easily distinguishable from the outside
influences which contributed to the sound. Of course, not
all Americana artists are American. Artists such
as Kasey
Chambers, Richard
Thompson, and Elvis
Costello
are a testament to the world-wide influence of Americana.Ultimately, it doesn’t
really
matter what Americana is or is not. Like all good music, Americana is something to
be listened to –
not defined or categorized. If you enjoy
it, that’s all that really matters.
Taken from the article referenced at http://www.americanahomeplace.com/WhatIsAmericana.htm
