AmericanaFest 2024 – Day 4
Friday would be my last day in AmericanaFest this year – there was music back home in Colorado, too! But my last day in Nashville was filled with memorable moments.
The California Country Show – ACME Feed & Seed
Anchored by California Country Radio Show host Dave Bernal, this year’s showcase gave listeners an earful of Western music, Golden State-style. First up during my visit was Rah Rah Rabbit, upleveled honky-tonk with rippin’ guitar solos – their standout was “Checkered & Blue,” a country weeper about that one item of clothing that just won’t let go of you. Next up, Nathan Jacques recalled a warmer, less lonely Colter Wall, and he provided an excellent cover of Marty Robbins’ “Big Iron.” And LA’s The Far West delivered some excellent alt-country, best shown on “The Joshua Tree,” a riffy single from the band’s upcoming album, Everything We Thought We Wanted (out September 26). Overall, the state that gave us The Buckaroos and the Bakersfield Sound has a sunshiney future.
Brennen Leigh – Skinny Dennis
One of the very best aspects of AmericanaFest is the ability to see all range of country-adjacent music all around town for five straight days. Or, you could have just saved the time and Uber fares and spent 45 minutes at East Nashville’s Skinny Dennis listening to Brennen Leigh do everything. From honky-tonk to western swing to lonesome prairie songs, Leigh and her four-piece band (pedal steel, standup bass and drums) brought it all to life. Her Prairie Love Letter, a tribute to her North Dakota/Minnesota corner of the world, was one of my favorite records of 2020, but her Obsessed with the West album, recorded with Asleep at the Wheel, was also well-represented during her short but many-songed set, as was her upcoming Don’t Ever Give Up on Love (out October 3rd). True to Leigh form, even that optimistically titled record is sprinkled with cheaters and heartbreakers, including “Tell Me” and “Texas Tumbleweed.” Because true country music can’t survive without tears. Or, in 2025, without Brennen Leigh.
The Basement East – Craig Finn/Merce Lemon/Wednesday
What better way to wrap my four days in Nashville than with this musically diverse three-banger? Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn, in his inaugural AFest appearance, was first up. I’ve never latched onto his “day job” band, but his solo record Always Been, produced by Adam Granduciel, is one of my favorites of the year. And as much as I enjoyed The War on Drugs backing Finn on the album, the solo acoustic setting made the songcraft stand out. Basement East was nearly silent for 45 minutes (no small feat, even in this music-loving city) save the occasional gasp at Finn’s mastery of the language. From older songs “The Amarillo Kid” and “Jessamine” to this year’s “People of Substance” and “Shamrock,” Finn showed that heartbreak in Nashville need not always be accompanied by twang.
Next up was Merce Lemon, a singer I was somewhat familiar with from her background vocals of two of this year’s best albums, Fust’s Big Ugly and Greg Freeman’s Burnover. Turns out, this Pittsburgh singer-songwriter and her band are worthy of attention on their own merits. What seemed like an indie folk set at first turned into some excellent alt-rock songs like “Foolish and Fast,” from last year’s now-I-gotta-listen-to-it Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild. The band carried a dark, fall-ish vibe that’s right up my alley. My best endorsement for this artist – if the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot features a reopened The Bronze nightclub, Merce Lemon better damn well be on that stage.
My final showcase of AmericanaFest 2025 was a personal favorite, countrygaze band Wednesday. After a solo set of Grimey’s two days earlier, North Carolina singer-screamer Karly Hartzman brought her entire band to The Basement East (with a guitar player that Hartzman ID’d as “Spider” filling in for MJ Lenderman, who records, but no longer tours, with the band). The set was a mix of songs from the band’s upcoming album, Bleeds (out September 19), and 2023’s Rat Saw God. New highlights were “Bitter Every Day,” which Hartzman said was the first live performance for the band, and “Elderberry Wine,” the boozy summer tune that Hartzman said would “make sense why we’re playing AmericanaFest.” The truth is, we need more loud, creek rockin’ bands like Wednesday to loosen up AmericanaFest. Toward the end of the set, Hartzman dared the crowd to mosh. They did, in a rather polite manner that Hartzman called “fucking wholesome,” but as she was screaming herself hoarse during the final two minutes of show-closer “Bull Believer,” there was some 90s-level crowd surfing going on. What better way to end a Friday night?
Note our Day 3 coverage here: AmericanaFest 2025 – Day 3
