References to rivers in the song titles and lyrics of country and Americana music are far too many to count. It’s a go-to image for songwriters. But when water, in both its beauty and its destructive power, has profoundly altered the path of a life, those river references are more than an easy touchstone. North […]
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When the aliens finally come to Earth, I hope they’re musically inclined. Because, if they bring an instrument with them and happen upon Rhiannon Giddens, she’ll have it mastered within half an hour of meeting. The singer-songwriter-banjo player-writer of fancy things like ballets and operas can truly do anything. Most recently, she’s paired with Italian […]
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I could sit and listen to and read about Tom Petty outtakes for hours. In fact, over the past few months of a slowed-down life, I have. Following the evolution of 1994’s Wildflowers from demo to studio to album to live shows has been fascinating. Last fall, when the Wildflowers & All the Rest box […]
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We’ve all spent one HELL of a lot of time in and around our homes over the past year or so. While we’ve largely yearned to be somewhere – ANYWHERE – else, some have also taken advantage of the occasion to get to know their surroundings a little better. Oklahoma singer-songwriter Samantha Crain, after years […]
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Ever wanted to look at this country through fresh eyes. Not socially or politically, but the actual land and its people? Singer-songwriter Cristina Vane, born and raised in Europe by a Sicilian-American father and a Guatemalan mother, waited until after college at Princeton and four years working in Los Angeles before packing up her trusty […]
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There’s something different about summers in places with long winters. The days, with their impossibly late sunsets, stretch on forever. But the months seem fleeting, because another long, dark winter is always around the corner. It’s a feeling and a cycle that stretches well into adulthood, and it’s the basis of the new album from […]
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First albums often include a large passage of time. The artist has had several years (or, really, their entire life) to build up stories and experiences enough to easily populate ten or twelve songs, plus a wealth of personal growth to pour into those tunes. Virginia singer-songwriter Morgan Wade has been performing live for nearly […]
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One of my favorite parts of writing for Americana Highways is having a piece of music cross my desk with a genre that I can’t…quite…pinpoint. A couple of years back, I was gifted tickets to see Israel Nash at Globe Hall, one of my favorite Denver venues. I knew a little bit about him before […]
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“A friend and I were running from the police one night, and I accidentally fell off a cliff.” I like a good origin story as much as anyone, but this line from Nate Fredrick’s press release really caught my attention. Turns out, the Springfield, Missouri native used the two-year recovery period following his misadventure to […]
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So, if you’re a touring musician who’s spent decades on tour, what do you do when the world grinds to a halt, depriving you of both great joy and your primary source of income? Well, you might sulk for a spell. Then, if you’re Rick Holmstrom, you pick your guitar back up and start banging […]
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