americana | Musicosity

americana

Charlie Parr

Charlie Parr plays original and traditional folk and Piedmont-style blues, accompanying himself on National resonator guitars, 12-string guitar and sometimes a banjo. He was raised in Austin, Minnesota, in a household that prized traditional American folk music and his style bears the influence of hours spent listening to country blues records and Smithsonian/Folkways field recordings; often in the garage. He currently lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

Artist Type: 

Frank Fairfield

Fairfield, a street musician who plays banjo, fiddle, and guitar and sings traditional folk songs as you would imagine they were sung when they were first written, is only just getting used to the idea of playing music venues alongside rock musicians. He is also an avid collector of 78 rpm recordings of American folk and mountain music and is working on plans to build his own spring motor gramophones.

Artist Type: 

Dwight Yoakam

Purveyor of the <a href="http://www.last.fm/tag/bakersfield%20sound" class="bbcode_tag" rel="tag">bakersfield sound</a>, country singer-songwriter Dwight Yoakam grew up in Columbus, Ohio before first heading to Nashville and eventually west to Los Angeles, and bought a place in Bakersfield, CA near his idol & mentor <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Buck+Owens" class="bbcode_artist">Buck Owens</a>. Active as a recording artist since the early 1980s, Yoakam has appeared in films, on over thirty charting singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and a plethora of albums and compilations selling well in excess of 20 million units worldwide.

Jason Isbell

Jason Isbell is an alt-country singer /songwriter /guitarist from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Best known for his years with the Drive-By Truckers where he played with his then wife, bassist Shonna Tucker. Isbell - who joined the Truckers in 2001 - left the band in early 2007 around the same time as his divorce from Tucker was finalized. In addition to being a gifted songwriter, Isbell is regarded as an exceptional guitar player.

Artist Type: 

Ange Takats

National Folk Festival winner of the 2008 Lis Johnston Award for vocal excellence, Ange Takats' voice has been described as Joan Baez meets Gillian Welch. Her debut album Aniseed Tea tells stories of knitting, longing and lovely Irishmen. Born in Sydney but now based on the Sunny Coast, Ange somehow managed to begin her musical journey in Bangkok where she was based for two years as a foreign correspondent.

Artist Type: 

John Hiatt

John Hiatt (born August 20, 1952 in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.) is an American rock guitarist, pianist, singer, and songwriter. He has been nominated for eleven Grammy Awards. John Hiatt's sales have never quite matched his reputation. Hiatt's songs were covered successfully by everyone from Bonnie Raitt, Ronnie Milsap, and Willie Nelson to Iggy Pop, Three Dog Night, and the Neville Brothers, yet it took him 13 years to reach the charts himself.

Artist Type: 

The Low Anthem

The Low Anthem are a folk quartet (up until recently, a trio) from Providence, Rhode Island, United States. They formed in 2003 and consist of multi-instrumentalists Ben Miller, Jeff Prystowsky, Jocie Adams and Mat Davidson. From its hand silkscreened cover art to its meticulously crafted songs, The Low Anthem offers work meant to be held, savored, contemplated, and occasionally stomped along to.

Hugo Race

Melbourne-born multi-instrumentalist, producer, performer and songwriter Hugo Race is an eclectic and prolific artist who has lived and worked in the USA, UK, France, Germany and Italy since 1988. He was a founding member and powerful transient element of Nick Cave's Bad Seeds (1983), with whom he started working in the terminal stages of the legendary Birthday Party (he appears on five cds of the Seed's catalogue). In Melbourne he founded the Wreckery (1985) who went on to become on of Australia's seminal cult bands of the 80s, releasing with the White, Rampant, and Citadel labels.

Chris Altmann

Writing a concise biography of Chris Altmann is hard. It’s hard to pin him down. Perhaps “Multi-instrumentalist” is the most fitting description, but that doesn’t allow for his other artistic facets; he’s also a songwriter, a performer, a band leader, a collaborator, and a session musician. “Multi-talented” may be a better depiction. Altmann has been fascinated with music since he was old enough to reach the keys on a piano.

Artist Type: