"I think songs can have different lives," said Rhiannon Giddens in the conversation that flowed throughout NPR Music's "Songs We Love: Americana Fest Edition" panel on September 16 at Nashville's historic RCA Victor Studio A. "Each song has its own way that it likes to be done, but it can be more than one way," the Carolina Chocolate Drops multi-instrumentalist and singer continued. "If you tap into it, you can feel it."
Songs We Love
Sharing tunes and conversation with fellow Americana stars Patty Griffin and Shakey Graves, Giddens embodied the mood of the festival that would unfold over the following four days. Her selections during the daytime event, spanned Tejano music, Appalachian folk and '90s honky-tonk, illustrating the enduring truth that in a genre whose boundaries remain fluid, song craft remains the magnetic core. Griffin added to the conversation by showing how learning new things (perfecting her piano skills) and turning to old sources (re-reading James Baldwin) influenced her songwriting process on the stunning new album Servant of Love. Graves, a spontaneous raconteur, reflected upon the many different versions his songs take as they evolve – the waltz version, the slow country one, the "I'm yelling at you!" one. At one point, he performed a beautiful, spare take on Townes Van Zandt's "No Place to Fall" that showed how the poetry held within a song's musical frame matters most.
Throughout Americana Fest, artists used a wide range of stylistic structures to contain their lyrics. The festival, like the format it name checks, originated as a home for singer-songwriters too literate or tradition-minded for mainstream country music. As it's grown, Americana Fest has begun hosting more rock artists, and this year saw lively sets by mainstays like the Legendary Shack Shakers and Whitey Morgan, as well as relative newcomers like Low Cut Connie. Soul, too, has begun to find a footing, even if it's almost entirely the blue-eyed variety. Anderson East, a young revivalist who recalls early Robert Palmer or Boz Scaggs, got the usually sedate crowd at City Winery up and dancing; and Americana mainstay Jim Lauderdale found a new groove collaborating with the funky blues bros, Luther and Cody Dickinson. Such sets suggest the next avenue for Americana Fest to secure: R&B classicists like Anthony Hamilton, or jazz lights like Cecile McLorin-Salvant could forge a space within Americana that would expand its definition in crucial ways.
Yet songwriterliness still stood out and silenced crowds. From John Moreland's Central Plains tragedies, to Lera Lynn's self-aware noir, to the kitchen-sink psychedelia of Madisen Ward & the Mama Bear, stories by fine writers with captivating voices made for many of Americana Fest's most resonant moments. Artists stepping out of other contexts, whether Eagles kingpin Don Henley or Sixpence None the Richer chanteuse Leigh Nash, credited the flexibility and essential integrity of good songs as the source of their new inspiration.
The conversation at Studio A, peppered with stunning versions of the artist's favorite covers and illustrative originals, explored how songs shape us, challenge and even sometime defy us. "Every song has a heart, and I just go for that," said Giddens. That unassuming statement of purpose echoed throughout Americana Fest.
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