See Music City at Americanafest 

Words and Images by Laura Ray for Festy GoNuts

Featuring 250 bands and more than 500 musicians, The Americana Music Association’s 25th annual Americana Music Festival & Conference took place in Nashville from Tuesday, September 17 through Saturday, September 21, 2024. Typically, music festivals are held outdoors. Not this one. Well, some of it is. Spread across more than 50 venues and over five days, Americanafest gives festival-goers a chance to see Music City. I volunteered for the fest in 2019 and 2023 and was happy to return this year on behalf of Festy GoNuts.

Choose Your Own Adventure

Americanafest is less like a music festival and more like a wristband that gets you into Nashville music venues to see amazing acts play for like 12 hours a day. Instead of two or three different stages in one place, they have several stages going simultaneously around town. Although some shows are private, most venues don’t close to the public, they simply charge a cover. Attending a la carte by selecting shows that run about 20 bucks instead of paying for a wristband for the weekend is an option, but the wristband is worth it! Because there are seemingly infinite options, festivalgoers can have completely different experiences from each other.

FOMO is Real

Seeing one act often means missing another. The FOMO set in immediately. Cory Branan was playing at The Purple Building and I really wanted to see the formerly Memphis-based singer/songwriter perform since he has moved to California and who knows when the next opportunity will present itself. Instead, I got in line at City Winery to see Mary Gauthier.

​

Drag Queens in Limousines

It was a big night honoring 25 years of ‘Drag Queens in Limousines,’ the album that put lesbian troubador Mary Gauthier (pronounced go-shay) on the map as a singer/songwriter.

I was glad I showed up early because there was a line around the building. Mr. Americanafest, aka Jim Lauderdale, hosted as Nashville great Verlon Thompson played “Truckers and Troubadours.” Emmylou Harris covered “Some Times,” and Lori McKenna brought the house down with “Mercy Now.” Everyone gushed over Gauthier, and Steve Poltz performed the title track.

“Saddest shit I ever wrote,” Gauthier said when she took the stage. “I don’t write when I’m feeling good ‘cause I’m feeling good,” – an apt quip about alchemy from the author of a memoir entitled, ‘Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting.’ “I’m a member of a group that I held in such extremely high esteem: songwriters. Man, I love songwriters.”

The 23rd Annual Americana Honors & Awards

Now in its 23rd year, the Americana Music Association’s honors and awards show is a separately ticketed event that is held at The Ryman. I have always wanted to go, so I treated myself to a ticket that was like $90, discounted because a column skews visibility. You can see it unobscured on YouTube.

Paper tickets were required according to an email sent by the organizers, but the Ryman staff didn’t get the memo and neither did a lot of the attendees. It was kind of a shit show. I didn’t get to see the red carpet, but I did run into Maggie Noelle and Ryan Allen from Lexington, KY-based band, Mama Magnolia as well as Nashville-based singer/songwriter, Alicia Gayle.

Hosts The Milk Carton Boys got off to a belated start. No sooner did Kaitlin Butts start singing “You Ain’t Gotta Die to Be Dead to Me,” as liquid dripped from the ceiling onto our pew. It appeared there was a leaky pipe, but the Ryman staff cleaned it up and told us that someone up on the balcony must’ve spilled a drink. 

AMA dolled out six Lifetime Achievement Awards, one of which went to The Blind Boys of Alabama. Another was given to producer Don Watts, who was playing bass in the house band along with band leader Buddy Miller, The McCrary Sisters, and more. Don Watts’ advice? “You got to groove in the face of adversity.” 

Jimmie Dale Gilmore presented Dave Alvin with a Lifetime Achievement award and then they played Alvin’s song “Fourth of July.” Larkin Poe won Best Duo/Group of the Year and the sisters performed “Bluephoria” from their upcoming album, ‘Bloom,’ in matching red outfits. Other highlights include The Red Clay Strays winning Best Emerging Artist, the Turnpike Troubadours performing, and War and Treaty bringing the house down. 

Sierra Ferrell performed her hit “American Dreaming” before Lukas Nelson presented her with the Album of the Year award for ‘Trail of Flowers,’ produced by Eddie Spear and Gary Paczosa. “Yo, first off I want to say thank you to God and Jesus Christ for having me here and me being born,” said Ferrell, who also thanked Rounder Records, her producers, and a Rounder staffer who kept her cat while she was on tour. “My cat had two kittens and one passed away and I got to keep the other one,” said Ferrell, “So it’s okay, there’s a happy ending.” There certainly was a happy ending for the young singer/songwriter, who also took home Artist of the Year before the night was up, presented by none other than Nathaniel Rateliff.

Dwight Yoakam won a Lifetime Achievement Award and performed “Fast as You.” Did you know he has a four-year-old? Margo Price introduced Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell who closed the show with a 50th-anniversary tribute to Gram Parson’s “Return of the Grievous Angel.”

The awards show ran overtime, so I missed Sarah Shook & The Disarmers at The Basement East (aka The Beast). However, I did catch the end of Bronwyn Keith Hynes’ first Americanafest showcase at The 5 Spot. I got the setlist for my collection and told the band I’d see them the next day at Dee’s.

No Depression Sessions at Dee’s

Roots music journal No Depression filmed live interviews and performances with bands at Americanafest last year at Jaan’s House, a cute little vacation rental that bands can use for recording, performing, and crashing. This year, the No Depression Sessions were filmed at Dee’s Lounge, a cute little out-of-the-way honky tonk in nearby Madison. 

I loaned Bronwyn Keith-Hynes my Sharpie to create a quick setlist (which she gave me later!) and her guitarist Frank Rische rolled in just in time. A million cameras were set up in front of the small stage, but Keith-Hynes was right at home where she performs on Mondays when she’s not on the road with Molly Tuttle’s Grammy-award-winning Golden Highway Band. The bar streams it live on YouTube and you can tip the band and the bar via Venmo. You never know who you’ll run into at Dee’s. I’ve seen Willy Tea Taylor bellied up to the bar in his signature overalls, Sierra Ferrell dancing to The Kyle Tuttle Band, and Steve Poltz chatting with Vince Herman. 

Singer/songwriter sisters Larkin Poe recorded their new song “If God Is a Woman” for No Depression, featuring high/low sibling harmonies and lyrics like “blessed be my haters.” Performing as a duo with her partner, Nenni understood the Americanafest assignment, wearing a cute bandana top for her No Depression sesh. I can’t wait to see the finished products!

Women of Americana

The year of the woman is upon us and it was no different at Americanafest. The women rocked it out. I didn’t get to check out the stage dedicated to women in Americana at Eastside Bowl, but I did see some amazing femme-fronted acts.

Chloe Kimes

Nashville-based singer/songwriter Chloe Kimes got the bandana memo, wearing hers in skirt form for her premier Americanafest showcase set at The Basement. I was bummed I missed one of my favorites, “Thunder,” but Kimes rendered a lively rendition of her hit “Coors Light” as well as a song she wrote for her dad entitled, “Barstool Lemonade,” closing with “Stand to Gain.” I’ve seen Kimes a few times and she has a different band set up every time with her boyfriend on the standup bass. They’re all great, but I hope this iteration with Cat McDonald on the fiddle sticks!

Big Richard

Next, I make my way to Cannery for Big Richard, a band of boss bitches that string together sonorous sounds and harmonies. I hadn’t seen them since Emma Rose left and Hazel Royer joined. They played my favorite, “The Missing Stair,” which was co-written with Nashville-based fiddler and singer/songwriter Phoebe Hunt. Their moving song is about how everyone can know someone has a problem and instead of addressing it, they just avoid it like a missing stair in a staircase. Bonnie Sims and the girls invited everyone to see them at Queericana, a special event Bluegrass Pride was hosting at Canvas, a gay bar over on Fatherland.

Pro Tip: It can be tricky to figure out where you’re going at Cannery because there are a few different stages in the same giant brick building. Also, they keep it freezing year-round, so bring a jacket.

India Ramey

I abandon my $20 parking spot at Cannery to see India Ramey at my fifth venue of the day, The 5 Spot. The former lawyer describes her music as “gothy tonk.” Making her Americanafest debut in the first of several performances for the fest, Ramey played songs from her brand-new album, ‘Baptized by the Blaze,’ in the same outfit she’s wearing on the album cover. The whole show was great, even though I missed “Ain’t My First Rodeo.” One line that stuck out from her song “King of the Ashes” about a certain presidential candidate: “Hate is gasoline and silence is the matches.”

​

​Cristina Vane

I start the next day at The California Country Show at Acme Feed and Seed on Broadway. Jenny Don’t and the Spurs were loading in as I arrived, but I was there to see Cristina Vane. I recently discovered Vane at Sleeping in the Woods Festival back in May. She and Keith-Hynes were at Americanafest last year and performed together for a No Depression Session. Vane is unique in that she comes to Americana music via European roots, but the now-Nashvillian can honky tonk with the best of ‘em.

With a blonde female bassist by her side, Vane busted out her bottleneck slide, clawhammer banjo, and little red electric guitar, belting out tunes from her latest album, ‘Make Myself Me Again,’ including the title track and “Sometimes Baby” and closing the show with “Small Town Nashville Blues.” Her full set at EXIT/IN Saturday kicked ass!

Pro Tip: Acme Feed and Seed boasts one of the best views of Broadway and downtown Nashville. Take the elevator to the rooftop, or the stairs if you need some exercise after eating one of their greasy burgers. The bar staff introduced me to a lovely mocktail: ginger beer and cranberry juice with lime!

Emily Nenni

Charming as she is talented, Emily Nenni sets fire to the stage with catchy hits like “Matches.” Nenni and her band, Teddy and the Rough Riders, closed out Americanafest last year at Eastside Bowl. This year’s performance at EXIT/IN started with “Get to Know Ya,” a song off her new album, ‘Drive & Cry,’ which came out in May. They also played one of my favorites, “If This is Just a Game,” which she had also recorded for the No Depression Sessions.

New Discoveries

Yes, of course, the acts I wanted to see were great, but I always love discovering new (to me) artists at music festivals.

Chris Smither

Between No Depression Sessions, I shot over to see my buddy and his dad at Eastside Bowl. Located just down the street from Dee’s, this “bowling alley” hosts live music in the lounge and has a music venue in the back. Sadly the pinball room was not open, but I did get to see Chris Smither, which was one of my friend’s must-sees and it’s easy to see why. What a songwriter! A-plus guitar picking, too! At 78 years old, he’s not new news, but he’s new to me! 

Clay Street Unit

Paul Hoffman of Greensky Bluegrass lost his voice and had to cancel their set at Brooklyn Bowl, so I ended up going to check out Clay Street Unit, which shares a manager with my favorite band, Fruition. I thought I had heard them before, but I must’ve been conflating the name with a combination of Red Stray Clays and Mountain Grass Unit. Based out of Denver, the six-piece band of young men jam that particular brand of bluegrass that’s proliferated through the Rocky Mountains. Bluegrass just gets jammier on that mountain range. 

The Wild Feathers

Appearing after India Ramey at the The 5 Spot, The Wild Feathers are a five-piece band with three guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer. Two of the guitarists and the bassist sing three-part harmonies, reminiscent of my favorite band, Fruition, which has three singer/songwriters as leads in a very Crosby, Stills, and Nash-style situation.  The Wild Feathers have actually been around since 2010 and had a song on one of the NCIS shows, but this was my first taste of the Nashville-based, all-boy roots/rock/pop band. They played “Stereo,” off their new record, ’Sirens,’ out October 4th on New West Records. They also played “Out on the Road,” which is where you can catch them in November! I got the feeling they were used to bigger stages. The bassist quipped that they hadn’t played The Five Spot since you could smoke in there.

Wild Ponies

One of the cool things about Americanafest is that you can totally switch up the vibe by going to another venue. After an afternoon of $12 drinks and $15 an hour parking at Acme on Broadway, I headed over to Dee’s for the 10th Annual Wild Ponies Happy Hour. I hadn’t heard of Wild Ponies, but if the party had been recurring for a decade, I figured it must be good. 

Wild Ponies is composed of husband-and-wife duo Doug and Telisha Williams. As part of a throuple, they dedicated their song “Heartbeat” about “just the three of us” to their partner. Dressed in a bright turquoise caftan, perched on Dee’s outdoor stage as the sun glinted on the golden curtains, Telisha dedicated “Love You Right Now” to their adopted foster child. One of my favorite songs they played was “Love is Not a Sin,” but I also loved “Dreamers.” 

ZG Smith

A gorgeous redhead in a black suit and tie named Valley James crooned as I made my way into Jane’s Hideaway, a cozy “bluegrass supper club” next to Dino’s in East Nashville. (Dino’s is an awesome bar that has amazing burgers, FYI.) Fiddler Cat MacDonald was helping out the bartenders before taking the stage with ZG Smith. My friend and fellow Fruition fan recommended this show to me and I am so glad I came. I didn’t realize ZG is Zack Smith from husband-and-wife duo Smooth Hound Smith. He played “Work That Magic,” which was just released in August. I don’t love the supper club set up since the couple right next to me was ordering dinner as Smith played his hit, “Nighttime Animal.” But I did get the setlist!

Commonwealth Stage at The Basement

I peeled myself out of bed the next morning for a little hair of the dog that bit me – more live music.

It was the last day of summer and felt like it could’ve been the hottest day of the year. I headed to the Commonwealth Stage, an annual party featuring performers from my home state of Kentucky at The Basement, which is hosted by locally beloved owner, Mike Grimes, a native Kentuckian who also owns the record store, Grimey’s New & Preloved Music, as well as The Basement East. 

This year’s lineup included Scott T. Smith, Ben Sollee, and Hunter Flynn who covered fellow Kentuckian Cody Lee Meece’s song, “Can’t Never Could” and closed with his song, “Fucked Up Brain.” Rain threatened to ruin the party, so we moved inside to watch Korean-American bluesman Nat Myers from North-Central Kentucky, who is in his early 30s but looks younger and sounds older. Kelsey Waldon has played The Basement stage many times, but it’s probably the smallest stage she’s been on in a while. The Monkey’s Eyebrow native opened with “Hello Stranger,” a song she wrote and recorded with fellow Kentuckian, SG Goodman.

Americana Wrapped Party

One of my fellow media folks told me to come to Wrapped: A Round at 3rd & Lindsley to see Kelly Willis, but when I got there a man with a majestic mane, Grayson Capps, was on stage. If I understood correctly, he has an album of covers coming out on October 25 called ‘Heartache, Misery, & Death’. Capps talked about quite the opposite of his album title – the importance of community and unity. This perfectly encapsulated spending the week with fellow live music fans at Americanafest. He played his song “May We Love” and encouraged the audience to “Be loud with love. Too many people are loud with hate. We need to be loud with love.” 

Fresh off the Opry stage, Willis was celebrating the 20-year anniversary of her album ‘What I Deserve’. She sat in the round hosted by Sunny Sweeney with singer/songwriter Jack Ingram to close out Americanafest. Ingram explained that his “dad moved to a gamblin’ town in Mississippi, which was fine but he forgot to tell his family where he went.” He wrote his song “Biloxi” about his dad, who punched him in the face the first time he heard it. “If you have a song someone hates,” said Ingram, “odds are someone is gonna love it.” Several guests sat in, including Shannon McNally, Brennan Lee and her brother Seth Holbert, and Radney Foster who closed Americanafest’s finale with “Closing Time.”

Music Industry Conference

In addition to approximately 12 hours of live music a day on several different stages across town, Americanafest also hosts a conference. I’m ashamed to say I did not step foot inside the host hotel this year. I didn’t have access to the conference, but I should have at least visited the Embassy Suites. Bad journalist! I did get to see some of the panels last year when I volunteered and they were all really great.

Americanafest’s conference offers a wonderful networking opportunity for artists and others in the music business and related businesses. Plus, vendors set up to peddle everything from help with music royalties to merch services. Americana Music Association members receive a discount and early access to tickets. Silver wristbands that provide conference access also offer special performances. For example, Old Crow Medicine Show played a pop-up show just for Silver wristbands at Robert’s Western World. 

Americanafest Attendees

Industry people, locals, lots of volunteers, and people flying in from all over gather annually in Music City for Americanafest. When I volunteered, everyone was so wonderful to work with. Unlike some other festivals I’ve volunteered at (looking at you Pilgrimage 2022), Americanafest really takes care of its volunteers.

Last year, a woman flew in from Portland just to see Fruition. This year I sat next to a Canadian at the Mary Gauthier tribute at City Winery who had come to Nashville for the festival. The crowd skews slightly older, which could be attributed to genre. Americana involves a lot of bluegrass, which attracts the blue hairs. Southern hospitality and community is the vibe. Artists supporting artists is the vibe. Americanafest offers a much more intimate experience than big-screen festivals like Bourbon and Beyond which takes place the same weekend in neighboring Kentucky.

Final Impressions

Flying Solo

Americanafest is perfect for those who like to attend music festivals on their own. The only person you have to compromise with about who to see is yourself. Being alone was a bonus for me at City Winery where I got to sit in one single available chair right by the stage. I met a few other live music fanatics who were there by themselves, too. One guy was scouting acts for his house shows in Mississippi, while another also hosts house shows in St. Louis and provides a place to stay for musicians on the road.

Trends

Bandanas were in in a big way. Nenni and Kimes wore a bandana-print top and bottom respectively, but there were also free bandanas at the Commonweath stage. What’s more Americana than a bandana? 

Yew!

I noticed some Nashvillians yell “yew!” instead of “woo” and it is adorable.

Note to Self

Say it with me now: Pee before you leave the venue! 

Driving vs. Rideshare

Getting to check out places I’d never been, like Acme Feed and Seed, Jane’s Hideaway, and The 5 Spot was cool, but driving all over Nashville and paying to park (after giving up looking for free street parking) got old. And expensive. Americanafest recommends getting around town via rideshare. This makes sense if you are staying in town, but I was staying a good 20 minutes out in Brentwood. I remember Texas piano man and former Nashvillian Robert Ellis ran several blocks last year to make it to his showcase at City Winery because his Uber was taking too long. 

If you’re flying in and staying in the city, don’t bother renting a car and budget for ridesharing so you don’t have to deal with parking. If you are driving, download one of those parking apps like SpotHero and budget about $50 per day. 

Conclusion

While you would think that having so many artists across so many stages, plus a conference, plus an awards show would be a recipe for chaos, the Americanafest team pulls it off year after year.

My notes from the Jim Lauderdale and the Gamechangers show at Cannery wrap up Americanafest perfectly: “Had a baloney sammy. Made me late for Jim Lauderdale. Paid $20 to park. Got the set list.” And as Jim Lauderdale said that night, “That’s Americana.”