In light of the awful events over in the States these last few days, Americana UK is joining our comrades the world over in outrage over the violent killing of George Floyd, standing in solidarity with the black community in the US and saying enough is enough. In this spirit, we along with most of the rest of the music industry in the UK will be observing Black Out Tuesday, a day to reflect on the tragedy and focus on the need for accountability and real change. In the meantime please consider signing the petition for justice for George Floyd, donating to the memorial fund, and taking the time you would have been reading about americana today to look at Black Lives Matter instead. As the BPI have stated: “Music has the power to unite communities and give people a voice as they work together to bring about positive social change.” Amen to that. See you on Wednesday.
As we tentatively approach the slow lifting of lockdown and bringing a refreshing glimmer of hope and an abundance of heart and positivity, British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Emma Stevens’ music breathes life and honesty. 
Abagail Washburn doesn’t leave all the banjo experimentation to her husband Bela Fleck, who has produced this new album. Where Bela has been looking across the Atlantic to the banjo’s origins in Africa, Abigail Washburn has explored, in the company of longtime friend and musical collaborate Wu Fei, a Pacific looking path for the banjo which links up Appalachian clawhammer with the Chinese guzheng. One could lazily classify this as a “world music” experiment, which is a rather quaint term in as much as it is suggests that there is music available from somewhere other than this world, but really it is an album that shows that two very different instruments – the 5 string glory that is the banjo and the 21 string “harp/zither” that is the guzheng – can make sensational sounds together. 
Not just the band’s name, ‘Muzz’ perfectly describes their sound. Fortunately that was the intention according to producer and multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaufman who wanted to describe the texture of the group’s sound without being pinned to a particular genre or time. They chose well. There is a richness to the expansive layers of cosmic and psychedelia that they blend with full-on indie rock in their debut, and for good measure, eponymous album. 
Alarm bells start ringing for this writer when faced with a promo picture of a singer-songwriter replete with a beard and sporting the obligatory woolly hat. Fearing the worst, tracks are cued up with trepidation. Phew! Relief! This isn’t one of ‘those’ records. Canadian (Toronto-based) Kunder knows about melody and pop sensibilities. 
We start the week with a new video from the wonderful Courtney Marie Andrews. She says: “This is a song rooted in taking ownership of our own story and pain and the message was something I’d tried to put in a song for a long time.” As you would expect of Andrews, the lyrics and vocal performance are simply beautiful.