This new feature has now been running for approximately four months. During that time, I have simultaneously sympathised with my fellow writers at the magnitude of the challenge they have faced and marvelled at the array of fantastic songs that have continuously been offered up. Has any of it helped me with the task at hand? Not in the slightest. For, as has been mentioned on numerous occasions, these lists, if nothing else, are very personal.
Having been a fan of americana music for over fifty years, way before the genre had its own title, the amount of possible songs for this list was simply unfathomable, so some sort of structured approach was required. I initially thought of going alphabetically, but found that I had already acquired far more songs than required before I’d got past the Bs. Then I thought about going chronologically, except that by 1968, I had already amassed enough possible candidates to supply all the staff here at AUK. Therefore, some lateral thinking was clearly needed.
As many of you may well know, AUK celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, so I have decided to honour this auspicious occasion by choosing my Top 10 songs from this period. In doing so, I was surprised how quickly my list came together, with each song chosen having stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it, and has continued to have the same effect to this day. Those who know me well will know how much emphasis I put on lyrics, the narrative, the poetry, call it what you like, but to me, the craft of a great songwriter lies in the art of great storytelling. Someone who, in the space of five minutes, often less, can transport the listener to a different time or place with all the drama and emotion of an epic film or a bestselling novel. However, the musicality is often just as important. The accompaniment and the arrangement all help to lift the poetry and provide the perfect conduit for the story to unfold. With each of these songs in this Top 10 list, that criterion, in my personal view, has more than been met.
As always, with these lists, there are painful omissions, to which I can only apologise in advance, and all the usual caveats still apply. Nonetheless, I feel, at least for the moment, surprisingly confident with my selection. So, here’s hoping you enjoy the article, and as ever, I look forward to reading your responses.
Number 10. Ryan Adams ‘NewYork, New York’ from “Gold” (2001)
‘New York, NewYork’ was both the opening track and the lead single for Adams’ second solo album “Gold”. However, because the music video for the single, which featured Adams performing in front of the city’s skyline, was filmed just four days before the September 11 attacks, it was not released for a full two months after the album. On its eventual release, the song charted in both the UK and US single charts and was seen by many as an inspirational anthem of healing for the city. However, immediately after the attacks, Adams decided to stop playing the song live and requested that the song should not be licensed for media, as he did not want people to feel as if he was exploiting the tragedy for his own personal gain. Lyrically, the song is about his former girlfriend Amy Lombardi, with whom Adams had moved to the city to be in a relationship some two years earlier. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2002, and in 2009, ‘The Guardian’ newspaper included it in its “1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear”, while the closing saxophone solo was played by Kamasi Washington (at the time just twenty years old) in one of his very first studio session appearances. Over the following years, Adams has recorded and released around thirty albums, garnering much press coverage, not all of it positive, and arguably more than deserved. However, despite those failings, it should never be forgotten that he has written some of the finest songs of the genre, of which ‘New York, New York’, to these ears at least, is still his best and most memorable.
Number 9. Jason Isbell ‘Elephant’ from “Southeastern” (2013)
By the time “Southeastern” was released, Isbell was already respected as one of the finest writers of his generation. Having spent six years as a member of the legendary Drive By Truckers, during which time he appeared as singer, songwriter and guitarist on three of their finest albums, he then followed that up with three excellent solo albums. However, one always felt that the demon drink that had been the root cause of his being fired from DBT, was also holding him back from making that classic album that his talent was clearly capable of. So before going into the studio to record his fourth album, he spent a stint in rehab, and then with legendary producer Dave Cobb at the helm, set about recording his masterpiece. And there, amongst a dozen of the finest tracks to be found on one album, covering some of the darkest and most difficult subject matters imaginable, was the song ‘Elephant’. During a later interview, Isbell stated that cancer is “something that everyone has had an experience with, or they will have. It can be difficult, but it’s supposed to be. You’re supposed to give enough of a damn about the songs you’re singing that you might get choked up”. The request from Cobb that Isbell record his vocals in one take is key to the emotional connection here, and despite the difficult topic, the singing is never sentimental but instead is delivered with an uncompromising stoicism that echoes the empathy cocooned within this heartfelt poetry. If, in hearing this song for the first time, you weren’t pinned to the spot, then may I suggest you check your pulse, or better still, read the lyrics to the song that appear on the video below.
Number 8. Diana Jones ‘If I Had A Gun’ from “Better Times Will Come” (2009)
Diana Jones had originally caught the attention of the singer-songwriter and folk music fans with her 2006 album “My Remembrance Of You”, though she had already released two albums during the previous decade. Laced with instant classics such as ‘Pony’, the album immediately received high praise from critics and yet it was a song from her album “Better Times Will Come” released three years later that stopped me dead in my tracks on first listen. Beginning with the plaintive cry from a rustic fiddle against a gently picked acoustic guitar, Jones wastes no time setting the scene as she sings the opening line, “If I had a gun you’d be dead. One to the heart, One to the head”. This song about domestic abuse pulls no punches, and with Jones’ distinctive vocal delivery, captures the cold, stark reality encountered by far too many women. Such is the impact of the narrative and the intensity with which it is delivered that it is easy to feel a sense of guilt just by listening. Add to this the eye for detail within the poetry and the graphic imagery that it generates, and you have a song that unapologetically embeds itself within the memory. The inclusion of an exquisite mandolin solo offers the listener a temporary island of respite before the vocals return to deliver the definitive final line, “If I had a gun, I’d drive away, I’d drive away”. Two of the finest songwriters, regardless of genre, Gretchen Peters and Tom Russell, neither of whom needs to record anybody else’s song, didn’t just cover ‘If I Had A Gun’, they made it the title track for their 2009 duet album, simply choosing to use the second line from the opening verse rather than the first.
Number 7. David Olney ‘Who’s The Dummy Now’ from “One Tough Town” (2007)
A few years ago, whilst extolling the virtues of singer-songwriter David Olney in a ‘For The Sake Of The Song’ feature, I suggested that after a few drinks of our chosen beverage, there are many of us who will listen to a song and think “given a fair wind and a wet sail, I could have written that”. The caveat was that there are a certain number of songs usually written by a small circle of songwriters that, no matter how many times I refill my glass, I know, “not in a million years could I have written that”. One of those songwriters is David Olney, and one of those songs is ‘Who’s The Dummy Now’. Of course, Olney’s vast canon of work dates back to the 1980s, and many of his finest songs were written during the last century; however, before his untimely passing in 2020, he was still turning out excellent songs in a style only he could have written, of which this offering is arguably the best. The song is a dark comedic tale that highlights the power struggle between a ventriloquist and his dummy, who have fallen on hard times. Here, Olney demonstrates his artistry in inhabiting the characters within his songs, in this case, the dummy, with a narrative spiced full of one-liners that would make most writers hang up their pens. From the opening line “A chunk of wood that’s me, a dummy on your knee” the song finds the dummy goading the ventriloquist, undermining his role, claiming “my lines are the best” and “you know I’ve had my fill, it’s about time I got top bill”. The dummy doesn’t restrict his vitriol to just their professional relationship, also attacking the ventriloquist’s failure in his personal life. It is totally ingenious and another example of Olney’s narrative capabilities, writing songs with a level of imagination and acute vocabulary unsurpassed by his peers.
Number 6. Jeffrey Martin ‘Red Station Wagon’ from “Thank God We Left The Garden” (2023)
The newest song on this list, ‘Red Station Wagon’, was just one of a stunning collection of songs that, in my personal view, helped elevate “Thank God We Left The Garden” to album of the year in 2023. One of the more extraordinary facts here was that the finished album started out simply as a selection of demos, recorded in a tiny shack built in Martin’s backyard, eight feet by ten feet, alone around two microphones, with the clear intention of later visiting a proper studio. The result was a cohesive collection of songs, stark and sparse in arrangement, united by a sense of spirituality as Martin subconsciously wrestles with the elusive relationship between a new dawn and a suppressed past. Nowhere was this better demonstrated than on ‘Red Station Wagon’, a song of guilt and betrayal, so intimate and honest in its narrative confession, and yet at the same time so powerful and liberating. Owning up to the ugliness of one’s past, addressing the derogatory homophobic language which not so long ago was accepted as the cultural norm, and in so doing seeking atonement through this story of transformation. On this song, Martin bares his soul, takes the walk of shame, and accepts his guilt, but not as some penance for a committed crime but rather as a celebration for the enlightenment that he now embraces. The vocal delivery, half sung, half spoken, resonates with regret, while the simple arrangement of a picked acoustic guitar, interspersed by the occasional reverberating lead lines from an electric, skillfully and subtly elevates the lyrical tension to create an astonishing work of art.
Number 5. Amy Speace ‘The Sea & The Shore’ from “How To Sleep In A Stormy Boat” (2013)
The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier once described the work of Amy Speace as “absolute mastery. Folk music doesn’t get any better than this”. Having just released “The Blue Rock Session”, her twelfth studio album, to wide critical acclaim, it remains one of life’s mysteries that Speace is still not a household name, or at the very least, the go-to songwriter for all Americana music fans. Her fourth album, “How To Sleep In A Stormy Boat”, released in 2013, was an early indicator of her unique skills as a writer, featuring a wonderful array of songs, though one in particular stood out and has gone on to be a staple of her live shows ever since. That song is “The Sea & The Shore”, a song she actually cowrote with Robby Hecht, but sung here as a duet with John Fullbright, who takes the role of the sea with Speace as the shore. The track is fundamentally a love ballad, but it is the poetic narrative, along with the achingly beautiful vocal delivery from both singers, that lifts this song to a different plateau. Here, within this lyrical masterpiece, lies so much of what makes Speace one of the finest songwriters of her generation. Her subject matters and setting are chosen carefully, her words even more so, creating a level of poetry that could be compared to the greats of the romantic period, such as Byron or Shelley, capturing such desire and vulnerability, passion and trauma, and in just four minutes delivering an epic drama that would surely be the envy of most storytellers. Speace has gone on to record this song as a solo performance on two more studio albums in a form more in keeping with her live shows. However, it is the original version that still pulls tightest on the heartstrings and continuously finds me pressing the replay button.
Number 4. James McMurtry ‘We Can’t Make It Here’ from “Childish Things” (2005)
In 2005, three years after the release of his previous studio album “Saint Mary Of The Woods”, James McMurtry delivered his pièce de résistance, “Childish Things”. On an album that found McMurtry at his most political, stuffed full of raw, roots-driven musical gems that offered a snapshot into all aspects of middle America, of which any number would be eligible for such a list, one song in particular stood out. ‘We Can’t Make It Here’ is both the best track from the album and the longest, building in intensity as it progresses in a style reminiscent of Crazy Horse. However, it is McMurtry’s evocative, and some may argue provocative, narrative that propels the song through all of its seven-minute duration, with his rugged, bone-dry vocal delivery helping to supply the cutting edge. The song revolves around the disillusionment of the so-called ‘American Dream’ for the less fortunate of its population, drawing on the hot topics of the period, including the Iraq war, as well as the outsourcing of Walmart merchandise. With his sluggish and yet resolute spoken-sung delivery, McMurtry perfectly encapsulates the frustrations and despair of the times without ever overplaying the bitterness towards these situations, remaining the ultimate observer and orator on a song which, despite now being over twenty years old, unfortunately still resonates strongly with the current American political climate. The album “Childish Things” would go on to be voted the Americana Music Award album of the year in 2006, while the song ‘We Can’t Make It Here’ was named ‘Best Song of the 2000s decade’ by the esteemed music critic Robert Christgau. Having grown up with a famous novelist for a father, McMurtry displays here, as he has throughout his career, that he hasn’t just inherited the old man’s talents as a wordsmith; he has created a legacy all of his own.
Number 3. Mary Gauthier ‘Mercy Now’ from “Mercy Now” (2005)
The name Mary Gauthier needs little introduction, not just to the americana music community, where she has long been recognised as one of her generation’s finest practitioners of the singer-songwriter craft, but also across a broader genre and timespan. The song ‘Mercy Now’ is the title track to her fourth studio album, released in 2005, and was originally written after a final visit to see her father, who had previously been injured in a serious car accident, which led to small strokes on the brain, leaving him with Alzheimer-like symptoms. Gauthier instantly found the parent-child roles reversed, and it was directly from that experience that she drew the initial inspiration. Picking through a simple chord progression on the guitar, she mumbled nonsense words until the song gradually emerged as a homage to both her father and her brother. The simplicity in the structure of this composition encourages the listener to move in close, the sparseness allowing the focus to remain on the uncluttered narrative with it’s cry for kindness and reconciliation connecting and resonating way beyond the initial inspiration as she sings “My church and my country could use a little mercy now / As they sink into a poised pit / That’s going to take forever to climb out”. The song would go on to be covered numerous times, including by Boy George, of which Gauthier is most proud. However, what truly marks this song out as a modern-day classic, to which no cover version can match, is the empathy and sagacity with which Gauthier embellishes every syllable and every breath. There is nothing false, nothing forced, just the honesty and sincerity that she brings to all her work
Number 2. Tom Russell ‘Guadalupe’ from “Blood And Candle Smoke” (2009)
Tom Russell’s reputation as one of the finest songwriters of his generation has long been cemented, with John Swenson of ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine stating he is “the greatest living folk-country songwriter”. His recording career spans close to six decades, way back to the late 1970s and the two duet albums he made with Patricia Hardin, while the following years would see his solo work blossom, highlighted by probably his most fabled song, ‘Gallo del Cielo’, cited as a favourite by two of his contemporaries, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. However, in 2009, Russell delivered a song, vastly different in style and structure and yet one that has gone on to be seen as at least the equal of that 1980s classic. Co-produced with Craig Schumacher and featuring members of Calexico, the album “Blood And Candle Smoke” sounded like nothing Russell had recorded before, singing and playing live with a band who required little direction, simply allowing themselves to inhabit the natural space that existed between the margins. The music here transcended his usual tropes, possessing greater darkness and vulnerability, and yet remaining as visually striking and inspired as ever, full of confessional poetry, of which ‘Guadalupe’, tucked away as the ninth of the twelve tracks on the album, was the undisputed jewel in the crown. Based around the story of a non-believer who experiences the sincerity of pilgrims visiting the shrine of ‘Our Lady of Guadalupe’, in Mexico, and in doing so has the Virgin Mary answer his prayers with the wherewithal to convince the local Bishop to build a church for the poor and oppressed. The contribution of backing vocals from Gretchen Peters adds a sense of depth and warmth to a song she would later record on, “One To The Heart, One To The Head”, a duet album with Russell, and would become a regular number during her own live performances, practically making the song her own. However, there is something in the sagacious world-weary vocal delivery from Russell that truly captures the very essence of this remarkable piece of poetic mastery.
Number 1. Gretchen Peters ‘The Matador’ from “Hello Cruel World” (2012)
As astonishing as it may seem today, it took Gretchen Peters over twenty years of performing and songwriting before, at the age of thirty-eight, she was able to record her debut album. However, by that time, 1998 to be exact, she had already composed hits for such luminaries as Martina McBride, Etta James, Trisha Yearwood, Shania Twain and Neil Diamond, to name just a few. In 2023, she announced her farewell tour of Europe, having by this time amassed a total of ten studio albums, including a duet with Tom Russell, and three live albums, as well as being inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and receiving the coveted Poet’s Award from the Academy of Country Music. With such a catalogue of wonderful songs to her name, there was understandably a number worthy of consideration for a place on this list, and yet to these ears, her undeniable masterpiece first appeared as the third track of her 2012 album “Hello Cruel World”. Written over five days and focusing on the polarity of both love and art within the creative process, ‘The Matador’ is, in my view, the epitome of songwriting. Based around Federico Garcia Lorca’s concept that a dark spirit can seize an artist and thus subconsciously produce the most powerful and elemental creation, the thrall of the spirit, or ‘duenda’, is that which controls not only the performer but also the audience as they are pulled temporarily into another world. Here, Peters draws on the duality between the listener’s love of the artist and that of his creation, with the willingness to be burnt by the flame rather than face the inevitable ignominy of being just another face in the crowd. Peters has gone on record stating that ‘The Matador’ is her favourite song from a writing perspective, and for myself, after more than fifty years worshipping at the church of the songwriter, few songs, if any, have had or continue to have the emotional impact of this, Gretchen Peters’ magnum opus.
