COVID is proving to be a challenge for all musicians. Americana UK thought it would be an idea to catch up with one of bluegrass and americana’s leading musicians to see how COVID affects even those who are well established. The term americana could have been invented for Tim O’Brien who was born and brought up in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Wheeling, West Virginia. In his early musical career he moved to Boulder, Colorado, and helped establish that vibrant musical scene that continues to this day with bands like the Cheese String Incident. Continue reading “Interview: Tim O’Brien on dealing with COVID and the greatest bluegrass artist ever”
In case you’ve joined us late, or just simply forgotten, here’s just a little reminder of what is going on in this feature. For the last few months the AUK writers have been scratching their heads, whittling down lists before changing them again one more time, in order to bring you their own personal selections of the ‘top 10 americana albums ever’. Once each writer has had their say, a shortlist will be drawn up of the most commonly selected albums from which the writers will then choose our collective choices of the ultimate AUK top 10. This week’s selections come from one of our newer writers, Paul Campbell, who’d like to take you down the pub – if only!
Welcome once again to AUK’s perilous expedition to identify the top 10 americana albums of all time. The process has generated some debate along the way, most recently concerning what actually constitutes ‘americana’. As far as this series is concerned, that has been left to individual writers to determine. No ground rules or parameters have been set other than the editor and myself reserving the right to ask writers to reconsider if we think that they have gone completely off course. So far, despite checking with each other about a couple of selections, everything has gone through without interference. However, just in case someone decides to chuck in a Pere Ubu album (as good as they are), we still reserve that right. Luckily this week’s AUK writer Jim Finnie, has thrown no such spanners into the works. I’m also delighted to see that his number one choice has finally been recognised in these lists. Over to you Jim…. 
Here’s our second article in the new Unsung Heroes of Americana series. This time out, Richard Phillips takes a look at a truly iconic instrument; one that has been at the heart of American roots music since it made its debut almost eight decades ago – the Gibson J45. 
For those less initiated (are there any?) or less interested in Bob Dylan, a pertinent question might come up here – when did the connection between Dylan and Americana start? The answer is quite clear – from the beginning. Even as a young music enthusiast when he still responded to the name of Robert Zimmerman, Dylan was completely enamoured with what was then divided into very neat genres of folk, blues, roots, and country (& western). While he started out as a full-fledged musician/singer/songwriter and stuck strictly to the folk part of this equation, at the well-recorded horror of folk purists at the time he started incorporating elements of other musical genres into his music. Whether it was something that was influenced by his ever-expanding lyrical imagination or it was the other way around (or most probably both) makes no difference. Once he strapped on an electric guitar he never stopped or looked back. OK, sometimes he did, but it was with completely different eyes, ears, and voice.