Every road on One Buck Records leads into Americana...

 

...or so it seems, but you already knew that. From the country rock of the late 60s and early 70s to the alt.country from the early to mid-90s, to the various genre permutations until today, Americana is the one genre that is a contant throughout a ton of music that I like. But, as I said, you might have noticed, whether by listening to the All Pearls, No Swine series, or some of the One-Album Wonders, or hell, even by commercial giants like the Dixie Chicks who maintained a healthy, authentic link to the genre's past. So, it was obvious that at some point I would not only dip into the genre, but full on dive back into the Americana pool. If you have been around for a good long while, you might remember that there was already a full-on Americana sampler around here, back when I made a Blue Rose album sampler. Americana Vol. 1 has no borders or barriers,but also no particular theme, other than being a ton of cool Americana songs that I like a lot. 

There is some aural connect here, in sound and sensibility, maybe because this compilation focuses on modern Americana from the last 30 years or so. The oldest track on here should be Gillian Welch's demo for her classic "Orphan Girl", immediately covered by Emmylou Harris, which is like being knighted in the country rock scene. There's a bunch of groups from the birth of alt.country in the 90s - Whiskeytown, Old 97's and the previously featured Son Volt. Since we already mentioned the queen of Americana, there's other female genre royalty. Patty Griffin's moving "Wild Dog" is as good as anything on 1.000 Kisses - which means it's plenty good. And Alison Krauss with trusty band Union Station in tow as well as Neko Cse are reliable awesome as well.

This collection also collects (some) of the cream of the crop of the last decades in Americana, including one of its most emblematic figures and undoubtedly its best lyricist, Mr. Jason Isbell. "Last Of My Kind", featured here, is a moving, elegiac portrait of a young man from the country, lost in the big city...and the century. "Tried to go to college but I didn't belong, every thing I said was either funny or wrong / laughed at my boots, laughed at my jeans, laughed when they gave me amphetamines" and then juxtaposes this brilliantly with the down home wisdom from back on the farm, that doesn't hold up anymore: "Daddy said the river would always lead me home / but the river can't take me back in time, dand dady's dad and gone / and the family farm's a parking lot, a Walton's Five And Dime", "Mom says God won't give you too muc to bear / might be true in Arkansas but I'm a long long way from there". Isbell's storytelling and the precise way he chronicles the challenges of being a Southern man in a modern, changing society date back to his time in Drive-By-Truckers ("Outfit"), but he has only gotten better since. 

Another cultish figure who has grown more prominent in recent years is Sturgill Simpson and his decidedly retro, old school style  that is sometimes compared to the Outlaw country of the 70s. His signature cosmic cowboy anthem "Turtles All The Way Down" is featured here in a bluegrass version. Other talent rising in the last decade or so that ar featured here: Colter Wall, Lucero, Ben Nichols, Brad Armstrong, Charles Wesley Godwin and John Moreland with a terrific acoustic cover of "Thunder Road". Speaking of cool covers: Darius Rucker, formerly the lead singer of biggest/luckiest bar band in the world, Hootie and the Blowfish, was always a rootsy guy, but embraced full on country/Americana as a solo artist and covers Bob Dylan's never-fnished "Wagon Wheel" from the Bob Dylan & Billy The Kid soundtrack sessions.

So, lots of good stuff here, all coming with the OBG seal of approval. If you want to spend some quality time with some quality Americana music, this is the place to be, folks. Y'all have a good one with this one...