Americana 2

And another one that's been a long time comin'. Americana Vol. 1, as seen in the title, was always supposed to have a sequel, but in between the Bluegrass Chartbusters series and a couple of alt albums or One Album Wonders it always got pushed back, as I don't want this place to only become OBG's Americana corner. But after a year and a half, it seems about time to actually get to Volume No. 2. The idea is still the same: There is no specific idea, other than compiling 20 tracks from the Americana spectrum. Some refugees from the Bluegrass Chartbusters, who were either not Bluegrass or Chartbuster enough, have found a home here, plus the usual stray tracks I stumbled upon one way or the other. Some are relatively newcomers, other are vets. No real structuring principle either, other than flow and variety.  

Having said all that, the newcomers are clearly having the upper hand here, and there's a reason for that. A bunch of these, by such unheralded artists as Gene Gainey, Bryan Yurcan, Jung Bergo, Sean Whalshe or Madmans Moustache, are escapees from yet another project that will debut soon on One Buck Records, but were quote-unquote too country for that one, so they found the perfect new home right here. Also relatively newcomer-ish: Swedish Americana artist Magnus Hansson alias Maybe Canada, Melanoid, and Song Preservation Society. Lots of people to discover here that I'm sure most of you haven't heard of yet, but if these selections are any indication, deserve a closer look in the future. 

The vets brought in range from pioneers like cow-punk legend Jason Ringenberg to cult artists like Will Oldham a.k.a. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, to artists creeping into the vets camp with each passing year like Maren Morris, here still a teenager. There's also a young Kacey Musgraves with a wonderful take on Uncle Neil's "Heart Of Gold". Throw in the Counting Crows with a really neat live in studio performance of the Grateful Dead's "Friend Of The Devil" and Chris Stapleton's "Outlaw State Of Mind". And a word for Bill Miller, the rare Native American Americana/country rock artist, whoese 1982 debut Native Sons, from which "Two Places At Once" is taken, is an underappreciated early example of what we'd call Americana later on. 

And finally, a word (or three) on the special bonus track, which I designed as such, so if you have a strict 'No A.I. in my music' policy, you can just delete it without consequence: You might remember Jared Hutcherson as the AI-generated country singer with the changing voices, who was highly productive, until he got deep-sixed. R.I.P. Jared, we hardly knew ya! But we got one thing to remember you by. Of the half-dozen songs I sampled from 'Jared', one stood out. "Burning Horses" is done in the growly vet voice, for a dark Americana song with apocalyptic undertones. Maybe fitting that it's the A.I. that goes so dark: "This is a call for the burning horses, racing out through hell / they can find you anywhere, anywhere you dwell / flame and fury, teeth and bone / ain't no place to hide alone / burning horses know your name, and they're coming just the same." Whoa, A.I. on a dark death trip. It's a weird song, and I like that, and I really like the song, which is, well, weird. And, you know, "Burning Horses" sentiment of unstoppable, impending doomis  truly fitting considering the rapid-fire development - and not in a good way - in the A.I. department in the last months. Always remember, folks: A.I. knows your name, and it's coming just the same.