Americana is a general term for country rock and rockabilly formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the musical ethos of the United States of America, with particular emphasis on music historically developed in the American South.
Definition
The term "Americana music" was defined by the Americana Music Association (AMA) in 2020 as "…the rich threads of
Country music,
Folk music,
blues,
Soul music,
Bluegrass music,
Gospel music, and rock in our tapestry."
[] A previous 2016 AMA definition of the genre included rhythm and blues, with additional comments that Americana music results "in a distinctive roots-oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw. While acoustic instruments are often present and vital, Americana also often uses a full electric band."
History
Prehistory: Roots music
The origins of Americana music can be traced back to the early 20th century, when rural American musicians began incorporating elements of folk, blues, and country music into their songs.
Americana musicians often played acoustic instruments such as the
guitar,
banjo,
fiddle, and
upright bass, and their songs typically told stories about the struggles and hardships of everyday life.
Folk music revival
The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. The folk revival in New York City was rooted in the resurgent interest in
square dancing and folk dancing there in the 1940s as espoused by instructors such as
Margot Mayo, which gave musicians such as
Pete Seeger popular exposure.
[Szwed, John, Alan Lomax: The Man who Recorded Music, Penguin, 2010. Cf. p.144: "Margot Mayo was a Texan who pioneered folk music in New York and spearheaded the revival of folk dancing and square dancing there in the 1940s"][][] The folk revival more generally as a popular and commercial phenomenon begins with the career of
The Weavers, formed in November 1948 by
Pete Seeger,
Lee Hays,
Fred Hellerman, and
Ronnie Gilbert of People's Songs, of which Seeger had been president and Hays executive secretary.
The Kingston Trio, a group originating on the West Coast, were directly inspired by the Weavers in their style and presentation and covered some of the Weavers' material, which was predominantly traditional. The Kingston Trio's popularity would be followed by that of Joan Baez, whose debut album Joan Baez reached the top ten in late 1960 and remained on the Billboard charts for over two years. It was not long before the folk-music category came to include less traditional material and more personal and poetic creations by individual performers, who called themselves "singer-songwriters". As a result of the financial success of high-profile commercial folk artists, record companies began to produce and distribute records by a new generation of folk revival and singer-songwriters Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Eric von Schmidt, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Dave Van Ronk, Judy Collins, Tom Rush, Fred Neil, Gordon Lightfoot, Billy Ed Wheeler, John Denver, John Stewart, Arlo Guthrie, Harry Chapin, and John Hartford, among others.
Some of this wave had emerged from family singing and playing traditions, and some had not. These singers frequently prided themselves on performing traditional material in imitations of the style of the source singers whom they had discovered, frequently by listening to Harry Smith's celebrated LP compilation of forgotten or obscure commercial 78rpm "race" and "hillbilly" recordings of the 1920s and 30s, the Folkways Anthology of American Folk Music (1951). A number of the artists who had made these old recordings were still very much alive and had been "rediscovered" and brought to the 1963 and 64 Newport Folk Festivals. For example, traditionalist Clarence Ashley introduced folk revivalists to the music of friends of his who still actively played the older music, such as Doc Watson and The Stanley Brothers.
Emergence of folk rock
In the 1950s and 1960s, folk revival music began to evolve and incorporate elements of rock and roll and other popular music styles. Artists such as
Bob Dylan and
the Byrds began blending traditional folk and country music with electric guitars and drums, creating a new sound that came to be known as
folk rock.
On January 20, 1965, the Byrds entered Columbia Studios in Hollywood to record Bob Dylan's acoustic tune "Mr. Tambourine Man" for release as their debut single on Columbia. The full, electric rock band treatment that the Byrds and producer
Terry Melcher had given the song effectively created the template for the musical subgenre of
folk rock.
Frank Hoffmann (2026). 041593835X, Routledge. 041593835X
McGuinn's melodic, jangling 12-string Rickenbacker guitar playing—which was heavily compressed to produce an extremely bright and
tone—was immediately influential and has remained so to the present day. The single also featured another major characteristic of the band's sound: their clear
Vocal harmony, which usually featured McGuinn and Clark in unison, with Crosby providing the high harmony.
Additionally, Richie Unterberger has stated that the song's abstract lyrics took rock and pop songwriting to new heights; never before had such intellectual and literary wordplay been combined with rock instrumentation by a popular music group.
Within three months "Mr. Tambourine Man" had become the first folk rock smash Hit single,Rogan, Johnny (1998). 095295401X, Rogan House. 095295401X
The commercial success of the Byrds' cover version of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and their debut album Mr. Tambourine Man, along with Dylan's own recordings with rock instrumentation—on the albums Bringing It All Back Home (1965), Highway 61 Revisited (1965), and Blonde on Blonde (1966)—encouraged other folk acts, such as Simon & Garfunkel, to use electric backing on their records and new groups, such as Buffalo Springfield, to form. Dylan's controversial appearance at the Newport Folk Festival on July 25, 1965, where he was backed by an electric band, was also a pivotal moment in the development of the genre.
Emergence of alternative country
In the 1990s, the term ‘alternative country’—mirroring the rise of alternative rock—emerged to describe a diverse group of artists working outside the norms and commercial structures of mainstream country music. Many eschewed the increasingly polished production values and pop sensibilities of the Nashville-dominated industry for a more
lo-fi music sound, frequently infused with a strong punk and rock and roll aesthetic. Alternative country drew on traditional American country music, the music of working people, preserved and celebrated by practitioners such as
Woody Guthrie,
Hank Williams, and The Carter Family, often cited as major influences.
[] Another major influence was
country rock, the result of fusing country music with a rock & roll sound. The artist most commonly thought to have originated country rock is
Gram Parsons (who referred to his sound as "Cosmic American Music"), although
Michael Nesmith,
Steve Earle[] and
Gene Clark are frequently identified as important innovators.
[] The third factor was
punk rock, which supplied an energy and
DIY ethic.
[
]
Attempts to combine punk and country had been pioneered by Nashville's Jason and the Scorchers, and in the 1980s Southern Californian cowpunk scene with bands like the Long Ryders
Formation of Americana Music Association
In the 1990s and 2000s, Americana music underwent a resurgence in popularity, as a new generation of artists began incorporating elements of traditional American music into their songs. Artists such as Wilco, Lucinda Williams, and Gillian Welch helped to popularise a new style of Americana music that blended elements of rock, folk, country, and blues.
Rolling Stone notes that
This new style of music reflected a renewed interest in traditional American music forms, and it helped to establish Americana music as a distinct and important genre in its own right.
The Americana Music Association, a not-for-profit trade organization advocating for American Roots Music around the world, was formed in 1999.
In 2011, the genre was officially inducted into the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Expansion of definition
In recent years, the genre has incorporated more influences from blues, R&B, and soul, in addition to the country and folk elements that have always been prominent. Alongside these musical shifts, Americana has also grown in international popularity, particularly in Europe. Notable Dutch artists such as Ad Vanderveen and the group The Common Linnets have contributed to the genre’s expansion beyond the United States. In June 2025, Dutch singer-songwriter TuskHead was named a "One to Watch" on the Euro Americana Chart, reflecting the increasing presence of European artists within the Americana scene.
In 2014, traditional country musician Dale Watson formed the Ameripolitan Music Awards, focused on the genres of honky tonk, Outlaw country, Western swing, and rockabilly, on the premise that these genres can no longer be properly categorized as country or Americana, thus necessitating the creation of a new term, "Ameripolitan".
Radio format
The radio station laying the best claim to the Americana radio format origins is KFAT in Gilroy, California, active from mid-1975 to January 1983, as described in the book Fat Chance,
Mark Humphrey, a contributor to country/folk Frets magazine, hosted a weekly radio show called "Honky Tonk Amnesia" which played "country, folk, honky tonk, cajun, dawg, blues, and old-time music", a combination that the country music station KCSN advertised as "Americana".
Americana type radio shows can be heard on a variety of non commercial radio stations.
Instrumentation
- Acoustic guitar
- The acoustic guitar is perhaps the most essential instrument in Americana music. It is often used to provide the rhythmic foundation of a song, as well as to accompany vocals and other instruments.
- Banjo
- The banjo is a distinctive and essential instrument in Americana music.
- Mandolin
- The mandolin is a small, stringed instrument that is commonly used in folk music and bluegrass music. Its bright, high-pitched sound adds a distinctive flavor to Americana music, and its fast, intricate playing can create a lively and upbeat feel. Mandolins are often played using a technique called tremolo, which involves rapidly picking the strings to create a sustained, shimmering sound.
- Fiddle
- The fiddle is a traditional stringed instrument that is often used in Americana music.
Use in Canada
Despite the genre's most common name, it is not practiced solely by artists from the United States, as numerous artists from Canada are also prominent in the genre.[] Canadian bands in the genre will sometimes be referred to as Canadiana rather than Americana in Canadian media,[] although this is not a widely recognized synonym elsewhere. A Norwegian scene is often referred to as Nordicana.
See also
External links
