Overview
Americana is a music that defies definition. It isn’t rock, although it does encompass rock. It isn’t folk, but folk is there. It isn’t Celtic, but it is woven with Celtic threads. It is a blend of forms, music that draws on a wide range of influences. Gathering these many genres together, Americana continually reinvents itself and actively tells the story of its origins and its future. The Americana Revolution: From Country and Blues Roots to the Avett Brothers, Mumford & Sons, and Beyond is an informal social history that describes Americana as both a musical genre and a movement, showing what it is, where it came from, and where it is going. Musician and historian Michael Scott Cain examines how the idea of genre, especially Americana, affects the creation and consumption of music. He tries to discern the formulas of this slippery genre and seeks out the places where artists have broken or bent those formulas in the name of creativity. Through anecdotes and interviews, Cain provides a firsthand view into the creation of Americana to clarify how the genre can be categorized and defined. Through the stories of its creators both long gone and new to the scene, Americana music comes alive as a diverse melting pot of creative genius. With this book, Cain grants music lovers from all backgrounds an unparalleled view into the future of a music that embraces new influences but never forgets its roots.
Full Product Details
Author: Michael Scott Cain
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield
Dimensions:
Width: 15.80cm
, Height: 2.20cm
, Length: 23.90cm
Weight: 0.499kg
ISBN: 9781442269408
ISBN 10: 1442269405
Pages: 264
Publication Date: 04 April 2017
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Available To Order
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.
Reviews
Cain has produced a modest but helpful introduction to Americana music. A broad-based musical notion developed in the latter decades of the 20th century and promoted by the Americana Music Association (which was formed in 1995), Americana music includes various types of noncommercial music, e.g., folk, blues, gospel, traditional country, and Irish. Cain focuses mostly on influential musicians—Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter family, Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Roger McGuinn—but he also looks at important music businessmen (Sam Phillips of Sun Records, Atlanta DJ Zenas Sears). There is brief biographical information on Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, Rosanne Cash, the Clancy Brothers, Thomas A. Dorsey, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Kris Kristofferson, Patsy Cline, Joe South, John Stewart, Jennifer Knapp, the Allman Brothers, Steve Earle, Jim Lauderdale, Mumford and Sons, and the Avett Brothers. The author draws on numerous interviews. The bibliography references section includes some recent secondary publications…. The discography may prove useful. Americana music needs much more research, but this is a decent start. Summing Up: Recommended…. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers. * CHOICE * Does Americana have a future? There is an Americana Music Association, together with an annual awards show and some radio/satellite/public-television programming with that format. There are a few magazines. No one who is not financially involved with the music industry would deny that independent voices are a good thing. So it's worth your while to pay attention. And while you're doing so, you really need to read The Americana Revolution, a spirited guide to both the sounds and the questions. * Rambles.NET * In a world preoccupied by style and identity, how do artists living in the margins continue to thrive? Cain explores the rise of the diverse genre of Americana in order to examine the history of music’s discomfort with boundaries. Defying labels and commodification, passionate musicians and listeners still sing. -- Jennifer Knapp, Grammy Award-nominated musician
In a world preoccupied by style and identity, how do artists living in the margins continue to thrive? Cain explores the rise of the diverse genre of Americana as a lens into the history of music's discomfort with boundaries. Defying labels and commodification, passionate musicians and listeners still sing. -- Jennifer Knapp, Grammy Award-nominated musician
Author Information
Michael Scott Cain is the author of seven books of poetry, most recently East Point Poems, and three novels, including Midnight Train, a country music novel. After teaching popular culture and literature at the collegiate level for forty years, he now covers the topic in the Frederick News-Post while also serving as jazz, blues, poetry, and folklore editor for Rambles.
