Americana, alt-country, etc. It’s a kind of music I grew to know through the albums of people like James McMurtry and Steve Earle. For me, a defining characteristic of this genre is that it seems to wander between folk, country and rock: one track will be a fine example of upbeat country and the next would fit in fine from an indie rock band.
Today I’ve been playing a very fine album by Samantha Crain, of whom I’ve never heard before. It’s called You (understood) and I starts out with a top notch indie rock tune, “Lions”. The next couple of tunes are sharp tunes in the same vein, and then we drop into an alt-country feel for the next few tunes. “Religious Wind” would be a good fit on pop-folk album, and is a wonderful song; it’s the kind of tune that makes you play an album again and again to hear. The album finishes with a couple of real rockers and much of the guitar throughout convinces me that the guitarist has a stack of Neil Young albums at home. The variety of the music forms as well as the distinct Oklahoma twang Crain sings in makes this feel like Americana to me. Maybe I worry about things like genre too much, or maybe not, but in any case, this album is terrific.
