2019 AmericanaFest: 20 Must-See Shows

The Texas country-rock band returns to AmericanaFest with one of the best albums of the year under their belt, the London Symphony-assisted Cheap Silver and Solid Country Gold. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, the LP captures Mike Harmeier and his comrades at the top of their game, deftly mixing sweeping Countrypolitan sounds with outlaw lyricism. Onstage, they’ll still kick your teeth in (musically speaking of course), but do it suavely with a croon and Sinatra style. Thursday, September 12th, 2:00 p.m. @ Imogene + Willie; Thursday, September 12th, 8:00 p.m. @ the High Watt

Music City mainstay Shilah Morrow has been throwing AmericanaFest kickoff parties since 2000, lately under the “Better Together” moniker with varying themes. This year’s celebrates the sounds of Memphis and features an eclectic lineup of artists singing songs from or about the Birthplace of Rock & Roll. Chuck Mead & His Grassy Knoll Boys, Jim Lauderdale, Will Hoge, Jesse Malin, Liz Brasher, Dee White, Aaron Lee Tasjan, and Nicki Bluhn are among those taking the stage. We’re betting on at least one Big Star tribute. Tuesday, September 10th, 7:00 pm. @ the Basement East

Paul Cauthen will pull his Caddy into AmericanaFest ready to party in style: his new album Room 41 marks the start of a new chapter for the larger-than-life performer. He’ll bring his now-annual Big Velvet Revue back to AmericanaFest at the Basement East with a full four hours of music from guests like Randy Houser, Jack Ingram, Kendell Marvel, Joshua Ray Walker, Aubrie Sellers, and Sunny Sweeney. Cauthen presides over the entire affair, singing and emceeing with his signature blend of swagger and showmanship. Wednesday, September 11th, 10:00 p.m. @ the Basement East

After leaving his country-rock outfit the Best Westerns, the Montana-bred, Jonny Fritz-co-signed singer-songwriter released his Warren Zevon-referencing debut Mariachi Static. Songs like “Limited Liability” and “Arm’s Length Away” are off-kilter well-crafted narratives that present Opatz as a fresh voice whose work, like Fritz, challenges the conventions and constraints of what country/folk singer-songwriters are “supposed” to sing about. Opatz will likely be playing highlights off that record, and perhaps even a few new originals, at his can’t-miss set at the High Watt. Tuesday, September 10th, 11:30 p.m. @ the High Watt

The East Tennessee singer-songwriter has emerged as one of Americana’s great up-and-coming secrets over the past few years, amassing a following with a relentless touring schedule and a deeply-rooted mastery of the country-blues, despite not having even released a label debut. Kiah’s proper emergence on the national scene came earlier this year, not as a solo act but rather as part of the Rhiannon Giddens-helmed Our Native Daughters supergroup (nominated for Duo/Group of the Year), in which several of Kiah’s songs (“Black Myself,” “Polly Anne’s Hammer”) serve as the album’s standouts. Friday, September 13th, 9:30 p.m. @ Station Inn

You never know what you might see at a Sarah Potenza show — outrageous capes, breakaway pants, and blingy crowns have all turned up at one time or another. And that’s just the entertainer’s stagewear. But it never takes away from the music, which commands the spotlight thanks to Potenza’s massive voice and the palpable chemistry between her and her guitar hero husband Ian Crossman. When she humbly thanks him for being in her shadow in the achingly vulnerable ballad “Earthqauke,” your knees will buckle. Friday, September 13th, 10:30 p.m. @ Analog at the Hutton; Sunday School Brunch, Sunday, September 15th, 1:00 p.m. @ Analog at the Hutton

Despite earning his reputation as a New York City hardcore innovator, Jesse Malin has always had an Americana streak in him. His 2003 solo debut The Fine Art of Self Destruction was full of introspective soul-searching and his new LP Sunset Kids — co-produced by Americana icon Lucinda Williams — doubles down on that mission, with Malin addressing the temporal nature of life. He’ll bring his full band with him on Wednesday night, turning up for what is sure to be one of the most punk — and cathartic — live shows of the festival. Wednesday, September 11th, 11:00 p.m. @ the Basement

Back in March, Alabama native Dee White quietly released one of 2019’s best country albums in Southern Gentleman. True to its title, the collection — produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach — offered an alternate path for country, one that isn’t reliant on either Hot 100 trends or adopting a macho outlaw pose. Instead, on songs like “Rose of Alabam” and “Ol’ Muddy River,” White sweetly crooned with a mixture of regret and nostalgia, while Auerbach dialed in an ideally lush backdrop without having to coat everything in syrup. Saturday, September 14th, 8:30 p.m. @ 3rd & Lindsley

ANTI- Records has served as a vital, slightly left-field source of roots and Americana over the past decade, the home to everyone from genre stalwarts Mavis Staples and Glen Hansard to up-and-comers Son Little and Sean Rowe. This year, Son Little is just one of several artists on an all-night label showcase that includes Jeremy Ivey (pictured, and celebrating the impending release of his solo debut The Dream and the Dreamer), Christopher Paul Stelling, Darrin Bradbury, and a highly-anticipated debut performance between Americana’s oddest new pairing: Cass McCombs and Wynonna Judd (known as the Frothy Pit), who cap the evening with their 11:00 set. Thursday, September 12th, 7:00 p.m. @ Mercy Lounge

California-based singer-songwriter Jason Hawk Harris chronicled a period of incredible struggle — death, illness, and self-destruction — on his 2019 album Love & the Dark, emerging more or less intact on the other side. A classically trained musician, Harris shows off his chops and range all over Love & the Dark, jumping from the hungover, black-humored Countrypolitan shuffle of “Cussing at the Light” to the searing country-punk of “I’m Afraid.” In the devastating ballad “Phantom Limb,” he calls out to the massive void left in the wake of his mother’s death: “I feel your fingers comb through my hair/Open my eyes and there’s no one there.” If you don’t feel something from that, check your pulse. Saturday, September 14th, 11:59 p.m. @ Mercy Lounge

Like the Americana genre itself, Jesse Dayton is hard to define. He’s country, punk, rock, and blues, and on his new album Mixtape Volume 1, he nods to all of those sounds, covering artists from the Clash to Gordon Lightfoot. It’s a satisfyingly diverse listen, but it’s on the concert stage where the East Texas singer-guitarist is not to be missed. Whether playing greasy slide solos with a beer bottle or growling his way through fan favorites like “Daddy Was a Badass,” Dayton is electrifying. Friday, September 13th, 5:00 p.m. @ Red, White & Blue Elain: Our Americana Sound; Friday, September 13th, 11:59 p.m. @ Exit/In

There’s a reason John Prine’s Oh Boy Records recently made Kelsey Waldon its first new signee in 15 years: she’s a tremendous songwriter with a singular voice. The Kentucky native already has a pair of acclaimed independent albums to her credit in The Goldmine and I’ve Got a Way, tackling heartbreak, addiction, and the quiet, seemingly insignificant moments of small-town life with the wit and empathy to match that of her new boss. Waldon’s Oh Boy debut White Noise/White Lines will be available October 4th and you can bet she’ll be ready to play a chunk of it for the AmericanaFest crowds. Wednesday, September 11th, 10:00 p.m. @ 3rd & Lindsley

Hailing from New York, the singer-songwriter-harpist Lizzie No has been quietly making superb records largely on her own over the past several years (see 2017’s full-length debut Hard Won, or the non-album single “Sundown” from the same year). This year, No is poised for a big AmericanaFest, having just released her glimmering new album Vanity, which builds upon her folk-rooted sound to incorporate more commercial-leaning elements of alternative rock, pop, and country. In addition to her main Wednesday evening showcase, No will also be appearing at Thursday night’s Americana Kickback at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge. Wednesday, September 11th, 10:00 p.m. @ TRUE Music Room at Cambria Hotel

After years working behind the scenes in a variety of musical guises (as a songwriter, producer, and member of the band Phantom Limb), the British roots-music conjurer Yola has had one of the biggest breakthrough years, earning an Emerging Artist of the Year nomination at this year’s Americana Awards. Walk Through Fire, her solo debut released this past February, is a textured blend of orchestral Sixties pop and lush country-soul produced by Dan Auerbach. In between dates opening for Kacey Musgraves, she’ll be appearing this week for a much-touted Thursday night showcase. Thursday, September 12th, 11:00 p.m. @ City Winery

Since releasing 2018’s Change the Whole Thing, Maggie Rose has come into her own, finding a home not just in the Americana world, but in musically adventurous jam circles — she made a triumphant Peach Fest debut this past summer and has been collaborating with guitar phenom Marcus King. Rose was recently in Muscle Shoals working on a new album, so expect her to be fully in the swampy R&B zone during her AmericanaFest showcase. Wednesday, September 11th, 11:59 p.m. @ 3rd & Lindsley

The son of underappreciated country singer Sammi Smith, Waylon Payne perhaps first gained national attention with his frenetic performance as Jerry Lee Lewis in the film I Walk the Line. His own musical performances bundle that unbridled showmanship with Payne’s top-flight songwriting, a skill that’s landed him cuts on albums by Lee Ann Womack, Miranda Lambert, and Ashley Monroe. His long-awaited follow-up to 2003’s The Drifter is in the works, and AmericanaFest attendees will have a chance to hear some of those harrowing, personal songs before the rest of the world. Thursday, September 12th, 8:30 p.m. @ the Anchor

North Carolina songwriter Sarah Shook has applied a punkish tenacity and outlook to her two albums with backing band the Disarmers, Sidelong and Years. There’s a rawness to her approach that comes through in the recordings — the way she communicates hot-blooded anger in “New Ways to Fail” or the aching vulnerability of “Years” —and their largely unadorned arrangements. It translates perfectly to her live performances, which are sweaty, intense, and cathartic, as they should be. (On Friday, she’s performing as part of a regional music showcase spotlighting artists from North Carolina.) Friday, September 13th, 10:00 p.m. @ Mercy Lounge

Sub Pop signee Orville Peck cultivated an air of mystery with his masked cowboy image, whirling ideas about traditional masculinity in with a heaping dose of queer sexuality. That would seem a little gimmicky if not for the material on his album Pony, which conjures up the haunting, surreal atmosphere of a David Lynch movie through the rumbling guitars and Spectoresque flourishes on tracks like “Turn to Hate” and “Dead of Night.” On top of that, the anonymous Peck makes for a really compelling singer, bringing to mind Roy Orbison sitting in as the frontman for Bauhaus. Saturday, September 14th, 10:00 p.m. @ Mercy Lounge

Not officially a part of AmericanaFest, but fully under the musical umbrella of the festival, this Sunday night wrap-up features honky-tonk crooner Joshua Hedley and his ace band the Hedliners leaving Lower Broadway for Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge in Madison, Tennessee. It’ll be worth the schlep east — Hedley is one of the best country vocalists in the game and the intimate no-bullshit confines of Dee’s will make for the perfect come-down from a week of schmoozing. Sunday, September 15th, 10:00 p.m. @ Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge

Over the past decade, Jonathan Wilson has served as a focal point of sorts for the SoCal singer-songwriter community, producing and/or working with everyone from Dawes and Conor Oberst to Father John Misty and Laura Marling, and even earning a gig playing with Roger Waters. Along the way, he’s released several solo offerings, most recently 2018’s Rare Birds. He’ll be performing a mix of solo highlights (see 2011’s eternally relevant “Can We Really Party Today?”) and previews from a yet-to-be-released new solo record during his Tuesday late night City Winery showcase. Tuesday, September 10th, 11:00 p.m. @ City Winery