September is “National Americana Month,” a time to reflect on the elements of our country’s culture that bring us together– and few things bring people together better than music. The style of music known as Americana “includes the rich threads of country, folk, blues, soul, bluegrass, gospel and rock in our tapestry,” according to the Americana Music Association. If you’d like to listen to some Americana music, here are some albums you can download & stream for free on Hoopla using your Livingston Library card.
Music from Big Pink – The Band (1968)
The classic record that spawned the Americana genre, according to author and musician Terry Burrows. Slant Magazine claimed that The Band’s “funhouse-mirror approach to the past—backward-looking but never self-consciously ‘retro’… makes Music from Big Pink feel truly timeless.”
A Sailor’s Guide to Earth – Sturgill Simpson (2016)
Winner of Best Country Album and nominated for Album of the Year at the 2017 Grammys, this album cemented Simpson’s place as one of American music’s most audacious and soulful artists. Uncut raved, “It’s a telling indication of the degree of daring and sophistication at hand that artistic gestures which might have seemed contrived or ill-conceived in other contexts–like say, transforming Nirvana’s ‘In Bloom’ into a majestic country-soul ballad worthy of Charley Pride–yield some of the most startling results.”
You’re the One – Rhiannon Giddens (2023)
Singer, songwriter, fiddler, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Rhiannon Giddens’s third album is her best yet. Blending Blues, Jazz, Cajun, Country, Gospel, and Rock, You’re the One is “her most outward looking record,” according to Rolling Stone. “Giddens melds the past and present, writing a bold new future for herself in the process.”
That’s How Rumors Get Started – Margo Price (2020)
The third album by country / pop artist Margo Price fits comfortably between influences such as John Prine, Tom Petty, and Fleetwood Mac. The Guardian wrote, “Storytelling and suffering remain at the heart of this rich, gauzy and lush record, which… expands the borders of country while strengthening its core tenets.”
Car Wheels on a Gravel Road – Lucinda Williams (1998)
Williams’ breakthrough album after two decades in music, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road was voted the best album of 1998 by the Village Voice, and won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1999. New Music Express wrote that the album transformed “American roots rock into a heady, soul-baring and, would you believe, unabashedly sexy art form.”
In These Silent Days – Brandi Carlile (2021)
Carlile’s seventh full-length record also gave her a second Grammy for Best Americana album. Spin Magazine called In These Silent Days “a triumphant patchwork of Americana, folk-rock, pop and soul.”
Kiko – Los Lobos (1992)
After establishing themselves as one of America’s sharpest and most energetic roots rock acts on albums like How Will the Wolf Survive? and the soundtrack to the film La Bamba, Los Lobos released this stunning and ambitious record. “Balancing beauty and menace with intelligence and a skill that’s little short of dazzling,” wrote AllMusic, “[Kiko] is a brilliant, singular achievement, and the most rewarding album in the group’s catalog.”
Oklahoma – Keb’ Mo’ (2019)
Blues & country singer / guitarist Keb’ Mo’s 14th album won the Grammy for Best Americana Album in 2020. In an enthusiastic review of Oklahoma, Blues Blast Magazine said, “Fully realized statements of love, loss, and personal growth are balanced with progressive commentary on the state of our country…This is some deep stuff packaged in an unrelentingly catchy package.”
—Joe, Adult Services & Acquisitions