The Best of Americanafest 2022

Even if Concert Hopper sent every writer we had, there's no way we'd be able to see everything there is going on at Americanafest. The long-running Nashville festival isn't held in one location like most fests but in clubs, parks, and bars across Nashville. Throw in over 300 bands and you're looking at a sisyphean task for any journalist. So this is in no way a comprehensive list, just the best things I saw in the tiny fraction I was able to catch over four days.

Best of the Fest- Tami Neilson
After the fireball that was her Kingmaker album, there was always a good chance of Tami Neilson bringing the best set of Americanafest. What I got exceeded any expectations I could have had. Flanked by her brother Jay and teenage guitarist Grace Bowers, Neilson delivered a full run of songs from that album as well as a few favorites in a dynamic display of feminist fury. Neilson's genius is that she tackles these heavy topics with so much joy, never becoming “preachy” or trite, but throwing a joke or a smile that can de-fang the patriarchy and disarm her audience simultaneously. It's appropriate that Neilson played the last slot Saturday night, closing out the festival, because Americanafest was a Tami Neilson concert with four days of really good opening acts.

Best Place to See Star-Struck Musicians- Taj Mahal and Friends
It's always fun to see famous musicians struck dumb in the face of a music god. That was the beauty of the opening night “Taj Mahal and Friends” set at Basement East. You'd think veteran artists like Jim Lauderdale, Keb Mo, Will Hoge, and Kaia Kater would be immune to starry eyes but performing with a legend as accomplished as blues/jazz/folk/Americana/calypso/a dozen other genres artist Taj Mahal, all seemed about to pinch themselves to make sure they weren't dreaming. All the guest shuffling could be chaotic at times but Taj held court with such humor the crowd never became bored.

Best. History. Teacher. Ever- Jake Blount
Did you ever have that one teacher who had so much passion for his subject, he made it come alive for you? That's Jake Blount. A talented vocalist and banjo player, Blount is also one of music's more accomplished historians in the field of black string music and his set at The Basement was the world's coolest history lesson. Playing songs from his forthcoming album, The New Faith, Blount showed a bit of the album's concept, an apocalyptic future rent by global warming, all through old, sometimes ancient, gospel and black string ballads.

Best Diversity- Queer Roots and 8th Fire Sessions
Americanafest dedicated itself to diversity long before it became cool for festivals to do so. This year, they crossed two more underrepresented groups off the list with the Queer Roots Party at The Groove and the 8th Fire Sessions from Ishkode Records at Dee's. Queer Country has existed for decades, with Lavender Country paving the way in the '70s, but this was the first true showcase of queer country artists. With dynamite acts like Secret Emchy Society, Crys Matthews, and Ever More Nest, the party proved that Queer Country was merely good music that happened to be performed by gay artists. It shouldn't even have to be a genre but, with mainstream country shying away from anything not white, male, and straight, it is and it's glorious. It was as fun a party as I've been to at Americanafest in years.

If Queer Country has been underrepresented, indigenous roots music has been almost forgotten. If you think about it, you can't get much more “roots” than the music performed by a group of people who were in North America long before a bunch of people from Europe became the continent's first illegal aliens. The 8th Fire Sessions presented by Ishkode Records featured acts like Digging Roots and Amanda Rheaume who brought their message of systemic persecution wrapped in some of the best pure Americana musical talent I've seen in years. Grass dancer Trenton Wheeler also put on a memorable display for the audience.

Best Dressed- Henry Wagons
While conflicts kept me from seeing Henry Wagons' full set at City Winery, I was able to see him sit in for one song at Exit/In with Tami Neilson, filling in Willie Nelson's vocals on “Beyond the Stars.” I've seen Wagons previously at both Americanafest and Bonnaroo so I knew he was one of Australia's best comedic musicians. It therefore, came as no surprise that he showed up at Tami Neilson's set dressed in a shirt than can only be described as something Porter Waggoner would wear if he started using Earth, Wind, and Fire's tailor.

Best Satire- Will Hoge
Americana is home to some of music's best satire. The thing that drew me to the genre in the first place was my professor in a satire class bringing John Prine's “Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore,” so I've got a soft spot for artists who can use humor to shine a light on the world's wrongs. With his song “Whose God Is This?,” Will Hoge weaves a tale of a bar (tended by John the Baptist, natch) full of the world's gods who socialize amiably until a gun-toting god with a red hat and a superiority complex saunters in, leading to an attempt to find someone to take him home. The capper is an attempt to “grab” Lilith that ends with the god laid out and vowing to “go back to where they worship me in the good ole' USA).

Rookie of the Year- Miko Marks
Some of my favorite Americanafest performances over the years have been artist I didn't know who played in the same venue as the one I came to see. So when I ventured to the WMOT Day Stage to watch BJ Barham of American Aquarium, I was not surprised to discover my favorite set of the day came from Miko Marks. A mix of soul, country, and pure rock and roll, Marks and her band had an energy that flowed over the crowd. Catching her set is going to put a dent in my bank account as, upon getting home, I immediately followed her on Bandcamp and will be purchasing her music next Bandcamp Friday.

Best Unofficial Americanafest Performance- Anana Kaye and Irakli Gabriel
Because 4 days of 300 bands isn't enough for some people, many venues in Nashville put on “unofficial” Americanafest parties throughout the week. One was the “Get Fried” Fish Fry at Dee's where I finally got to see Anana Kaye and Irakli Gabriel. Their collaboration album with the late David Olney, Whispers and Sighs, was my favorite album of 2020 and one that has kept a spot on my turntable since. Kaye and Gabriel did not disappoint, with the set highlight being a performance of the Rolling Stones-esque satire “Last Days of Rome,” with Kaye ably filling in the spoken-word breakdown supplied by Olney in the original.

Best Group Sing- A Tribute to 1972
Group “tribute” concerts risk becoming an edition of celebrity karaoke, only mildly entertaining in seeing famous people cover other famous people. That's been my problem with all but one of the Bonnaroo Superjams I saw. It wasn't a problem with Americanafest's Tribute to 1972, the sets all connected by a superb band. Highlights included an energetic sing-along of David Bowie's “All the Young Dudes” by Jon Latham and a surprisingly metal Foghat breakdown by Lauren Morrow.

Enjoy a selection of pictures from this year’s Americanafest and be sure to check out the full gallery on our Facebook page!