For the 23rd year in a row, Nashville embraced the indie aesthetic, hosting more than 200 acts at nearly 50 venues throughout the city last week for the Americana Music Association’s 2023 AmericanaFest. MAGNET’s Hobart Rowland was there for most of it, plowing ahead amid hordes of Pink fans (she performed at Geodis Park on Friday night) and making every effort to steer clear of roaming packs of bachelorettes. He returned with some essential info on six standout artists.
JON MUQ
Hometown
Kampala, Uganda
Currently Resides In
Austin
Sound
An earthy swirl of folk, soul, rock and Afropop.
Recent History
It’s been quite the remarkable journey for Muq, from wandering the streets of his Ugandan village singing songs in English to entertaining on a cruise line to opening for the likes of Billy Joel, Norah Jones and Mavis Staples.
“I didn’t grow up listening to music because the only radio we had had batteries, and it was hard to get stations from abroad,” Muq said in his first-ever press interview, following a rooftop showcase at AmericanaFest. “I found this CD under a table where I worked as a nanny—it was ’We Are The World.’ When I played it, I heard all these different people singing, and I was like, ‘Woah.’ I started singing in English before I learned how to speak proper English.”
Upon his arrival in Austin, Muq hooked up with the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who’s producing his debut LP, which is set for release on Easy Eye Sound sometime next year. If powerful first single “Runaway” is any indication, this remarkable talent is just getting started.
What To Expect Live
With just voice and guitar, Muq will suck you into his diasporic vision of the world and keep you there.
JESS WILLIAMSON
Hometown
Lewisville, Texas
Currently Resides In
Los Angeles and Marfa, Texas
Sound
Folky, poignantly personal singer/songwriter fare with ethereal melodies and modern touches.
Recent History
Released over the summer, Williamson’s latest album, Time Ain’t Accidental (Mexican Summer), is easily her best, with more emotional depth—and arguably better songs—than I Walked With You A Ways from Plains, her 2022 duo project with Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield.
“I’d started writing a bunch of songs before Katie and I got the idea to do a band together,” Williamson said during a brief chat in the lobby of Nashville’s Hutton Hotel, a few hours before her AmericanaFest showcase. “I had these two songs that felt a little different than the rest, “Summer Sun” and “No Record Of Wrongs,” which were the jumping off point for the whole Plains album. It was nice to have a container to put those songs.”
Time’s tunes are informed by Williamson’s separation from her longtime boyfriend and musical collaborator and the heady rush of new love. Not surprisingly, it’s rife with yearning, loss, melancholy and carnal insinuation.
“I was really thinking about songwriting as a craft and how to make the truest songs,” she said. “I certainly had a lot of inspiration. I’d just had a breakup, it was COVID, and I was alone in this house. I was coming from this new place of being vulnerable with the lyrics.”
What To Expect Live
Subtle-yet-driving full-band accompaniment that never overwhelms Williamson’s alternately haunting and heartbreaking vocals.
LOGAN LEDGER
Hometown
Mill Valley, Calif.
Currently Resides In
Nashville
Sound
A modernized, reinvigorated take on the country/pop crooner.
Recent History
After T Bone Burnett took him under his wing, producing a retro-country-leaning self-titled debut in 2020 that showcased his captivating Orbison-like baritone, Ledger found himself in a COVID-induced funk. Enter Shooter Jennings.
“I’m not going to say Shooter saved my life, but he kind of did,” Ledger related in a meet-up backstage before his AmericanaFest performance. “It was a pretty bleak time. I wasn’t able to tour on the first record, and I didn’t know if I was going to get dropped. Shooter came along and gave me a shot in the arm.”
The result is the stunning Golden State (Rounder), a sonically vast and varied set that reflects Ledger’s eclectic tastes. Lush standouts like “There Goes My Mind,” “Some Misty Morning” (a drop-dead gorgeous duet with Erin Rae) and “All The Wine In California” find their sweet spot somewhere this side of Laurel Canyon while never being too far removed from Nashville’s historic RCA Studio B. The album was mostly recorded live at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, with help from Cage The Elephant guitarist Nick Bockrath, pedal-steel ace Russ Pahl, bassist Ted Russell Kamp and drummer Jamie Douglass. Bockrath, Pahl and Douglass were among the musicians who joined Ledger onstage in Nashville for his festival showcase.
What to expect live:
Spirited—but meticulous—renditions of the new material, mixed with older gems like “Starlight” and the occasional inspired cover (a breezy take on the Grateful Dead’s “Ripple” was recently released as a single).
TYLER RAMSEY
Hometown
Nashville
Currently Resides In
Asheville, N.C.
Sound
Delicate, textured, impressionistic folk with a subtle prog-rock undertones, humanized by Ramsey’s ethereal high-lonesome tenor.
Recent History
For a few key albums with Band Of Horses, Tyler Ramsey was the George Harrison to Ben Bridwell’s Lennon and/or McCartney. Though Ramsey may chafe at the comparison.
“The problem with Band Of Horses the last one or two years I was involved was that it wasn’t feeling like we were collaborating,” Ramsey said over breakfast in East Nashville the morning after an intimate solo showcase where he threw BOH fans a bone with a quietly moving rendition of “Evening Kitchen,” from the Grammy-winning Infinite Arms. “I love to collaborate—even on my solo albums.”
In the end, Ramsey had to break away to reestablish his own voice as a singer/songwriter. He established that footing with 2019’s impressive if somewhat overlooked For The Morning, an album that caught the attention of producer Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty, Shins). On the upcoming New Lost Ages (Soundly Music), Ek helps Ramsey flesh out and consolidate his disparate folk and indie influences, with core help from bassist Morgan Henderson (Fleet Foxes) and drummer Sean Lane (Ann Wilson). It all sounds pretty sublime on the title track, a modest epic that doubles as a reality check and a glimmer of hope amid the chaos of a world in decline.
What To Expect Live
Whether live or with a band, Ramsey is an intense, low-key presence who’s subtle, inventive guitar work is a crucial component onstage.
EMILY NENNI
Hometown
San Jose, Calif.
Currently Resides In
Nashville
Sound
Traditional country and honky-tonk that evokes wide-open spaces, smoky bars and hard miles, all originating from a uniquely female POV.
Recent History
Though she was a product of a family obsessed with all styles of music, it was Nenni’s affinity for Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson and Hank Williams that drew her to Nashville. She had zero connections there, but she could bake cookies—doing exactly that for the bouncers at Robert’s Western World, an iconic tradition-minded rarity on Broadway. She found her way onstage at Robert’s and other spots not long after, also collaborating with producer Mike Eli for a handful of indie EPs. The streaming success of one of those, 2020’s Long Game, grabbed the attention of Normaltown/New West Records, which released her debut LP, On The Ranch, earlier this year.
What To Expect Live
Tight, tasteful country twang and a hefty dose of Nenni’s easy charm.
SZLACHETKA
Hometown
Longmeadow, Mass.
Currently Resides In
Nashville
Sound
A heartfelt blend of country, folk and roots rock. Think Radney Foster meets John Mellencamp.
Recent History
In an industry town with a relentless work ethic, Matthew Szlachetka has to be one of the hard-working musicians in Nashville. As enthusiastic and authentic onstage as he is off, the guy is always up to something, whether it’s touring, recording, networking or pricing rare finds for his used-vinyl business, Old Soul Record Club. Oh, and he’s also a stellar songwriter. The highlights are many on his latest album, Young Heart, Old Soul. But if you’re looking for two prime examples that resonate emotionally and dig in with memorable hooks, check out “Old Soul” and “Lifeboat.”
What To Expect Live
Though he can certainly hold his own with a full band, Szlachetka thrives in an acoustic setting. At an in-the-round AmericanaFest appearance at Nashville’s legendary Bluebird Cafe with fellow singer/songwriters Hannah Bethel and Sam Johnston, his ebullient personality and between-song banter only enhanced the weight of his songs.
