americana

With a keen eye of observation and a wise man’s knowledge, Ray Wylie Hubbard composes and performs a dozen songs that couldn’t spring from anywhere else but out of his fertile rock and roll bluesy poet-in-the-blistering-heat southern noggin. ”I like to look at both enlightenment and endarkenment,” he declares. “I feel comfortable observing each.” A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment demonstrates the kind of talent that every great songwriter yearns for.

Nanci Caroline Griffith, born July 6, 1954, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas, United States. Her career has spanned a variety of musical genres, predominantly country and folk, and what she terms "folkabilly." She won a 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album for Other Voices, Other Rooms, an album of Griffith covering the songs of artists who influenced her.

Richmond Fontaine is a four-piece alt country band based in Portland, OR. The band was formed in 1994 by guitarist / lead vocalist willy vlautin and bass player Dave Harding at the Portland Meadows horse race track. Known for Vlautin's incredibly rich and evocative lyrics, several of Richmond Fontaine's songs relate to horse racing specifically and gambling generally. This is largely an artifact of Vlautin's upbringing in Reno, Nevada, a place that is heavily referenced in his lyrics, along with Portland, the U.

Damien Jurado is a singer-songwriter in the indie-rock tradition of Seattle, Washington. His music is regarded as being heavily influenced by folk music. Over the years he has released albums on many labels; today his primary label is Secretly Canadian. He was once in the hardcore band Coolidge with Seattle's David Bazan, who formerly fronted the bands Pedro the Lion and HEADPHONES and now performs as a solo artist. He was also an early member of Raft of Dead Monkeys. He teaches kindergarten.