Pound For Pound, Americanafest Is The Best

Nashville.com attended what has become our favorite in town festival, Americanafest, again this year. I don’t think you can find a festival with a more diverse inclusive lineup of artists anywhere in the country. We saw acts from blues to bluegrass and artists from Austrailia to Côte d’Ivoire. Attendance seemed to be back to pre-covid levels and we saw friends who had again travelled in from across the country and all over the world to attend.

We checked in when check in opened and after a short 10 minute delay we were through the process in minutes thanks to the great staff and volunteer group assembled by the Americana Music Festival.

Our highlights of the festival were as follows:

Favorite Venues- Eastside Bowl and the 5 Spot
Favorite Performers- Robert Ellis, Jesse Dayton, and Jobi Riccio
Favorite Events- The Lucinda Williams Car Wheels on a Gravel Road tribute at the Basement East with Lucinda in attendance, Peach Jam at the Basement and the Lone Star Shindig at the Bobby Hotel
Best Party- Easy Eye Fish Fry at the American Legion Post 82

As always, there were plenty of chances to see the artists in attendance as they were usually performing multiple times over the course of the week at different venues,

We were impressed by the lineup of conferences this year at the festival as well. Most of the conferences we attended were focused on artist development and practical tools for navigating the music business. Topics included touring, songwriting, digital music strategies, and perpetuating the music of legacy artists.

We are already looking forward to next year and will keep yu up to date with all things American and Americanafest.
–Brad Lykken