STATE of the GENRE 2024

ROUTES & BRANCHES    

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

December 6, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

At the end of every year, for the past several years, we have taken a moment to assess the state of our kind of music. What does americana music sound like? Which artists are establishing the frontiers of alt.country? Who is influencing the direction of roots music? Is this entire tangle of sound even relevant anymore? If not, may we leave this dark room and go home?

We'll be identifying our favorite albums and songs in the weeks to come here at R&B HQ, so this list isn't that. Some of the following will definitely appear on those lists, but today is more about some combination of creative vision, promotional success, and the fickle attention of popular consensus. Some of these artists are exerting a pull on our genre from without, while others are pushing from within. A handful have already begun appearing on the year-end lists of typically snobbish blogger types. The greater the engagement of americana with the mainstream and with the more progressive tastemakers, the longer our kind of music remains viable. 

Here at R&B HQ, we champion those who might challenge our conceptions, even as we strive also to represent the mainstream of americana. We understand and even respect those who work to keep tradition front and center, who embrace artists who express a more conservative (or preservative) strain of roots music. And while we represent those artists regularly on our weekly Spotify ROUTES-casts, the heart of Routes & Branches is located in a tangle of weeds out in a field somewhere off a dirt road. We welcome any and all who wish to join us here, on account of it's pretty lonely and we're frankly worried about the wild dogs. 

STATE of the GENRE 2024

listed in order of appearance

- Sarah Jarosz, Polaroid Lovers  (Rounder, Jan 26)

- Willi Carlisle, Critterland  (Signature Sounds, Jan 26)

- Hurray For the Riff Raff, Past Is Still Alive  (Nonesuch, Feb 23)

- Kacey Musgraves, Deeper Well  (Interscope, Mar 15)

- Kelly Willis, Melissa Carper, Brennan Leigh, Wonder Women Of Country EP  (Bismeaux, Mar 15)

- Waxahatchee, Tigers Blood  (Anti, Mar 22)

- Adrianne Lenker, Bright Future  (4AD, Mar 22)

- Sierra Ferrell, Trail Of Flowers  (Rounder, Mar 22)

- Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, Revelations  (Abeyance, Mar 29)

- Katie Pruitt, Mantras  (Rounder, Apr 5)

- Nicolette & the Nobodies, Long Way  (ArtHaus, Apr 12)

- Charlie Crockett, $10 Cowboy/Visions Of Dallas  (Son Of Davy, Apr 26/Jul 22)

- Emily Nenni, Drive & Cry  (New West, May 3)

- Adeem the Artist, Anniversary  (Four Quarters, May 3)

- Kaia Kater, Strange Medicine  (Free Dirt, May 17)

- Jesse Daniel, Countin' the Miles  (Lightning Rod, Jun 7)

- Hermanos Gutierrez, Sonido Cosmico  (Easy Eye, Jun 14)

- Silverada, Silverada  (Prairie Rose, Jun 28)

- Kaitlin Butts, Roadrunner!  (Butts, Jun 28)

^ Zach Bryan, Great American Bar Scene  (Belting Bronco, Jul 4)

- Jesse Welles, Hells Welles/Patchwork  (Welles, Jul 4/Sep 20)

- AJ Lee & Blue Summitt, City Of Glass  (Signature Sounds, Jun 19)

- Red Clay Strays, Made By These Moments  (RCA, Jul 26)

- 49 Winchester, Leavin' This Holler  (New West, Aug 2)

- Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Woodland  (Acony, Aug 23)

- MJ Lenderman, Manning Fireworks  (Anti, Sep 6)

- Billy Strings, Highway Prayers  (Reprise, Sep 27)

- Noeline Hofmann, Purple Gas EP  (La Honda, Oct 4)

- Wyatt Flores, Welcome To the Plains  (Island, Oct 18)

- Amythyst Kiah, Still + Bright  (Rounder, Oct 25)

... and just a reminder of what remains of our monthlong analysis of The Year In Americana:

Nov 29: Covers Covers Covers

Dec 6: State Of Americana

Dec 13: Favorite Songs

Dec 20: Christmas Christmas

Dec 27: Favorite Albums

Jan 3: Quarter Century

We ask that you plan your holiday celebrations accordingly. 

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