Americana
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/Pink!Teen|Pink!Teen]] ([[User talk:Pink!Teen|talk]]) to last version by 65.5.204.50
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[[Image:Dinner Freehold NJ.jpg|thumb|A [[diner]], a style of [[restaurant]] that notably began in the United States.]]
'''Americana''' refers to artifacts of the [[culture of the United States]], the [[history of the United States|history]] and [[folklore of the United States|folklore]] resultant from its [[westward expansion]]<ref name="oed">Oxford English Dictionary, draft revision 2008-06</ref>. Examples of this culture include [[baseball]], [[apple pie]], [[Superman]], the [[diner]], [[wagon trains]], [[jazz]], the music of [[Stephen Foster]], [[George Gershwin]]'s ''[[Rhapsody in Blue]]'', the music of [[Aaron Copland]] (notably his ''[[Fanfare for the Common Man]]''), and [[rockabilly]]; and American [[art]], such as that of [[Frederic Remington]], [[Grant Wood]], and [[Norman Rockwell]], all based on American [[folk art]].
== Music ==
{{main|Americana (music)}}
In [[music]], [[Americana (music)|Americana]] is a loose subset of [[American folk music]], that is perhaps best defined as "classic American music"—ranging in style from roots-based [[bluegrass music|bluegrass]] to [[alternative country]], [[gospel music|gospel]], [[blues music|blues]], [[zydeco]], and other native forms. One of the main reasons Americana is used to describe such a wide variety of musical genres is because of the diverse range of cultural influences which we call American. For example, traditional Bluegrass instrumentation consists of the banjo which originated on the African continent, guitars from Europe, and fiddling styles which have their roots in traditional Irish and other Gaelic fiddling techniques.
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=== Americana bands and musicians ===
{{Original research|section|date=December 2007}}
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*[[The Felice Brothers]]
*[[The Snake The Cross The Crown]]
*[[Murder by Death (band)]]
*[[The Allman Brothers Band]]
*[[The Band]]
*[[Beach Boys]]
*[[Beat Circus]]
*[[Shawn Colvin]]
*Sickboys and Lowmen (The Netherlands)
*[[The Blasters]]
*[[Jesse Brand]]
*[[Johnny Cash]]
*[[Creedence Clearwater Revival]]
*[[Jolie Holland]]
*[[Iris DeMent]]
*[[The Grateful Dead]]
*[[Patty Griffin]]
*[[Woody Guthrie]]
*[[Merle Haggard]]
*[[Heartsfield]]
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*[[Walter Hyatt]]
*Ted Russell Kamp
*[[Waylon Jennings]]
*[[Willie Nelson]]
*Jason Lee Parks
*[[Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers]]
*[[John Prine]]
*[[Bruce Springsteen]]
*[[Townes Van Zandt]]
*[[Tom Waits]]
*[[Uncle Walt's Band]]
*[[Strawfoot]]
*[[Gillian Welch]] and [[David Rawlings]]
*[[Hank Williams]]
*North Star Amblers
*The Grey Image
*[[Ryan Adams]]
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*Planter's
*[[James Taylor]]
*[[Augustana]]
*[[Old Crow Medicine Show]]
*[[Nickel Creek]]
*[[Jack Johnson]]
*[[Bill Frisell]]
*Ultrasonic Jones
*[[Neva Dinova]]
*Shake Russell
*Willie Atkinson
*[[The Cedars]]
*[[John Mellencamp]]
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== Americana in literature ==
{{Sectstub|date=May 2008}}
[[Eric Flint]]'s novel ''[[1632 (novel)|1632]]'' was an experiment in the power of ideas wrapped up in Americana<ref>{{cite book |last= Flint|first= Eric|authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= Eric Flint|others= |title=Grantville Gazette II |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format=hardcover |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition=1st, Hardcover |series= 1632|date= |year= 2006|month= March|publisher= Baen books|location= afterword|language=English |isbn= 978-0-4165-2051-1|oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=324 |chapter= afterword |chapterurl= |quote= pp316: "...which has to do with the way I see this entire story in the first place—and did from the beginning. [[1632 (novel)|''1632'']] was written as much as an American novel as a [[science fiction]] or [[alternate history]] novel. More precisely, as a novel that fits within that loosely defined literary category known as [[Americana]]. In particular, it was written from a desire on my part to make a relatively ordinary small American town the collective protagonist of the story. And then, as the story unfolded, to keep the focus as much as possible on what you might call the level of the common man and woman—understanding that, as the story unfolded, more and more seventeenth-century Europeans would become an integral part of that collective protagonist." (hyper links added herein)}}</ref> wherein he explores the effect of transporting a mass of people through time — in the case of this series, the small fictional town of [[Grantville, WV|Grantville]], [[West Virginia]] from the [[United States]] in the year 2000 to central [[Germany]] in the year [[1631]]. The best selling [[1632 series|series]] of novels and anthologies asks the ''what-if question'': "What might history have been like had a typical American town influenced European thought from the time of the earliest days of Christian on Christian religious conflict (The [[Thirty Years' War]]) and [[Imperialism]]/[[Colonialism]]." In other words, with this premise, Flint decided to hold the both the [[Industrial revolution]] and the [[American revolution]] (political and social) {{#expr:1776-1632}} years early from a new location in central [[Holy Roman Empire|Germany]]; the result is mostly very American and the social, religious, and political sub-conflicts and conflicts to European thinking and practices are very informative as to what makes Americans American in thought, words, and deeds, and in contrast, a nifty benefit, presents a thoughtful in depth picture of European thought and attitudes of that crucial time.
== Americana Radio ==
{{Sectstub|date=May 2008}}
Americana is a format in [[commercial radio|commercial]], [[public broadcasting|non-commercial]], [[terrestrial radio|terrestrial]], [[satellite radio|satellite]] and [[internet radio]]. The Americana Music Association (AMA) has created a chart which documents Americana radio, with approximately 75 Americana radio stations and programs.
== Visual Art ==
In the visual fine arts, Americana usually indicates a concern with the ordinary aspects of historic American culture: carnivals, popular amusements such as side-shows, vernacular typography and signage, old horror movies in the 'haunted house' genre, the old West, and the backwoods cultures. It has increasingly veered off into a dark Gothic approach to Americana that was first visualised by U.S. writers such as [[Edgar Allan Poe]] and [[Ray Bradbury]].
=== Americana Movies ===
Hootenanny Hoot (1963) - featuring Johnny Cash, Judy Henske, The Brothers Four, etc.
== See also ==
*[[American Studies]]
**[[American Studies in Britain]]
*[[Americana/Lesourdesville Lake Amusement Park]]
*[[Australiana]]
*[[Canadiana]]
*[[Kiwiana]] (New Zealand)
*[[Scouting in popular culture]]
[http://www.themusicofamerica.org], a website from nonprofit, Nut Hill Productions, Inc., Executive Producers of PBS series on Americana music and its historical antecedents.
== References ==
<references/>
== External links ==
*[http://www.americanamusic.org Americana Music Association] ([[Nashville]])
*[http://www.americana-uk.com Americana UK] - world's biggest alt-country website
*[http://www.thedanans.com The Danans] - UK based Americana band
*[http://www.americanaroots.com Americana Roots] - Americana Music News & Resources
*[http://www.shuteyerecords.com/americana_radio.htm Americana Radio Promotion] Independent Radio Promotion for the Americana radio format
*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057153/] - Description of "Hootenanny Hoot"
*[http://www.jkcoltrain.com Americana Artist J. K. Coltrain] ([[Nashville]])
*[http://www.jaimiemuehlhausen.com Jaimie Muehlhausen] - Americana indie musician
*[http://www.jamespower.net Americana Songwriter James Power] ([New York])
*[http://www.hickorywind.org HickoryWind.org] - [[Americana (music)|Americana]], [[Bluegrass music|Bluegrass]], &
* [http://www.outlawpunk.com Outlaw Punk Cowboy Show] Twangtastic Ya'llternative Country Podcast, the best in AltCountry, Rockabilly, GuerillaGrass, Hick Hop, Redneck Metal, Outlaw Country.
[[Alternative country|Alt Country]] News, Reviews, & Personality
[[Category:American culture]]
[[Category:American studies]]
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