In celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Americana Music Association‘s conference and festival here in Nashville, WNXP asked listeners to define what — or, more so, WHO — Americana means to them. Unsurprisingly, many of the requested artists are legends in this amorphous genre often dubbed “alt-country” or “roots rock” — inclusive of but not exhaustive when it comes to sounds of the American south. There are also many up-and-comers reflective of the changing sound and face of Americana music.

Americana as illustrated by a playlist, a mixtape we made together, was aired the morning after we also captured some audio from artists at the Ryman Auditorium before the Americana Honors and Awards celebration. Hear from listener requesters plus musicians Amythyst Kiah, Duane Betts and Lukas Nelson (each with a super strong hat game, incidentally) in this archived show!

#ThematicStatic Playlist: 9/19/24

Buddy & Julie Miller – “Keep Your Distance” (Richard Thompson cover)
Uncle Tupelo – “Punch Drunk”
Amythyst Kiah ft. Billy Strings – “I Will Not Go Down”
The Allman Brothers Band – “Blue Sky”
Emmylou Harris – “Sweet Old World”
John Prine – “That’s the Way the World Goes Round”
Suzie Chism – “Till The Wheels Fall Off”
Charley Crockett – “$10 Cowboy”
Tim Heidecker – “Come Away With Me (Live in Boulder)”
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings – “Howdy Howdy”
Levon Helm – “Single Girl, Married Girl”
Lukas Nelson ft. Travelin’ McCourys & Sierra Ferrell – “Someone Like You” (Adele cover)
Southern Avenue – “Found a Friend In You”

Even more requests are included on a Spotify playlist, below.