[I suppose the following discussion should begin with a blanket disclaimer. I recognize that any discussion about the labeling or categorizing of music - especially Americana music - upsets and offends some music fans. And to a large extent that view is justified. After all, why spend time labeling music which you can simply listen to and enjoy it? However, in order to discuss a genre of music as broad and diverse as Americana, we sometimes have to resort to labels and categories to make sense out of it. As long as Americana is seen as merely a haphazard mesh of these separate musical styles, it will not succeed as its own genre. While many of us complain about the lack of "Americana" music stations on commercial radio, we have to recognize that many radio programmers - and music fans - simply refuse to recognize Americana as its own separate genre. Since Americana Homeplace serves to promote Americana as a unique genre of music, we sometimes have to engage in the dirty business of analyzing the various sub-genres of music that comprise Americana. This means playing around with labels and categories. So with that disclaimer out of the way - let’s proceed.]

Traditionally, the Grammys have tended to place a lot of Americana artists in the "Country" category. This seems to be a logical default category for a lot of the more country-oriented Americana artists. However, sometimes it’s like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. You may recall the nomination of Tift Merritt’s Tambourine for Country Album of the Year last year. While Merritt hails from North Carolina and has a certain country lilt in her voice, Tambourine didn’t really fit in the Country category. (Although her previous release, Bramble Rose, would have fit nicely in that category.)

Sometimes, there doesn’t appear to be any method behind the Grammys’ madness. This year Sheryl Crow and Norah Jones received nominations in Country categories, while Jimmie Dale Gilmore received a Folk nomination. Rodney Crowell’s rock-oriented release The Outsider received nominations in both Country and Folk categories. Meanwhile, country-oriented releases by Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young received Rock nominations. Alison Krauss received numerous Country nominations for her latest release Lonely Runs Both Ways, but the CD failed to receive a nomination for Bluegrass Album of the Year.

While we may nitpick some of these labeling decisions, the fact is that most of them can be justified based on the artists’ recording history. The problem is that many of these releases deserve their own unique category where they can be fairly judged against each other. For example, we believe that Neil Young’s Prairie Wind and Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s Come On Back should be judged against their true contemporaries - Crowell’s The Outsider and John Prine’s Fair & Square, among others. Unfortunately, the Grammys separate these releases into distinct categories based largely upon the artists’ recording history rather than the actual sound featured on the CDs.

Given the rapid growth of interest in Americana music and its diverse nature, it is about time the Grammys recognized Americana as its own unique style or genre. The closest thing the Grammys have to an "Americana" category is Contemporary Folk. Nominees in that category this year include Ry Cooder, Rodney Crowell, Nickel Creek, John Prine and Bruce Springsteen. That sounds a lot like Americana to me.

Actually, for reasons that I will not address here, "Americana" and "Contemporary Folk" are probably synonymous terms in the strict academic sense. However, the popular perception of "folk" music is Pete Seeger and Joan Baez strumming acoustic guitars and singing protest songs in the 1960s. For this reason, we think the Grammys should re-name the "Contemporary Folk" category to be either the "Americana" category or the "Americana/Contemporary Folk" category.

If the Grammys would consider making such a change, it would help to solidify Americana as its own unique genre. From there, Americana could pull together music fans and grow as its own unique format. Perhaps one day there would be as much attention given to the "Americana Album of the Year" as the "Country Album of the Year."

Hey, we can hope, can’t we?