When Gaby Moreno was announced as an official showcasing artist at this Fall’s Americanafest, it stirred a tingle of recognition in me, but I had to do some digging to realize what a big deal it was. The Guatemala-born, Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter became part of the Watkins Family Hour at Largo in LA and a regular on Chris Thile’s Live From Here Show. She’s released nine records, winning two Latin Grammy Awards - and an album Grammy Award earlier this year. She’s internationally known as one of the most versatile and enthralling voices in any genre, but her latest Dusk, produced by Nashville’s Dan Knobler, brings a needed Spanglish influence to the Americana community.
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Sierra Ferrell’s journey from West Virginia to national prominence as a country singer and songwriter sounds more like something from the 1930s than this hypermediated new century, with rail riding, busking, and late night honky tonks along the way. But on Wednesday night the quirky, fashion-forward and extravagantly gifted artist took her spot at the top of Americana music, winning Artist and Album of the Year (Trail of Flowers) on a gala night that featured oratory almost as good as the songwriting from a score of multi-genre standouts.
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With Americanafest landing in Nashville this week, Craig Havighurst looked over the many artists breaking out of Music City and got especially excited about Baltic Street Hotel by rocking songwriter Sophie Gault. It’ll be released this Friday, but Craig’s been listening for a few weeks and finds it rich with personal details, sharp melodies, and an old school Americana spirit that evokes Lucinda Williams or Kathleen Edwards. The show features exclusive teasers of several songs from this LP, produced by Ray Kennedy at his request. Also in the hour, a rising star of acoustic Americana, 15-year-old mandolinist Wyatt Ellis, who recently released his solo debut with guest turns by some of today’s best mandolin players, including Marty Stuart.
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As soon as WMOT’s Roots Radio format was up and running eight years ago, the station leaned hard into Americanafest. This longstanding event brings together our music and our people in our home market of Music City, so how could we not? Our well-connected program director Jessie Scott began booking long days of live sets by some of the top shelf artists in the field. And now, partnered with NPR Music and World Café, it's an institution. Here's Craig's scouting report and home for viewing this week's shows at home.
LINER NOTES
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Check out these performances of songs from all eleven of our Mansion Sessions artists. These sessions were released on 9/3 and 9/10.
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The Lone Bellow stopped by the WMOT East Nashville Studio for a Words & Music performance with Jessie Scott.
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WMOT VIDEO: LIVE SESSIONS ON NPR MUSIC
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Watch The McCrary Sisters and The Wild Feathers perform LIVE for WMOT's monthly Wired In concert series at Riverside Revival in Nashville, TN at 7:00 p.m. CST on November 6th, 2024.
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Devon Gilfillian performs "All I Really Wanna Do" and "Love You Anyway" for WMOT's Mansion Sessions, recorded live from inside Two Rivers Mansion during this year's Roots on the Rivers festival.
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Join WMOT in celebrating Public Radio Music Day with live in-studio sessions from Brenna MacMillan, Andrew Leahey, Rosie Flores, and Drew Holcomb.
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BettySoo, Strung Like A Horse, and Los Lonely Boys performed last week at Riverside Revival for WMOT's Wired In series. Watch highlights from their performances here.
NPR Top Stories
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The historic fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman is still revered as a cherished moment in the central African country's troubled history and has spurred an enduring love of boxing.
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The 50-year-old had been reported overdue from a deer hunting trip. At least 30,000 brown bears are estimated to be in Alaska and mainly live along the southern coast.
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Trump statues appeared next to sculptures of nude women in Portland and Philadelphia. The plaques bear the title In Honor of a Lifetime of Sexual Assault and quote Trump's Access Hollywood remarks.
Win a pair of tickets to Jason Isbell at The Pinnacle on March 21, 2025
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