Doing time at the Americana Festival

NASHVILLE -- If this conference is any indication, the Americana scene is thriving.

The annual Americana Music Association Festival and Conference begins today here in Nashville. The New York Times calls it "the coolest music scene today."

The days are filled with workshops and sessions on the music industry, publishing and connecting with fans. The attendees are performers, radio folks, journalists and fans.

The nights are mostly filled with four or five one-hour sets, at four different venues, accessible by courtesy van. That's 16 to 20 sets a night. If you time it right, you can see six or seven of them at the clubs, and that doesn't count Levon Helm's all-star Ramble on the Road at the Ryman tonight or the Americana Honors and Award program there tomorrow night.

It's a boatload of music, and this is just the city for it.

I'm particularly interested in Kane/Welch/Kaplan, Marcia Ball, Kim Richey, Joe Ely, The Waybacks, Kathy Mattea, Paul Thorn, James McMurtry and Buddy Miller.

But there are always surprises.

We found Mary Gauthier and Amy Speace at this festival a few years ago and were able to bring them to Club Jaeb, our intimate singer/songwriter space at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. (And Mary's coming back to Tampa as part of this year's Club Jaeb lineup!)

Who knows what this year will bring?

Check back often. As long as the wireless holds out, I'll post early and often. -- MichaelK