Lawd a-mighty – AmericanaFest is a giant buffet of good music. Every year, I duck under the sneeze guard and shovel great, heaping handfuls of it in my face.

Three of us from The Amp attended AmericanaFest 2023. Here are some of my favorite moments – we’ll post Melissa’s and Jolene’s soon.

3rd and Lindsley was a magical place to be Wednesday night. Just 90 minutes after Jessi Colter introduced Margo Price during the Americana Honors & Awards at the Ryman Auditorium, Price sat in on Colter’s triumphant set. (Up for three major awards, Price struck out: “I lost three times, but Bonnie Raitt told me I’m cool, so that’s all right.”)

Together they sang “Fine Wine,” a track from Colter’s new album, “Standing on the Edge of Forever,” which is coming out Oct. 27. “It’s about missing someone,” Colter said, noting husband Waylon Jennings “is 20 years gone.”

Derek Scudder

When Maggie Rose was ready to record what would be her third release, Have A Seat, she made the conscious decision to get away from all of the Nashville distractions and did what so many artists have done in the past…headed to the relative seclusion of Muscle Shoals. Now an independent artist, she could be much more involved in the sound of her new record and the legendary FAME studio was where she wanted to go to capture that funky soul that has always been bubbling beneath the surface of her work. She got David Hood to play bass which reinforced the authentic groove as he was one of the four original “Swampers” that helped establish the “Muscle Shoals Sound” of the 1960s and 70s. Rose was not the first Americana artist to journey to northwest Alabama looking for a hit, just the most recent.

Oct 9 Festival Review- Highlights from AmericanaFest 2023

Jan 26 The Train to Birmingham: Americana Re-Discovers Muscle Shoals