AmericanaFest Preview: Lucette, Whitey Morgan, Oh Pep! And More

By Bob Boilen,

Jewly Hight, Ann Powers

Published September 15, 2015 at 1:45 PM EDT

Clockwise from upper left: Lucette, Oh Pep!, Whitey Morgan, Ponyboy, Those Pretty Wrongs

NPR Music is in Nashville all this week for the 16th annual AmericanaFest. So the newest episode of All Songs Considered offers a big bundle of music from some of the acts who are playing the festival that the team is most excited to see. Before leaving D.C., Bob called up NPR Music's Ann Powers and NPR Music contributor Jewly Hight in Music City to talk about what Americana means, and who its newest and most promising voices are. The playlist they ended up with has grit, rock, folk, pop, fiddle, honky-tonk and everything in between: the perfect primer to an eclectic, evolving genre and the festival celebrating it.

Bob Boilen

In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.

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Jewly Hight

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Ann Powers

Ann Powers is NPR Music's critic and correspondent. She writes for NPR's music news blog, The Record, and she can be heard on NPR's newsmagazines and music programs.

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