Every day as I post articles here, I contemplate the reach of Americana music. It kind of blows me away when we talk states and regions, as day after day Music Fog brings you something from another place. Very gratifying, actually! All over the United States, to Mexico to Canada…but these are all North American locales, so calling it Americana doesn't seem like a misnomer. But when we talk about music off this continent, Australia...now that's the other side of the earth, isn't it? But in the relentless march of the British Empire there were many outposts, and the same seeds of culture were planted here and there, so really why not? I honestly don't know whether the term Americana is embraced down under, but since Bill Jackson uses it to define his music on MySpace, I'll take that as a yes. And Americana is a large tent for all the various roots music. Folk on Steroids, you might call it.
The enigmatic Mary Sack introduced us to Bill, who brought Pete Fidler to the bus with him. They play as Bill Jackson and The Acoustic Orchestra along with Ruth Hazelton, who didn't make the trip to Memphis. Bill has been called a storyteller/social commentator. He is an original member of the Melbourne collective, Urban Nomads. His most recent CD Steel + Bone won the Radio Presenters 2008 Album Of The Year from The Australian Folk Alliance.
I interviewed Billy Bragg a decade ago, and asked what the difference was between folk and pop music. He answered in essence that one is eternal while the other is disposable. It comes from the great troubadour tradition, exploring the commonality of life, lore handed down, community, mores, life conditions. War, unfortunately, is one of those. I suspect there have been protest songs from time immemorial. This song, "Bring 'Em On Home," is from the aforementioned CD. Protest music is alive and well.
- Jessie Scott
