So disappointed in today's Americana

to bdp24, yes I have cd's from most of the artists. That's kinda the point. Those albums are not compressed all to hell.

BTW - the Dynamic Range Database scores "By the way I forgive you" as an 05. Pretty bad. 

Very familiar with The Band. I have the Rock of Ages live MoFi SACD. Happy New Year!

I think if you stay in the Blues, Roots, Americana or Folk categories there are usually quality artists I haven't heard - hence off to the library to check them out.  

N80 - you have expanded on my original post re: compression on today's Americana. I have listened to several of the cd's on your list and concur - why trash your sound and smash your musical arrangements. Doesn't make sense for an artist that is not going to sell tons of records. Where is the pride in your art? I would add Arcade Fire to the list as an egregious example of an excellent live band that sounds absolutely terrible on recordings. I still make a lot of mixes and once in a while I insert a modern recording I love ( lets say the Decembrists w/Gillian Welch) into a mix with an older recording ( say Led Zep Gallows Pole) - the difference in volume is huge! 

PS - check out the 500+ comments.

Here's a current article in the NYT's about the loudness wars. It even has charts, including Brandi Carlile's grammy nominated song I was bitching about.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/opinion/what-these-grammy-songs-tell-us-about-the-loudness-wars.h...

One of the more unusual "Americana genre" performances was Robert Plant's Band of Joy performance at the 2010 Americana awards. I think having recorded with Alison Krauss and with Patti Griffin in the band gave them some Americana cred - but it was pure rock with some roll mixed in. 

Love Sarah, haven't listened to her in a while. Will pick up Undercurrent from the library for a listen. 

Kinda come full circle on my original post. Brandi won. 

The 2018 awards show is streaming now at the PBS website. Not sure if it will be broadcast over the air on my PBS station - WTTW.

I guess my fix is not to listen to heavily compressed recordings in my main system. BTW - watched Brandi Carlile on the 2018 Americana awards show last night. Nice performance that sounded good on my upstairs A/V system. The rest of the show was a little uneven but enjoyable.   

Have seen Rhiannon live with Carolina Chocolate Drops at City Winery. One of the best shows we saw that year!