If "Americana" is just some catchphrase, just about any band could fit the bill. But if it's a true genre, well then, Hank Waite and the Milkmashers define it. Steeped in tradition but always fresh. Honest and, honestly, American. Step up, friend: hear your favorite song again for the first time.
Hank grew up in rural Colorado among tough people with tender hearts--the kind of characters that populate his stories--and aspired to be a poet. While living in West Virginia for several years, he soaked up the music of Appalachia and decided that he liked his poems with a side of guitar.
In Washington he met Rick, Jim, Rebecca, Dave and Sean, and Hank had to admit he also liked his poems generous helpings of bass, drums, piano, viola -- and even more guitar.
Oh yeah.
Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Cat Stevens, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, John Prine, Pete Seeger, Van Morrison, Hazel Dickens, Be Good Tanyas, Gordon Lightfoot, Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band, D.L. Menard, Freddy Fender, Doc Watson, Loretta Lynn...