ANTI- Celebrates 25 Years, Announces 2024 AMERICANAFEST Showcase
Started in 1999, the roster of ANTI- Records is made up of real artists creating records on their own terms. After gaining attention by releasing Tom Waits’ 1999 GRAMMY-winning album ‘Mule Variations,’ the “powerhouse indie label” (Pitchfork) and “rootsier, folkier offshoot of punk-rock standard-bearer Epitaph” (Stereogum) has released landmark albums by seminal recording artists including Solomon Burke, Nick Cave, Fleet Foxes, Merle Haggard, and Mavis Staples.
Today, they are the label home of an eclectic roster of artists, including many in the Americana and folk music space, and are thrilled to announce an AMERICANAFEST showcase celebrating those artists and the label’s 25 years.
Taking place on September 19 at Nashville’s Basement East, the jam-packed event will be co-headlined by Neko Case and Waxahatchee with exciting performances also confirmed by MJ Lenderman, Madi Diaz, Christian Lee Hutson and Leyla McCalla. AMERICANAFEST passes, which allow admission into evening showcase venues, are available now.
At this year’s Americana Honors & Awards, Waxahatchee is nominated for Song of the Year for “Right Back to It” ft. MJ Lenderman, featured on her critically acclaimed new album ‘Tigers Blood.’ Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield recently spoke to Billboard about her relationship with ANTI-, saying, “The team is just so enthusiastic and hardworking and pure of heart. The president, Andy Kaulkin, is such a visionary and such a unique person in the music business – like, a true head. He really cares about music and he just wants me to be an artist; he doesn’t want me to be anything I’m not. There’s a lot of mutual trust there.”
The Americana Music Association – also celebrating 25 years – is a professional not-for-profit trade organization whose mission is to advocate for the authentic voice of American roots music around the world. The Association produces events throughout the year including AMERICANAFEST and the critically acclaimed Americana Honors & Awards program. The Americana Music Association receives generous support from the Tennessee Department of Tourism, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.