Adeem the Artist at The Vinyl Lounge for AmericanaFest
Each September, a massive array of artists — whose music draws from a broad variety of roots traditions but may not fit the exacting standards of mainstream genre formats, especially in commercial country music — gathers in Nashville for AmericanaFest. Under the auspices of the Americana Music Association, they celebrate the eclectic nature of their work and their rejection of commercial restrictions. The association views that diversity as a hallmark of the genre and describes itself as “a forerunner” in diversity, equity and inclusion work (DEI).
In 2020, the organization launched the #AllAmericana initiative, which consists of a statement on its website celebrating diversity, a social media campaign and the sale of T-shirts with the #AllAmericana pledge at the festival. The same year, the association also launched a Diversity & Inclusion Committee, which the organization reports has had influence on the lineup of panels and showcases during the festival as well as the programming of other events beyond AmericanaFest.
Unfortunately, a series of transphobic incidents at this year’s AmericanaFest called that commitment to DEI into question. On Wednesday, Sept. 20, the night of the festival’s keystone Honors and Awards ceremony at the Ryman, Emerging Artist of the Year nominee Adeem the Artist reported that they were verbally harassed by another performer in the green room. According to a statement Adeem posted to Instagram, they made efforts to stop the harassment to no avail; no one intervened, and they left the venue. They performed in a showcase on Thursday, and took the festival organization to task for its handling of this situation and others. Per the statement, they haven’t spoken with the press, and did not comment for this article.
On Friday, Sept. 22, the festival’s daytime panel lineup included a session titled “Transgender Artists Arriving and Breaking Through in Americana.” Trans, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming artists participated. Moderating was journalist Marcus K. Dowling.
Many trans individuals change their names as part of their transition, and see continued use of their birth name, also known as “deadnaming,” as invalidating their identity. Mya Byrne, a trans musician on the panel, tells the Scene that when Dowling attempted to make the salient point that trans artists have always been a part of Americana, he deadnamed hit songwriter Deena Kaye Rose (who was not on the panel). In a similar vein, Paisley Fields, another panelist, reports sending several emails to festival organizers requesting that the placard denoting their seat at the table use their professional name. Their place was marked with the wrong name.
“Just seeing Paisley's hand shaking under the table was my last straw,” says Byrne. She interrupted the panel to observe that microaggressions such as these happen frequently. As noted via a thread on the official AmericanaFest account on X (formerly Twitter), Byrne observed that it is unconscionable for there to be so few trans artists featured at festivals like AmericanaFest. The thread does not acknowledge the remarks Byrne was responding to.
That evening, as discussion of these incidents swirled across social media, Jessye DeSilva performed at their showcase. Between songs, they made a comment about the importance of listening to and respecting trans people. After their set, DeSilva posted that a “high up figure ushered me into the green room to grill me about the things I said.”
The Americana Music Association did not publicly comment about these events until a statement released around 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 6 — the Friday before a long weekend. The note was emailed to the association’s dues-paying members and was later published on the association’s website under the “All Americana” tab.
Artists involved in the incidents say the statement wasn’t sent to them directly. Fields and Byrne tell the Scene that they have not received a direct apology from the organization. DeSilva reports that the individual who approached them after their show apologized personally.
“We don't think a statement simply placed on social media can do the work of an active, listening committee,” reads a response to the Scene’s questions attributed to the Americana Music Association. “Anyone who is interested is welcome to join us in respectful dialogue to continue to make Americana a better, safer, more inclusive place for everyone.”
DeSilva finds this response troubling. “I don't know that any of that will serve to make other marginalized artists who have heard about what happened feel welcome to apply, to attend or showcase at the festival,” they note.
“We have investigated and responded directly to every problem that we’ve been made aware of,” the association tells the Scene. “If the artists are members of the Association, or their managers or label/team members are Association members, they would have received our statement regarding the Festival and our ongoing commitments directly.”
A Pattern of Apparent Indifference
These are the most public-facing incidents in what Byrne and Fields report as a long-standing pattern of indifference toward constructive criticism. While the Americana Music Association has highlighted and awarded many LGBTQ artists and industry activists at the festival, there is a disconnect when it comes to programming. This year’s Americana Proud events were the first showcases for queer artists produced by the festival since its inaugural run in 2000. However, community organizer Shawn Reilly has produced the Queer Roots Party — listed on the festival schedule but not recognized as an official event — since 2018. Reilly produced the first show with queer country pioneer Patrick Haggerty (who died in 2022) and publicist Devon Leger; in 2021 and 2022, Fields was co-producer.
“I just felt in certain meetings that I haven't been listened to at all,” Fields explains. “We had these long conversations about how AmericanaFest can actually support the Queer Roots showcase. We weren't asking for money, just a bit of validation and respect for all this work and effort we're putting into helping queer artists be visible at this festival. We decided not to do it this year since they wouldn't acknowledge us. I didn't get a reason — it was just, ‘No, we can't do that.’”
Byrne says she reached out to the Americana Music Association after the panel and spoke with a friend on the Diversity & Inclusion Committee in the aftermath of the reported incidents. Byrne and fellow artist Cindy Emch called for artist scholarships and more LGBTQ presence on the association’s board. The association committed to these actions in their public statement, but only thanked “community members” in the statement. Byrne says this was not the first time she’s expressed her concerns to the organization.
“I'm waiting for [the Americana Music Association] to issue an apology to Paisley and to me for leaving me on read,” says Byrne. “I wrote to [executive director Jed Hilly] a year ago about why inclusion matters and how it affects my career and pushes specifically trans women and other marginalized people out of the community, which he never responded to.”
Creating Safer Spaces for Musicians
As music festivals emphasize DEI work — and as the politics surrounding this necessity become more contentious — organizations like the Americana Music Association need to navigate how best to support marginalized artists and maintain a welcoming space.
When asked about the activities of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, the association pointed to the increased conference programming related to race, sexuality and gender, ability and mental health, and “diversity” as a broad category. The response also mentioned that an announcement is coming soon about the Americana Music Association’s two Artists in Residence for the 2023-2024 season, both of whom identify as members of the LBGTQ community.
Folk Alliance International, based in Kansas City, Mo., is a similar-sized organization whose audience and artist base has some significant overlap with the Americana Music Association. FAI’s Cultural Equity Council has a number of events from 2022 listed on their site, which included town halls and focus groups among members. FAI has its anti-harassment policy and commitment to diversity prominently stated on its About Us page.
Furthermore, all attendees of the conference — including artists — must agree to a Terms & Conditions page that stipulates attendees will be removed from the conference if they engage in harassment. In order to become a member of the organization, one must agree to “uphold a safe, welcoming, and respectful environment for all — one that respects all national, geographic, cultural, ethnic, social, economic, gender, sexuality, orientation, mobility, and other forms of diversity.”
The Scene reached out to the International Bluegrass Music Association and the Ameripolitan Awards for comment. These organizations did not respond. FAI sent direct links to their anti-harassment policies but provided no further comment. IBMA has a DEI committee listed on its homepage, but the page appears not to have been updated since 2022.
According to entertainment lawyer John Ouellette, it is within the rights of an organization to make these stipulations.
“[Americana Music Association] should absolutely condemn that kind of activity, and going forward have policies that say, ‘If you're going to perform at our festival, here are the guidelines for your behavior,’” Ouellette says. “It's really kind of disappointing that we have to put those kinds of things out there, telling people to be kind to each other.”
Byrne, DeSilva and Fields report that they did not sign a contract to play at AmericanaFest, and the paperwork they did sign had no anti-harassment policy.
“We don't have a contract,” the association wrote to the Scene. “But we do provide a letter of understanding of all things that come with being selected; for example, including but not limited to the honorarium pay, backline, stage managers, complimentary passes etc.”
When asked about the festival’s anti-harassment policy, the organization referred the Scene to the #AllAmericana pledge on their website.
“A statement on a website is not the same as stipulating the policy in a contract,” Ouellette observes. “AmericanaFest needs to live up to their own standards that they put on their website. You can't be inclusive if you're allowing people who are going to be abusive to stay with no consequences for their behavior.”
DeSilva hopes the organization can use this moment to state its values more clearly. “Americana is this industry term that was created a few years back, but no one can really tell me what Americana is — they can only tell me that it’s more inclusive than mainstream country,” they say. “Tell us who we are, because I think a community that can't explain what it is — how much of a community is that?”
“I just want to feel at home in that community the same way that Brandi Carlile does when she gets onstage at the Ryman during the awards and talks about family,” says Byrne. “I want to be part of that family.”
