Americana

"Americana" is a solo album from Ray Davies, formerly lead singer and songwriter of The Kinks, released 21 April 2017 through Sony Music Cmg. ‘Americana’ was written, conceived, and arranged, by Davies, and co-produced with Guy Massey and John Jackson. The album is an autobiographical work, chronicling the inextricable role America has played in Davies’ life. From his earliest days touring the U.S. with the Kinks and subsequent blacklisting by the American Musicians Union, to his years playing stadiums and eventually settling in New York and New Orleans for a time, America has served as both muse and tempest to Davies. The songs on ‘Americana’ dig into the rich American musical tapestry, through the lens of Davies’ own wholly unique American experience. The music swerves from the open-road manifesto of “The Great Highway,” to a delicate duet with The Jayhawks’ Karan Grotberg on “Message From The Road, A Place In Your Heart,” to “Poetry,” which offers a vital reminder of Davies’ ability to spin small detail into penetrating truth. The album also features a number of short spoken-word passages from Davies’ memoir.