Reclaiming their roots

If you’re looking for an afternoon of toe-tapping tunes and authentic storytelling, check out “Women of Americana,” coming to Popejoy Hall on Sunday, March 22. Featuring songs made famous by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Lucinda Williams and more, the concert celebrates iconic women who brought American roots music into the mainstream.

Performing live are the two-time Texas Music Award-winning vocalist Brennen Leigh and the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Cristina Vane, backed by an all-woman band.

“We’ve been on this tour for about three weeks now. We have about five more. So, it’s a pretty long but special experience,” Vane said. “It’s a one-off. We all have our own projects that we tour with normally, but we came together to do this show.”

“Americana,” as a descriptive musical term, was first used by music promoters in the 1990s who wanted to emphasize the shared musical heritage of genres that emerged in the rural South, according to Rolling Stone magazine.

“The genre of Americana is sort of a loose and working definition for everybody, but it ranges from country to blues to old-time and Carter Family and stuff like that,” Vane said.

Vane, who was born in Italy and raised mostly in Paris, only discovered Americana music in college.

“My dad is American. He’s originally from Connecticut, but he didn’t really listen to Americana,” Vane said. “We had a lot of classic rock and some ’80s stuff in our house.”

“When I moved to the United States to go to college, I got really into slide guitar, pre-war blues and clawhammer banjo,” Vane said.

She got hooked on the blues while working at a guitar shop in Santa Monica, California.

“It was really the blues that first got me,” Vane said. “I worked at McCabe’s Guitar Shop for a while and was given some CDs. Mississippi John Hurt was a big one, and Blind Willie Johnson and Skip James. They really got me hooked, and I came to discover a whole world of really amazing music.”

It was hard to put her finger on what attracted her to the music, but it resonated with her deeply.

“I just liked it,” she said. “It’s like asking what you like about chocolate. You like the taste. I just liked the sounds I heard.”

Vane had been playing guitar since she was 12 but had to learn new techniques to play the blues. And she said she’s still learning new techniques today.

“I got into playing fingerstyle and Delta blues stuff, and I’m curious about bluegrass,” she said. “There’s always an ever-expanding world of guitar playing that’s just boundless.”

Vane said the contribution of women to blues and Americana music remains underappreciated.

“I get asked all the time why I like the blues even though I’m a woman,” Vane said. “People are like, ‘It’s not very common.’ I don’t really understand that, and I never really have, because I’ve never thought of music as gendered. ... But I do definitely encounter people who don’t think I might be the guitar player.”

Women have been part of American roots music since the very beginning, though.

“We’ve just had to fight a little harder to be heard sometimes, but it’s nothing new,” Vane said.

One of Vane’s favorite moments in “Women of Americana” is performing “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell.

“That’s a good example of ... a song that means a lot of different things to different people,” she said. “Although the writing is so good that you understand the basic point, the imagery and everything is so fantastical — it’s just very dreamy.”

Vane said she plays “Both Sides Now” in open-D tuning with a tremolo pedal.

“It’s a really fun moment for me, and I think the audience enjoys it,” Vane said.

For fans of Americana, Vane said, “Women of Americana” will not disappoint.

“If you like the sound of Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Memphis Minnie and all that stuff, then I think you should come to the show,” she said.

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the Albuquerque Journal. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com or on Instagram at @loganroycebeitmen.