From the Ryman to Radiohead to Banshee: On The Record Goes Wide

The 25th Americana Honours & Awards at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium sits at the centre of Episode 40 of On The Record with Brian Wise and Michael Mackenzie.

Though, as ever, the definition of “Americana” proves ripe for debate.

Brian Wise watched the ceremony while keeping one eye on Hawthorn training, and salutes the Americana Music Association’s efforts to broaden its representation.

The night’s winners included Molly Tuttle as Artist of the Year, Tyler Childers’ Snipe Hunter for Album of the Year, Brandi Carlile’s “Returning to Myself” for Song of the Year, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings as Duo/Group of the Year, and Ken Pomeroy as Emerging Act of the Year.

Lifetime achievement honours went to Robert Plant, Dolly Parton and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

Wise remains unconvinced that Petty belongs beneath the Americana tent—and even less convinced that Bob Dylan should still be without an award.

It’s a familiar On The Record argument of where does Americana begin, where does it end, and does stretching the label too far render it meaningless?

Dylan is not left out for long.

A mammoth 39-disc box set documenting the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue is on its way, gathering nearly the entire run of mid-’70s shows.

For committed Dylanologists, it is the motherlode: a travelling carnival of changing setlists, collaborations and performances from one of his most storied live periods. For the less obsessive, a shorter vinyl or CD edition may be the more sensible route.

The episode also takes in the peculiar modern ritual of ticket buying.

Michael Mackenzie’s attempt to secure Radiohead tickets for Rod Laver Arena ends in a frustrating succession of disappearing seats, queues and eye-watering prices. The experience prompts an old-fashioned question: how can tickets appear available, be selected, then vanish before payment is completed?

There is happier concert news with the Milk Carton Kids, whose forthcoming Melbourne show finds Mackenzie close to the front.

The duo’s acclaimed harmonies, intricate guitar work and sharply funny onstage exchanges make them a particularly welcome prospect. Mackenzie hears shades of David Rawlings in their playing while Wise offers a neat comparison: Simon and Garfunkel, only without the hostility.

For the truly adventurous listener, the pair return to the extraordinary Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Its 2027 program ranges from Mavis Staples, Valerie June, Norah Jones and Nathaniel Rateliff to Kronos Quartet, Big Star Quintet, Roseanne Cash and John Leventhal, along with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings revisiting the Grateful Dead’s Reckoning.

Even more compelling is the vast body of lesser-known artists lurking beneath the headline names.

It’s a festival built for the intensely curious.

Screen time brings two radically different recommendations. Brian’s patience with the Harlan Coben thriller Lazarus finally runs out, its late reveal failing to satisfy his demand for a mystery with clues worth following.

Mackenzie, meanwhile, embraces the excess of Banshee: a hard-edged, hyper-violent crime drama set in a Pennsylvania town of Amish outcasts, gangsters and secrets.

Its unlikely sheriff, murderous power broker Kai Proctor and unabashed pulp energy make it a long way from the warmth of Ted Lasso—which Mackenzie continues to champion as television for those who would prefer not to be treated like fools.

A late-night encounter with Darren Aronofsky’s Noah also earns an enthusiastic defence. Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly lead an epic biblical story recast as a strange, spectacular and surprisingly resonant environmental parable.

Finally, Mackenzie’s newly formed Southern Temperate Music Appreciation Society begins its listening life with Mountain, the Doobie Brothers’ Toulouse Street, Audience’s The House on the Hill and the Milk Carton Kids at the Ryman.

It is a modest but noble proposition between friends of full albums, shared listening and the revival of musical conversation.