Roots Panel Takes Aim At Own Genre

Woodford Folk Festival's Bill Hauritz this afternoon urged a room half full of artists at BIGSOUND's Getting Back To Our Roots panel to not become “roots” musicians.

The hour long session began with a discussion about what roots music actually is and after no ultimate conclusion was made, talk turned to Americana, a style of music very familiar to Mark Moffat Chair of the Americana Board International Committee of the Americana Music Association, though not one well liked by all of the panelists.

Bluesfest director Peter Noble questioned the very motives of the genre itself, calling it a "marketing exercise".

“I don't really like [Americana]. Tell me, where are the black Americana artists? There are black people in America too,” Noble remarked.

But the most pertinent comments came late in the panel when Bill Hauritz urged up and coming musicians to forget about becoming “roots” musicians.

"Don't become a roots artist; become an artist," he said, going on to say that others will pigeonhole an artist's style in time.

In closing, Hauritz further elaborated on the importance of authenticity.

“You've got to be authentic,” he said. “If you look at the greats, they're true to where they come from.”

He went on to remark on the nitty-gritty of how an artist sings, saying that the trend of Australian artists singing in American accents is doing them a disservice.

“Your voice will sound better because that's the way you've been speaking your whole life,” he said. “If you're singing in an accent you're copying someone else. I'm not suggesting you sing in an Australian accent; just sing in your own accent.”