Ray Davies

Americana Ray Davies

'Americana' 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' Karen Grotberg on "Message From The Road," 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.

The 15-track collection of originals serves as a master-crafted return for one of the most acclaimed and iconic songwriters of the past 50 years, and follows Davies' 2013 memoir of the same name, using the book as both source material and creative catalyst. Davies enlisted The Jayhawks as backing band, and recorded the album in London at Konk, the studio founded by The Kinks in 1973.