ANTI- Records hosted their 25th Anniversary showcase for AmericanaFest at The Basement East on September 19th, with an impressive lineup of artists representing the label: Leyla McCalla, Christian Lee Hutson, MJ Lenderman, Madi Diaz, Waxahatchee, and Neko Case to close out the night. This show set the bar for the weekend ahead. 

The Basement East is one of my favorite venues in Nashville; it’s spacious, bartenders are friendly and efficient, there’s (albeit, limited) seats on both sides of the room and the sound system is proportionate to the size of the space. The show started at 7:30pm and I rocked up to the doors ten minutes prior. Upon entering the venue, there was a sizable crowd already formed, people were milling about: browsing the merchandise tables, queuing up at the bar, and chatting with friends (or strangers—it’s Nashville, you can have an in-depth conversation with just about anyone).

First on stage was Leyla McCalla, who performed some songs from her latest album Sun Without the Heat (listen here). McCalla was a strong first act of the night, her radiant voice and brilliant cello performance captivated the audience. The multi-talented singer also plays the tenor banjo and the guitar in addition to the cello, but there’s not many times I’ve seen a singer whip out a cello on stage with such grace, so that memory will be in my mind for a long time.

Next up was Christan Lee Hutson, whose band wore matching jackets to promote his upcoming album, Paradise Pop. 10 (listen here), which dropped this past Friday. The most memorable songs from the performance were “Carousel Horses” and “Candyland,” the former co-written by Maya Hawke and the latter produced by Phoebe Bridgers. As someone who had, admittedly, not heard of him up until he stepped on the stage and introduced himself and his band, it felt effortless to melt into the lengthy guitar riffs and winding melodies and witty lyrics, especially on “After Hours,” a single off the Angelino’s new album.

Indie-rocker MJ Lenderman followed Hutson’s performance to share songs off his fifth solo album Manning Fireworks, released at the beginning of September. Anyone that can come up with a line like “I’ve got a houseboat docked at the Himbo Dome” has my attention and admiration. The singer-songwriter’s mellow personality on stage compliments the vibe of his songs – a man of few words but those few are profound, yet casual at the same time. 

Madi Diaz graced the stage next, and at this point I noticed the sizable crowd that I had joined at 7:20 that evening had grown to fill every corner and crevice of the venue at this point. Diaz played a few songs from her 2021 album, History of a Feeling, like “Woman in My Heart” which was phenomenal to hear live as the vocals build to a strong, bold crescendo on the final verse. The singer performed a few songs off her latest album, Weird Faith, which was released earlier this year; she brought Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee on stage for the duet “Don’t Do Me Good,” filling in for Kacey Musgraves who sings on the album. After a guitar switch, Diaz shared with the crowd a little backstory on how she came up with “God Person,” which was written based on conversations she had with her dad (who is very much alive, he requested she share with the crowd). For me personally, this was the stand out performance of the night; I had heard of Madi Diaz before but never took the time to see what she was about, so to witness her on stage casually belting out vocals and delivering a very down to earth performance was an amazing introduction not only to the record but the artist herself. 

The penultimate performance of the night was Waxahatchee, who impressively performed her latest album top to bottom. This performance felt like the perfect embodiment of AmericanaFest and the genre itself. While the band’s 2020 album Saint Cloud leaned a little into indie-rock, Tiger’s Blood has the heart and soul of Americana. MJ Lenderman returned to stage for his feature on “Right Back to It” and, much like on the album, stayed for the rest of the performance to offer his background vocals here and there and guitar. 

I’m not sure I have anything new or profound to say about Neko Case that has not already been said, typed, or thought. With a magazine of work spanning over 20 years, Case performed a number of songs from Wild Creatures, a compilation album released in 2022 that includes songs from her solo career. This was my second time seeing Neko Case, the first being at a Hideout Block Party in Chicago back in 2008 with my family. Seeing her 16 years later, with a fully developed frontal lobe and broader appreciation for music, was as impressive as the first time, if not more. 

This night was a brilliant showcase of the variety of talent within the label. It was so clear that each artist was genuinely happy and proud to represent ANTI- and that they enjoyed their peers’ performances and have a lot of respect for each other and a lot of love for AmericanaFest as whole.

Follow ANTI- Records on Instagram.