I’m still trying to figure out what Americana, as a genre of music, actually is; I bet you couldn’t find two people who would agree on what constitutes such music and or who would even be allowed within its much-debated hinterland. But, if you told me that Fill Up My Tank, the new one from Mark Newman, was Americana, I wouldn’t argue at all.
If it is, as the name suggests, music made that resonates with the country that gave birth to it, if it is the sonic fingerprint of the USA, the soundtrack to the American experience, then this sounds like the real deal.
If you took a pinch of country cool, a slice of bluesy groove, lots of R’n’B sass, some folk spaciousness, plenty of soulfulness and no small amount of rock and roll spice, then you might end up with something that sounds close to this mercurial musical melting pot.
It’s a deft and delicate sonic trick to pull off, but pull it off, he does. Then again, what would you expect from an artist whose sonic journey has seen him share stages with everyone from Sam (Sam and Dave) Moore to The Yardbird’s Jim McCarty and from Willy “Mink” Deville to Derek and the Dominoes Bobby Whitlock? With a resume like that, it is no wonder he can deliver such consummate and deft songs.
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