More about: Americana UK Americana Awards

Last night at the UK Americana Awards, Joan Armatrading made a rare public outing to accept her Lifetime Achievement Award. The annual event took place at the beautiful independent East End venue the Troxy, an ideal surround for the nostalgic, good-time musicians gathered in it. Also in attendance were Billy Bragg, Nick Lowe, and host for the evening, whispering Bob Harris. Gigwise went along to find out what the UK's Americana stars think about Brexit, independent venues, and the real definition of 'Americana'.

We spoke to political icon Billy Bragg, Gaslight Anthem frontman-turned solo artist Brian Fallon, country rock 'n' roll duo Ida Mae and fantastic Kills-esque newcomers Ferris & Sylvester, recipients of tonight's Emerging Artist Award.

On Brexit and the Music Industry

Billy Bragg - "I’m old enough to remember having to have a carnet to go around Europe; I dread to think thats going to come back. We’re going to have to work hard in the music industry. We may be leaving the European Union but we want to reach out culturally to our European brothers and sisters, and we have a role to play in that."

Brian Fallon - "Everybody wants music there, so I think they’ll try and make it happen."

Ida Mae - "We don’t really know yet, but for touring we can imagine it’ll be a nightmare. We used to be in a rock ’n’ roll band and tour Europe all the time. You’d cross 7-10 countries in a month so I don’t know how that’s going to work [now]. It’s going to be complicated; it’s going to be expensive. Especially for roots DIY and Americana acts."

Ferris & Sylvester - "If we had the right answer to that, we’d be running the country. We hope that it’s not going to be as bad as everyone is making out. We live in hope. The main thing for us is the touring aspect. Touring around Europe is a really important part of what we do, and we really hope we can still do that the way we do it for years to come."

On Independent Music Venues

Billy Bragg - "It’s connected with what we’re doing tonight. We’re celebrating tonight the legacy of Lonnie Donegan, the king of skiffle and 100 Club was there in the days of skiffle: Donegan used to play there. The 100 Club exemplifies the role of roots music in British pop because so much of the early trad jazzers, the old blues guys, when they came to the UK they’d play The 100 Club. The fact that it has survived is incredible.

So many great west end club when I was a teenager have gone. The Marquee has gone, The Astoria has gone. The fact that 100 Club is still there is really great news. It’s a crucial part of British pop history and London nightlife."

Brian Fallon - "If there weren’t independent venues I don’t think any of us here would have had a start at all because when you're starting out in music you can’t go straight to big promoters - they won’t take your show. You have to find people that will take a chance on you and take a risk, and that’s independent venues. I performed anywhere and everywhere that would have me, like the 9:30 club in D.C., we played all those cool venues."

Ferris & Sylvester - "We met at a venue called Spiritual bar in Camden and we started playing in there as solo acts. We really cut our teeth in there. We just did our first two headline tours around the UK in mostly independent venues. It’s such an incredibly important part of the music industry that quite rightly gets its own week."

On Americana in British music

Brian Fallon - "I think that it started over here in like the 1200s when people were playing music that wasn’t recorded at all. The ballads in England and Ireland and Scotland: that’s where it really started. Now it’s really cool because it branches off into everything, it’s every-growing."

Ida Mae - "People get really confused over it and I've even had people say why would I listen to a British band influenced by Americana music. But we first moved to Nashville just over a year ago and we bought a book of folk songs first collected in Missouri, and...the vast majority of them are from Yorkshire, some from Norfolk, from Ireland, and up in Scotland. We have a shared history with the music coming out of America and vice versa. It’s a real reciprocal relationship. You wouldn’t have the Beatles without Chuck Berry. This music is American and British roots music."

Ferris & Sylvester - "British folk, blues and rock ’n’ roll: that's what we’d say we are."

More about: Americana UK Americana Awards