Dutch Artist Judy Blank said anyone who matters in music plays at Americanafest. “It’s what everyone in Nashville talks about year-round,” she said. Still, she wasn’t sure if she was good enough to make the Americanafest roster simply because so many of her heroes were playing there.
She also worried that a Dutch artist might not be taken as seriously as those from the United States. “I’m not trying to downplay anything, but after all, it’s called AMERICA-nafest, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be taken seriously, being from the Netherlands,” Blank said. “The showcase invitation by the Americana Music Association almost made me cry.” When she plays at this year’s Americanafest later this month, she will be the first Dutch artist to do so.
For Blank, the invitation to play at Americanafest is much more than the opportunity to play another big event. “These songs mean the world to me and getting a chance to perform them for an audience that understands the genre is something I dream of doing way more often. I think Americanafest is the best stepping stone I could wish for,” Blank said.
Make no mistake – Blank fits in with other Americana artists just fine. In fact, she had the opportunity to sing harmonies for fellow artist Dylan LeBlanc when he was on tour in the Netherlands recently. The two met after Blank played the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas last March. She posted on social media to see if she might ride back to Nashville with someone. The first one to respond to her Instagram story was Blank’s friend Spencer Ward, who plays bass for LeBlanc. Sure enough, she was able to catch a ride with them. “In the darkest hour of the night, we arrived in rural Louisiana for our first stop at a Cajun farm, where one of Dylan’s friends lived,” Blank recalled. “We all stayed there, drank whiskey and jammed to our favorite songs on the porch the next day. It was a special moment.”
Her latest album is called Morning Sun and she refers to the project as her baby. It’s much different than her first album, which she recorded when she was 19 years old. Blank said she feels like she didn’t have enough musical reference at that time. “When you don’t know what sounds you like, it’s easy to believe everything other people have to say about your sound,” she said. The 2014 piano-driven album received widespread critical acclaim.
Blank did a lot of touring and immersed herself in Americana music as she searched for creative inspiration. She said the band that ultimately led to her love of Americana music was The Wood Brothers. ” I fell for their insane level of songwriting and musicianship, the rawness, the grooves,” Blank said, adding that she feels the influence of their music can be heard on her Morning Sun album. She said she was also getting into a lot of 70s folk music when she discovered The Wood Brothers. “Great storytellers like Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell have moved me to tears more than once,” Blank said. “But I also really like bands that push the boundaries of the genres and don’t let themselves be defined by any musical or esthetical expectations. That’s what I love about artists like Aaron Lee Tasjan and SUSTO, a fantastic South Carolina indie rock band I toured with in Europe last Spring.”
As for future collaborations with other artists, Blank said she would like to tour the United States with an artist she admires such as The Wood Brothers or Erin Rae, whom Blank calls a prolific songwriter. “I would be interested to see what would happen if I toured with her,” Blank said.
In some ways, she had to come to the United States to make Morning Sun. “I couldn’t have recorded these songs in the Netherlands. It would’ve been fake,” she said. The songs on the album cover topics such as the break up with her first love (”Tangled Up In You”), his terrible view of the world (”Mary Jane”) and the fear of missing out on life when being with someone you love to pieces (”1995”). “It’s a true coming-of-age confessional,” she said.
Nashville played a pretty large role in the creation of Morning Sun. Blank said she felt welcome ever since she set foot in Nashville. “That sense of musical belonging was something I hadn’t felt in years,” she said. The album was produced at Southern Ground Studios in Nashvile by Dave Cobb’s engineer Chris Taylor, who has worked with artists such as Elle King, Miranda Lambert and The Wood Brothers.
She credits her travels to the United States as one thing that helped her to develop as a songwriter. “I played out as often as I could, met a lot of people during writers’ rounds and learned a lot about myself,” she said. Like many writers, she wrote songs to cope with hard feelings and navigate through life. “When I had a small collection of songs I thought were good enough to release into the world, I knew I wanted to record them the best way possible. Thanks to the Wood Brothers, I got in touch with Southern Ground, which later turned out to be the best decision ever,” Blank said.
When she recorded Morning Sun, Blank knew exactly what she liked. Blank also said that she didn’t have a hard time conveying her vision for the project to those involved. Blank got signed after tracking the first half of the album and went back a few months later to record the rest of it.” It was a very special project and I’ve never felt more proud of anything I’ve ever released. That’s a rare feeling for a perfectionist like me,” she said.
With Blank’s Americanafest debut on the horizon, the sky seems to be the limit. Her song “1995” has already caught the attention of music legend Sir Elton John, who has called the song a personal favorite. In addition, she has earned praise from Lightning 100, an independent radio station in Nashville. She also has earned praise from Ear to the Ground Music, Belles & Gals, Aupium and more.