Genre labels can make history look cleaner than it was. Americana is often marketed through acoustic guitars, rural imagery and a largely white public face, even though the music draws from blues, gospel, banjo traditions and Black musicians whose influence is foundational to the sound.

Programming that puts Black artists and historians inside AmericanaFest does more than diversify a lineup. It challenges the story the industry tells about where the genre came from. That matters because historical credit affects present opportunity: festival bookings, media coverage, awards, archival attention and who audiences are taught to recognize as belonging.

The National Museum of African American Music is particularly well positioned to make that case because museums can connect contemporary artists to a lineage that commercial categories often flatten. A listener who hears the genealogy differently may also hear today’s music differently.

Black influence should not be treated as a surprising footnote whenever a genre’s history is revisited. If the roots are Black, the history should begin there.