Fans of Americana had a chance to enjoy a bill of acoustic harmonies, folksy storytelling and good old-fashioned sturm-und-twang when Brooklyn, N.Y., duo Royal Pine and Tennessee-based The Everybodyfields paired up at The Stone Church last week. Royal Pine opened the show and clearly adhered to standard folk conventions, despite claiming “an unconventional take on folk music.” Though they may substitute a number about New York City’s Blackout of ’77 for a standby like the “Wreck of the Old 97,” their use of banjo and washboard, as well as their references to Arkansas, ministers and walking lonesome miles, would have made the patrons of any ’60s coffeehouse audience swoon.

They were followed by The Everybodyfields, the Tennessee trio that is rapidly gaining a deserved reputation as front-runners of the newest generation of the alt-country movement. The Everybodyfields is an example of how frustrating the term “roots rock” can be, because there’s nothing really “rock and roll” about this band, which draws heavily from traditional country music. The roots they reference, though, have nothing in common with the jingoism and Top 40 glitz of modern Nashville. Instead, The Everybodyfields offers melancholic interpretations of universal human stories set to achingly beautiful melodies and an occasional honky-tonk inflection, influenced by the folk and bluegrass roots of Appalachian mountain music. Their set included the touching “His Pontiac” as well as the Merlefest-winning song “T.V.A.,” a traditional ballad of loss about the “modernization” of the Tennessee Valley that sounds like it was written in 1933 as the flood waters poured through that doomed valley of modest dreams. Fronted by Sam Quinn and Jill Andrews, the two share instruments and seamlessly merge their wildly different voices—Quinn’s echoing twang reverberates like a long-lost radio broadcast and provides a hard edge to Andrews’ pure, soothing tones. Straightforward and sure, The Everybodyfields are more accessible to listeners than many neo-traditionalist musicians, and their set’s gentle humor and homespun Americana demonstrates that an appreciation for tradition—not an imitation of it—can lead to beautiful new beginnings.