Former Cleveland Scene music editor Justin F. Farrar put it best when he said Americana has become nothing more than “adult contemporary with a wee bit of twang”. You might not agree with me, but in my mind, Howlin Rain is one of the most important Americana bands out there right now, simply because they’re forcing us to redefine what “Americana” is.Taking the stage at Emo’s tonight, frontman Ethan Miller joked that “it’s good to be in Austin in the winter.” It was a hot one today (I live in the Northwest because I love cold and rain, a limp Texas breeze isn’t enough for me), but luckily Emo’s wasn’t too packed out to make it uncomfortable. I’ve been following Howlin Rain since the word go, it seems. When they first rolled through Seattle as a three-piece, they were still pretty rough, but each time they grew into a Beast of Cosmic Americana. Tonight was the first time I’d heard their new incarnation featuring an additional guitarist and keyboardist and I gotta say they sound bigger and more confident than ever. Miller was pulling notes out of his guitar that echoed Neil Young, Jerry Garcia, krautrock, prog, and just straight-up California jams. He’s a true guitar hero, one that takes great pleasure in strangling the shit out of his guitar while whipping his sweaty head about. Seems to me the new songs from their Magnificent Fiend album (which I have yet to hear) are heavier on the chord and rhythm changes. All this means is that when they really start heating up the jam quotient, it veers into Comets on Fire territory. But all the songs still remain grounded, never floating off into space. Plenty of beardies were in attendance, one hesher with a Dead Moon patch on his denim vest (fuck yeah), and a lonely looking Devendra Banhart lookalike (I had to do a double-take). Speaking of beardies, I didn’t see Rick Rubin anywhere…