Alternative country
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Alternative Country is a term applied to various subgenres of country music.
The term can refer to several ideas. Most generally, any musician who plays a type of country music different from the prevailing trend can be said to play "alternative country". By this standard, for example, the Bakersfield sound was alternative in the 1950s, and the Lubbock, Texas musicians were alternative in the 1960s.
In the 1990s however, "alternative country" came to refer to a disparate group of musicians and singers operating outside the traditions and industry of mainstream country music. In general these musicians eschewed the high production values and conservative outlook of the Nashville-dominated industry, to produce music with a low fi sound, frequently informed with a strong punk and rock & roll aesthetic, bending the traditional rules of country music. Lyrics are often bleak, gothic or socially aware. Otherwise, the musical styles of artists that fall within this genre often have little in common, ranging from traditional American folk tunes and bluegrass, through rockabilly and honky-tonk, to music that is indistinguishable from mainstream rock or country. Indeed many alternative country artists come from punk and rock backgrounds. This already broad labelling has been further confused by alternative country artists disavowing the movement, mainstream artists declaring they are part of it, and the retroactive claiming of past or veteran musicians as alternative country. No Depression, the most well known magazine of the genre, declares that it covers "alternative-country music (whatever that is)".
Despite this confusion, it is generally agreed that alternative country resulted from two opposed influences on country music. The first is traditional American folk music and styles, the music of working people, preserved and celebrated by practitioners such as Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams and The Carter Family. The second is country rock, the result of fusing country music with an aggressive rock & roll sound. The artist most commonly identified as the originator of country rock is Gram Parsons (who referred to his sound as "Cosmic American Music"), although Jason and the Scorchers and Steve Earle are frequently identified as important innovators. These two styles merged in Uncle Tupelo's 1990 LP No Depression, the first identifiably modern alternative country record.
Alternative country is popularly referred to, especially in print, as "alt-country" or sometimes "alt.country". The genre is also referred to under a large number of other names, including "americana", "insurgent country", "no depression", "cowpunk", "progressive country", "regressive country", "low-fi country", "roots rock", "twang core", "rural contemporary", "country-punk" and many others.
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Alternative country musicians
- Absolute Whores
- Ryan Adams
- Dave Alvin
- Be Good Tanyas
- The Beauty Shop
- Willie P. Bennett
- Blackie and the Rodeo Kings
- Blood Oranges
- Blue Rodeo
- The Bottle Rockets
- Boxharp
- Ed Burleson
- Neko Case
- Calexico
- The Cash Brothers
- Kasey Chambers
- Clothesline Revival
- The Coal Men
- Corndaddy
- The Court and Spark
- Cross Canadian Ragweed
- Cowboy Junkies
- Drunk Stuntmen
- Fred Eaglesmith
- Steve Earle
- Kathleen Edwards
- Eleven Hundred Springs
- Joe Ely
- Geraldine Fibbers
- Rosie Flores
- Freakwater
- Robbie Fulks
- Jimmie Dale Gilmore
- Go to Blazes
- The Gourds
- Grievous Angels
- Lys Guillorn
- The Handsome Family
- Butch Hancock
- Joe Henry
- The Jayhawks
- Kelly Hogan
- Robert Earl Keen
- Alison Krauss & Union Station
- Lambchop
- Jason and the (Nashville) Scorchers
- k.d. lang
- Lone Justice
- Lost Dakotas
- Lost Dogs
- Kate Maki
- Carolyn Mark
- Maria McKee
- Linda McRae
- Minibar
- My Morning Jacket
- The Mountain Goats
- Nora O'Connor
- Mary Margaret O'Hara
- Oh Susanna
- Okkervil River
- Old 97's
- Over the Rhine
- Will Oldham
- Palace Brothers
- Gram Parsons
- Pine Valley Cosmonauts
- The Revenants
- Reckless Kelly
- Josh Ritter
- Matthew Ryan
- Big Sandy and His Fly Rite Boys
- Scud Mountain Boys
- Shaver
- Sixteen Horsepower
- Slobberbone
- Smog
- Son Volt
- Souled American
- Stratochief
- Uncle Tupelo
- Two Tons of Steel
- Townes Van Zandt
- Waco Brothers
- The Walkabouts
- Dale Watson
- The Weakerthans
- Whiskeytown
- Dar Williams
- Lucinda Williams
- Wilco
- Luther Wright and the Wrongs
- Dwight Yoakam
- Neil Young
See also
References
- Alden, Grant; & Blackstock, Peter (1998). "No Depression: An Introduction to Alternative Country Music. Whatever That Is". Dowling Pr. ISBN 1891847007.
- Goodman, David (1999). "Modern Twang: An Alternative Country Music Guide and Directory". Dowling Pr. ISBN 1891847031.
External links
- Joe Sixpack's alt.country music guide (http://www.slipcue.com/music/country/countrystyles/alt/A_01.html)
- So what is insurgent country anyway? (http://www.gumbopages.com/music/insurgent.html)
- Alt.country defined (http://insurgentcountry.com/alt_country_defined_by_john_brandon.txt)
- No Depression - the journal of Alternative Country, a bimonthly magazine (http://www.nodepression.net)
| Country music | Country genres |
| Bakersfield sound - Bluegrass - Close harmony - Country blues - Honky tonk - Jug band - Lubbock sound - Nashville sound - Outlaw country |
| Alternative country - Country rock - Psychobilly - Rockabilly |
| Styles of American folk music |
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| Appalachian | Blues (Ragtime) | Cajun and Creole (Zydeco) | Country (Honky tonk and Bluegrass) | Jazz | Native American | Spirituals and Gospel | Tejano |