alt.country

[racer2c]

After dragging my feet for a few decades, a few months ago I decided to dive into the world of alt.country (what I and my musical compatriots referred to as Austin Country back in the 80’s and 90’s). Smaller in there than I realized and the fans/critics seem (to me at least), very protective and interestingly, not that embracing of fringe elements or newer acts. Its a purest genre, but by contrast the genre itself is vague so it seems as if the movement slowly trudges along, guided by a handful of critics who of course pay homage to Cash, Young and Emmy Lou Harris and Gram Parsons, but worship at the alter of Uncle Tupelo and it’s offshoots Wilco and Son Volt, with the Old 97’s, The Jayhawks and Whiskeytown being accepted demi-gods. The list of alt country artists on Wikipedia is extensive, but finding a review that doesn’t compare everyone to Gary Louris or Jay Farrar is rare indeed.

The music: Surprisingly, I found little I cared for. I say surprisingly because I wanted to like this! I was searching for those hidden gems of songwriting prowess, the dark lyrics of a distraught country soul, jaded, bitter, intertwined with chords that evolved from the inside a Mississippi honky tonk, hidden in the woods down a long dirt road.

Perhaps I had set my expectations too high by spending too much time reading critics reviews and history on the genre and the players prior to hitting the play button. Or perhaps I had already set the pole too high by comparing a few of those who dabbled in the genre but aren’t part of the alt.country inner circle i.e. Elvis Costello’s ‘The Delivery Man’ album and assorted Michael Penn’s pieces such as ‘Long Way Down’ and ‘Don’t Let Me Go’.

There were a few stand outs here and there...The emotional performance of Lucinda William’s ‘Drunken Angel’ and Mary Gauthier’s ‘I Drink’ come close to the mark, but still fall short from the ex punker British guy, Costello and the ex new waver Californian, Penn. ‘Drive By Truckers’ have a great vibe, fantastic live show with edge but again...the songs never evolve into what I hoped/expected they do. At least not the bar that Elvis C. set or even Springsteen in his rural periods.

“This tattered document
A mystery you can solve
Some burnt out filament
Flies still buzzing around the bulb

Country Darkness

He thought of traveling
Heard an approaching train
Drown out his desperate pulse
A song with no refrain

Country Darkness”

Elvis Costello, ‘Country Darkness’ from Delivery Man

“oh man look what the cat drug in
its got the dress but the colors gone
that i gave my one true love on
oh man look what the wind blew home
never had this much stimulation
til her low down elevation
but oh don't look in those eyes
bluer than blue
her rules on the rise
and if i wear apathy's crown
don't call me highness
‘cause it's a long a way down”

Michael Penn, ‘Long Way Down’ from Free For All

Whiskeytown I just don’t get at all. If I had a dollar for every glowing review of Ryan Adams old band I could buy a new spruce top Taylor. Maybe because Adams has a punk background and they think its cool he turned to edgy country? I dunno. Their most critically acclaimed album (1997’s Strangers Almanac) left me less than impressed. It actually left me wondering if the critics and fans on the message boards enjoy discussing the who played for who and who inspired who rather than the actual song itself.
I had to chuckle and agree with the only disparaging comments I could find while pouring over an enormous amount of reviews and fan boards...”the Jayhawks are like Tom Petty but without all the good songs.” and “I seriously thought Steve Earle was the Weird Al Yankovic of the alt country scene.”.
With the amount of critical praise and the fan attention that Uncle Tupelo et al garner, I was expecting their recordings to be like the modern equivalent to the Beatles White Album, well at least Sgt Peppers! What I got was more like when I was first introduced to Nick Lowe and Marshall Crenshaw’s catalog...not a lot. Cake without icing? A Vintage Martin with rusty strings? You get the idea.

My conclusion is simply that alt.country is a genre that provides professional critics and dedicated fans a medium for pontification on musical origins, inspired by that rural, rough and real life, a tangled skein of like characters, down and out yet with a hint of hope and a certain sliver of pride that only those who’ve been there understand but that somehow, unfortunately...the music itself is riding in the bed of the truck.

I do enjoy the labels that are at times applied to some of the sub genres within the alt country scene...there’s the humorous ‘Dirt Rock’, the always funny ‘Cow Punk’, and my personal favorites...the ‘Saddies’.

Anyway, I don’t mean to come off as so disparaging and I’m still hoping to find those hidden gems that I hope are within this admittedly interesting, yet personally unfulfilled, genre. Share your favorites, please!

[Ankf00]

your problems

1) taking music writing seriously
2) you're old

fin

:tony: :D


I agree with some of the misplaced acclaim for whiskeytown and uncle tupelo, then again, I do like much of their stuff, but it's not a life changing out of body experience or anything of that sort

[racer2c]

your problems

1) taking music writing seriously
2) you're old

fin

:tony: :D


I agree with some of the misplaced acclaim for whiskeytown and uncle tupelo, then again, I do like much of their stuff, but it's not a life changing out of body experience or anything of that sort

ank...you're right on both counts! I'll pull the curtain back a bit to explain; a recently came out of retirement to do solo acoustic gigs at some of the local watering holes. My old band from back home never stopped gigging after I bowed out a decade ago, recently even doing a label showcase in NYC. Well, playing in the corner of a dive to 10 drunks who wish the juke box was on instead doesn't make me feel that much better...but it helps. ;)
I'm hoping to find those songs that even though you may not have heard before, you want to hear again and again.

I think the alt.country thing is probably better live. Most music is. :thumbup:

[cameraman]

I've found that a good way to find new and/or different (to me) music is to get on Pandora and very carefully make a play list for a specific sound. Start off small and be ruthless in disliking things. I've found bands I've never heard of that I like quite a bit that way. It isn't perfect but it does work.

[chop456]

I agree with some of the misplaced acclaim for whiskeytown and uncle tupelo, then again, I do like much of their stuff, but it's not a life changing out of body experience or anything of that sort

Whskeytown, yes. Uncle Tupelo, no. Still Feel Gone, March 16-20 and Anodyne are probably all in my top 20 all time faves. I look at them the same sense I consider the Grateful Dead to have turned on an audience to a different genre of music. The Dead (mostly Garcia) did it with Bluegrass and American standards. Uncle Tupelo did it with the Carter Family, Dylan, Little Feat, etc.

Greater than the sum of its parts, blah, blah, blah...

[nrc]

It's "Americana", dammit.

[Elmo T]

It's "Americana", dammit.

Not happy that Music Choice removed this from their line-up :thumdown:. My cable box spent many hours tuned in.

I've always viewed alt.country as everything you won't hear on terrestrial country country radio - so I am cool with that definition. It IS crazy how they've now taken to labeling every sort of niche music and/or band. Red dirt, heartland rock, Texas whatnot, who can even keep track :rolleyes:.

I generally despise country music you hear on the radio :yuck:. I was raised on "classic country" (another one of those labels) which included Cash, Snow, Horton, Robbins, Bare, Hank Williams, and the other classics my Dad played over and over. There are plenty of new artists that stay true to that style. Sirius has been playing a bunch of Amber Digby (http://www.amber-digby.com/401.html). I do like some of those original alt.country bands - Jayhawks, Son Volt, etc - just not sure how they were anointed gods.

If I have country music of any sort on the radio now, it is Sirius's Roadhouse or Outlaw Country.

[extramundane]

The Dead (mostly Garcia) did it with Bluegrass and American standards. Uncle Tupelo did it with the Carter Family, Dylan, Little Feat, etc.

I grew up in a very bluegrass-centric household ( :gomer: ), right on the geographic divide as to whether you were a Ralph Stanley fan or a Seldom Scene fan ( :gomer: :gomer: ). As I hit my teens and started listening to [redacted due to embarrassment], I drifted away from all that stuff. When I started listening to Tupelo again in the late '90s, their take on the Carter Family, the Louvins and such was really jarring in a way. Now, having recently rediscovered the original Seldom Scene while going through dad's old records, it's equally interesting/jarring to hear a bluegrass band that was playing contemporary Dylan, Dead and James Taylor material alongside (and instead of) all the traditional material.

But yeah, while the first Son Volt record is one of my favorite records, most of Jay Farrar's subsequent output has been fairly terrible. And I liked Tweedy a lot better when he was a pillhead. And Ryan Adams is a dick.

[chop456]

But yeah, while the first Son Volt record is one of my favorite records, most of Jay Farrar's subsequent output has been fairly terrible. And I liked Tweedy a lot better when he was a pillhead. And Ryan Adams is a dick.

Agree one squillion percent.

[RTKar]

The Seldom Scene... that's a good band. They've been around forever in various forms but always with outstanding musicians. Older stuff like they did is good but so is newer stuff like Yonder Mountain String Band, a bunch of young suburban guys. Truly old bluegrass like Stanley is unique in that it was a new art form that fit a certain format with guys wearing suits singing to one microphone, pretty stripped down production.
Bluegrass and Alt Country are two of my favorite pre sets on XM, although the pre merger XM Alt station was much better....... plus a good punk station was lost but that's a whole 'nuther thread. The beauty of it all is you can see most Alt performers in small venues for a fraction of the cost of the popular garbage. Stuff like the Gourds, Robert Earl Keen, Fred Eaglesmith, James McMurtry

[Michaelhatesfans]

"... like Tom Petty but without all the good songs.”

:rofl:
That's awesome