Alternative country

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alternative country is a term applied to various subgenres of country music.

Matt Hillyer of Texas based Eleven Hundred Springs

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 pop outlook of the Nashville-dominated industry, to produce music with a lo-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 opposing influences. The first is traditional American country music, 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, and this album is widely credited with being the first "alt-country" album. The band Whiskeytown continued in this tradition and lead singer Ryan Adams continues to shape the genre to this day in his solo career.

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", "trashcan americana", "insurgent country", "neotraditional", "no depression", "cowpunk", "progressive country", "regressive country", "lo-fi country", "roots rock", "twang core", "rural contemporary", "country-punk", "y'allternative", "hick rock", "alternative country-rock" and many others.

There are a wide array of Alt Country Musicians

1 Internet Radio
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Internet Radio

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Alden, Grant; & Blackstock, Peter (1998). "No Depression: An Introduction to Alternative Country Music. Whatever That Is". Dowling Pr. ISBN 1-891847-00-7.
Goodman, David (1999). "Modern Twang: An Alternative Country Music Guide and Directory". Dowling Pr. ISBN 1-891847-03-1.

[edit] External links

AltCountryTab
AlternativeCountry.com
Americana UK
Joe Sixpack's alternative country music guide
"So what is insurgent country anyway?"
An alternative country thesis
Americana Music News, Reviews, Interviews and Podcast Shows
MOXIE Radio - Americana, Alt Country, Country Rock, Southern Rock, Outlaw Honky Tonk
In-depth article about punk & alt-country from Punk Planet 66
No Depression Movement from the Survey of American Popular Music by Frank Hoffmann and modified for the web by Robert Birkline
HickoryWind.org - Americana, Bluegrass, & Alt Country News, Reviews, & Personality
Interviews and Live Performances from alt.country artists on Chicago TV show "Corporate Country Sucks"

Country music \| Country genres
Bakersfield sound \| Bluegrass \| Close harmony \| Country blues \| Honky tonk \| Lubbock sound \| Nashville sound \| New Traditionalists \| Outlaw country \| Australian country music
Alternative country \| Country pop \| Country rock \| Psychobilly \| Deathcountry \| Rockabilly \| Country-rap