Alternative country

Alternative country
Stylistic origins	Country, alternative rock, neotraditional country, progressive country, outlaw country, country rock, punk rock
Cultural origins	Late 20th century
Typical instruments	Guitar · Piano · Harmonica · Bass Guitar · Drums · Vocals · Banjo · Mandolin Lap steel guitar
Mainstream popularity	Low to medium in the United States during the 1990s and 2000s
Subgenres
Cowpunk

Alternative country (sometimes alt-country,^[1] insurgent country,^[2] or Americana^[3]) is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music. It has been used to describe country music bands and artists that have incorporated influences ranging from roots rock, bluegrass, rockabilly, honky-tonk, alternative rock, folk rock, and particularly punk.

Definitions and characteristics

In the 1990s the term alternative country, paralleling alternative rock, began to be used to describe a diverse group of musicians and singers operating outside the traditions and industry of mainstream country music.^[3] Many eschewed the increasingly high production values and pop outlook of the Nashville-dominated industry for a more lo-fi sound, frequently infused with a strong punk and rock & roll aesthetic.^[4] Lyrics may be bleak, gothic, or socially aware, but also more heartfelt and less-often follow the clichés sometimes used by mainstream country musicians. In other respects, the musical styles of artists that fall within this genre often have little in common, ranging from traditional American folk music and bluegrass, through rockabilly and honky-tonk, to music that is indistinguishable from mainstream rock or country.^[5] This already broad labeling has been further confused by alternative country artists disavowing the movement, mainstream artists declaring they are part of it, and retroactive claims that past or veteran musicians are alternative country. No Depression, the best-known magazine dedicated to the genre, declared that it covered "alternative-country music (whatever that is)".^[6]

History

Son Volt performing in 2005

It is generally agreed that alternative country drew on traditional American country music, the music of working people, preserved and celebrated by practitioners such as Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, and The Carter Family, often cited as major influences.^[7] Another major influence was country rock, the result of fusing country music with a rock & roll sound. The artist most commonly thought to have originated country rock is Gram Parsons (who referred to his sound as "Cosmic American Music"), although Michael Nesmith, and Steve Earle are frequently identified as important innovators.^[8] The third factor was punk rock, which supplied an energy and DIY attitude.^[4]

Attempts to combine punk and country had been pioneered by Nashville's Jason and the Scorchers, and in the 1980s Southern Californian cowpunk scene with bands like the Long Ryders,^[2] but these styles merged fully in Uncle Tupelo's 1990 LP No Depression, which is widely credited as being the first "alt-country" album, and gave its name to the online notice board and eventually magazine that underpinned the movement.^[3][9] They released three more influential albums, signing to a major label, before they broke up in 1994, with members and figures associated with them going on to form three major bands in the genre: Wilco, Son Volt and Bottle Rockets.^[3] Bottle Rockets signed, along with acts like Freakwater, The Old 97's and Robbie Fulks, to the Chicago-based indie label, Bloodshot, who pioneered a version of the genre under the name insurgent country.^[2][10] The bands Blue Mountain, Whiskeytown, Blood Oranges and Drive-By Truckers further developed this tradition before most began to move more in the direction of rock music in the 2000s.^[11]

See also

Blue Mountain on stage in 2008

Country music portal

• List of alternative country musicians
• Heartland rock
• Red Dirt (music)
• Southern rock
• Texas country music

Notes

1. ^ "The story of No Depression", No Depression, retrieved 19 May 2010.
2. ^ ^{a b c} W. C. Malone, Country Music, U.S.A. (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2nd edn., 2002), ISBN 0-292-75262-8, p. 451.
3. ^ ^{a b c d} C. Smith, 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), ISBN 0-19-537371-5, pp. 204-9.
4. ^ ^{a b} K. Wolff and O. Duane, eds, Country Music: the Rough Guide (London: Rough Guides, 2000), ISBN 1-85828-534-8, p. 549.
5. ^ C. K. Wolfe and J. E. Akenson, Country Music Annual 2001 (University Press of Kentucky, 2001), ISBN 0-8131-0990-6, pp. 78-80.
6. ^ A. A. Fox, "'Alternative to what?'": O Brother, September 11 and the politics of country music", in C. K. Wolfe and J. E. Akenson, Country Music Goes to War (Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2005), ISBN 0-8131-2308-9, p. 164.
7. ^ G Smith, Singing Australian: a History of Folk and Country Music (Melbourne: Pluto Press Australia, 2005), ISBN 1-86403-241-3, p. 134.
8. ^ K. Wolff and O. Duane, eds, Country Music: the Rough Guide (London: Rough Guides, 2000), ISBN 1-85828-534-8, p. 396.
9. ^ M. Deming, "No Depression Bonus Tracks", Allmusic, retrieved 26 January 2009.
10. ^ K. Wolff and O. Duane, eds, Country Music: the Rough Guide (London: Rough Guides, 2000), ISBN 1-85828-534-8, p. 550.
11. ^ K. Wolff and O. Duane, eds, Country Music: the Rough Guide (London: Rough Guides, 2000), ISBN 1-85828-534-8, pp. 549-92.

Sources

• 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.
• Wolff, Kurt and Duane, Orla (2000). Country Music: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides. pp. 557–8. ISBN 1858285348, 9781858285344. 
• Kasten, Roy (April 29, 2008), Fifteen Things You Might Not Know about The Bottle Rockets, on Their Fifteenth Birthday, Riverfront Times.
• Hogeland, William (March 14, 2004), Emulating the Real and Vital Guthrie, Not St. Woody, New York Times.

External links

• "So what is insurgent country anyway?"
• alt.country: what is this stuff? from American Studies at the University of Virginia