country music lyrics

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, the first widely recognized modern alternative country record (though the first Freakwater EP appeared in 1989). 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.

Alternative country musicians

• 16 Horsepower
• 50 Cent Haircut
• Absolute Whores
• Accident Clearinghouse
• Ryan Adams
• Dave Alvin
• basementband
• Be Good Tanyas
• The Beauty Shop
• Willie P. Bennett
• Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
• Blackie and the Rodeo Kings
• The Blacks
• Blanche
• Blood Oranges
• Blue Mountain
• Blue Rodeo
• Jason Boland and the Stragglers
• The Bottle Rockets
• Boxharp
• Boys Named Sue
• Bright Eyes
• BR5-49
• Richard Buckner
• Ed Burleson
• Calexico
• Hayes Carll
• Mary Chapin Carpenter
• Cletis Carr
• Caitlin Cary
• Neko Case
• Johnny Cash (his Rick Rubin American Recordings albums)
• The Cash Brothers
• Kasey Chambers
• Vic Chesnutt
• The Circuit Riders
• Clothesline Revival
• Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers
• The Coal Men
• Corndaddy
• The Court and Spark
• Creedence Clearwater Revival
• Cross Canadian Ragweed
• Cub Country
• Cuff the Duke
• Rodney Crowell
• Dallas Alice
• Damnations TX
• Grey DeLisle
• The Derailers
• Desolation Angels
• The Dixie Bee Liners
• Johnny Dowd
• The Drams
• Drag The River
• Drive-By Truckers
• Drunk Stuntmen
• Fred Eaglesmith
• Steve Earle
• Kathleen Edwards
• Eleven Hundred Springs
• Joe Ely
• Stace England
• Alejandro Escovedo
• Evangenitals
• The Everybodyfields
• The Famous
• Farmer Not So John
• Geraldine Fibbers
• Firecracker
• Rosie Flores
• Paula Frazer
• Freakwater
• Robbie Fulks
• Mary Gauthier
• The Geardaddies
• The Ghost Rockets
• Jimmie Dale Gilmore
• The Gods of Victory
• Go to Blazes
• Golden Smog
• The Gourds
• John Gorka
• Grievous Angels
• Patty Griffin
• David Grisman
• Lys Guillorn
• Merle Haggard
• Butch Hancock
• The Handsome Family
• The Hangdogs
• Emmylou Harris
• Hazeldine
• Hem
• Hemingway Corner
• Kelly Hogan
• Key Witness
• The Hogwaller Ramblers
• The Honeydogs
• Brodie Foster Hubbard
• Jack Ingram
• Dave Insley
• Jackhead
• James Scott Bullard
• Jason and the Scorchers
• Jason and the (Nashville) Scorchers
• Jason Paul Johnston
• Jason Molina
• The Jayhawks
• Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter
• Joe Buck
• Joe Henry
• John Wayne Army
• Joshua Fletcher & the Six-Shot Romance
• Robert Earl Keen
• Kings of Leon
• Knife in the Water
• The Knitters
• Laconic
• Lambchop
• k.d. lang
• Leftover Salmon
• Eric Leick
• Limbeck
• Lone Justice
• The Long Ryders
• Lost Dakotas
• Lost Dogs
• The Lowlands
• Lyle Lovett
• Lucero
• Corb Lund
• Shelby Lynne
• Mad River
• Mahlon Sweet Field
• Kate Maki
• Bill Mallonee
• Marah
• Carolyn Mark
• Maria McKee
• James McMurtry
• Shannon McNally
• Linda McRae
• Tift Merritt
• Buddy Miller
• Julie Miller
• Minibar
• Allison Moorer
• My Morning Jacket
• Cory Morrow
• The Mother Hips
• The Mountain Goats
• The Mummble Ducks
• The Muses
• Nathan
• Nine Pound Hammer
• Nora O'Connor
• Mary Margaret O'Hara
• Oh Susanna
• Okkervil River
• Old 97's
• Old Crow Medicine Show
• Will Oldham
• Over the Rhine
• Palace Brothers
• Gram Parsons
• Pat Green
• Pennyjar
• Pine Valley Cosmonauts
• Pinetop Seven
• Pleasant Grove
• Po' Girl
• Power of County
• John Prine
• Railroad Earth
• Reckless Kelly
• The Red Dirt Rangers
• The Refreshments
• The Revenants
• Josh Ritter
• Rose County Fair
• Rose's Pawn Shop
• Matthew Ryan
• The Sadies
• Big Sandy and His Fly Rite Boys
• The Silos
• Six Mile Grove
• Shaver
• Scroat Belly
• Scud Mountain Boys
• Shearwater
• Slobberbone
• Slim Cessna's Auto Club
• Smash Addams
• Smog
• Todd Snider
• Son Volt
• Souled American
• Southern Culture on the Skids
• Stillhouse
• Stoney LaRue
• Stratochief
• Television Hill
• Silver Jews
• Supersuckers
• Two Tons of Steel
• Uncle Tupelo
• Townes Van Zandt
• Stoll Vaughan
• The V-Roys
• Waco Brothers
• The Walkabouts
• Dale Watson
• The Weakerthans
• Gillian Welch
• Paul Westerberg (latter-day solo material)
• Western Electric
• Whiskeytown
• Jim White
• Hank Williams III
• Lucinda Williams
• Wilco (early albums)
• Willard Grant Conspiracy
• Willie Nelson
• Kelly Willis
• The Woodbox Gang
• Buddy Woodward
• The Woodys
• Luther Wright and the Wrongs
• The Yayhoos
• Dwight Yoakam
• Neil Young
• Martin Zellar
• We Make Thunder
• Joseph Arthur
• Gruene County

Internet Radio

• MOXIE Radio - Americana, Alt Country, Country Rock, Southern Rock, Outlaw Honky Tonk
• TwangCity.com -Commercial-free broadband Internet radio station dedicated to Alternative Country
• BootLiquor - Alternative country online
• AmericanaRoots.com - online blend of Americana/Texas/Alt.Country music
• The Hoss Radio - Country, Western, Bluegrass, Americana, and Alternative Country Internet Radio

See also

• Americana (music)
• Country music
• Country rock
• Red Dirt Music
• Texas Country

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.

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

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