Control Alt Country*

So I listened to Whiskeytown while I was auditing up a storm and decided it was high time I wrote about Alternative Country. Yes you read that right, me, James Elvin Harrington, absolutely with no apologies, loves a genre that has "country" in the title. But here me out, and click the links this time (i know you always click the links, but do it this time for sure. I plead because most of my blog material is familiar to you 7 followers(8 including me :), but not so with Alt country. I aim to enrich your life.)

The genre kind of got a false start with the Eagles but they were more Country Rock... the band that is credited with the true start of the very specific genre is Uncle Tupelo (see wiki article). In fact the alt country magazine is named No Depression, after Uncle Tupelo's first album.

I of course found out about them because of Jeff Tweedy, of current fame as frontman of Wilco. But his first Album came out in 1990 and was very different from anything else...err genre defining and such. Its opener Graveyard Shift took Q's from punk rock and country to basically make me happy and not just because of the cowbell. As a context, this was the early nineties...when grunge was king, so they definitely went a different direction, hence the "alt" part i suppose. They went on to move toward more folky sounds and away from punk, but always interesting lyrics. One of my favorites in this transition is Gun. Here's Jeff singing it in an acoustic set 15 years later (Acoustic is a much better live recording, but you can feel the energy of Uncle Tupelo in the first link). Anodyne, their last album is a love letter to the genre and is my favorite example. No Sense in Lovin' is actually very country sounding, but the lyrics elevate it to another level. A Wilco post will be forthcoming. (it is forthcoming actually)

Back to what inspired the post: Whiskeytown. Their album Strangers Almanac is very much beautiful. You folks might know the lead singer Ryan Adams since his solo career has been very successful. His voice on this album is just about perfect. The opener Inn town is a good showcase for it. Dang youtube for not having it. A more country oriented song on the album is Excuse me while I break my own heart. Love that voice. Here's an interesting live one, storytelling songs are fun.

Another great band of the era is the Jayhawks. My dad introduced me to Hollywood Town Hall before I showed him Wilco. Driving from Provo to Cupertino always made me happy going through Nevada California.

So if you take Jeff Tweedy and add Jayhawks you get Golden Smog. Ok Ok I'll try to put more effort into finding versions of these songs from all these bands that isn't Jeff and a guitar :) Dang it thats the only link to an album version and guess what its just him and a guitar... oh well I love the more folksy Alt Country too.

Another band I've enjoyed is The Minus 5. In fact Jeff has a role in one of their albums as well. I hesitate in putting them in this post because they have some pop-ish songs, but they certainly were influenced by alt country in that song. Also listen to the lyrics in this song...hilarious.

Also so i love the Decemberists. But guess what? his first band was very alt country! Check out out Tarkio's excellent Keeping Me Awake.

Anyways, sadly the story of Alt country kind of ends with the break up of Whiskeytown, though its influence is felt in the recent folkish revival of bands such as Mumford and Sons, and more. And of course, I'm happy that Wilco moved on, but hey...their first album continued that alt country tradition and I love it almost as much as the experimental awesomeness that was Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

Almost started into the Wilco Post...but i'll save that for some future age. Next topic? i'll take suggestions in the comments section :D (again, i aim to please :D)