The New York Times Asks, Wither Alt-Country?
Another Large Hearted Boy find:
The Gray Lady wants to know why alt-country has "died", and they ask several Jayhawks all about it. Not interviewed for the story were Lucero, the Hiders, the Drive-By Truckers, Ryan Adams (they conveniently focus on the breadth of Ryan's solo output, rather than his ridiculously alt-country leaning, in a good way, last three albums), Jason Molina, Steve Earle or any act sold through the wonderful Miles of Music. Oh, and for some reason Son Volt registers only as "austere heartland rock," whatever that means, and not alt-country.
What's my point? Shit, I dunno. Maybe that it's just as annoying and shallow when mainstream media try to define a musical "movement" when that supposed "movement" is in a supposed "downturn" rather than when it's in a supposed "upswing". Maybe I just don't like it when journalists, in an effort to write an eye-grabbing article, make sweeping generalizations about music that are both wrong and degrading to the thousands of musicians who continue to play that type of music and the many fans who still listen to it.
posted by Steve @ 11:25 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Extremely annoying. Mostly because alt-country was always--and still is--a very broad term that was never defined by whether or not there was a twang to the music. If you go back and look at the original touch-points, such as early Bloodshot compilations and the like, there was an incredible mix of country, swing, rock, punk, garage, jangle, etc. It's a term that can cover Lambchop's odd miniaturalist neo-soul, the Handsome Family's quirky kitchen-table poetry, the Waco's roots rock, anything influenced by the Byrds, traditionalists, punks and more. There's this prevading myth out there that people into alt-country had this very strict definition of what a band could play, and got mad when they veered away from that.
I first noticed this when alt-country "purists" allegedly were taken aback by Wilco's Being There. Even Tweedy seemed to think there was a backlash. Except one small problem: Where were these people? I never saw them, or met them, or talked to them. Everyone I ever met who was into alt-country had extremely broad tastes, and if anything was completely open to bands expanding their sound. Maybe one or two idiots posted something on a message board somewhere, but that was it.
What the term really is is a catch-all for a generation of bands that in the early 90s were in their 30s and 40s, no longer interested in playing punk or indie or what have you, and instead wanted to take older influences and incorporate them with rock music. Some of those influences were country, but others were 60s pop, early country-rock (Parsons, etc.), soul, garage, etc. As one of the Jayhawks said, it was really a continuum of all those great 80s LA bands (Rank and File, The Three O'Clock, etc.), who if anything had a huge 60s influence. So by embracing Byrds-chime on Smile, the Jayhawks weren't turning away from alt-country, they were just exploring in more detail one of their prime influences.
Long story short, the only people who actually believe the term alt-country refers only to music with a twang are people from outside of it. Alt country fans have always seen it as a large term that could embrace nearly anything (and, yes, the result was that the meaning of the term was pretty much worthless). Which was why No Depression's tagline was so perfect: Covering Alt Country, Whatever the Hell That Is. Maybe a better term would be this: rock n roll.
alt.country is dead...long live GOOD country
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