Search results
People also ask
What is alternative country-rock?
What is alternative country?
What influenced alternative country music?
Who was the first alternative country-rock band?
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. [4]
In contrast to alternative country, which pushes the boundaries of country music from the inside, alternative country-rock is music made by outsiders who love the sound and spirit of country.
- Uncle Tupelo – Anodyne (1993) The last entry in the band’s catalog before Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar parted ways saw the band at its most fully realized.
- Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998) Up until this album Lucinda Williams was primarily known for her songwriting, earning a Grammy for Best Country Song with Mary Chapin Carpenter’s crossover hit “Passionate Kisses.”
- Gillian Welch – Revival (1996) Gillian Welch and her musical partner may have hailed from Los Angeles and Rhode Island, respectively, but they arrived on the alt-country scene in 1996 as if they’d just melted out of Depression-era Appalachian Mountain ice.
- Son Volt – Trace (1995) Long before there was Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, it looked like Jay Farrar was the genius behind Uncle Tupelo, as Trace was a near-perfect collection of laid-back alt-country ballads like the brilliant windows-rolled-down “Windfall” and guitar-charged college rockers like lead single “Drown.”
- Rank and File – “Amanda Ruth” (1982) One of the first bands to bear the descriptor “cowpunk,” Rank and File also had pedigrees in actual punk. Brothers Chip and Tony Kinman were in The Dils, a California band that had tight, Everly-like harmonies which were unusual in their genre.
- Meat Puppets – “Plateau” (1984) The resident cowpunks on the SST roster in the 1980s, Arizona’s Meat Puppet’s nonetheless translated their country and western influences through a hardcore filter on their debut album.
- Lone Justice – “Ways to Be Wicked” (1985) Maria McKee had a commanding stage presence, a ferocious energy, and a voice that bore a resemblance to one of her earliest supporters, Dolly Parton.
- Mekons – “Hard to Be Human Again” (1985) On paper it might not seem likely that a post-punk group from the same Leeds scene as Gang of Four and Au Pairs would end up recording one of the first great alt-country records.
Jun 9, 2021 · Alternative country or alt-country, a subgenre of country music, has found resonance with fans of alternative and indie rock.
Jun 17, 2024 · The origins of alt-country can be traced back to the 1960s and 1970s with the rise of artists who began to infuse traditional country music with rock and folk elements. Key figures in this early movement include Gram Parsons and The Byrds, whose work laid the groundwork for what would eventually become alt-country.
Jun 13, 2017 · Discover the top 10 alternative country music artists who have thrown everything, from rockabilly, folk-rock and punk, into their roots rock stews.
