recommend some good alt-country bands

Started by Caleb, October 03, 2006, 12:01:32 AM

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Check out the Two Dollar Pistols. Partiicularly their album with Tift Merrit. Roseanne Cash should be on your list to. If you do choose to get into Commander Cody, I would strongly recommend their self titled album.

You should check out the Reverend Horton Heat.  They're more Rockabilly but they do have a bit of country influence.  Also try Mike Ness's two solo albums, Cheating at Solitare and Under the Influences.
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been busy tyring to find some of the recommended music. thanks to all for the great suggestions. heres what i picked up today:

bele fleck - bluegrass sesssions

gillian welch - soul journey and time (revelator)

wilco and billy bragg doing the guthrie stuff

be good tanyas - blue train (this is a PHENOMINAL album just from what ive heard....spun it twice already today....truly amazing stuff)

the derailers - full western dress

jimmie dale gilmore - braver newer world and one endless night (love his voice)

This is a very interesting thread. As I noted earlier, the definition of alt.country is becoming much more fluid. Everything from bluegrass to rockabilly to southern rock has been mentioned in this thread. Yet to me, they all seem to fit the term in some way. So what exactly is alt.country anyway (he asked rhetorically). If it can't be specifically defined as a homogeneous musical style, what defines it? Non-commercialism? Attitude? Some abstract "cool" factor?
It was once said about jazz music, "if you don't know what it is, I can't tell you". I guess the same applies to alt.country.

To me, the common link and defining factor is that all of these artists attempt in some way to grasp at the soul of rural american music. There's an honesty and an authenticity about alt.country that is simply not present in the Nashville establishment, nor in the top 40 pop industry. That's why, no matter how off key or screechy Lucinda Williams may get at times, the woman has more soul than a hundred Shania Twains.     

The new Blackie and the Rodeo Kings' CD Let's Frolic is the best CD I've heard in any category, this year. It's pretty alt - country, I suppose.   

Quote from: stubby on October 11, 2006, 12:46:33 PM
This is a very interesting thread. As I noted earlier, the definition of alt.country is becoming much more fluid. Everything from bluegrass to rockabilly to southern rock has been mentioned in this thread. Yet to me, they all seem to fit the term in some way. So what exactly is alt.country anyway (he asked rhetorically). If it can't be specifically defined as a homogeneous musical style, what defines it? Non-commercialism? Attitude? Some abstract "cool" factor?
It was once said about jazz music, "if you don't know what it is, I can't tell you". I guess the same applies to alt.country.

To me, the common link and defining factor is that all of these artists attempt in some way to grasp at the soul of rural american music. There's an honesty and an authenticity about alt.country that is simply not present in the Nashville establishment, nor in the top 40 pop industry. That's why, no matter how off key or screechy Lucinda Williams may get at times, the woman has more soul than a hundred Shania Twains.     
that is great input. very well said on so many levels.

and regarding lucinda williams, that is a very good point. what she lacks in technical ability, she overwhelmingly makes up for in soul and honesty. i have 2 of her albums (car wheels/world without tears) and i cant believe how revealing she is about herself in those songs. almost like reading a diary entry at times. but those songs come from the gut....and you cant fake that.

Quote from: ducktrapper on October 11, 2006, 12:55:09 PM
The new Blackie and the Rodeo Kings' CD Let's Frolic is the best CD I've heard in any category, this year. It's pretty alt - country, I suppose.   
i'll keep an eye peeled for this one. must be good to get that kind of response from you. but i do understand, when youre moved by something it is real. the be good tanyas cd that i picked up yesterday has moved me greatly, more so than any record ive got in a while. hmmm....sounds like another good thread idea.

Well they're all Canadians. The Tanyas and the Rodeo Kings that is. 

Stubby,

  Great points, particularly the Lucinda Williams example. I had begun to think that it meant bands trying to get that traditional country sound, so absent in what is referred to as Country, in the modern commercial radio formats. But you rightly point out, that it represents a much broader spectrum. They do indeed, all seem to share, that desire to grasp the soul of rural American music.
  I have always favored artists with the gut wrenching honesty in their sound, to the master technicians. The best of both is nice. But a rare find.

Lucinda williams
Songs Ohia aka Magnolia Electric co. aka Jason Molina (same guy, 3 projects)

Whiskeytown

Michelle Shocked

Martha Wainwright

James McMurtry
to name a few real goodies.....
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somwhere in the thread someone mentioned gillian welch.  i got 3 of her records and am really enjoying them. 

now, for a dumb question:

is her name pronounced like Jillian....or is it with a G sound, like Gilligan?  someone told me is was like Gilligan. sorts of bugs me now until i know.

killer music, btw. if youve not heard her and rawlings doing their thing, youre missing a treat.

Speaking of David Rawlings. I just picked up an Old Crow Medicine Show CD which was produced by David. The CD is great - a nice blend of jug band/ old time country with a dash of blues for good measure. Highly recommended.

I have the DVD of "Down from the Mountain." David Rawlings calls Gillian w/a hard "G" sound.

TSOAS you're listening to a lot of the stuff I'm grooving on right now.

+1 on Wilco's "Being There."

As far as early alt country goes, check out the Long Ryders, Jason and the Scorchers, Lone Justice, and the 1st 2 Rank and File albums.
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Quote from: mazareth on November 11, 2006, 08:56:15 PM


TSOAS you're listening to a lot of the stuff I'm grooving on right now.
groovy
:wave

Jon Randall...his cd "Willin'" is excellent.  Don't know what happened to him or where he is, but he was good.  He only had 2 cd's on his own, Willin' being the better by far.  He played in Emmylou's Nash Rambler Band, was married to Lorrie Morgan for a while (Keith Whitley's widow).  The title track is the classic by Lowell George.  He does a good cover of it and many other songs are excellent.

A lot of great suggestions here.  I suggest you listen to the V Roys All About Town.  They were a band from Knoxville, TN that is now defunct.  However, the album was produced by Steve Earle.  I think you can listen to it on Amazon before buying.

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