Thanks Cheryl,
That was a very well put description of the genesis and evolution of alt.
country. I'll buy your experience and definitions. My experience has
been similar . . . although I am sure I am not alone when I say that I
never really listened to anything else but this music so I can't say I was
in need of a term to define it.
my friend Anders did a thesis that (from what I can tell) defined No
Depression as the UT offspring and Alt. Cuntry more generally as you have.
Which is fine.
I still hold to my point which is that the press is really referring to No
Depression when they say alt. country. Witness the first paragraph of the
new Spin review of Summerteeth:
"Jeff Tweedy is a big daddy in the alternative country movement, half the
heart of No Depressives Uncle Tupelo. While he's forged ahead with Wilco,
his Children have made mostly silly records, PBS country for people
embarassed by The Nashville Network."
Joshua Clover, SPIN
Now this paragraph is compelling in and of itself <g>, but it certainly
represents well the common ID associated with the Alt. Country tag. If
he's a Big Daddy of alt. country and his Children write silly songs . . .
.I doubt the reviewer is referring to the whole of Bluegrass, Old Time,
Country Folk, umbrella etc. Again my point is that the only place where
such terms mean anything is to people outside the movement and it seems
that the press refers to alt. country when they mean No Depression by our
definition.
If Alt. Country is a movement that seems to refer to a current phenomena.
Anyway. That is not my definition it is the current cultural definition as
presented by this buffoon in Spin.
Anyway, I hate this debate because in general people are attributing my
take on the cultural definition of 'alt. country' as my own. Frankly I
don't give a shit what alt country is. Give me a good record. But this
all started when I said that alt. country is not commercially viable and
that I don't blame Tweedy for wanting to distance himself from the term.
oh well.
anyways I'll buy Cheryl's definitions -- now convince the mainstream
press!! <g>
-jim
