Alt-Country - Search and Destroy

Well, the Eagles having made better records than Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, the Bottle Rockets, Casey Chambers, Ryan Adams, Jason and the Scorchers, Lone Justice, Alejandro Escovedo, Wilco, Son Volt, Uncle Tupelo, the Jayhawks, Lambchop, Iron & Wine, and just about everybody else mentioned on this thread *might* have something to do with it. But that's just a wild guess.

I never liked the Goats much, myself. Or Lubricated Goat, for that matter. Or Lambchop, though I guess we already mentioned them. Or Lamb, for that matter. Or the High Llamas. I think I like the Mountain Goats okay, though (and not just because John Darnielle might be reading this), but I need to listen to them more. And I definitely think "I'm on the Lamb But I Ain't no Sheep" by Blue Oyster Cult is an excellent song, for whatever that's worth.

just read this excellent article which is a few weeks old: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/far-from-the-old-country-music-1643705.html

the assessment of alt country at the end rang 100% true for me

yes, Bush totally OTM here, and I think this is well put...

Bush can barely hide his impatience at alt.country's arrogance. "The songs that will survive 40 years from now will have to do, not with their excellence at how they interpreted post-modern Appalachia, but how they interpreted the human condition. And in the end, as much as I'm a huge Wilco fan, no one's going to remember them. They're going to remember Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" – because that story is true. There'll be another girl sitting at a window who's kissed someone and that song speaks to her. And really, (Wilco and ex-Uncle Tupelo singer-songwriter) Jeff Tweedy singing about being lonely and poor and dumped, all these things which he is not...

"There are only so many thirtysomethings who'll emotionally connect to style over substance, which a lot of (modern) Appalachian stuff is. I'm a huge Gillian Welch fan, but she's from Malibu, California. I'm from Dolly Parton's hometown Sevierville, Tennessee. I should be playing what she's playing, according to our histories. Our song "Baby Girl" deals with some sort of human archetype, anyway, a story of the hero. It just rings differently in your bones. Country music is unafraid of that human substance."

BUT...and this is a big but...dude is the heir to the Bush's baked beans fortune! Black pot, meet black kettle...

Please can anyone recommend some good and recent alt-country from a UK band? I was asked to import some. I forgot. And I have no idea what's out there anyway, let alone what's new and decent. So I need to raid Amazon, but not until I've had your advice.

brinsley schwarz "silver pistol"

not actually recent.

Sorry ljubljana - i kept meaning to return yr email but I couldn't think of anything. How about Dropkick though?

What do The Mekons sound like now?

Thanks Ian, Ned - have ordered the Brinsley Schwartz on the basis that it's old enough to be interesting so scores as many points as something new enough to be interesting. Also got the latest Dropkick. I think the Mekons are already well-known here in the US. Any more thoughts welcome...

Other mandatory U.K. country-rock/roots rock from the early 1970s: Mighty Baby (jug of love album), Help Yourself (first couple albums), Ernie Graham solo album (f'n brilliant) and Cochise (first two albums).

In defense of Steve Earle:

Steve is venerated by No Depression by I don't think he should be lumped in with Ryan Adams or even Lucinda in the "timid, whitebread, a-rhythmic alt-country" category that someone described

He's a damn good songwriter IMO

and listen to a song like "Copperhead Road" or "I Feel Allright"

those songs ain't timid, they kick ass!

i think my main problem with this genre is that I actually like real good old fashioned twangy country music quite a bit, always have, so most of this stuff sounds pretty diluted for my taste

one thing about this "genre" is that there are people coming at "altcountry" from a lot of different dierctions. some come an indie rock background, some are looking for the next Crazy Horse, some are punks mellowing out from the meat puppets & mekons & black flag, etc

a lot of so called cowpunk bands pretty much just sounds like barbands it seems

http://www.dixiestreams.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ryan-bingham-junky-star.jpg

this is the cover of a record called "junky star"

listen to it

What's been great in the alt country scene the last few years? Bloodshot's slipped lately but I dug the Paul Burch/Waco's album. It seems like lots of my old faves have moved away from the sounds I loved - Ryan Adams turned into Jerry Garcia while Chris Mills and Neko Case are still making great music but moved away from the country underpinnings.

Phospherescent, Richmond Fontaine

The Volebeats have been one of the best alt country bands since the 80s. Their self-titled record from a few years back is fantastic.

Here is an older song of theirs, one of my favorites. If you like this, you'll like everything they do.

One of their singers, Matthew Smith is also the singer of Outrageous Cherry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQAYK8PGL_c

Fred Eaglesmith's last album "6 Volts" has been curing my alt-country jones for the last month.

I love that Volebeats song.

The Volebeats are the best. They have about ten albums of songs like that.

Here's another great one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2PCio6zM0o

^OTM, The Volebeats are the best. I'm partial to The Sky and the Ocean and the Mosquito Spiral. Buried treasure.

I've been enjoying the 2012 release by the Harmed Brothers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEoynN4V44s

Over on Rolling Country, alpine static introduced us to the excellent Western Centuries:

Rolling Country denizens, I hope you'll check out this Western Centuries record ... it is great, and they played one of the best sets I saw at Pickathon last weekend:

http://www.westerncenturies.com/music/

― alpine static, Sunday, August 14, 2016 12:03 AM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Thanks so much, alpine static, I'm totally smitten with this! Even the rueful philosophical response to life's funky details with is part of the honky tonk catchiness--just bite the token and roll with it, son. And daughter.
Whole thang's on youtube: hitp://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=western+centuries and Spotify and I'm fixing to order it anyway.
Along with xpost Kelsey Walson's album, another unexpected source of cool steel guitar.

― dow, Tuesday, August 16, 2016 6:18 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

dammit hitp://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=western+centuries

― dow, Tuesday, August 16, 2016 6:19 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmb_RVPqTMAqOfa5-jvM03hzjPmQlw9Js

― dow, Tuesday, August 16, 2016 6:21 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Western Centuries got a fleet, fleeting sound--little hints of bluesy disconnection in the backing, and I like the lyrics a lot. Very good.

― Edd Hurt, Tuesday, August 16, 2016 7:08 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

glad y'all dig it. I'm a longtime HUGE fan of Cahalen Morrison's work, back to his folk duo with Eli West ( http://cahalenandeli.com/ ) ... those guys had/have a sort of interesting/unconventional way with melodies, and they can sure pick. I guess they're still together, but Cahalen's clearly been putting more time into his country music the past few years, first under the name Country Hammer ( http://www.cahalen.com/country-hammer/ ) ... they put out a really good record last year, I think. But it seems they must've added a significant member or two and changed the name to Western Centuries. At least that's my understanding ... one of y'all more patient learners may be able to read up and find out more.

I didn't know they'd changed the name, though, until a couple days before Pickathon, when I went to try to investigate some of the bands I wasn't familiar with and realized this was a Cahalen project. Loved the songs I could find online, bought the vinyl at the fest merch table, saw the band, was blown away ... I went from having no clue about Western Centuries to having a favorite new country band in the span of about 5 days.

― alpine static, Wednesday, August 17, 2016 12:25 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

here's a graf from their bio. Donna the Buffalo connection here:

Comprised of Seattle-based country musician Cahalen Morrison, jam band veteran Jim Miller (co-founder of Donna the Buffalo), R&B and bluegrass-by-way-of-punk rock songwriter Ethan Lawton, pedal steel player Rusty Blake, and bassist Dan Lowinger, Western Centuries are clearly a diverse bunch. The band is collaborative in nature, but they are – albeit subtly – helmed by Morrison. After years of performing in prominent roots duo Cahalen Morrison & Eli West (whose music made fans of Tim O’Brien, Jim Lauderdale, Dirk Powell, and BBC Radio’s Bob Harris along the way), Morrison formed and led the band Country Hammer, made up of members who have mostly crossed over into Western Centuries.

― Edd Hurt, Wednesday, August 17, 2016 10:22 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, the philosophical asides from daily-nightly rounds def. go w Donna The Buffalo inclinations, though all three songwriter-vocalists interact pretty seamlessly. I figure they bond via primo Hunter-Garcia x country jukebox staples (incl. yer better b-sides).

― dow, Wednesday, August 17, 2016

re that mention of Kelsey Waldon and her excellent steel player (whose name I'm blanking on, sorry), her new album is real good folk-country with some alt appeal, whatever that is, and she covers a Gosdin Brothers song (they were Byrds associates, and Byrd Clarence White plays great on it, although the Byrds' own cover is not so hot), so we also discussed and posted Gosdins and Vern Gosdin w Emmylou etc on Rolling Country.

Way too soft-focus to compete with prime Rhett Miller/Old 97's, and far too Tom Petty-ish for my tastes, Andrew Leahey is pretty decent alt-. Here's what I wrote about him for the Nashville Scene:

After receiving a clean bill of health following 2013 surgery to remove a brain tumor, Nashville singer-songwriter Andrew Leahey cut his new full-length, Skyline in Central Time, which reveals Leahey as a tunesmith indebted to such all-American rockers as Tom Petty, Ryan Adams and Rhett Miller. A music journalist from Virginia, Leahey had already recorded the 2011 Andrew Leahey & the Homestead and an EP, 2013’s Summer Sleeves, and the records had their moments as examples of lightweight country-rock. Skyline in Central Time is an electric-guitar record, with producer Ken Coomer layering tracks in the manner of Petty and Adams. “Little in Love” stands as the record’s most effective Petty homage, and the rest of Skyline combines American guitar moves with nods to British Invasion pop — the dreamy, Beatles-esque ballad “Who Wants an Easy Love?” is Leahey at his subtlest, and not to be missed. Thursday night, Leahey and his backing band the Homestead will celebrate the release of Skyline. EDD HURT

https://open.spotify.com/track/1kposE7NRJXVYcGidBX2tK?si=k8f0IG7PSjewr6fNX6nmZw

Dusk - eyes in dark corners

My mom’s really into this dude named Will Johnson... she goes to his shows, sends me YouTube clips, etc. I’ve never seen him come up via any other channels, but guess he’s legit.

His stuff seems fairly dull to me, but it’s not really in my usual vein (and admittedly, even as a grown adult, I probably have a slight knee-jerk resistance to whatever a parent is pushing)...

He’s from centro-matic.

The Vulgar Boatmen. Oh man if you don't know them you are in for a treat.

Dean from the Waco Brothers has been putting out great stuff the last few years, mostly for free:
https://deanschlabowskemusic.com/ramblin-deano

Lots of clever commentary on the state of America with great guitar and fiddles.

been on a Lydia Loveless kick lately

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXjxNbJjYag

Sarah Shook is pretty cool on the honky-tonk side

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M25-mPSPm5I

xpost yeah and check Lydia Loveless thread. Havn't gotten into Shook yet, despite hearing a couple albs. Caroline Spence has thread appeal--from my Nashville Scene ballot comments:
Caroline Spence, Mint Condition: A country folkie who has no prob with (better) rockin' beats (contrast somewhut w Hayes Carll, later on on here), kind of a modern day Mary McCaslin, is Caroline Spence, whose 2019 Mint Condition judiciously updates her 70s Neil-Emmylou buckskin diaries, with recurring bits of nocturnal Beach House keyboard harmonies, for inst. More on her later maybe. RIYL Lee Ann Womack. This one is maybe better for listening to than writing about, opposite of so many theoretical commendables.
What I said on here about her 2017 alb:
"Softball" is a good example of how Caroline Spence's little x wiry voice can put one over the plate with no excess effort: she says that when she invades the boys' team, it ain't gonna be softball no more, and she's right. Not seeing personnel credits for Spades and Roses, except for a mention of the drummer(-arranger of the occasional, never-overdone strings) also being the producer. He discreetly keeps thing moving right along, even when there are no drums, plus she's got the supple tunes and words ("Southern Accident"!), although "You Don't Look So Good (Cocaine") seems too naggy. wouldn't change my way of life for sure. Overall, reminds me a bit of early 70s Emmylou and Neil (incl. mix of acoustic and electric, although no big solos), but it's all life lived, incl. some straight thought-talk to self and other, also bits of wistful thinking, incl. looking ahead & back ("There might have been some eloquence/In the very last words I said...") Also gets a bit folkie-solemn with the hopefulness sometimes, but goes with the lost evenings w wine and guys(for instance)--she's concisely candid enough about impulsive and compulsive elements. Philosophy as drug: speaking of yonder 70s West Coast associations.
Edd Hurt responds on, ILX's Rolling Country 2017 thread:
Talking about Caroline Spence: she's doing a residency in January here at the Basement. Wrote this about her recently:
Virginia-born singer-songwriter Caroline Spence released a remarkable track about the limits of Nashville songwriting on her 2013 EP You Know the Feeling. "Whiskey Watered Down" takes down a shallow tunesmith who, Spence declares, will never be "Parsons, Earle or Van Zandt." What makes "Whiskey Watered Down" a definitive song about a particular strain of Music City songwriting is her choice of role models, but the tune also equates bad songwriting with bad relationships. A Nashville resident since 2011, Spence continued to work in classic singer-songwriter mode on her 2015 full-length Somehow, which includes a full-band rendition of "Whiskey Watered Down" that I find less effective than the acoustic reading she performed on the 2013 EP. I admire Spence's writing on this year's album Spades & Roses, which contains the excellent track "You Don't Look So Good (Cocaine)" and the equally fine "Softball," about sexism and what it takes to become a big-league songwriter. Spence, who recently released a five-song EP called Secret Garden, has potential — she bears watching. EDD HURT
Also search term Hipster Kisses on ILM for thread re ladies from canyons, not all of them ancient, but all justified.