Alt Country? Whatever that is...

Howdy to all you rustlers and cowpokes. Varmits and outlaws. Ya'll come back real soon as I'll be roping in some wayward country for ya. You know, the outlaw type: Insergent, cowpunk, alt country, whatever that is and whenever it happens here in Canada, I want to be telling their stories by the fire. So pull up a log, grab a can of beans, pass the jug and settle in for a spell.

For our first long tale around the fire, I thought we might take a looksee at some information on this here thing called "alt country." One of many names it goes by: cowpunk, insurgent country, outlaw, alternative country, americana and other such and such.

First stop on this wagon ride is Wikipedia with a fine looking overview of Alt-country and the many connected artists (including a few fella Canadians):
Alternative Country Encyclopedia Entry

A little dated now, but here some Canadian content from the Exclaim magazine on Alt Country - trying to sub define some of the styles:
Alt-Country in Exclaim Magazine

Now that we have a few introductions taken care of, here are a few links of historical interest that might help you understand where this thing called alt country came from:
Urbane Cowboys - A nice summary of a great study by John Molinaro

Who is alt-country? Here's a pretty long list:
Insurgent Country . net

A few more musicians are here:
More Insurgent Country

For some current news on the worldwide alt country scene check out online:
Americana-UK.com

One of the few magazine in print that focuses on alt-country type roots music is No Depression. A great resource with nice long stories about your favourite artists:
No Depression.net is here

For lazy afternoon reading on the porch, I only know of three books specifically on the subject. The first two are put out by the magazine people above:

Buy The Best of No Depression Here

Check out the First No Depression Book here: An introduction to Alternative Country Music (Whatever that is)

And another book:
Buy Modern Twang Here: An Alternative Country Music Guide and directory

So, what is Alt Country, you ask? If you read everything above and still don't know...well I don't know what to say. I guess stop by again, and I'll play you a couple tunes. A song is worth a thousand words. I best be moseying along...

- Tunerustler