Alt Country? Whatever that is...

2005-11-14T21:00:00.000-05:00

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

Alt Country Canada

Alt Country? Whatever that is...