Can you explain the appeal of alt-country to me?

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I don't expect an all-encompassing answer, but I would love one. As an aspiring critic, it's my goal to understand and fairly critique every known genre that I can. There are a couple thousand alt-country albums in this world, and some of them are huge hits. But to me, much of it, like the Lucinda Williams catalog and the Magnolia Electric Co. album are so repetitive. What do alt-country fans get from the music?

Think this why: Why do you like it? What is it about alt-country that you love??


I hope any alt-country fans here can get as in-depth as possible, using specific artists as examples. This is a reviews site, to be fair. Also: THIS IS NOT ASKING FOR SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS.



You ready? You look ready.
What do alt-country fans get from the music?
More country.
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"This is that human freedom, which all boast that they possess, and which consists solely in the fact, that men are conscious of their own desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been determined." -Baruch Spinoza



Love the genre, one of my faves. The name doesn't fit because it tends to be more folk like Whiskeytown, Son Volt or Gillian Welch. Where as Lucinda Williams, Jeff Tweedy and the Be Good Tanyas are more country. Some are even more rock like Cowboy Junkies and Wilco.

It is a very broad genre.



Love the genre, one of my faves. The name doesn't fit because it tends to be more folk like Whiskeytown, Son Volt or Gillian Welch. Where as Lucinda Williams, Jeff Tweedy and the Be Good Tanyas are more country. Some are even more rock like Cowboy Junkies and Wilco.

It is a very broad genre.

Lots of genres are broad, but there are common factors, right? That's what separates it as its own artform.



I see it as a sub-genre that encompasses many mainstream styles without a true art form within itself. If it does, it's more of a laid back style, easy listening, per se.

Doesn't really answer your question, just the way I see it.



This, from Wikipedia, seems like a reasonably fair description:

"In the 1990s the term alternative country, paralleling alternative rock, began to be used to describe a diverse group of musicians and singers operating outside the traditions and industry of mainstream country music. Many eschewed the increasingly polished production values and pop sensibilities of the Nashville-dominated industry for a more lo-fi sound, frequently infused with a strong punk and rock and roll aesthetic. Lyrics may be bleak or socially aware, but also more heartfelt and less likely to use the clichés sometimes used by mainstream country musicians. In other respects, the musical styles of artists that fall within this genre often have little in common, ranging from traditional American folk music and bluegrass, through rockabilly and honky-tonk, to music that is indistinguishable from mainstream rock or country. This already broad labeling has been further confused by alternative country artists disavowing the movement, mainstream artists declaring they are part of it, and retroactive claims that past or veteran musicians are alternative country. No Depression, the best-known magazine dedicated to the genre, declared that it covered "alternative-country music (whatever that is)".

As far as I'm concerned, anything that gets away from the plastic, monotonous, androgynous sounding "country" music that one typically hears in the restrooms at truck stops and convenience stores, is okay with me. I like classic country: Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Sr., Kitty Wells, George Jones, and the like.



I think it's like the Alt-Right... ya know... like White Supremacist music about your girl leaving you, driving a big rig or hunting with your dog... right?



Thanks for the posts, everyone. They're helping, but I want to remind anyone reading the thread that I'm looking for a description of the appeal to it and what a fan may get from listening to specifically alt-country.



You ready? You look ready.
Thanks for the posts, everyone. They're helping, but I want to remind anyone reading the thread that I'm looking for a description of the appeal to it and what a fan may get from listening to specifically alt-country.
I really wasn’t joking when I posted earlier.

Sometimes subgenres are just a natural progression of interest. In the case of alt-country, I suspect an anti-Nashville mindset is the defining appeal of it.

Where I live, the local country acts sound nothing like what you’d hear on the radio. But I wouldn’t label any of them country because of the connotations. Artists around here try damn hard to not be country singers. And the preface alt comes with its own set of connotations that subvert the expectations.



OK, super special update time.




Lucinda Willaims' "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" was largely what I'm looking for, a not-so-repetitive alt-country album with many sides to it, but still very consistent. Many of her other albums are so one-sided... But, that's the kind of music I want to understand more.



OK, super special update time.

Lucinda Willaims' "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" was largely what I'm looking for, a not-so-repetitive alt-country album with many sides to it, but still very consistent. Many of her other albums are so one-sided... But, that's the kind of music I want to understand more.
May I suggest Mary Gauthier’s “Mercy Me” album. On a cheap phone and can’t post a link. But google is your friend. lol



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Just listen to some quality Gothic Country or Americana.


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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



I'm trying to ask what people (namely yourself) specifically get out of it. If only listening to alt-country worked I wouldn't have to ask. If you're an alt-country fan, PLEASE VERBALIZE THE APPEAL YOU GET FROM IT, like you were writing a review. Sorry, but I need that specific explanation to help me, so video recs will be ignored.



It's music, dude. Like it or leave it.



As an aspiring critic, it's my goal to understand and fairly critique every known genre that I can, but god forbid if I actually use my ears to actually bother to listen to anything anyone wants to share with my honest inquiry.
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