Hey alt.country fans

Cafe Society
1

gimme your top five AC albums.

mine:

  1. Wilco: Being There
  2. Whiskeytown: Faithless Street
  3. Uncle Tupelo: Anodyne
  4. The Blood Oranges: Corn River
  5. Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels…

(honorable mention to The Gourds who aren’t really “alt”)

2
  1. Steve Earle: “El Corazon”
  2. Lucinda: “Car Wheels”
  3. Whiskeytown: “Stranger’s Almanac”
  4. James McMurtry: “Walk Between the Raindrops”
  5. Various Artists: “Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons”
3

The Jayhawks: Tomorrow the Green Grass
Wilco: Being There
Jayhawks: Hollywood Town Hall
Jayhawks: Sound of Lies
Wilco: AM

4

I’ll echo:

Steve Earle: “El Corazon”
Lucinda Williams: “Car Wheels On A Gravel Road”

and add:
Jimmie Dale Gilmore: “One Endless Night”…any JDG for that matter.

Wilco/Billy Bragg: both “Mermaid Ave.” albums.

Iris DeMent: everthin’

Cheri Knight(of The Blood Oranges) “The Northeast Kingdom”

Dale Watson: “The Truckin’ Sessions”— Dale is the possessor of the most full-bodied traditional Country voice to come down the pike in awhile. He doesn’t kowtow enough to Nashville however, so has been overlooked. Same could be said of Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

5

And, Damn, hafta add Kelly Willis, too. She’s got the voice of a traditional country angel, tried the Nashville route, and ended up back in Indy Austin. That gal can pure-fire * Sang*!!!

6

Well, crap, I only listen to one alt country band, and they’ll tell you they aren’t alt country.

The Bottle Rockets.

“Brooklyn Side” is a super disc, and “Brand New Year” and “24 Hours a Day” are very strong, as well. The lead singer was a guitar tech or something like that for Uncle Tupelo, IIRC. Anyway, they play great music and they are awesome live.

7

Have you guys heard the Townes Van Zandt tribute album? It is seriously good.

And I really like Lucinda’s “Essence”, but I understand if you think it’s too slow.

8

Survey, I almost put The Bottle Rockets, too. They’re one of my favorite bands- the only bumper sticker on my car- but I’d categorize 'em as a Great American Bar Band. Anyone with altcountry leanings would probably love 'em though.

The fine Daddies of Nashville N’ere Do Wells would be:

Townes Van Zandt
Joe Ely
Butch Hancock
Doug Sahm
Steve Earle

9

Well, depending on how you define “alt country” …

[ol][]Trace - Son Volt[]Reverb Deluxe - The Derailers (Includes a great hidden track: a country cover of “Raspberry Beret.”)[]Dog Days- Blue Mountain[]Fair & Square - Jimmie Dale GilmoreTulare Dust (a tribute to Merle Haggard) - Various Artists[/ol]

10

Eight posts in, and no one has mentioned Robert Earl Keen? I thought he was the King, or at least the crown prince, to you alt-country folks.

11

Ahh, my kinda thread…

  1. Gillian Welch - Hell Among the yearlings
  2. Gillian Welch - Revival
  3. Whiskeytown - Strangers Almanac
  4. Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne
  5. Son Volt - Trace

honorable mention: Brother Where Art Thou