Ambient I Alt-country I Americana I Anti-folk I Art rock I Blue-eyed soul I Conscious Rap I Electro I Emo I Fence Collective I Folk traditionalist I Folktronica I Freak Folk I Fridmann's Freaks I Gangsta rap I Garage I Grime I Hardcore I Heavy Metal I House I Hip-Pop I Indie rock I Manufactured pop I Montreal scene I Neo-Psychedelia I Nordic pop I Post-rock I Power-pop I Progressive rock I R&B I Second Childhood I Singer-songwriters I Slowcore I Synth pop I Techno

Key acts: Lucinda WIlliams, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Ryan Adams

To understand exactly what alt-country is, simply remove the “alt-”. And there you have it. Alt-country is country. So why put an “alt-” in front of it at all? Because alt-country is what country used to be, way back before Nashville turned it into a slick offshoot of manufactured pop. The “alt-” says: “This is country, but it’s not Garth Brooks and it’s not Shania Twain.” The alt-country movement took country back to basics in much the same way that punk reminded us what rock was all about in the first place, harking back to the heart-wrenching yet foot-tapping songs of Hank Williams and drawing inspiration from key country-rock artists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, notably Gram Parsons and the former Monkee Mike Nesmith. Cowboy Junkies were playing alt-country before the name was invented, and their cover of the Velvet Underground’s Sweet Jane illuminated the shared territory of rock and country that was explored by Ryan Adams and Wilco, thus drawing a rock audience to the emerging alt-country genre. Alt-country singers can vary widely in style, from the prim sweetness of Laura Cantrell (a favourite of John Peel) to the raucous drawl of Lucinda Williams.

ESSENTIAL RECORDINGS

Recent: Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998); Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002); Laura Cantrell, Not the Tremblin’ Kind

Classic: Hank Williams, I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (1949); Gram Parsons, Grievous Angel (1974); Michael Nesmith & the First National Band, Loose Salute (1970)

Key track: Emmylou Harris, Hold On (2008)

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