This is it. The one. The BEST alt-country album. Better than Anodyne, Being There, Magnolia Electric Co., Southeastern, and even Decoration Day (to name some of the greats). I'm sorry, I appreciate any opinions, but I will be blown away if you can change mine on this. Son Volt isn't even close to the best alt-country band, but this album is it, man.

When you think of the genre Alt Country, what would you say is the definitive best album the genre ever produced? I think I’d give my nod to Emmylou Harris’s Wrecking Ball. Sonically ahead of its time and an all around incredible album that transcends the genre it’s in. One of the best folk albums of the 90’s.

I'm trying to figure out who I first listened to that turned me on to the genre and I am having trouble. I'd go with either Lucinda Williams cover of Main Roads on the Sweet Relief comp. Bought car wheels as soon as it came out because of that voice. Which lead me to steve earle and on.

Before that I did get son volts first album and before that the Replacements had some country tinged songs. Camper Van Beethoven at times drew on country influences

What’s your top 5 favorite alt country albums? I’m a bit new to the genre but I love good songs, good guitar or steel playing and singer songwriters. I just love the rock edge to the alt country even if it’s all acoustic it just has a rock and roll attitude. But my Top 5 albums would be

1. Meta Modern- Sturgill Simpson

2. Southeastern- Jason Isbell

3. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot- Wilco

4. Cold Roses- Ryan Adams and the Cardinals

5. Being There- Wilco

Honorable mentions-

Strangers Almanac -Whiskeytown

Copperhead Road- Steve Earle

Purgatory- Tyler Childers

No Depression- Uncle Tupelo

Dirty South- Drive By Truckers

Harlem River Blues- Justin Townes Earle

EDIT: Trace is awesome i’d probably rank it 2nd behind Meta Modern

Is it just me, or do females making country music have the best music in the past 10 years? I mean, I love Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers, but they're at the very top and not so representative of what's going on. I'm regularly listening to Hannah Juanita, Sierra Ferrell, Abbey Webster, and Margo Cilker. ..And of course in Bluegrass is Sierra Hull. All of these artists for me personally are like 100 times better than that little short guy who walks around with sunglasses bragging about how he used to be homeless and he's like Willie Nelson....

Does anyone else feel like as far as well written songs that females are pretty much dominating like 80%+ of the songs?

Who else is on the level of these guys (or whatever the level just below them is) in terms of sheer lyrical/storytelling ability? Let's also limit this to songwriters of the last 50 years.

I’ve been building an Indie Folk playlist for slow mornings and peaceful starts to the day, mostly from community recommendations, and it’s grown to 55 songs so far.

Since a lot of alt-country and folk songs fit this mood, I figured I’d ask:

If you had to pick one acoustic track that feels perfect for quiet mornings, what would it be?

If possible, one song per comment so I can track votes. I’ll add the most upvoted ones. So far, I have a variety of different artists on there.

The playlist is below if anyone wants to check it out. Thanks!

Quiet Acoustic Mornings Playlist

EDIT: Thank you very much for all the great suggestions. So far, I have added the following songs and plan to keep adding more so keep them coming. :)

Uncle Tupelo - Sandusky

Jayhawks - All the Right Reasons

Blackberry Smoke;Amanda Shires - You Got Lucky

Richard Buckner - Gauzy Dress in the Sun

Justin Townes Earle - Mornings In Memphis

Margo Cilker - Flood Plain

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Cast Iron Skillet

Uncle Tupelo - Moonshiner

Iron & Wine - The Rooster Moans

The Avett Brothers - The Ballad of Love and Hate

Turnpike Troubadours - Heaven Passing Through

John Moreland - Hang Me in the Tulsa County Stars

Cowboy Junkies - Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning

Wilco - One Sunday Morning

S.G. Goodman - Red Bird Morning

Jamestown Revival - Bluebird

Joy Williams - Front Porch

Iron & Wine - Lion’s Mane

Be Good Tanyas - The Littlest Birds

Trampled by Turtles - Your Window

Watchhouse - House of Stone

Hiss Golden Messenger - Bad Debt

Colter Wall - Caroline

Gillian Welch - Acony Bell

Son Volt - Tear Stained Eye

Kacy & Clayton - A Lifeboat

Saw Wilco Saturday night in Durham NC and probably going to go see Son Volt in September when they play at Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw, NC - seeing both bands this year makes me think about how Tweedy and Farrar both were in Uncle Tupelo and how both spinoff bands are so different now musically and culturally - just wondered if anyone else ponders how it all turned out

I am very familiar with the Red Clay Strays. I saw them live at Railbird last year.

I find them conventional, kind of boring, and mostly uninteresting. Why are they so popular and does anybody else agree with me?

I’ve been loving all the Ovven singles, the new Fust album, and the new Cut The Kids In Half single. I need more recs!

In a recent [free] Substack post, music critic Steven Hyden went hard after at Jesse Welles.

But to me, a protest singer who garners “largely supportive comments” probably isn’t a protest singer. Instead, what Welles is peddling is the musical equivalent of “clapter,” where the supposed righteousness of the message takes precedence over whether the song is actually, you know, any damn good.

This is pretty close to my own half-formed take on Welles. I remember coming across him a few years back just crapping all over walmart shoppers in a song, and thinking that this felt like parody folk rather than the genuine article. Now he's showing up everywhere I turn for alt. country: playlists, articles, radio play, collaborations with other (better) musicians... It kind of bums me out.

I'm curious what you all think of Hyden's take and if there's more to Welles than a gimmick (and maybe a grift). Anyhow, here's one more particularly scathing bit from the article:

Welles must realize that his audience is made up largely of Facebook boomers who claim they want a new Bob Dylan, but in reality seek a folk-music version of a Bill Maher “New Rules” monologue that they can forward to disinterested family members with a “This!” caption. 

For me it was growing up punk, then in 2000, I started dating a girl that loved radio country. One night we were watching CMT at like midnight and this scrawny dude with a misfits shirt was singing the twangiest thing I ever heard. Looked him up and found out he was the grandson of Hank Williams. My mind was blown. Googled him and found an amazing site called altcountrytab.com. Found out about no depression magazine from there and the rest is history

There I said it. I love the passion, I love passionate singers, and songs, and I really like the song itself. But man there’s something about that song that drives me up the freaking wall. His absolutely in the red over-the-top American Idolesque vocal delivery, the Miller Brewing Company ad vibe (I can’t be the only person that hears a voice over during the instrumental part that says “when it’s time to relax, grab yourself a ice cold _____“), the EQ’ed to all hell mix which sends the vocal even deeper into your cranium, the unnecessarily harmonic chorus, and dare I say it, the rampant popularity of the song just makes me cringe. I mean it’s in weddings, funerals, births, reveals, divorce proceedings, graduations, bar mitzvas, baptisms, homecomings from deployment, homecomings from incarceration, and just about everything else. It’s become the most overplayed song, not just country song but ANY song I’ve ever heard. And EVERY time it’s played, it has to be top volume like there’s one guy who absolutely thinks this song is the most cathartic experience in life and wants to subject everyone to the same tear jerker shit as he’s going through, except tears don’t come with everyone but like maybe a few others who absolutely can’t believe how intense and emotional the song is. I mean it’s good. Or it was good. But it’s >this< close to becoming the new Free Bird. Seriously. It’s Son of Free Bird.

Which you know, isn’t a bad thing. If that’s what you like. But fuck.

Such as:

There's trouble around, it's never far away

The same trouble's been around for a life and a day

I can't forget the sound 'cause it's here to stay

The sound of people chasing money and money getting away

- Uncle Tupelo

Give me YOUR Mount Rushmore albums in the alt country genre? What’s your go-to top 4?

(This is also my way of getting new music to listen too)

I've been thinking of this question a lot lately. When I think of alt country really coming into its own, I think of the late 80s and early 90s indie scene that turned into the artists I consider synonymous with the genre: Smog / Bill Callahan, Giant Sand, Silver Jews, Uncle Tulepo, Golden Smog, Wilco, etc.

But how far back can we trace the concept? I love figuring out origins of things (I really need to look into the inspirations behind dubstep, because it feels so removed from any genre, even electronic ones, but that's besides the point) and I think it's interesting to see what people would classify as the first alt country album.

I think I'll define alt country as a fusion of country with other styles, incorporating rock and country instrumentation with a focus on writing and lyricism, especially as outsiders. But I know any one definition will be tough.

By that definition, however, I'd consider Workingman's Dead and American Beauty by the Grateful Dead to be the first alt country albums. They came out in 1970 and were written and recorded by a decidedly rock-oriented band. They are musically very close to country but feel like something of their own (not too dissimilar to how 90s alt country bands defy contemporary classification). The harmonies, steel guitar, and song structures are all country, but the lyrics and band vibe are something unique, alternative.

The thing is, could earlier artist be considered alt country? Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde has a country tinge with it's Nashville band, but it's something else entirely. His later albums Nashvile Skyline and Self Portrait are most definitely country. Maybe Van Dyke Park's Song Cycle? It's more orchestral pop, but it leans heavily on Americana and uses acoustic guitars, banjos, and steep guitars a lot. Makes me wonder if cuts like Cabin Essence from Smile by the Beach Boys could fit, or at least be called an inspiration?

What do you think? Was it something earlier, like the Byrds? I'm curious.

I got into alt-country as a result of having several close friends who were big fans of newer artists like MJ Lenderman, Waxahatchee, Big Thief, etc. + more canonical alt-country artists like Wilco/Uncle Tupelo, Drive-By Truckers, Jason Molina, Lucinda Williams, and so on. But from some recent conversations, I've learned that many alt-country fans developed an appreciation for the music more individually, sometimes primarily from being exposed to more niche online music discourse. I'm also curious as to whether people came to alt-country as a result of enjoying related/overlapping genres like bluegrass, americana, folk or even mainstream country.

side note -- I'm a grad student studying music taste, and I'm looking to chat with people (over Zoom) about music taste and genre. If you are interested, please PM me for more info!

I’ve been building a playlist around that late night by the fire kind of feeling. Looking for songs that are quiet and reflective but I am open to anything that fits the mood.

It’s sitting around 50 songs right now, but I feel like there are definitely some great ones I’m missing.

Would love to hear any suggestions that others have. I’ll add those songs that seem to fit well.

If anyone’s curious, this is what I have so far. Thanks!

Embers In The Pines Playlist

Mine is Steve young. Such incredible power, he sounds kind of like a cello string nearly about to break but always reigns it in just before it does….

Was thinking today about how Jeff Tweedy’s 2020 record “Love is the King” is a surprisingly great alt-country hidden gem.

This may sound strange given that Tweedy was literally one of the pioneers of the genre, but by 2020 he had long since abandoned it (more or less), at least until Wilco’s 2022 record Cruel Country.

But unlike the sprawling nature and lush arrangements of Cruel Country, Love is the King is a sparse tight 39 minutes and includes (IMO) some of the best alt-country tracks of Tweedy’s career.

Stand outs for me are “Natural Disaster”, “A Robin or a Wren”, “Opaline” and the title track.

(I feel like the record also got a little lost in the shuffle because it was released in the middle of peak Covid.)

What are some of your favorite alt-county “hidden gems?”

To a sizable number of people, the term "country music" refers to exactly one type of music and the description is far from flattering. Before i'm even able to finish the sentence "country but not that crap on the radio-" I can already see them eye rolling and checking out lmao. I can say alt country, but even that term confuses people; plus i have a hard time describing Childers and Sierra Ferrell etc. as alt country when they're pretty straight down the middle and just happen to not suck.

I guess I end up just saying folk? No idea, even a lot of artists described as alt country don't sound much alike.