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Top 10 Alt-country bands

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2013/04/alt_country_best_bands.php

Attached is an URL for an interesting article in the Dallas paper about the Alt-country sub-genre. I really like most of these bands. If you don't dance to the Gourds, you don't have a spine. I would add Alejandro Escovedo and Steve Earle to this group. Any other alt-country artists of note?
maxnewid
66 responses Add your response
winoguy17
1,082 posts
 
Southbound Jesus.
winoguy17
1,082 posts
 
Screwed up again, should be EASTbound Jesus...
Ag insider logo xs@2x
mattkimb96
107 posts
 
Sons of Bill......saw then in a small venue in Charlotte and bought all 3 CD's after the show.....if you like Steve Earle & Poco, chances are you will like these guys....by the way Poco should be on this list!!
uncledemp
706 posts
 
Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jason Boland, Jason Isbell, Robert Earl Keen, Chis Knight, Stoney Larue, Bleu Edmonson, Roger Creager, Whitey Morgan, Randy Rogers, Whiskey Myers, Hank III, Cory Morrow,

Jerry Jeff Walker (live) is the first I heard sneaking into my otherwise rock and roll circle back in the 70's.  
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,412 posts
 

Gurf was Lucinda Williams' original guitarist/bandleader/producer, and is great on his own as well. He is playing and producing around Austin now.

Buddy Miller, the best bandleader/guitarist/singer/producer in the world currently---a real MVP! Makes great records, with and without his wife Julie, as well as Emmylou Harris.

Someone already mentioned them, but surely the best and most influential Band who can be called A-C has to be The Band, who were an alternative to the whole musical and cultural climate of the late 60's, showing the way out of that mess. And we would be remiss in not reminding ourselves that Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis are about as Country as you can get, and were very alternative to Nashville for long periods of time. Okay, they're not Bands, but.....

slaw's avatar
slaw
20,402 posts
 
After reading the posts above, I think The Jawhawks should be included here.

Going back to roots..

Flying Burrito Brothers
Eagles
CCR
slaw's avatar
slaw
20,402 posts
 
Byrds
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,412 posts
 
Absolutely Slaw. The Byrds were pioneers with their Notorious Byrd Brothers and Sweethearts of the Rodeo albums, right around the time of Dylan’s John Wesley Harding and The Band’s Music From Big Pink, two other hugely influential Country-ish albums. Not enough credit is given to bassist Chris Hillman for the Byrds move into hard Country; he had been playing Bluegrass before joining The Byrds, the other guys being more Folkies. It was Chris who brought in Gram Parsons, and the two of them started The Flying Burrito Brothers, from which The Eagles emerged.
slaw's avatar
slaw
20,402 posts
 
Ryan Bingham?
slaw's avatar
slaw
20,402 posts
 
another "not band" JJ Cale.
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slaw
20,402 posts
 
maybe the most obviously overlooked and most "alt" of all.. Neil Young.
martykl
3,578 posts
 
Another one that deserves mention is Junior Gone Wild. They played country inflected music with rock n roll energy and a sometimes very funny lyrical take on "the morality play" that informs a lot of Louvin Brothers inspired country music.
uncledemp
706 posts
 
I agree with the Byrds and Jayhawks, great bands. I ended up with a good many JL Lewis albums- Jimmy Swaggart's cousin I think, piano playing fool!
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,412 posts
 
I have to mention The Everly Brothers, from whom lots of Bands and Groups (The Beatles merely copied the brothers and Buddy Holly), including Alt. Country ones, got their harmony formula. Of course, the brothers got their harmony from the old Bluegrass guys like The Louvin Brothers (as just mentioned by the always-on-target Marty) and The Carter Family. Around the time The Byrds and others were moving into Country, The Everly Brothers put out their "Roots" album, and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band put out their influential "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" album, both studied by the younger guys coming up.
zardozmike
193 posts
 
Gram Parson!
bajaed
264 posts
 
Beat Farmers oh yeah! Saw them and their alter egos The Incredible Hayseeds many times back in the day.
RIP Country Dick Montana.
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