www.CyberianCowboy.com

Christmas 2001 Compilation CD Onliner Notes:
Alternative Country

I'm not making this up, you know. There really is a music genre called "Alternative Country." It's also referred to as "Alt.Country," "Insurgent Country," "Roots," "No Depression," "Twangcore," and a number of other things.
What is it? One manifesto puts it this way:
It is our reaction to the stagnation of the commercial country establishment, as well as to "indie" rock's recent willingness to be slopped at the corporate troughs. It is music that is as informed by George Jones as it is The Clash---if not in sonic content, then in aesthetic outlook. Of course, some artists may lean a little more to one side or the other, but all are dedicated to fighting the grim battle against line-dancing, smoke machines, and 7th generation Nirvana rip-offs singing earnest professions of emptiness. Also, we're all probably in agreement that The Eagles should be publicly flayed.
That may be a bit extreme. I prefer to think of Alternative Country as music that I like, and leave the social criticism to the musicians themselves.
There are record labels, like Bloodshot and Catamount, that specialise in this stuff. There is a magazine, No Depression, and a bunch of web sites devoted to it. Scholors, apparently desparate for research topics, have analysed it (Molinaro, 1998; Peterson and Beal, 2001). I just like listening to it and I especially enjoy the puzzled looks on the faces of my country/western and trendy dance club friends when I present them with it.

Still not convinced? Listen up, then. Here are some Y'alternative music sites on the Internet radiowaves, broadcasting lo as I speak:
Radiowa, www.radiowa.com
I'm probably listening to this right now, because the play list looks exactly like my CD collection and I'm too lazy most of the time to get up and put CDs in the player. And thanks to Dapples at Radiowa for linking to CyberianCowboy!

Biker Bar Radio, www.bikerbarradio.com
A broader and sometimes strange mix of alt.country, blues, and classic rock.

Pappy Yokum's Campfire, www.angelfire.com/music4/pappyyokum
Campfire music with emphasis on the "camp." Singing cowboys from the '30s, Ennio Morricone movie scores, Marlboro commercials, and other FABULOUS stuff. Get out your rhinestones, cowboy.

For Christmas this year I put together a compilation of things I've been listening too lately. It's not all brand new (some of it was released years ago) and it's not all anti-popular (Toby Keith and the Dixie Chicks are here). I'm sure the alt.country purists will object, but I love upsetting people.
Below are some notes to go with the CD. Click on the images associated with each selection for links to the record or artist. You could even buy something from an obscure record label, if you're inclined to support struggling musicians.

[1] Kashtin
"Akua Tuta"
from A Native American Odyssey Lots of music cataloguers and record stores put alternative country under the heading "Roots," because it comes out of bluegrass and folk traditions as opposed to Nashville studios. Fair enough. But fairer still to look further back for our roots. So here's something I chanced upon while visiting the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. Kashtin is a Canadian band made up of Montagnais Indians from Quebec's north coast. They sing in the Innu language, which has elements of Quebecois, so the Cajun fiddle is entirely appropriate. I am told the lyrics are something about being alienated from the earth.

[2] Donna the Buffalo
"Yonder"
from Positive Friction This is quintessential alternative country: rootsy, twangy, modern but traditional, a little cutting edge, and recorded by a band no one has ever heard of and as far from Nashville as you can get. In this case: Ithaca, New York. But everybody who hears this debut album loves it. So why can't Donna the Buffalo get any play on the air or in the clubs? Go figure. Donna the Buffalo is decidedly a country band, but sometimes you hear them and ask yourself "what country?" Some of their stuff sounds Jamaican, some South African. But "Promised Land" is wide-open prairie American. It's also a very fast two-step (believe me, it can be done).

[3] Gurf Morlix
"Wild Things"
from Toad of Titcaca Gurf Morlix is tough to find in the record bins. Will it be under Rock, Folk, or Country? Is it a band or a person? Will it be under "G" for Gurf or "M" for Morlix? Don't bother asking anyone at the record store. They won't have a clue. So here's the story: Gurf Morlix was sideman and/or producer for Lucinda Williams, Robert Earl Keen, Slaid Cleaves and a host of other alternative country artists for years, until the release of Toad in 2000, his first solo album, which leads off with this future classic.

[4] Donna the Buffalo
"No Place Like the Right Time"
from Positive Friction The problem I had with Donna the Buffalo's Positive Friction was deciding what tracks from it NOT to put on this compilation. Using just one cut just wouldn't be enough, but three would be too many. So I had to settle on two. One had to be "Promised Land" for the reasons I stated above. For the other track I settled on "Right Time" because fit best with everything else I have on this compilation.

[5] Sally Timms
"Dreamin' Cowboy"
from Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos More quintessential alternative country, you say? Yes, but this is also my nod to all my friends in Rock Against Sexism in the UK and US. Sally Timms is from Leeds and has been with the Mekons since 1985. Cowboy Sally is just what the title says: a collection of cowboy laments, written and sung by a woman who displays severe gender identification issues (Cowboy Sally?) throughout most of her lyrics. Perhaps the issues are more apparent than real. After all, with a few notable exceptions (the Patsys Montana and Cline, for example), cowgirls haven't been treated too well in popular country western music. So why not break the mold?

[6] Toby Keith
"Shoulda Been A Cowboy"
from Cowboy Up I've decided that my definition of Alternative Country includes anything I happen to like and if it fits the mood of the moment, even if it was performed by a big-name Country Western star and recorded in a Nashville studio. And nothing could follow Sally Timm's "Dreamin' Cowboy" better than this, the national anthem of the land of lost opportunities.

[7] BR5-49
"Too Lazy to Work, Too Nervous to Steal"
from This Is BR5-49 BR5-49 has been around for years and has several albums out, so why they entitled their latest This Is BR5-49 baffles me. But this really is them, and the title of this particular cut may explain why they keep on playing.

[8] Wilco
"Passenger Side"
from A.M. Bowing to the conventional wisdom of alternative country playlists, I looked around for something by Wilco. I had trouble coming up with anything worthy of comment this group has done since their 1995 album, A.M., in spite of the air play they get. I selected this cut more for the lyrics, which sound like a slice of my life story, than for any other reason. I recall some music critic commenting that when Uncle Tupelo broke up back in the 1990's, Son Volt got all the brains and talent, and Wilco got all the pop music instincts. So Son Volt was damned to obscurity for its hauntingly beautiful and completely inaccessible music, and Wilco was damned to success as America's best imitation of Oasis.

[9] Son Volt
"Streets that Time Walks"
from Wide Swing Tremelo And here we have Son Volt, the brains of alternative country. But OK, I confess: this is actually my favourite shadow dance number. I don't understand one word of the lyrics, but it sounds sooo romantic. DJ Dawn knows I love this, and plays it whenever she sees that I'm within striking distance of a potential shadow dance victim. Be on guard.

[10] Mark Weigle
"Two Cowboy Waltz"
from The Truth Is Most of what Mark Weigle does is a too touchy-feely-politically-correct for my tastes, but anyone who needs an explanation for why this is on my alternative country collection hasn't been paying attention. This is about as alternative as you can get.

[11] Dixie Chicks
"Cowboy Take Me Away"
from Fly I apologise for putting another pop country/western track on this compilation, but it matched Mark Weigle's Waltz so well, I couldn't resist. And this is rootsy-sounding enough to pass.

[12] Sally Timms
"Dark Sun"
from Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos Forget the generalizations I made above about Cowboy Sally. This stands out as unusual. First, there's no gender identification issue here. More to the point, this isn't a lament like Sally Timms' other tracks. This is dark and angry, in the tradition of the Mekons, from whence she came.

[13] Ian Tyson
"Old Cheyenne"
from Cowboy Up Always end a compilation with something sad and lingering, even if it isn't exactly "alternative."

Cyberian Cowboy is cenydd@CyberianCowboy.com

This page updated May 18, 2002.

[1]	Kashtin "Akua Tuta" from A Native American Odyssey	Lots of music cataloguers and record stores put alternative country under the heading "Roots," because it comes out of bluegrass and folk traditions as opposed to Nashville studios. Fair enough. But fairer still to look further back for our roots. So here's something I chanced upon while visiting the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. Kashtin is a Canadian band made up of Montagnais Indians from Quebec's north coast. They sing in the Innu language, which has elements of Quebecois, so the Cajun fiddle is entirely appropriate. I am told the lyrics are something about being alienated from the earth.

[2]	Donna the Buffalo "Yonder" from Positive Friction	This is quintessential alternative country: rootsy, twangy, modern but traditional, a little cutting edge, and recorded by a band no one has ever heard of and as far from Nashville as you can get. In this case: Ithaca, New York. But everybody who hears this debut album loves it. So why can't Donna the Buffalo get any play on the air or in the clubs? Go figure. Donna the Buffalo is decidedly a country band, but sometimes you hear them and ask yourself "what country?" Some of their stuff sounds Jamaican, some South African. But "Promised Land" is wide-open prairie American. It's also a very fast two-step (believe me, it can be done).

[3]	Gurf Morlix "Wild Things" from Toad of Titcaca	Gurf Morlix is tough to find in the record bins. Will it be under Rock, Folk, or Country? Is it a band or a person? Will it be under "G" for Gurf or "M" for Morlix? Don't bother asking anyone at the record store. They won't have a clue. So here's the story: Gurf Morlix was sideman and/or producer for Lucinda Williams, Robert Earl Keen, Slaid Cleaves and a host of other alternative country artists for years, until the release of Toad in 2000, his first solo album, which leads off with this future classic.

[4]	Donna the Buffalo "No Place Like the Right Time" from Positive Friction	The problem I had with Donna the Buffalo's Positive Friction was deciding what tracks from it NOT to put on this compilation. Using just one cut just wouldn't be enough, but three would be too many. So I had to settle on two. One had to be "Promised Land" for the reasons I stated above. For the other track I settled on "Right Time" because fit best with everything else I have on this compilation.

[5]	Sally Timms "Dreamin' Cowboy" from Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos	More quintessential alternative country, you say? Yes, but this is also my nod to all my friends in Rock Against Sexism in the UK and US. Sally Timms is from Leeds and has been with the Mekons since 1985. Cowboy Sally is just what the title says: a collection of cowboy laments, written and sung by a woman who displays severe gender identification issues (Cowboy Sally?) throughout most of her lyrics. Perhaps the issues are more apparent than real. After all, with a few notable exceptions (the Patsys Montana and Cline, for example), cowgirls haven't been treated too well in popular country western music. So why not break the mold?

[6]	Toby Keith "Shoulda Been A Cowboy" from Cowboy Up	I've decided that my definition of Alternative Country includes anything I happen to like and if it fits the mood of the moment, even if it was performed by a big-name Country Western star and recorded in a Nashville studio. And nothing could follow Sally Timm's "Dreamin' Cowboy" better than this, the national anthem of the land of lost opportunities.

[7]	BR5-49 "Too Lazy to Work, Too Nervous to Steal" from This Is BR5-49	BR5-49 has been around for years and has several albums out, so why they entitled their latest This Is BR5-49 baffles me. But this really is them, and the title of this particular cut may explain why they keep on playing.

[8]	Wilco "Passenger Side" from A.M.	Bowing to the conventional wisdom of alternative country playlists, I looked around for something by Wilco. I had trouble coming up with anything worthy of comment this group has done since their 1995 album, A.M., in spite of the air play they get. I selected this cut more for the lyrics, which sound like a slice of my life story, than for any other reason. I recall some music critic commenting that when Uncle Tupelo broke up back in the 1990's, Son Volt got all the brains and talent, and Wilco got all the pop music instincts. So Son Volt was damned to obscurity for its hauntingly beautiful and completely inaccessible music, and Wilco was damned to success as America's best imitation of Oasis.

[9]	Son Volt "Streets that Time Walks" from Wide Swing Tremelo	And here we have Son Volt, the brains of alternative country. But OK, I confess: this is actually my favourite shadow dance number. I don't understand one word of the lyrics, but it sounds sooo romantic. DJ Dawn knows I love this, and plays it whenever she sees that I'm within striking distance of a potential shadow dance victim. Be on guard.

[10]	Mark Weigle "Two Cowboy Waltz" from The Truth Is	Most of what Mark Weigle does is a too touchy-feely-politically-correct for my tastes, but anyone who needs an explanation for why this is on my alternative country collection hasn't been paying attention. This is about as alternative as you can get.

[11]	Dixie Chicks "Cowboy Take Me Away" from Fly	I apologise for putting another pop country/western track on this compilation, but it matched Mark Weigle's Waltz so well, I couldn't resist. And this is rootsy-sounding enough to pass.

[12]	Sally Timms "Dark Sun" from Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos	Forget the generalizations I made above about Cowboy Sally. This stands out as unusual. First, there's no gender identification issue here. More to the point, this isn't a lament like Sally Timms' other tracks. This is dark and angry, in the tradition of the Mekons, from whence she came.

[13]	Ian Tyson "Old Cheyenne" from Cowboy Up	Always end a compilation with something sad and lingering, even if it isn't exactly "alternative."