Alt-Country / No Depression Scene
tagStarted 1990Peak 1995-2003Last big hit still active
Located in 2 routes
Punk and indie attitude fused with traditional country: jangling and distorted guitars, twangy steel, ragged-but-earnest vocals, and lo-fi to roots-rock production. Literate, often bleak lyrics about Midwestern decline and dead-end towns. Country's heart played with underground-rock intensity and DIY ethos.
History
Defined by Uncle Tupelo's 1990 debut 'No Depression,' which lent its name to the genre's flagship magazine and a byword for the movement. After the band split into Wilco and Son Volt, Whiskeytown, the Old 97's, and the Bottle Rockets carried it through the 1990s, seeding the broader Americana category that followed.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- No Depression magazine archives
- Wikipedia: Uncle Tupelo / No Depression (album)
- Bill C. Malone, Country Music U.S.A.
- AllMusic alt-country essays