Country Jam Rock
tagStarted 1969Peak 1970-1976Last big hit still active
Located in 2 routes
Country rock stretched out for the long haul: loose, improvisational arrangements where pedal steel and twangy lead guitar trade extended solos over a rolling, danceable groove. Built on country, bluegrass and folk changes but jammed like a Grateful Dead set, it favors interplay, road-song storytelling and barreling, good-time momentum.
History
Sprang from late-1960s San Francisco when Grateful Dead-affiliated players formed New Riders of the Purple Sage in 1969, bolting psychedelic improvisation onto country song forms. The Dead's own Workingman's Dead deepened the strain. Decades later jamgrass acts like Leftover Salmon and String Cheese Incident revived it across the modern festival circuit.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Panama Red — New Riders of the Purple SageSpotifyYouTube
- Friend of the Devil — Grateful DeadSpotifyYouTube
- I Don't Know You — New Riders of the Purple SageSpotifyYouTube
- Cumberland Blues — Grateful DeadSpotifyYouTube
- Gulf of Mexico — Leftover SalmonSpotifyYouTube
- Henry — New Riders of the Purple SageSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Riders_of_the_Purple_Sage
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_jam_bands
- https://www.leftoversalmon.com/band
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workingman%27s_Dead