The development of alt.country comes from two angles. It is the emergence of a type of music and the coalescence of an audience. There have been, since the 1960s and '70s, country artists like Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, and Nanci Griffith who never existed comfortably within the mainstream of country; they created a kind of high-brow country, using the country musical tradition but more literate folk inspired lyrics. This folk sensibility, with its political implications, put them at odds with the escapist entertainment of the mainstream, but they still are thought of as Country and have never really challenged their place within the Country world. Alt.country, while allying themselves with these performers over the more mainstream acts, has consciously rejected a place within Country.

Cowboy Junkies

Country. . . .	Country?

Alt.country began to emerge in the very late '80s and early '90s. Every fan can probably point to what they see as the pivotal moment, but I believe the emergence of two bands. First in 1988, the Cowboy Junkies released their album Trinity Sessions. The songs are sparse and beautiful country-folk with elements of the blues and jazz and pay homage to Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, and traditional music. Its significance lies not so much in the music itself but in its marketing and the fans it attracted. The album was stocked not in country sections of stores, but with "rock" or "alternative" music; the grainy, high contrast black and white photo on the cover does not resemble the packaging of popular country music. The Junkies' publicity came not from country magazines and radio but from rock magazines like Rolling Stone and VH1 cable TV. Their name too both references and cuts against the of "Country." Obviously the cowboy is an important symbol in the mythology of country music, yet the association with junkies stands against that mythological image suggesting a seamy underside to the American archetype. Heroin too has strong ties with punk culture, and the juxtaposition may also allude to the process of creating a new "tradition." That is, if country music can produce a new thing- the singing cowboy in the '30s- it can produce a cowboy junkie too- a new thing for a new era. The Junkies were clearly cultivating an audience that did not include traditional country fans.

Cowboy Junkies, Hank William's "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"

Musically the Junkies reintroduced "traditional" styles, and updated them, to a new audience. Clearly, country and blues were not unknown to educated younger Americans, but the minimalist interpretation of these styles may have been the first "acceptable" country album to enter many people's collections. The stylistic changes made to many of the older songs brought them out of the past, establishing the band as a link between the past and present, rather than cultural tourist approach of much of country music, where the past is something to be viewed but remains inaccessible. The Junkies inclusion of "Sweet Jane" also signaled that they existed outside the mainstream of country. Most music critics considered the Velvet Underground, who originally recorded the song, the source of an "alternative" stream of popular music and serve as a signifier of a type of musical literacy that the "ignorant masses," middle America, do not have access to.

Uncle Tupelo

The second pivotal moment was Uncle Tupelo's debut No Depression in 1990. Most alt.country fans will agree that Uncle Tupelo found the perfect marriage of punk and country. The band and the album name give a sense of time and place that is reinforced by the music and the two traditions from which it draws. The opening song "Graveyard Shift" sets the theme that I am examining in alt.country. The music begins with a country-ish lick that explodes into fuzzed guitars of garage punk- moving from the past to the present and connecting the two. The lyrics establish the connectivity between the Reagan era heartland and the Depression dustbowl, "Some say land of paradise/ Some say land of pain/ Well which side are you looking from," establishes the polarities of wealth and deprivation. The Carter Family's version of "No Depression" was an anthem, a rallying point against the despair of a nation based on African-American spirituals which masked social unrest in Christian ideology. Uncle Tupelo's version appeared at a time when a generation was facing similar circumstances, yet much of the nation remained unimpacted. Uncle Tupelo then twists the originals intent, casting off the conventional wisdom that there was no depression, that this was a time of prosperity. As "Life Worth Livin" shows, the Carter Family's original intent still exists in the Uncle Tupelo's work. The lyrics "this song is for the broken spirited man..." attempts to create the type of community to which early country music aspired. Much of the album though is a wake up call, illustrating the unseen failures and offering snapshots of the hidden depression. "Life Worth Livin'" concludes with the statement that "it's still mostly down around here," indicates that the music and a sense of community alone will not affect the situation.

Uncle Tupelo's "Life Worth Livin'"

Uncle Tupelo's first two albums employed this mixture of country of punk establishing their style outside of traditional country, but on their third album they created a completely acoustic sound and mixed traditional folk songs and original songs that were virtually indistiguishable from the older material. The album opens with "Grindstone"