Lucero and other indie country type stuff
 

http://www.lucerofamily.net/

There's this band called Lucero that plays up here quite a bit (Fayetteville, AR), and in other places around. Their website has some free live recordings. This sort of sub genre interests me. I'm not a fan of what passes for country these days, but I hold nothing against good songs with a little twang. Haven't found much of it that's worth a damn though. Best I can do is these guys, Wilco/Uncle Tupelo, and Drive-by Truckers. I'm sure there's more out there.

So, uh, check it out if you're interested.

I'll check it out. Along with Drive-by Truckers. As you, I don't really care for country, for I'd love to hear another band similar to Wilco & Uncle Tupelo. Perhaps a dumb question, but have you listened to Son Volt?

No, but I'll try to track some down.

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Son Volt is a Jay Farrar deal. I suppose that puts it along with the Uncle Tupelo/Wilco lineage.

yup. More rockin' than Wilco. I think I like Wilco more, but Son Volt is still one of my favorites.

Kris Roe of the Ataris covered Lucero's "Nights Like These" when I saw them back in October. That was the first time I had ever heard of the band.

Whiskeytown? They were the only alt-country act I ever really got into.

Lucero opened for Yellowcard when they came to my school this fall. From what I caught of it, they sounded pretty good.

these guys are kind of cool. from austin, the coolest place to see music. or so i have read.

http://www.lilcapntravis.com/

here's a sampler...
http://www.glurp.com/lilcapntravis.mp3

Austin is one of the better college towns around.

Not so sure about lil capn travis. They're a little bit too relaxed, a little bit cliched, though that's true of a lot of stuff in the genre. Only one song though.

For some reason, a lot of these type bands have kind of a mid-90s alt rock kind of sound. I'm not sure why, but I blame it on Uncle Tupelo. They started the whole mess. Still, there are some gems in there. I'm still trying to get a feel for this Drive-by Truckers album. More to come.

that's actually just one i've heard on the radio
the rest of their stuff is more hicky and drinky

Nice to see the Truckers get some love. I guess Uncle Tupelo would have to be my favorite of this genre but I love the Truckers, Son Volt, and Wilco too (although Wilco hasn't really fit this label since the release of AM or possibly Being There). The only Whiskeytown I own is Faithless Street, which I really like a lot. Haven't heard any of their other stuff yet. I really like Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker album too (although, admittedly, it's not as hard rockin' as most of the bands we're talking about).

Some of Mark Knopfler's recent stuff is some really great stuff that could be lumped in with this genre too. Definitely worth checking out. His three most recent solo albums are all great (his first one is pretty good too).

Any of you ever checked out Jason & the Scorchers? Pick up or check out samples of Rock On Germany if you get a chance (recorded live in Germany in '85 or so). Some great stuff.

If you're into this type stuff, a band I recently discovered and have quickly fallen in love with is Okkervil River. From Austin, TX. They are unbelievable, the country comes through more on some songs than others, catch the occastional slide guitar. I highly, highly suggest any of their albums, I'd start with either Black Sheep Boy or Don't Fall In Love with Everyone You Meet.

Austin is really the epicenter of country music. Nashville is just L.A. all over again. There are really dozens of great bands in the Texas/Oklahoma music scene that have an alternative and/or neo-traditional sound. If you like this sound these are some of the bands I would recommend:

Jason Boland and the Stragglers; Cross Canadian Ragweed; Reckless Kelly; Bleu Edmonson; Dub Miller; Mike McClure; Stoney LaRue; Honeybrowne; Speedtrucker; Mickey and the Motorcars; Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers.

This is the music I listen to almost constantly. There are a few people who have since made the jump to Nashville, but personally I don't like much of the music that they've produced since then. But older Pat Green and Gary Allan is pretty cool stuff. Charlie Robison is still pretty cool.

I really really dig Jimmy Ryan. He used to play in the Blood Oranges, but they were too ahead of their time. www.jimmyryan.net