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Pop Music News BytesStories too short to include on any pages of their own.Nicole Sandler and Alternative Country (Jan 17, 2002)Nicole Sandler checks in, and I quote...Hi Everyone, I'm posting this message as a Special Notice, so some members of the list who haven't heard from me in a while are receiving this. Thus, a brief update is warranted. Alison and I moved to Taos, New Mexico a few months back. I thought the small town life was just the right thing for us. Unfortunately, I was wrong. I've been programming a very cool little radio station, KTAO. Though I really like the people, and the station is a fantasy for someone like me, I've realized that we need to be near our family. So, we're packing up and moving to South Florida. I have a job lined up, doing an airshift on Sirius Satellite Radio's Alt-Country channel. I'll be building a home studio, and doing it from there, and pursuing other voiceover work as well. Though Sirius isn't available yet in cars (it will be in early February), they are now streaming online. So, I invite you to check it out! I'll be on the Alt Country channel... featuring artists like Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, Lyle Lovett, etc. It's Channel 36. You'd probably also enjoy checking out the Triple A channel, known as E-17. I hope to be up and running by the end of February! Thanks again for your support! Nicole Sandler What is country alternative? I'm familiar with traditional country (not the watered-down pop type), but alternative? What's that? Garth Brooks in a mohawk? Some other examples: Man or ASTROman - Beyond the Black Hole Ween - White Pepper Dar Williams - The Green World Sam Phillips - Fan Dance Freedy Johnston - Blue Days / Black Nights Alison Krause & Union Station. Stacey Earle and Buddy & Judy Miller. Steve Earle.Where to listen to alt country? Sandler answers that "you can listen to the Alt Country channel that Sirius is offering (along with their other offerings) on the internet right now, at http://www.siriusradio.com ." Sandler also says that "The Lucky One" by Alison Krauss is very good and plays quite a bit of it at KTAO radio. Sandler's favorotes in this genre.... Everything by Ryan Adams (both Heartbreaker and Gold albums are magnificent) and Whiskeytown The Jayhawks (I particularly like Sound of Lies, though it's their least popular album) Wilco Shelby Lynne (though I Am Shelby Lynne is so much better than the new one) Lucinda Williams (both Essence and Car Wheels on a Gravel Road) "I'm not a big fan of really twangy stuff either... but I guess I'll learn to love it!"Comment from Margo: "Hey Everybody! All this talk about 'twangy' music reminds me of a couple of albums I loved as a girl but havent heard in ages. Does anyone remember a band called Lone Justice? Their lead singer was a girl with an aweseme voice named Maria McKee. Or how about Rachel Sweet? She was only about 16 when she put out her first album, (that was way back in the early 80's I think) but she was amazingly talented!! If I remember correctly she covered Elvis Costello's "Allison" on one of her follow-up albums and did a mighty fine job of it. Anyway, I guess this is just means I'll be spending some time on Morpheus this weekend looking for some of these old songs. Thanks for reminding me of them!!" Comment from Jim: "OK, so I admit...I whimped out on the country pretty quickly... I promise to try to ease my way into it..I really like all the artist Nicole mentioned....Was it on RP that I heard the comment that Shelby Lynn is a country singer that can't get played on country radio?....perfect for Y'alternative. On the bright side, I have been streaming the Sirius triple A station E-17...very nice." Comment from Dr. Michael Knight: "In looking at Alt Country, I would think one would definitely want to toss in the names of Ryan Adams, Shelby Lynn, Lucinda Williams, Rodney Crowell, Gillian Welch, Robert Earl Keen, Lyle Lovett, Raul Malo / Mavericks, Nanci Griffith, Marcia Ball, Joe Ely, Radney Foster, and Alison Krauss among others... In an email posted on this board a while back, someone mentioned a little ol' station out of Austin, Tx - KGSR (www.kgsr.com) - which offers a nice mix of Alt Country and AAA for those of you who are "curious" but who are afraid of jumping into the Alt Country scene too fast! :) "(In case many of you were unaware, Austin - that bohemian, eclectic "heaven" for all of us who are native-born Texans - is becoming quite a "mecca" for a lot of new emerging musical talent... Check out the SXSW - South by Southwest - music and media conference that is held down there each spring - I think Mar 8 - 17 this year... They generally have a website up...) "Speaking of Alison Krauss, we are fortunate to have Nickel Creek performing here in Park City (UT) next weekend... Alison served as a "mentor" of sorts to these emerging stars, and I think you'll be seeing their name and music out there in the Alt Country / bluegrass / pop genres very soon... "Best wishes to you and your daughter, Nicole... Thanks so very much for what you have given (and continue to give) to those of us who love music." From Bruce Greenberg: "Can we slip in Patty Griffin into the alt-country group. If not, that's okay, everyone just go out and buy at least one of her two great CDs. She can sometimes be a bit twangy (hell the Dixie Chicks recorded one of her songs) but her lyrics are sooooo good, you just go right on past it. " Hope that enlightens you on some examples of what alternative country is. Some of that used to be played on 91X believe it or now (Lone Justice for example.) For the WorldClassRock mailing list (how to subscribe, etc.), please surf over here... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/worldclassrock - A group for former listeners of WorldClassRock.com, Channel 103.1, KSCA..... More on Alternative CountryFrom Wthcpa:The Austin station is good BUT it is loaded with commercials. A better Austin alternative is the mighty KUT a non-profit NPR station during the day with great music at night. http://www.kut.org/ The best KUT DJ (with shows on 4 nights) gives an intelligent view of Texas Music. http://www.larrymonroe.com/ A better commercial alternative is the Texas Rebel Radio with 24 hour programming from a little station in Fredericksburg, Texas http://www.texasrebelradio.com/a1/listenlive.htm However, my favorite station is the Third Coast Radio Network broadcast from a small 6,000 watt station located on the campus of San Antonio Community College. The music links are awesome. http://www.accd.edu/tcmn/ After you spend some time with these stations, you will realize that the Nashville commercial (big record company) sound SUCKS! Good listening! |