r/altcountry

A lot of the sounds I hear coming from Alt Country records leave me wondering how much the artist is Neil Young influenced. A lot of the guitar tones, songwriting, overall production and mainly the pacing & tone of the lead vocals give me so many NY vibes.

I’m not super knowledgeable in the Alt-Country field as much as I love the genre so I don’t know the answer to this. I especially hear it in records like MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks and Jason Molinas Magnolia Electric Co

Im also not super familiar with loads of albums in the field so if anyone has any recommendations they would be appreciated.

All of them are great and probably filler free. But my ranking is

1. Little Victories. His magnum opus in my opinion. For a man in his fifties who started singing late in life, he sounds phenomenal, the production is rocking sounding on some songs but knows when to quiet down, and the songwriting is pristine. Not to say it isn't on other albums.

2. Trailer Tapes. I like how his voice sounds younger here and there is a certain squeak to it that went away later in his career, and whoever mastered these tracks did an excellent job making the quality excellent. I also think there is a certain integrity that comes with the fact that they're all acoustic recordings, and he sells them just as well as his studio recordings I think. It also doesn't suffer from the loud production that bothers me about some of his recordings.

3. Chris Knight. Again, I really like how his voice sounded in his younger years, and while I don't think the production suits him as well as his latter albums, it's nice to hear him sound country, and I think it works better with his young voice than it would've later in his career. Also, for his debut album he had the most material to choose from. Most artists who write their own songs have a strong debut.

These are my main three albums by him that I consider to be his ultimate works. Play any of these and I will be content. Now, onto the rest.

4. Trailer II. I like this one for the same reasons as the first volume but I like the material on the first Trailer Tapes a bit better overall.

5. Enough Rope. Probably the one I've listened to most. Very strong material and probably his most consistently good album.

6. Pretty Good Guy. I don't know this one as well but I do know that most Knight fans consider this his best album. It contains his most well known song, Down the River, and while the song is a masterpiece it is just a little too long for me to listen to often. Good album though.

7. Heart Of Stone. This one, like the last one, I don't know as well. I really like the title track and Go On Home though. I feel like I need to listen more times to truly appreciate it. Also, as a younger person, I find it easier to relate to his younger topics. I think you can start to hear the age in his voice in this one but he still sounds much the same.

8. Jealous Kind. The fact that I put this so low goes to show what a great artist he is. If anyone listened to it as their introduction to Knight they would not believe he has greater works. I considered putting it higher because it contains Me and This Road, my favorite song by him.

And 9. Almost Daylight. This album is technically good, but he sounds old and he includes covers. They're good covers, but it's weird to hear Chris Knight sing songs I already know when he has always written. I also don't like the production choices on this album. It sounds too much like a rock album. That being said, it's still excellent considering his age. We're just spoiled with his others.

Anxious to hear other people's thoughts on this!

I'm currently doing an Anders Parker binge. I forgot how much I love those Varnaline records!

Feels like there's no alt-country without Nebraska. It might even be the most important alt-country album of all time.

Tom Petty is some kind of mix between the Beatles, Dylan, and the Flying Burrito Brothers. Would he be considered a second wave alt-country figure, and if so which songs and albums? Wildflowers?

"I played death for cigarettes, got the cancer in my lungs".

He posted on his instagram story that he was playing a house show with Jawdropped in my neighborhood, was sooooo excited and he really did not disappoint!! Felt so special, he played a lot of new songs which were super tender and rockin. Reminded me so much of old modest mouse!

The crowd would not stop talking though, which was annoying/distracting and I felt bad because they were sooo good and deserved more appreciation lol

Curious if he’ll do more house shows in other cities, keep an eye out!