The year's most inexplicable musical fad was the vastly overrated genre of
"Americana"— a/k/a "No Depression," "progressive country," "regressive country,"
"independent country," "insurgent country," "alternative country," "neo-traditional
country," "garage country," "cow punk," "twangcore," "y'alternative," "grange." For
every Lucinda there are 50 Freakwaters and for every Shaver there are 100 Backsliders.
Long on sincerity and short on talent, these are sensitive, educated, well-meaning
writers who genuinely lament the end of Route 66 consciousness and the blanding of
America. Which is why no one, critics or peers, wants to dog them.
Michael Lipton
Charleston, West Virginia
