Carl wrote:
>I think if you look at the P2 Survey you'll see the untruth of this. I'm
>convinced that alt-country is a (as Monsieur London puts it) "tailbust" and
>"gen-x" phenomenon. A glance around the audience at any alt-country show
>I've attended shows it skewing way to folks in their late-20s to mid-30s,
>with a smattering of younger and older.
Hi Carl - first, let me say that I am not questioning anything which Jake
posted or which
you and he discussed. Interesting, well thought-out read and I can't wait
for the Cliff Notes to come out on this
However, I have a few comments if you will.
I wouldn't at this point consider the P2 survey to be an accurate
representation of the average listener and record buying/concert going
public. A high percentage of listmembers are either music writers, critics,
dj's, musicians, other industry personnel or those who have a deep love for
and knowledge of music. It may not be fair to assume comparisons when
persons involved in the industry have greater access to indie releases and a
usually more saturated and comprehensive view of form and structure. So,
while the P2 survey was insightful, I don't believe it should be taken as
an accurate assessment as to what's going on in the minds of your average
consumer.
I've found most alt.country shows to be a mixed bag of patrons for the most
part. I don't think I could say that one particular age group takes
precedence. However, I do remember a BR5-49 show where the audience
"looked" decidedly twenties to thirties and the same was true of a
Freakwater and Marah show. But then, I also consider that many people of
the baby boom age aren't routinely going to clubs or frequenting concerts.
Most of their disposable income is outlayed elsewhere with perhaps a video
rental on a Saturday
night. Yet, that generation (whether first wave or second or the third wave
"tailbust" as Jake referrred to it) grew up on folk, rock-n-roll, beatnik
prose, protest marches, rockabilly, The Nashville Sound,
traditional country, soul, motown, pop, the california sound, the philly
sound, southern-rock etc; and we like those elements incorporated into the
music we prefer to listen to. Alternative country seems to be "home" for
many of us as opposed to new country or alt.rock.
I would much rather listen to a good old Linda Ronstadt tune than suffer
through the pop/country blandness which I find in recordings from say,
Trisha Yearwood or JoDee Messina who have both listed Ronstadt as an
influence upon their work. I do think it's correct to say that a certain
percentage of the Gen X'ers are drawn to alt.country, but that may only be
for the bands which evolved from the post-punk era. Even then, it seems to
me that the main influence upon that group was more in the direction of
radio-friendly metal (Van Halen, and its ilk), the glam-rock pop such as
Duran, Duran and the emergence of hip-hop and rap. Country took a decided
downturn for some time in the eighties until the "new traditionalist" style
came along and took hold and for many of the Gen X era, country just wasn't
"cool". So, for many of the now young to mid thirties crowd, I don't think
country had much to do with their likes and dislikes, rather rock and punk
was the driving influence. That group's attraction to alt.country may be in
the style which uses a base of punk-rock for the body of their work.
However, punk-rock is not lost on those born during the second or end wave
of the baby boom generation. That generation in total experienced probably
the most widely diversified stylings of popular music heretofore or since.
It is only natural that we would be able to relate to the grand mixture of
styles which alt.country provides.
Tera
The punk connection of the
>"insurgent" side in particular makes the demographics fairly easy to track.
>Refer back to the Wilson-London chronicles for various bafflingly vague
>descriptions of the broader implications of this general pattern.
>
>I do think it's important that alt-country has a Gen-X connection (and as
>Jake noted, even a few years difference in age has some important
>implications for where in musical-cultural history you'll stand). And I'd
>also assert New Country is much more boomer-oriented than is alt-country -
>thus HNC takes its rock influences from Billy Joel, not from the Clash.
>
> Carl W.
>
>
