> > I'd be
> > hard-pressed to think of examples of instrumentals in the
> alt.country field
> > that don't fall pretty clearly into the out-of-classic-country stream,
> > rather than the, er, UT-and-before-and-after one.
>
> One problem I see with your logic, Jon, is that much of the rock side of
> alt.country's influences (especially the punk artists), for whatever
> reason, don't include many instrumentals. Bands influenced by the
> Clash, the Sex Pistols, and the Velvet Ungerground tend to sing (or
> shout), because vocals are essential to their music.
That's my point. Even hedged with all kinds of qualifications, I think it's
fair to say that in general, where vocals are essential, there's an
orientation toward communicating emotions, ideas, etc., and technique and,
well, skill - at least instrumental - are more than occasionally seen as, at
best, irrelevant to that.
> The Sadies have a few on their album (I think the
> surf influence has a lot to do with it...
Not to mention the bluegrass/country one <g>, which I'm reminded of because
there was a fairly recent inquiry about the Good Brothers over on bgrass-l.
>But these are atypical examples.
Eeyep.
Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
