I said of the V-Roys audience
>the crowd was a really roadhouse-country-rock-lovin'
> bunch, who wanted their roots as loud and straight-up and danceable as
> possible.
And Dave P retorted:
>Is that any different from people at a Metallica show not wanting to
>hear Lars & co sound like Celine Dion? Or Ziggy Marley fans not
>wanting Ziggy to pull a glam-rock move?
Nope, it ain't, and those are good comparisons (since like Tweedy,
Metallica and Ziggy have both been held up as standard-bearers by fans for
their respective genres). However, that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to
hear Ziggy Marley do a Velvet Goldmine soundtrack number, or that he
shouldn't do so if he wants. And yeah, it would be kinda silly for him to
whine and complain if reggae fans didn't appreciate his sudden penchant for
Roxy Music and crushed-fabric blue evening dress. (Still if I heard someone
verbally bitchslapping him for it, I'd be inclined to say, well, hold on,
that's some fine glamrock Mr. Ziggy's turned out there, open your ears. So
I'm swinging both ways on this one.)
But my point was that P2 in general has established itself as a place where
eclecticism is not only tolerated, but in some ways demanded. Which
distinguishes it from your standard roadhouse crowd or even the usual
cliques of genre devotees. (I don't think the same applies to No Dep to the
same degree, by the way - it is more devoted to promoting the genre qua
genre, though it's not close-minded.)
>If they can sell to a roadhouse audience, great -- but they
>shouldn't be surprised if Mike Ireland goes over better than Wilco.
>Ditto with bands who play roots music with camp or irony.
Good point. It's worth noting here that Wilco's own roots have nothing to
do with roadhouses - UT was a post-punk indie band, not a rockin' bar band,
and that's a vast cultural divide. The alt-country scene includes both, as
Dave's examples indicate. The backlash in the Henry and Wilco articles
represent alt-twang way too monolithically.
On the other hand, I disagree with Jon W.'s claim that nobody in the ND/P2
world has ever cried sellout at groups like Wilco. When a band known as
alt-country moves away from twangier sounds - the Old 97s, Wilco, whoever -
there's usually a comment made to the effect that it seems like a
combination of "artistic development" and label pressure and/or commercial
ambition, because as we all know twang doesn't sell. Now, on P2, that's
usually accompanied by a "not that there's anything wrong with that" (which
I find just a touch more convincing than the same excuse for anti-gay jokes
on Seinfeld). But even if those comments are made in a spirit of complete
objectivity, I think in the 90s it's hard for a songwriter to hear claims
that changes in their sound are commercially driven without interpreting it
partly as a dig.
I've looked at twang from both sides now...
Carl W.
