Alt-Country: The '90s

With bands inspired by country instrumentation but obsessed with the electric guitar crunch of alternative rock and the no-holds-barred attitude of punk, alt-country started as a niche movement in the late ‘80s. Then Uncle Tupelo released the seminal No Depression in 1990, considered the first true alt-country record. Suddenly the movement spread, thanks to a core of bands and artists like Wilco and Son Volt—formed after Uncle Tupelo splintered—Lucinda Williams, The Jayhawks and Whiskeytown, who were fronted by a young Ryan Adams. Hear how a country sideshow became a phenomenon, even bringing its own stars like Emmylou Harris into the fold, over the ‘90s.