Joe Pernice

With a wistful melancholia straight out of decades earlier, Joe Pernice emerged in the late 1980s with downcast backwoods crooners Scud Mountain Boys. However, it was at the helm of the Pernice Brothers, who melded the Byrds' country rock experimentation with the Beach Boys' oceanic pop and lyrics, dangling precariously between eternal longing and contentment, which made Pernice an alt-country icon. As a solo artist, Pernice has proven highly adventurous and predictably eclectic, with diverse works including a soundtrack to his 2009 debut novel.