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Jason And The Scorchers

Jason and the Scorchers

Jason & The Scorchers were a pioneering Alt country band led by Jason Ringenberg whose sound combined punk with country music. One publication once called them "the great lost band of the [nineteen] eighties." A native of Illinois, Ringenberg founded the group in 1981, and they soon established a strong reputation among indie-rock circles. However, the band was considered a novelty in their hometown, Nashville, Tennessee, as their fusion of punk rock and honky-tonk music was somewhat unprecedented. Generally speaking, a marriage between country music and rock n' roll was not a new concept. Innovators like Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan, The Band, The Byrds, The Rolling Stones, and the Grateful Dead had all successfully blended traditional country with rock n' roll, and some of rock's earliest pioneers like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins established their reputations on rockabilly, rock music borne out of country traditions. However, all of those efforts pre-dated the raw sound of punk and alternative music, movements that reduced rock music back to the basics before redefining a new path for it, and by 1981, most country forays in rock n' roll often resembled mainstream pop, as exemplified by the ever-popular Eagles. Rock critic Jimmy Guterman reports that in late 1983, during a concert held "in the basement of a now-boarded Philadelphia dive...Jason Ringenberg balanced himself on a rickety stool...and wished aloud what he wanted his band to sound like. 'Like a religious service,' he said wistfully, 'only a lot dirtier.'" According to the band's website, the Scorchers worked out "on stage what they had in their heads and hearts from their teenage years: roots in country, hearts in rock, minds more or less in the gutter. All the members of the band grew up around country music, but they were interested in rock as well. The way [guitarist] Warner Hodges told it, his father (who was a traveling USO musician) heard Warner's bands thrashing through Van Halen and Kiss-type songs and suggested that if they played Merle Haggard or Johnny Cash, it would sound great. So perhaps it was one part their own doing, one part Edgar Hodges', and one part divine inspiration." As Guterman would later report, "onstage, the early Scorchers...eschew[ed] all subtlety. Drummer Perry Baggs concentrated on destroying his snare with style, and bassist Jeff Johnson stood intent and rail-straight, an ideal foil for the two wild men up front...Guitarist Warner Hodges slid from delicate lap steel to Keith Richards-style guitar heroics without making one seem like a departure from the other. Whether he stood at the lip of the stage, leaning over the audience, sucking a cigarette, or he spun himself into speedy circles that would have made any mere mortal dizzy, Hodges personified the country boy too thrilled to be rocking to care how ridiculous he looked. The same went for Ringenberg. His own dancing during the rocking numbers suggested (The Honeymooners) Ed Norton on methamphetamines, but when he strapped on his acoustic guitar and stood center stage, no one could argue that he wasn't haunted by the ghosts of Hank [Williams] and Lefty [Frizzell]." The Scorchers eventually released their debut, D.I.Y. EP, Reckless Country Soul, in 1982 on the independent Praxis label. Guterman would later write that it "captured the explosive band in its untutored infancy...Across its four terse, hilarious songs - full of rants against British hair bands [on 'Shot Down Again'], analyses of Jerry Falwell's shortcomings as a marriage counselor, and an irreverent homage to Hank Williams - the band was able to erect a sound that approximated nothing so much as Joe Strummer hurling a wrecking ball through the Grand Ole Opry. This was no joke." The EP was well-received for an independent release, and when EMI signed the Scorchers in 1983, more copies were soon repressed and repackaged as an expanded record titled Fervor. By now, the Scorchers were fairly popular as a live act, and rock critics from noted publications began to take notice. Robert Christgau praised Fervor in his "Consumer Guide" column, writing that "crossing Gram Parsons's knowledge of sin with Joe Ely's hellbent determination to get away with it, Jason Ringenberg leads a band no one can accuse of fecklessness, dabbling, revivalism, or undue irony. The lyrics strain against their biblical poetry at times, but anyone who hopes to take a popsicle into a disco is in no immediate danger of expiring of pretentiousness." Fervor also attracted much attention for its groundbreaking cover of Bob Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie." A song which originally appeared on Dylan's Blonde on Blonde in 1966, the Scorchers' version did not originally appear on Reckless Country Soul but was added as a bonus track to Fervor. Fervor earned a great deal of critical praise, placing at #3 on The Village Voices Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1983, and the Scorchers quickly followed it with two full-length LP's: Lost & Found and Still Standing. Both albums were critically acclaimed (particularly Lost & Found which placed at #22 on the Pazz & Jop for 1985), but neither achieved any chart success. Pre-dating country music's popular neotraditionalist movement of the late '80s and early '90s, the Scorchers were unable to obtain substantial airplay on either rock radio or country radio, as mainstream rock stations considered them "too country" while mainstream country stations considered them "too rock." In 1987, EMI dropped the Scorchers from its label, and Jeff Johnson left the band. After a three-year "fallow period," the Scorchers released a third LP, Thunder and Fire, where they steered more towards hard-rock. Reviews were mixed, often negative, and sales were disappointing. "The songs were more metal-influenced," according to the band's website, "as Warner [Hodges] had a big hand in the production. Then Perry Baggs was diagnosed with diabetes during a tour in 1990. Warner called Jason and said he couldn't do it any more. As Warner said it later, 'we didn't break up, we fell apart.'" After the Scorchers split, Ringenberg turned to country-oriented solo work, Hodges moved to Los Angeles to work in the video business, and Johnson moved to Atlanta while Baggs remained in Nashville. A few years later, EMI Records hired Jimmy Guterman to compile a compact disc retrospective of the Scorchers' music. A single compact disc containing 22 tracks, Are You Ready for the Country?: The Essential Jason and the Scorchers, Volume 1 was issued in the fall of 1992, including all of Fervor, Lost and Found, and five rarities. (Reportedly, plans for a second volume never materialized.) The compilation would fall out-of-print years later, replaced by a shorter compilation that excluded all of the rarities, but it helped introduce the Scorchers to a new generation of listeners who were experiencing a different musical landscape. By the mid-1990's, following the unprecedented success of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Green Day, alternative music had broken into mainstream culture; this change in the music scene encouraged the development of Alt country, a movement presaged by bands like Lone Justice, X and the Scorchers. Groups like southern Illinois's Uncle Tupelo and Nashville's the Kentucky Headhunters were now building on the developments made by their predecessors. According to the band's website. it was around this time that "Jeff [Johnson] bought a copy of Essential Jason and the Scorchers, Volume 1...He liked it and decided to try to re-unite the band." Johnson contacted Hodges first, who hadn't played guitar in roughly a year. Hodges hung up on Johnson after hearing him suggest a reunion, but Johnson called six more times that same night. Eventually, Johnson tried Ringenberg, calling him at four in the morning "until Jason agreed to do it." Hodges eventually agreed to a reunion as well, "with his rationale being 'Okay, I won't be the bad guy.'" Baggs also agreed to the reunion, and with the original Scorchers together again, the group began touring in 1993. The reunion shows were a critical and commercial success, eventually extending into 1994. A demo tape of new recordings were also made that year, and Ringenberg was able to secure the band to a new contract with Mammoth Records in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band then released a new album in 1995, titled A Blazing Grace, which returned them to their original sound. The Scorchers then released another new record, Clear Impetuous Morning, in 1996. In 1997, Johnson amicably departed from the band, wishing to be with his wife and essentially retiring from the music business; he was replaced by Kenny Ames. A live album, Midnight Roads and Stages Seen, was recorded that November and later released in May of 1998. In 1999, Walt Disney Records folded Mammoth Records, two years after buying them out, leaving the Scorchers without a label. Since then, the band has independently released a live concert from 1985 on Ringenberg's own homemade label, Courageous Chicken Records. Titled Rock on Germany, it was released in 2001.

External links

- http://jasonandthescorchers.com/
- http://www.jasonringenberg.com/ Category:Alternative country

Alt-country

Alternative Country is a term applied to various subgenres of country music. The term can refer to several ideas. Most generally, any musician who plays a type of country music different from the prevailing trend can be said to play "alternative country". By this standard, for example, the Bakersfield sound was alternative in the 1950s, and the Lubbock, Texas musicians were alternative in the 1960s. In the 1990s however, "alternative country" came to refer to a disparate group of musicians and singers operating outside the traditions and industry of mainstream country music. In general these musicians eschewed the high production values and conservative outlook of the Nashville-dominated industry, to produce music with a lo-fi sound, frequently informed with a strong punk and rock & roll aesthetic, bending the traditional rules of country music. Lyrics are often bleak, gothic or socially aware. Otherwise, the musical styles of artists that fall within this genre often have little in common, ranging from traditional American folk tunes and bluegrass, through rockabilly and honky-tonk, to music that is indistinguishable from mainstream rock or country. Indeed many alternative country artists come from punk and rock backgrounds. This already broad labelling has been further confused by alternative country artists disavowing the movement, mainstream artists declaring they are part of it, and the retroactive claiming of past or veteran musicians as alternative country. No Depression, the most well known magazine of the genre, declares that it covers "alternative-country music (whatever that is)". Despite this confusion, it is generally agreed that alternative country resulted from two opposed influences on country music. The first is traditional American folk music and styles, the music of working people, preserved and celebrated by practitioners such as Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams and The Carter Family. The second is country rock, the result of fusing country music with an aggressive rock & roll sound. The artist most commonly identified as the originator of country rock is Gram Parsons (who referred to his sound as "Cosmic American Music"), although Jason and the Scorchers and Steve Earle are frequently identified as important innovators. These two styles merged in Uncle Tupelo's 1990 LP No Depression, the first identifiably modern alternative country record. Alternative country is popularly referred to, especially in print, as "alt-country" or sometimes "alt.country". The genre is also referred to under a large number of other names, including "americana", "insurgent country", "no depression", "cowpunk", "progressive country", "regressive country", "lo-fi country", "roots rock", "twang core", "rural contemporary", "country-punk", "y'allternative", "hick rock" and many others.

Alternative country musicians

- Absolute Whores
- Ryan Adams
- Dave Alvin
- Be Good Tanyas
- The Beauty Shop
- Willie P. Bennett
- The Blacks
- Blackie and the Rodeo Kings
- Blood Oranges
- Blue Rodeo
- Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
- The Bottle Rockets
- Boxharp
- Cory Branan
- Ed Burleson
- Cletis Carr
- Neko Case
- Calexico
- The Cash Brothers
- Kasey Chambers
- Clothesline Revival
- Caitlin Cary
- The Coal Men
- Corndaddy
- The Sadies
- The Court and Spark
- Cracker
- Cross Canadian Ragweed
- Cowboy Junkies
- Damnations TX
- Desolation Angels
- Johnny Dowd
- Drunk Stuntmen
- Drive By Truckers
- Fred Eaglesmith
- Steve Earle
- Kathleen Edwards
- Eleven Hundred Springs
- Joe Ely
- Evangenitals
- The everybodyfields
- The Famous
- Farmer Not So John
- Geraldine Fibbers
- Rosie Flores
- Freakwater
- Robbie Fulks
- Jimmie Dale Gilmore
- Go to Blazes
- The Gourds
- Grievous Angels
- Patty Griffin
- Lys Guillorn
- The Handsome Family
- Butch Hancock
- The Hangdogs
- Hazeldine
- Hemingway Corner
- Iron & Wine
- Jason Boland and the Stragglers
- Joe Henry
- John Wayne Army
- The Jayhawks
- Kelly Hogan
- The Hogwaller Ramblers
- Robert Earl Keen
- Alison Krauss & Union Station
- Lambchop
- Jason and the (Nashville) Scorchers
- k.d. lang
- Lone Justice
- The Knitters
- The Long Ryders
- Lost Dakotas
- Lost Dogs
- Corb Lund
- Lucero
- Shelby Lynne
- Kate Maki
- Carolyn Mark
- Maria McKee
- James McMurtry
- Shannon McNally
- Linda McRae
- Minibar
- Allison Moorer
- My Morning Jacket
- The Mountain Goats
- Nickel Creek
- Nine Pound Hammer
- Nora O'Connor
- Mary Margaret O'Hara
- Oh Susanna
- Okkervil River
- Old 97's
- Old Crow Medicine Show
- Over the Rhine
- Will Oldham
- Palace Brothers
- Gram Parsons
- Pine Valley Cosmonauts
- The Red Dirt Rangers
- The Refreshments
- The Revenants
- Reckless Kelly
- Josh Ritter
- Matthew Ryan
- Big Sandy and His Fly Rite Boys
- Scroat Belly
- Scud Mountain Boys
- Shaver
- 16 Horsepower
- Slobberbone
- Smog
- Son Volt
- Souled American
- Stratochief
- Television Hill
- Uncle Tupelo
- Two Tons of Steel
- Townes Van Zandt
- Waco Brothers
- The Walkabouts
- Dale Watson
- The Weakerthans
- Gillian Welch
- Whiskeytown
- Jim White
- Lucinda Williams
- Wilco
- Luther Wright and the Wrongs
- The Yayhoos
- Dwight Yoakam
- Neil Young

References

- Alden, Grant; & Blackstock, Peter (1998). "No Depression: An Introduction to Alternative Country Music. Whatever That Is". Dowling Pr. ISBN 1891847007.
- Goodman, David (1999). "Modern Twang: An Alternative Country Music Guide and Directory". Dowling Pr. ISBN 1891847031.

External links

- [http://www.americana-uk.com Americana UK - world's biggest alt-country website]
- [http://www.slipcue.com/music/country/countrystyles/alt/A_01.html Joe Sixpack's alt.country music guide]
- [http://www.gumbopages.com/music/insurgent.html So what is insurgent country anyway?]
- [http://insurgentcountry.com/alt_country_defined_by_john_brandon.txt Alt.country defined]
- [http://www.nodepression.net No Depression - the journal of Alternative Country, a bimonthly magazine]

Internet Radio

- [http://www.twangcity.com Twang City - a broadband Internet radio station dedicated to Alternative Country and American Roots Music]
- [http://www.bootliquor.com Boot Liquor - Radio for Cowpokes, Cowhands, and Cow-Tippers]
-
- [http://www.live365.com/stations/t66tah MOXIE Radio - Internet radio for cowboys and hippies... Americana, Alt Country, Southern Rock, Country Rock, Outlaw Honky Tonk & Redneck Drinkin' Music] Category:Country music genres
- Alternative country

Jason Ringenberg

Jason Ringenberg was the lead singer of a band called Jason and the Scorchers. He is also a songwriter and guitarist. This band had several minor hits, including "Golden Ball and Chain" and a blistering rock version of Bob Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie." Ringenberg was especially influential in the mid-1980s when the indie country/rock fusion movement was at its height. His music, and that of similar bands, served as the roots for the "alt country" genre that would arise in the 1990s. He was born in Sheffield, Illinois and has resided in and around Nashville, Tennessee for many years. He is currently working as a solo artist, under his own name and that of Farmer Jason, where he releases farm yard themed children's songs. In 2002 he released an album of duets called 'All Over Creation' featuring Steve Earle, Lambchop, The Wildhearts and more. His most recent album, 'empire builders' was released in 2004. He was featured on the album Greetings From Cairo, Illinois by Stace England in 2005.

External links

[http://www.jasonringenberg.com/ Jason Ringenberg & Farmer Jason official site]

Country music

Country music, also called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the Southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, Celtic Music, Blues, Gospel music, and Old-time music. However, country music is actually a catch-all category that embraces several different genres of music: Nashville sound (the pop-like music very popular in the 1960s); bluegrass, a fast mandolin, banjo and fiddle-based music popularized by Bill Monroe and by the Foggy Mountain Boys; Western which encompasses traditional Western ballads and Hollywood Cowboy Music, Western swing, a sophisticated dance music popularized by Bob Wills; Bakersfield sound (popularized by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard); Outlaw country; Cajun; Zydeco; gospel; oldtime (generally pre-1930 folk music); honky tonk; Appalachian; rockabilly; neotraditional country and jug band. Each style is unique in its execution, its use of rhythms, and its chord structures, though many songs have been adapted to the different country styles. One example is the tune Milk Cow Blues, an early blues tune by Kokomo Arnold that has been performed in a wide variety of country styles by everyone from Aerosmith to Bob Wills to Willie Nelson, George Strait to Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley. Vernon Dalhart was the first country singer to have a nationwide hit (May 1924, with "The Wreck of Old '97") (see External Links below). Other important early recording artists were Riley Puckett, Don Richardson, Fiddling John Carson, Ernest Stoneman, Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, and The Skillet Lickers. Some trace the origins of modern country music to two seminal influences and a remarkable coincidence. Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family are widely considered to be the founders of country music, and their songs were first captured at an historic recording session in Bristol, Tennessee on August 1, 1927, where Ralph Peer was the talent scout and sound recordist. It is possible to categorize many country singers as being either from the Jimmie Rodgers strand or the Carter Family strand of country music.

Jimmie Rodgers' influence

Jimmie Rodgers' gift to country music was country folk. Building on the traditional ballads and musical influences of the South, Jimmie wrote and sang songs that ordinary people could relate to. He took the experiences of his own life in the Meridian, Mississippi, area and those of the people he met on the railroad, in bars and on the streets to create his lyrics. He used the musical influences of the traditional ballads and the folk to create his tunes. A annual festival has been held in Meridian for over 30 years. Pathos, humor, women, whiskey, murder, death, disease and destitution are all present in his lyrics and these themes have been carried forward and developed by his followers. People like Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Townes van Zandt, Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash have also suffered, and shared their suffering, bringing added dimensions to those themes. It would be fair to say that Jimmie Rodgers sang about life and death from a male perspective, and this viewpoint has dominated some areas of country music. It would also be fair to credit his influence for the development of honky tonk, rockabilly and the Bakersfield sound.

Hank Williams

Jimmie Rodgers is a major foundation stone in the structure of country music, but the most influential artist from the Jimmie Rodgers strand is undoubtedly Hank Williams, Sr. In his short career (he was only 29 when he died), he dominated the country scene and his songs have been covered by practically every other country artist, male and female. Some have even included him in their compositions (for example, Waylon Jennings and Alan Jackson). Hank had two personas: as Hank Williams he was a singer-songwriter and entertainer; as "Luke the Drifter", he was a songwriting crusader. The complexity of his character was reflected in the introspective songs he wrote about heartbreak, happiness and love (e.g., "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"), and the more upbeat numbers about Cajun food ("Jambalaya") or barbershop Indians ("Kaw-Liga"). He took the music to a different level and a wider audience. Both Hank Williams, Jr. and his son Hank Williams III have been innovators within country music as well, Hank Jr. leading towards rock fusion and "outlaw country", and Hank III going much further in reaching out to death metal and psychobilly soul

The Carter Family's influence

The other Ralph Peer discovery, the Carter family, consisted of A.P. Carter, his wife Sara and their sister-in-law Maybelle. They built a long recording career based on the sonorous bass of A.P., the beautiful singing of Sara and the unique guitar playing of Maybelle. A.P.'s main contribution was the collection of songs and ballads that he picked up in his expeditions into the hill country around their home in Maces Springs, Virginia. In addition, being a man, he made it possible for Sara and Maybelle to perform without stigma at that time. These two women were the musical talent. They arranged the songs that A.P. collected and wrote their own songs. They were the precursors of a line of talented female country singers like Kitty Wells, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Skeeter Davis, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton and June Carter Cash, the daughter of Maybelle and the wife of Johnny Cash.

Bluegrass

Bluegrass carries on the tradition of the old String Band Music and was invented, in its pure form, by Bill Monroe. The name "Bluegrass" was simply taken from Monroe's band, the "Bluegrass Boys. The first recording in the classic line-up was made in 1945: Bill Monroe on Mandolin and Vocals, Lester Flatt on Guitar and Vocals, Earl Scruggs on 5-String Banjo, Chubby Wise on Fiddle and Cedric Rainwater on Upright Bass. This band set the standard for all bluegrass bands to follow, most of the famous early Bluegrass musicians were one-time band members of the Bluegrass Boys, like Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, Jimmy Martin and Del McCoury, or played with Monroe occasionally, like Sonny Osborne, Ralph & Carter Stanley and Don Reno. Monroe also influenced people like Ricky Skaggs, Alison Krauss and Rhonda Vincent, who carry on the folk and ballad tradition in the bluegrass style.

Other influences

Country music has had only a handful of Black stars Charley Pride and Deford Bailey being the most notable. Pride endured much open racism early in his career with some radio programmers refusing to play a "nigger". Many TV audiences were shocked to realize that the songs they enjoyed were performed by a black man. Pride became the first black member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1993. He is considered a major influence on traditionalists today. Country music has also influenced the work of many black musicians such as Ray Charles and Keb' Mo'.

The Nashville sound

During the 1960s, country music became a multimillion-dollar industry centered on Nashville, Tennessee. Under the direction of Chet Atkins, the Nashville sound brought country music to a diverse audience. Although country music has great stylistic diversity, this diversity was strangled somewhat by the formulaic approach of the record producers like Chet Atkins. They played safe to protect sales. Even today the variety of country music is not usually well reflected in radio airplay and the popular perception of country music is still influenced by the maudlin ballads and whining steel guitars that many people still associate with the genre.

Reaction to the Nashville sound

The "vanilla"-flavored sounds that emanated from Nashville under the influence of Chet Atkins and his fellow producers led to a reaction among musicians outside Nashville, who saw that there was more to the genre than "the same old tunes, fiddle and guitar..." (Waylon Jennings). California produced the Bakersfield sound, promoted by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard and based on the work of the legendary Maddox Brothers and Rose, whose wild eclectic mix of old time country, hillbilly swing and gospel in the 1940s and 1950s was a feature of honky-tonks and dance halls in the state. Texas produced rebels like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Jerry Jeff Walker and others who bucked the Nashville system and created outlaw country. Within Nashville in the 1980s, Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs and others brought a return to the traditional values. Their musicianship, songwriting and producing skills helped to revive the genre momentarily. However, even they, and such long-time greats as Jones, Cash, and Haggard, fell from popularity as the record companies again imposed their formulas and refused to promote established artists. Capitol Records made an almost wholesale clearance of their country artists in the 1960s.

Country music developments

The two strands of country music have continued to develop. The Jimmie Rodgers influence can be seen in a pronounced "working man" image promoted by singers like Brooks & Dunn and Garth Brooks. On the Carter Family side, singers like Iris Dement and Nanci Griffith have written on more traditional "folk" themes, albeit with a contemporary point of view. In the 1990s a new form of country music emerged, called by some alternative country, or "insurgent country". Performed by generally younger musicians and inspired by traditional country performers and the country reactionaries, it shunned the Nashville-dominated sound of mainstream country and borrowed more from punk and rock groups than the watered-down, pop-oriented sound of Nashville. There are at least three U. S. cable networks devoted to the genre: CMT (owned by Viacom), VH-1 Country (also owned by Viacom), and GAC (owned by The E. W. Scripps Company).

Samples

- Download recording - "Prisoner’s Song" country music from the Library of Congress' [http://www.loc.gov/folklife/Gordon/sideAband8.html Gordon Collection]; performed by Ernest Hilton with banjo accompaniment in Biltmore, North Carolina on November 20, 1925
- Download sample of Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart", one of the best-known Williams songs, covered by numerous other stars, and an excellent representation of the 1950s Nashville music.

External links

- [http://www.artistdevelopmentnetwork.com/ Artist Development Network in Nashville Tennessee]
- [http://www.nashvilletallent.com/ NashvilleTallent - Kicking Down The Doors In Nashville!]
- [http://www.roughstock.com/history/begin.html History of Country Music]
- [http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/ Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum]
- [http://www.cmaworld.com The Country Music Association (America)]
- [http://www.ccma.org The Canadian Country Music Association]
- [http://www.angrycountry.com AngryCountry] Country Music News Magazine
- [http://www.countryweekly.com/ Country Weekly magazine]
- [http://www.opry.com/ Grand Ole Opry website]
- [http://www.luma-electronic.cz/lp/elpe.htm LP Discography-Covers & Lyrics]
- [http://www.countryhall.com/ Traditional Country Hall of Fame]
- [http://www.purecountrymusic.com/ Pure Country Music]
- [http://www.top-country-songs.com/ Top Country Songs]
- [http://www.countryexaminer.com/ Country Examiner] Up to the Minute Country Music News

Tribute sites to early artists

- [http://www.geocities.com/robtmorca/ Vernon Dalhart]
- [http://www.geocities.com/acuvar/carson_robison.html Carson Robison]
- [http://www.geocities.com/Fiddlindon/DON_RICHARDSON.html Don Richardson] Category:Country music Category:Musical genres Category:Radio formats ja:カントリー・ミュージック

Nashville

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County in the central part of the state. Nicknamed "Music City", Nashville is the home of the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and many major record labels. Since much earlier times it has been called the "Athens of the South", for its educational institutions and classical architecture. Nashville is also a major hub for the health care and publishing industries. The city of Nashville has a population of 569,891 (as of the 2000 census), making it the second largest city in Tennessee (below Memphis). The population of the entire 13-county Nashville metropolitan area is 1,311,789, making it the most populous metropolitan area in the state. A resident of Nashville is called a Nashvillian.

History

Early history

Nashville was founded as "Fort Nashborough" by James Robertson and John Donelson. Robertson made the trip overland with a small party and arrived on Christmas Day, 1779, selecting a site on the bluffs of the Cumberland River known as French Lick. Donelson, along with a group of several families, came in 30 flatboats and several pirogues down the Tennessee River and up the Cumberland, arriving April 23, 1780.¹ The fort was named in honor of Francis Nash, a Revolutionary War soldier. It was renamed Nashville in 1784 when it became incorporated as a town by the North Carolina legislature. In 1806, Nashville was chartered as a city, and it became the capital of Tennessee in 1843. During the American Civil War, the Confederate army suffered a devastating defeat at the Battle of Nashville. This decisive battle effectively ended large-scale fighting in the Western Theater of the war. Battle of Nashville] After the Civil War, Nashville quickly grew into an important trade center. Its population rose from only 16,988 in 1860 to 80,865 by 1900.² In 1897, Nashville hosted the Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition, a World's Fair celebrating the 100th anniversary of Tennessee's entry into the union. An exact replica of the Parthenon was built for the event. The Parthenon replica is now the centerpiece of Centennial Park. The Great train wreck of 1918 occurred on July 9, 1918 in Nashville when an inbound local train collided with an outbound express, killing 101 people. This was the most deadly rail accident in U.S. history. Tennessee was the state that put the 19th Amendment, allowing women to vote, over the top, and the ratification struggle convulsed the city in August, 1920. On March 1, 1941 W47NV (now known as WSM-FM) began operations in Nashville becoming the first FM radio station in the U.S.

Recent history (post-WWII)

Nashville played a prominent role in the U.S. civil rights movement. On February 13, 1960, hundreds of college students launched a sit-in campaign to desegregate lunch counters throughout the city. Although initially met with violence and arrests, the protesters were eventually successful in pressuring local businesses to end the practice of racial segregation. Many of the activists involved in the Nashville sit-ins went on to organize the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which emerged as one of the most influential organizations of the civil rights movement. Nashville has had a metropolitan government of a consolidated city-county since 1963, and was the first large U.S. city to adopt this structure. The Nashville Tornado of 1998 struck the downtown area on April 16 at around 3:30 pm, causing serious damage and blowing out hundreds of windows from skyscrapers, raining shattered glass on the streets and closing the business district for nearly four days. Over 300 homes were damaged, and three cranes at the then-incomplete Nashville Coliseum were toppled. It was one of the most serious urban tornados on record in the U.S. As the 21st century opened, a Nashville native rose to national political prominence when Dr. Bill Frist, formerly a transplant surgeon at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, became majority leader of the U.S. Senate.

Geography and climate

U.S. Senate Nashville lies on the Cumberland River in the northwestern portion of the Nashville Basin. Nashville's topography ranges from 113 meters (370 ft) above sea level at the Cumberland River to 227 meters (746 ft) above sea level at its highest point.³ According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1,362.6 km² (526.1 mi²). 1,300.8 km² (502.3 mi²) of it is land and 61.8 km² (23.9 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 4.53% water.

Climate

Summers in Nashville are moderately hot and humid, with July afternoons averaging 89 °F (32 °C). Winters are chilly and occasionally cold, with lows in January averaging 28 °F (−2 °C). Average annual rainfall is 1220 mm (48.1 inches), typically with winter and spring being the wettest and fall being the driest. Average annual snowfall is about 23 cm (9.1 inches), falling mostly in January and February.⁴

Metropolitan area

Nashville has the largest metropolitan area in the state of Tennessee, spanning thirteen counties. The Nashville metropolitan area encompasses the Middle Tennessee counties of Cannon, Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Hickman, Macon, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson, and Wilson.⁵

Demographics

The data below is for all of Davidson County, including satellite cities in the county other than Nashville. See Nashville-Davidson (balance) for demographic data on the portion of Davidson County that was formerly the City of Nashville. As of the census of 2000, there are 569,891 people, 237,405 households, and 138,169 families residing in the city. The population density is 438.1/km² (1,134.6/mi²). There are 252,977 housing units at an average density of 194.5/km² (503.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 66.99% White, 25.92% African American, 0.29% Native American, 2.33% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 2.42% from other races, and 1.97% from two or more races. 4.58% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. Nashville's estimated population for 2004 is 572,475 people. There are 237,405 households out of which 26.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.9% are married couples living together, 14.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 41.8% are non-families. 33.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.30 and the average family size is 2.96. In the city the population is spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 34.0% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.8 males. The median income for a household in the city is $39,797, and the median income for a family is $49,317. Males have a median income of $33,844 versus $27,770 for females. The per capita income for the city is $23,069. 13.0% of the population and 10.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 19.1% of those under the age of 18 and 10.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. 4.6% of the civilian labor force is unemployed. The following is a statement of the number of people living in Nashville by decades: 1830, 5,566; 1850, 10,165; 1870, 25,865; 1890, 76,168; 1900, 80,865; 1910, 110,364; 1920, 118,342; 1940, 167,402.

Government and politics

The City of Nashville and Davidson County merged in 1963 as a way for Nashville to combat the problems of urban sprawl. The combined metropolitan government offers services such as police, fire, electricity, water, and sewage. The city of Nashville is served by the Metropolitan Council along with the mayor and vice-mayor. The current mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County is Bill Purcell. The Metropolitan Council is the legislative body of government for Nashville and Davidson County. There are 5 councilmembers who are elected at large and 35 councilmembers that represent individual districts. The Metro Council has regular meetings that are presided over by the vice-mayor, who is currently Howard Gentry, Jr. The Metro Council meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m., according to the Metropolitan Charter. Nashville is one of the few major Southern cities that has remained loyal to the Democratic Party. Democrats dominate at every level of government. The congressional district which includes Nashville (currently the 5th District) has not been represented by a Republican since the Reconstruction era.

Economy

Although Nashville is renowned for being a major music recording center and tourist destination, its largest industry is actually health care. Nashville is home to more than 250 health care companies, including Hospital Corporation of America, the largest private operator of hospitals in the world. Other major industries in Nashville include insurance, finance, and publishing (especially religious publishing). The city also hosts headquarters operations for several Protestant denominations, including the United Methodist Church, Southern Baptist Convention, and National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.. Several major motion pictures have been filmed in Nashville, including The Green Mile, The Last Castle, Gummo, Coal Miner's Daughter, and Robert Altman's Nashville.

Fortune 500 companies

- Hospital Corporation of America
- Caremark Rx
- Dollar General Corporation (in Goodlettsville, TN)

Other important companies

- America Service (in Brentwood, Tennessee)
- American Healthways
- American HomePatient (in Brentwood, Tennessee)
- Asurion
- Bridgestone Americas Holding (Bridgestone-Firestone)
- Captain D's
- Central Parking Corporation
- Clarcor (in Franklin, Tennessee)
- Community Health Systems Inc. (in Brentwood, Tennessee)
- Corrections Corporation of America
- Cracker Barrel (in Lebanon, Tennessee)
- Gibson Guitar Corporation
- HealthStream
- Ingram Industries Inc.
- iPayment
- LifePoint Hospitals Inc. (in Brentwood, Tennessee)
- LifeWay (formerly known as the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board)
- Louisiana Pacific
- O'Charley's (casual dining restaurant chain)
- Psychiatric Solutions (in Franklin, Tennessee)
- Renal Care Group
- Shoney's
- Tractor Supply Co.

Education

Nashville is one of the foremost educational centers in the Southern United States. Vanderbilt University, founded in 1873, is Nashville's largest university, enrolling over 11,000 students. Other colleges and universities in Nashville include Belmont University, Fisk University, Lipscomb University, Meharry Medical College, Nashville State Community College, Tennessee State University, Trevecca Nazarene University, and Watkins College of Art and Design. The city is served by the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools.

Culture

Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Much of the city's cultural life has revolved around its large university community. Particularly significant in this respect were two groups of critics and writers who were associated with Vanderbilt University in the early twentieth century, the Fugitives and the Agrarians. Many popular tourist sites involve country music, including the Country Music Hall of Fame and Ryman Auditorium, which was for many years the site of the Grand Ole Opry. Each year, the Country Music Association's Fan Fair (renamed "CMA Music Festival" in 2003) brings many thousands of country fans to the city. Other popular destinations include Fort Nashborough, a reconstruction of the original settlement; the Tennessee State Museum; and The Parthenon, a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens, Greece. The graceful State Capitol is one of the oldest working state capitol buildings in the nation, while The Hermitage is one of the older presidential homes open to the public. The Nashville Zoo is one of the city's newer attractions. Nashville was once home to the Opryland USA theme park, which operated from 1972 to 1997 before being demolished to make room for the Opry Mills mega-shopping mall. In addition to Opry Mills, other major shopping centers in the area include CoolSprings Galleria in the southern suburbs, Hickory Hollow Mall in the southeastern suburbs and RiverGate Mall in the northern suburbs. Civil War history is an important to the city's tourism industry. Sites pertaining to the Battle of Nashville and the nearby Battle of Franklin and Battle of Stones River can be seen, along with several well-preserved antebellum plantation houses such as Belle Meade Plantation and Belmont Mansion. Nashville is also the home of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, where the Tennessee Repertory Theatre makes its home. The Tennessee Performing Arts Center is also home to the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Opera, and Nashville Ballet. The Nashville Symphony Orchestra will eventually move to the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, which is scheduled to be completed in September 2006. An interesting note is that more Kurds call Nashville home than any other city outside of the Middle East, according to Vanderbilt University. The city has a large and active Kurdish neighborhood of more than 5,000 in the Nolensville Road area. During the Iraqi election of 2005, Nashville was one of the few international locations where Iraqi expatriates could vote. Like most American cities, Nashville has a mix of many nationalities, ethnicities and religions.

Art museums

Nashville has several arts centers and museums, including the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, located in what was formerly the main post office; Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art; the Tennessee State Museum; Fisk University's Van Vechten and Aaron Douglas Galleries; and The Parthenon.

Major annual events

The most well-known annual event in Nashville is the CMA Music Festival (previously known as Fan Fair). The CMA Music Festival is a four day event in June featuring performances by country music stars, autograph signings, artist/fan interaction, and other activities for country music fans. In September, Nashville hosts the Tennessee State Fair at the State Fairgrounds. The State Fair lasts nine days and includes rides, exhibits, rodeos, tractor pulls, and performances of all kinds. The Nashville Film Festival takes place each year for a week in April. It features hundreds of independent films and is one of the biggest film festivals in the Southern United States. In June, the Nashville LGBT community celebrates gay pride at the Nashville Pride Fest in Centennial Park. In September, the African Street Festival takes place on the campus of Tennessee State University. Other big events in Nashville include the Fourth of July celebration which takes place each year at Riverfront Park, and the Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon which normally include over 10,000 runners from around the world.

Media

Nashville is served by numerous newspapers, television stations, and radio stations. The primary daily newspaper in Nashville is The Tennessean, which, until 1998, competed fiercely with another daily, the Nashville Banner. Although The Tennessean now enjoys a relative monopoly on the local newspaper market, a smaller free daily called The City Paper has recently begun publication. Several weekly papers are also published in Nashville, including the Nashville Scene, Nashville Business Journal, and The Tennessee Tribune. Nashville is home to nearly a dozen broadcast television stations, although most households are served by direct cable network connections. Comcast Cable has a monopoly on terrestrial cable service in Davidson County (but not throughout the entire DMA). Nashville is ranked as the 30th largest television market in the United States. Several dozen FM and AM radio stations broadcast in the Nashville area, including five college stations and one LPFM community station. Nashville is ranked as the 44th largest radio market in the United States.

Sports

Nashville has several professional sports teams, most notably the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League and the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League. Several other pro sports teams also call Nashville home, as does the NCAA football Music City Bowl. Sports venues in Nashville are:
- The Coliseum
- Gaylord Entertainment Center
- Nashville Municipal Auditorium
- Greer Stadium
- Vanderbilt Stadium
- Memorial Gymnasium at Vanderbilt University
- Curb Event Center at Belmont University
- Gentry Center at Tennessee State University
- Allen Arena at Lipscomb University

Transportation

Nashville is centrally located at the crossroads of three interstates: 40, 24, and 65. 440 is a bypass route connecting Interstate 40 and Interstate 24 south of downtown Nashville. The Metropolitan Transit Authority [http://www.nashvillemta.org/] provides bus transit within the city. The city is served by Nashville International Airport, which was a hub for American Airlines between 1986 and 1995 and is now a mini-hub for Southwest Airlines. Although it is a major rail hub, with a large CSX Transportation freight rail yard, Nashville is one of the largest cities in the U.S. not served by Amtrak. The last passenger rail services to the city ended in the 1970s. A new passenger rail system called the Music City Star is currently under development. The plan includes seven legs connecting Nashville to surrounding suburbs. The first leg of the system, which connects the town of Lebanon to downtown Nashville, is scheduled to begin service in early 2006. Legs to Murfreesboro and Gallatin and are currently in the feasibility study stage. Notable bridges in the city are: Gallatin

Notable residents

Some of the most notable people born in Nashville include novelist Madison Smartt Bell, civil rights activist Julian Bond, rapper Young Buck (David Darnell Brown), singer Rita Coolidge, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, artist Red Grooms, pin-up model Bettie Page, actress Annie Potts, and soldier of fortune William Walker. Many notable musicians have lived in Nashville including Chet Atkins, Johnny Cash, Amy Grant, Emmylou Harris, Jimi Hendrix, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Ernest Tubb, Shania Twain, Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, and Tammy Wynette. Other notable people who have resided in Nashville include former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, former U.S. President Andrew Jackson, civil rights leader James Lawson, former U.S. President James K. Polk, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet Robert Penn Warren, and talk show host and entrepreneur Oprah Winfrey.

Sister cities

Nashville is an active participant in the Sister Cities program and has relationships with the following towns:
- Canada: Edmonton, Alberta
- France: Caen, Basse-Normandie
- Germany: Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt
- United Kingdom: Belfast, Northern Ireland
- United States: Manchester, New Hampshire The city is also exploring forming a sister city relationship with Girona, Spain.

Notes

- Note 1:
- Note 2: [http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0029/tab22.html U.S. Census Bureau data for 50 largest cities, 1850 to 1990]
- Note 3: Wilson, Charles William. The Geology of Nashville, Tenn. Nashville, 1948.
- Note 4: [http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ohx/climate/normals.htm National Weather Service data for Nashville]
- Note 5: [http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/metro-city/List4.txt U.S. Census Bureau: Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Components], November 2004.

References

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External links

- [http://www.nashville.gov/ Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County]
- [http://nashvillecvb.com/ Visitor's Bureau]
- [http://www.nashvillechamber.com/ Chamber of Commerce]
- [http://www.nashvillewired.com/ Nashville Wired]
- [http://www.scnashville.org/door/ Sister Cities of Nashville page]
- [http://www.library.nashville.org/Links/Nashville/historylinks/timeln.html Nashville Timeline] (by [http://www.library.nashville.org/ Nashville Public Library])
- [http://www.fta.dot.gov/library/policy/ns/ns2000/nashcorl.htm Commuter rail plan] Category:Cities in Tennessee Category:Davidson County, Tennessee Category:Nashville, Tennessee Category:U.S. state capitals ko:내슈빌 ja:ナッシュビル

Punk rock

Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement that began about 1975 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Damned, and The Clash. The term is also used to describe subsequent music scenes that share key characteristics with those first-generation "punks". The term is sometimes also applied to the fashions or the irreverent "DIY" ("do it yourself") attitude associated with this musical movement. DIY

Style and Structure

Punk rock represented a return to the simplicity of early rock and roll, reacting against the perceived over-virtuosity and bloated stage performances of 1970s progressive rock and heavy metal, both of which featured long, intricate solos that were difficult for amateur bands to play. While early punk lyrics ran the gamut from the nihilistic humor of the Ramones to the working class sneer of the Sex Pistols to the more sophisticated observations of The Saints and the overtly political songs of The Clash and Crass, all wrote songs that were simple, raw, energetic and, while often angry and rebellious, seldom angsty. Typical punk songs in the late 1970s were about youth rebellion, such as "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" and "I Wanna Be Sedated" by the Ramones, "Anarchy in the UK" by the Sex Pistols and "London Calling" by the Clash. Up until the present most punk songs have straightforward and blunt lyrics, sometimes about drugs and being young, sometimes with a strong political or social protest. Punk songs are almost always in 4/4 time and use a verse-chorus structure, usually without a bridge. Songs are typically short: almost never much over three minutes, with songs as short as 90 seconds much more common than in most other forms of rock music. Instrumentation is similarly stripped down: typically just drum kit, one or two electric guitars, electric bass, and vocals. The modern punk rock song is short and fast, but with a punching treble sound that differentiates it from the heavier thrash metal. It is usually aggressive and raw, with the band NOFX so desperate to return to that raw sound that they wrote and recorded their album Fuck the Kids in just two days, playing instruments unfamiliar to them and recording their first take. Punk bands usually try to stay away from overproducing their sound, usually using distortion to create the opposite of a clean effect.

Origins

The phrase "punk rock" (from "punk", meaning worthless or snotty, often applied to a street hustler or a young person who is disrespectful of authority, or disaffected youth; also meaning a beginner or novice [http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=punk&x=0&y=0]) was originally applied to the untutored guitar-and-vocals-based rock and roll of United States bands of the mid-1960s such as The Standells, The Sonics, and The Seeds, bands that now are more often categorized as "garage rock". The term was coined by rock critic Dave Marsh, who used it to describe the music of ? and the Mysterians in the May 1971 issue of Creem magazine, and it was adopted by many rock music journalists in the early 1970s. For example, in the liner notes of the 1972 anthology album Nuggets, critic and guitarist Lenny Kaye uses the term "punk-rock" to refer to the Sixties "garage rock" groups, as well as some of the darker and more primitive practitioners of 1960s psychedelia. Shortly after the time of those notes, Lenny Kaye formed a band with avant-garde poet Patti Smith. Smith's group, and her first album, Horses, released in 1975, directly inspired many of the mid-1970s punk rockers, so this suggests one path by which the term migrated to the music we now know as punk. In addition to the inspiration of those "garage bands" of the 1960s, the roots of punk rock draw on the abrasive, dissonant style of The Velvet Underground; the snotty attitude and aggressive instrumentation of The Who and the early Rolling Stones; the sexuality, political confrontation, and surreal violence of Detroit bands The Stooges and MC5; the UK pub rock scene and political UK underground bands such as Mick Farren and the Deviants; the New York Dolls, and some British "glam rock" or "art rock" acts of the early 1970s, including David Bowie, Mott the Hoople and Roxy Music. Punk rock was also a reaction against certain tendencies that had overtaken popular music in the 1970s, including what the punks saw as superficial "disco" music and bombastic forms of heavy metal, progressive rock and "arena rock." Punk also rejected the remnants of the hippie counterculture of the 1960s. Bands such as Jefferson Airplane, which had survived the 1960s, were regarded by most punks as having become fatuous and an embarrassment to their former claims of radicality. Eric Clapton's appearance in television beer ads in the mid-1970s was often cited as an example of how the icons of 1960s rock had literally sold themselves to the system they once opposed. The British punk movement also found a precedent in the "do-it-yourself" attitude of the Skiffle craze that emerged amid the post-World War II austerity of 1950s Britain. Skiffle music led directly to the tremendous worldwide success of The Beatles (who began as a Skiffle group) and the subsequent British Invasion of the U.S. record charts. Punk rock in Britain coincided with the rise of Thatcherism, and nearly all British punk bands expressed an attitude of angry social alienation. In a sense merely listing musical precursors to punk music is misleading, because, as rock critic Jon Savage has pointed out, punk drew on all pre-existing popular music genres. So, in a subterranean fashion the influence of, for example, glam rock, funk, rockabilly and (especially) reggae and ska can also be heard in many of the bands we now term punk. The cultural critique and strategies for revolutionary action offered by the European Situationist movement of the 1950s and 1960s were another influence on the vanguard of the British punk movement, particularly the Sex Pistols. Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren consciously embraced situationist ideas, which are also reflected in the clothing designed for the band by Vivienne Westwood and the visual artwork of the Situationist-affiliated Jamie Reid, who designed many of the band's graphics.

The Emergence of Punk Rock

The first ongoing music scene that was assigned the "punk" label appeared in New York in 1974-1976, centered around bands that played regularly at the club CBGB's in New York's Bowery district, including The Ramones, Television, Blondie, Richard Hell and The Voidoids, Mink Deville, Suicide, and Talking Heads. The "punk" title was applied to these groups by early 1976, when Punk Magazine first appeared, featuring these bands alongside articles on some of the immediate role models for the new groups, such as Lou Reed, who was on the cover of the first issue of Punk, and Patti Smith, cover subject on the second issue. During this same period, bands that would later be recognized as "punk" were forming independently in other locations as well, such as The Saints in Brisbane, Australia, and The Stranglers and the Sex Pistols in London. These early bands usually operated within small "scenes" facilitated by enthusiastic impresarios who operated small nightclubs. The nightclubs provided a showcase and meeting place for the emerging musicians (the 100 Club in London, CBGB in New York, and The Masque in Hollywood are among the best known early punk clubs). While the London bands may have played a relatively minor role in determining the early punk sound, the London punk scene would come to define and epitomize the rebellious punk culture. After a brief stint managing the New York Dolls at the end of their career in the US, Englishman Malcolm McLaren returned to London in May 1975. He started a clothing store called "Sex" that was instrumental in creating the radical punk clothing style. Inspired by the emerging New York scene, McLaren started looking to help create a similar movement in the UK. He soon organized several frequent customers of his shop into the Sex Pistols. The Sex Pistols soon created a strong cult following in London, centered on a clique known as the Bromley Contingent (named after the suburb where many of them had grown up), who followed them around the country. An oft-cited moment in punk rock's history is a July 4, 1976 concert by the Ramones at the Roundhouse in London (The Stranglers were also on the bill). Many of the future leaders of the UK punk rock scene were inspired by this show, and almost immediately after it, the UK punk scene quickly got into full swing. By the end of 1976, many fans of the Sex Pistols had formed their own bands, including The Clash, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Adverts, Generation X, The Slits and X-Ray Spex. Other UK bands to emerge in this milieu included The Damned (the first to release a single, the classic "New Rose"), The Jam and Buzzcocks. In November of 1976, the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned and other bands united for the Anarchy Tour, a series of gigs throughout the U.K. Many of the gigs were cancelled by venue owners, after tabloid newspapers and other media seized on sensational stories regarding the antics of both the bands and their fans. Anarchy TourThe growing notoriety of punk rock in the UK was launched to greater heights by one particular media incident. After EMI signed the Sex Pistols for the release of their debut album, they made an appearance on a London TV show called Thames Today. Guitarist Steve Jones was goaded into a verbal altercation by the host, Bill Grundy, swearing profusely at him on live television. One of the first books about punk rock — The Boy Looked at Johnny by Julie Burchill and Tony Parsons (December 1977) — declared the punk moment to be already over: the subtitle was The Obituary of Rock and Roll. The title echoed a lyric from the title track of Patti Smith's 1975 album Horses. During 1977, a second wave of bands emerged, influenced by those mentioned above. Some, such as The Misfits (from

Jason and the Scorchers

External links

Alt-country

Alternative country musicians

See also

References

External links

Internet Radio

Jason Ringenberg

External links

Country music

Jimmie Rodgers' influence

Hank Williams

The Carter Family's influence

Bluegrass

Other influences

The Nashville sound

Reaction to the Nashville sound

Country music developments

Samples

Further reading

Early innovators

The Golden Age

Country rock

Contemporary Country Stars 1980-2005

Television and radio shows of note

See also

External links

Tribute sites to early artists

Nashville

History

Early history

Recent history (post-WWII)

Geography and climate

Climate

Metropolitan area

Demographics

Government and politics

Economy

Fortune 500 companies

Other important companies

Education

Culture

Art museums

Major annual events

Media

Sports

Transportation

Notable residents

Sister cities

Notes

References

External links

Punk rock

Style and Structure

Origins

The Emergence of Punk Rock