be there a difference between alt. country and country? Tell me please if so?
No one else has tried to answer this one yet, so I'll give it a try.
Yes, there's a difference. That's the short answer.
The long answer goes something like this: Like very other genre under the sun, there are a ton of sub-genres. My take on the general break-down of the overall country music umbrella goes something like this, and will probably leave out a lot of stuff, 'cause there are a lot of areas I'm not as familiar with:
The biggest divisions are Classic Country and Modern Country.
Classic covers a lot of other types, but you can think of it like a combination of Oldies and Classic Rock from the Rock'n'roll side of things. This will include early Nashville stars like Hank Williams, Sr., Patsy Cline, The Carter Family, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, as well as the later Outlaw Country guys - Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard.
Modern Country is more rock influence and tends to be the stuff most younger folks thing of when they thing of Country - Garth Brooks, Billy Ray Cyrus, Brooks and Dunn. Like it's cousins in top 40 pop and rock of the 80s and 90s it's over-wrought, over-produced and all about pushing units.
Alt. Country, or Insurgent Country started getting some traction in the early 90s with bands like Uncle Tupelo, younger performers influenced by punk rock and classic country who wanted to make GOOD country music, or country-influence anyway.
Uh. I think I kinda lost where I was going with this, but I hope it helps some.
