3 Genre-Defying Americana Songs That Are More Alternative Than Country

Americana artists draw from American roots music, but many also mix punk and rock with the early sounds of country, folk, and bluegrass. While Americana is now more commonly used to describe the subgenre than alternative country, artists from both genres share a rebellious spirit with the punk and outlaw musicians before them.

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While the songs here don’t fit neatly into any one category, let’s look at how they lean more towards alternative than country.  

“Handshake Drugs” by Wilco

With Uncle Tupelo, Jeff Tweedy helped popularize alternative country. Yes, the genre existed before his band with Jay Farrar, but there was something about Uncle Tupelo that ignited a new scene of like-minded punks who also listened to country. After Uncle Tupelo broke up, Tweedy formed Wilco and gradually moved away from alt-country, most notably on Wilco’s art rock masterpiece, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

Tweedy then answered Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with A Ghost Is Born, which feels even closer to Chicago’s experimental rock scene than anything he might have inherited from Gram Parsons. “Handshake Drugs” is six minutes of indie rock perfection.

“First High” by Nikki Lane

Nikki Lane could be an avatar for modern Americana music. Her East Nashville boutique, High Class Hillbilly, has enough boots, hats, and leather to outfit your closet or upcoming alt-country photo shoot. Lane has one of my favorite voices in the scene, and it’s the kind of singing that’s both old-fashioned and new at the same time. And she recorded her excellent 2022 album Denim & Diamonds with Queens Of The Stone Age leader Josh Homme.

I don’t know if it was the California desert or Homme, but Lane’s record, to me, sounds more alternative than country. “First High” is dive-bar blues that’s also part PDX hipster by way of The Dandy Warhols and Keith Richards. If you like diamonds and denim, Lane offers each on a gem of an album of dusty-chic tunes.

“Year To Be Young 1994” by Stephen Wilson Jr.

A lot happened in the world of alternative rock in 1994. Kurt Cobain died, Weezer and Oasis debuted, Pearl Jam released Vitalogy, and Jeff Buckley released Grace. Stephen Wilson Jr.’s nostalgic track describes how the songs in his headphones helped set the stage for his future. Though not exactly a path he might have imagined.

Wilson said “no” to a high-paying job as a scientist and instead pursued life as a songwriter. It’s not hard to spot Willie Nelson’s influence on Wilson’s music, but it’s also no surprise to hear echoes of Kurt Cobain and Chris Cornell in “Year To Be Young 1994”.

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