Alternative America

Subject: Folklore: Alternative America
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 31 May 10 - 01:59 PM

This thread is an invitation both to Americans and people who enjoy alternative American culture to celebrate it, and inform the rest of us about it.

Look, we all know about the bullshit myth of the great American dream, the aggressive foreign policies and war-mongering, the corrupt political bullshit, Wallmart and red-necks...

So how about the 'other side'?

Please educate me and the rest of us, to remind us all why America is actually a brilliant idea full of wonderful eccentric, creative, innovative and groundbreaking people, ideas and stuff!

For the first submission, I suggest Frank Zappa:

Baby Snakes

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 31 May 10 - 02:23 PM

Wow, demoted so swiftly...

What, underground American Art and Culture ain't 'Folk' enuff?

Disappointing.

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 31 May 10 - 02:28 PM

Mod, I really don't think you're thinking about this..
Alternative, underground art IS contemporary *Folk* art!

Enjoy: http://api.ning.com/files/WqV90KWRRx3Oa7gnYckUXkin4twvdBPI*UI7uVfBuOmtk5OyPRL9EGj0N9GR-8jdpTqkhvxicbqP9gfpJiC6ktsG26OX1Rw3/FatFr

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 31 May 10 - 02:50 PM

More alternative America: Alt. Music

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Melissa
Date: 31 May 10 - 02:59 PM

CrowSister,
Are you looking for a discussion on our Underground/Alternative stuff, or are you looking for general conversation to sort of balance out the ranting and snorting we see so much of here?

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 31 May 10 - 03:05 PM

Hi Melissa, I'm inviting examples of alternative American art and culture as an antidote to so much of the BIG Corporate America stuff we see so widely. But discussion is equally welcomed. I just had a bit of a fit when I saw that the thread had been instantly demoted from Folk/Art/Music.

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Amos
Date: 31 May 10 - 03:18 PM

John Lee Hooker is a fine example.

Not as "out there" as Mr Zappa, tho' :D


A

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 31 May 10 - 03:32 PM

a folk art that hast gone urban


Quilting Bee

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Melissa
Date: 31 May 10 - 03:34 PM

CS,
Media America and even most of the things US folks talk about here doesn't really seem to have a lot in common with life as I know it..and I'm far too boring to have much experience with the stuff called 'alternative' so I'm probably best as a lurker.

I think it might be a neat one to watch.

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Mavis Enderby
Date: 31 May 10 - 03:40 PM

CS - so much to go at!

Have a look at Folkstreams for some great examples of folk art, culture & music. Will keep you busy for a while, and a great antidote to corporate US of A.

I'm a great fan of blues and bluesy old-time music so how about some Doc Boggs

Pete

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Mavis Enderby
Date: 31 May 10 - 03:41 PM

Oops - Dock Boggs even!

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 31 May 10 - 03:43 PM

Hey Melissa, "far too boring"?
Well, you never know what's on your doorstep.. Take a look on-line to see what's going on and immerse yourself in something totally new?

Otherwise, thanks for that Amos, see that's what I mean.. Just off to check out the quilting bee.

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 31 May 10 - 03:46 PM

Cheers Pete, thanks for the links. But I especially would appreciate specific offerings of pieces that affect you, and why.

I think my OP wasn't detailed enough...

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 31 May 10 - 03:49 PM

Oops Pete, I think I missed that second link. Anyhoo disregard my last comment, plus I think most peeps must have got the idea my now.. ;-)

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Mavis Enderby
Date: 31 May 10 - 04:09 PM

CS - without disregarding your last comment! another example - relates to Amos' post too.

John Lee Hookers Boogie Chillen. First heard it played in the background of the Blues Brothers film and found it utterly mesmerizing. Deceptively simple (one chord boogie!), but I've never, ever heard anyone play it better than JLH on the 1948 recording. I'm not sure if it counts as alternative Americana or not but it's far away from the mainstream and an example of American music that I love.

The Dock Boggs track has a similar effect btw.

Hope that helps!

Pete.

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Paul Burke
Date: 31 May 10 - 04:10 PM

CS, it seems that there ISN'T another America beyond Big Business, Disneyland and rednecks...

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Alice
Date: 31 May 10 - 04:11 PM

The USA is such a huge country, that there thousands of "cultures" here. Nothing on television reflects real American culture. Even the so called "reality" shows are manipulated and staged.


If you listen to the radio program called "This American Life" you will hear about slices of different American cultures.

From the wiki description of "This American Life": "Content varies widely by episode, and stories are often told as first-person narratives. The mood of the show ranges from gloomy to ironic, from thought-provoking to humorous. The show often addresses current events, such as Hurricane Katrina in "After the Flood." Listeners may be introduced to novel subjects and issues as well, since the program covers fringe groups within the USA as well as international matters."


Here is a link where you can listen to MP3 of previous episodes.
This American Life



Alice

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Melissa
Date: 31 May 10 - 04:30 PM

Speaking of Disney:

genius highway

I live along this stretch of road.

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Alice
Date: 31 May 10 - 04:59 PM

Hidden Kitchens

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Alice
Date: 31 May 10 - 05:12 PM

Farmer's Markets and Family Farms in the USA

State Fairs

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 31 May 10 - 06:12 PM

Prairie Home Companion is a comedy radio show that kind of gives a flavour of real folky midwest America.

Though it lampoons the Lutheran Minnesota characteristics and traditions it does so lovingly. It is a wonderful show and often showcases folk musicians. You can find loads of videos of it via google.

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Alice
Date: 31 May 10 - 07:03 PM

Audio and Archive of Prairie Home Companion

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: bobad
Date: 31 May 10 - 07:37 PM

Tom Russell's CD "Hotwalker" celebrates a certain slice of "alternative America". Here is a review from Uncut Magazine:

"A musical companion to Russell's forthcoming book Tough Company – poetry, short stories and the collected correspondence between the LA-born songsmith and Charles Bukowski – Hotwalker is a colossal achievement. Part Two of Russell's Americana trilogy that began with his own ancestral folk opera (1999's The Man From God Knows Where), this is a headlong journey into the soul of "the old America, where the Big Guilt, political correctness and chainstores hadn't sunk in so deep". Narrated and linked by Russell, it's the lost post-war landscape of Beat pioneers, outsider poets and drunken angels – interspersed with snippets of Lenny Bruce, Bukowski, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, hobo composer Harry Partch, Edward Abbey and Kerouac.

Most strikingly, it's a carnival-midget speedfreak – Little Jack Horton – who plays Dean Moriarty to Russell's Sal Paradise. The pair first met on a circus train in the '70s. Horton's tall tales of lost weekends with Bukowski and stealing freight trains in the dead of night serve less as factual fodder than a musical voice on the scales of a disappearing world (indeed, Horton died shortly after his contributions here). The soundtrack is a grand sweep of American history: spooked parlour songs, Jesus ballads, loping carousel waltzes, Mexicali, raw folk-blues, country and squawking jazz. So a tough-love tribute to Dylan mentor and Greenwich Village Pope, Dave Van Ronk (with a snatch of the latter's "Sportin' Life Blues") nestles alongside "Bakersfield", a nod and a twang to Buck Owens, Gram Parsons and countless Okies "hopped up on moonshine and amphetamines". The reefer madness of "Border Lights" dives into "that delicious dark-eyed myth" of 1950s Mexico, high on cheap rum and forbidden dreams.

Russell gets stellar musical back-up from Gretchen Peters (particularly on poignantly-rendered closer, "America The Beautiful"), Fats Kaplin on fiddle, accordion and pedal steel and Andrew Hardin on guitar, streaming into the recorded consciousness of Kerouac reading "October In The Railroad Earth" and Bukowski doing "On The Hustle". They should seal this in a vault for posterity."

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Melissa
Date: 31 May 10 - 07:46 PM

This is a little bit different than the US health care stuff we usually hear:

"Shriners Hospitals for Children® is a health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care, innovative research and outstanding teaching programs."

Shriners Hospitals

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Amergin
Date: 31 May 10 - 07:52 PM

Every city worth it's salt has an art scene waiting to burst out....I've been witnessing the explosive growth of the Vancouver, Washington scene in the last year....alot of it is due to a networking site called Guerrilla Media....

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Rapparee
Date: 31 May 10 - 11:26 PM

Let's see. Here in Pocatello we have, in addition to the offerings at the University, a fairly vibrant folk music scene (including Celtic and the Old Time Fiddlers), several square dance groups, at least two ballet studios, an Irish dance school, no less than FIVE drama companies, God alone knows how many rock groups (garage bands to adults in their 50s), two quilting guilds, three fishing groups (including one that builds their own equipment), the Port Neuf Muzzle Loaders (who re-enact the Mountain Men who used to roam this area), the Shoshone-Bannock Dancers and the Powwow every August, several parades each years in honor of various things, the "Field of Heroes" each Memorial Day, three nationally-known sculptors, two museums, the Fort Hall Replica, at least three rodeos each year (including the Dodge National Finals Championship Rodeo), a bluegrass festival....

And this is just one small city of several thousand in the country.

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Rapparee
Date: 31 May 10 - 11:29 PM

I didn't mention the municipal band and the Idaho Symphony or the Art Center or the collection of paintings and photographs at the Library.

In all of the traveling around the US I've done (47/50 states) I've found that THIS sort of thing is America -- the "Alternative America" is the one of big business and the media.

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Janie
Date: 31 May 10 - 11:47 PM

Thank you, Rapaire.

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Janie
Date: 01 Jun 10 - 12:13 AM

Are you referring to one particular country among the many countries in the Americas?

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Jun 10 - 12:24 AM

North, South, Central -- pick one or more.

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Bobert
Date: 01 Jun 10 - 08:17 AM

Well, John Lee Hooker and Doc Boggs have been thown out as alternative Musical America... They are just the tip of the iceburg... But what they have in common is that both were kinda alt folk/blues players... There are/were alot of others... Ya' see, the blues itself is kinda this alt form of Americana... No, not that BB King stuff but the "real blues"... R,L, Burnside, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Richard Johnson, Rev. Slick, T Model Ford, Charles Caldwell, Lightnin' Hopkins... I mean, there are/were so many people playing alt folk/blues music...

Same with country... Alt country musicans ain't mainstream but they are very much part of the alt scene: Gillan Welsh, Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Buddy Miller, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Richard Buckner, Sean Phillips, etc... Lotta them people, too, doing non -Nashville sounding country/folk music....

But the underlieing part of the discussion here is the term "folk"... Folk is alt in itself... No, folk albums don't usually go platnum... That's a good thing... Folk is also more regional...

Now that's just on the music end... I reckon if you dissected the American culture you'd find parallels in just about everything...

B~

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: mg
Date: 01 Jun 10 - 07:55 PM

Well, I will read the rest of the thread but rednecks is a hurtful word. mg

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Lox
Date: 01 Jun 10 - 08:08 PM

Jeffrey Lewis ...

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Bobert
Date: 01 Jun 10 - 08:14 PM

Why, mg, do millions of rednecks go out and buy these bigass decals for the back windows of their trucks that read, ahhhhh, "Redneck"???

I mean, whereas you might find it offensive, you ain't the language monitor... The English lanaguage, especially in the US, is quite fluid... Kinda like Grannie sayin', "These kids these days... They just don't ____________ (fill in yer own grannie)..." I mean, sorry but it makes you sound so very old and stuffy to be so critical...

B~

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 01 Jun 10 - 08:28 PM

What are you rebelling against?

Well .... what ya got?

biLL

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Amos
Date: 01 Jun 10 - 08:44 PM

From the original discoveries that made up John Cohen's High Lonesome Sound a number of clips from Roscoe Holcomb's deep Appalachian banjo playing.



A

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: mousethief
Date: 01 Jun 10 - 10:08 PM

Are you referring to one particular country among the many countries in the Americas?

Yes. The one called "America".

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 01 Jun 10 - 11:33 PM

Jackson Pollock

.. biLL

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 02 Jun 10 - 08:58 AM

Jim White has a pretty unique vision of rural America.

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: theleveller
Date: 02 Jun 10 - 09:53 AM

Isn't Canada the alternative America?

Subject: RE: Alternative America
From: Stringsinger
Date: 02 Jun 10 - 09:59 AM

Burton, how 'bout Doc Boggs for president campaign? I could think of worse. :)


Alternative America? It has to be more than Frank Zappa. I nominate Pete Seeger,
Noam Chomsky or Amy Goodman.

Alternative America is not about Big Business. That's the prevailing America that they try to show you on T.V.

"Alternative America" is local groups uniting on issues of concern that the Mainstream Media won't touch. They are happening across the country today.