Uncle Tupelo - Beloit, WI, USA 1992
Although Uncle Tupelo broke up before they achieved significant commercial success, as mentioned on the recent Wilco concert posting , the band are renowned for their impact on the alternative country music scene. The group's first album, No Depression , became a byword for the genre and was widely influential. Uncle Tupelo's sound was unlike popular country music of the time, drawing inspiration from styles as diverse as the hardcore punk of The Minutemen and the country instrumentation and harmony of the Carter Family and Hank Williams. Farrar and Tweedy lyrics frequently referenced Middle America and the working class of home town Belleville. What was very surprising, though, is that, unlike the band's previous country-meets-punk releases, 'No Depression' and 'Still Feel Gone' , the third album was performed almost exclusively on acoustic instruments. It's a testament to the group's courage and integrity that, in a time when Nirvana's '...