What are the masterpieces of the alt country genre?
Seems like most answers are defining alt country as contemporary country-sounding music that isn’t “new country”. (For instance, I would never have classified Yankee Hotel Foxtrot as alt country, new country, or country. It’s a pop or rock record. Same with My Morning Jacket. I love both of these bands but they ain’t country. And Smog (my favorite artists) has never recorded a country album. A River Ain’t Too Much Love is countryish, but The Doctor Came at Dawn is nowhere near country.) Anyway, my favorite country album of the last 20 years that isn’t New Country is, hands down, Why Do Lonely Men and Women Want to Break Each Other’s Hearts by The Star Room Boys. You’ll not confuse it with pop or rock–it is unmistakably and unapologetically a country album. I have no qualms calling it a masterpiece. Dave Marr’s voice is heartbreaking, his songwriting is superb, and Johnny Neff’s steel playing is incredible. Also
