posted by Andrew Kerr on August 23, 2013 - 2:15pm
Like it or not, we are influenced by the music our parents play when we’re young. You might fight and resist this fact for a good chunk of your life but, sure enough, it’ll creep up on you (generally after puberty and you settle down). I was once a punk-listening teen refusing to conform to the music of my parents, but then one day, when I was well into my undergrad – BAM – I was blaring a Steve Earle album while driving and singing along.
“What’s happening to me?”, I thought to myself, “have my parents been implanting subliminal messages throughout my life culminating to this moment?” In a way, yes. The music our parents play when we’re young have a subconscious impact on us as we develop; even if it’s only background noise.
Music and radio had become a constant companion in our household growing up. It would energize me in the morning, or lull me to sleep at night. At the family cottage, my dad and uncle would sit around the campfire pickin’ and grinnin’ to old country and folk tunes. While I didn’t realize it at the time, all these occurrences would have a major impact upon my music tastes.
With my dad from the Ottawa Valley, and my mom from Cape Breton, I grew up primarily with a mix of country, folk, and east-coast sounds playing throughout my house. A few artists that come to mind are Steve Earle, John Prine, The Good Brothers, The Rankin Family, and Natalie MacMaster (who my mom took me to see at the National Arts Centre for one of my first concerts when I was young). While I wasn’t listening to any of these artists by choice, I certainly didn’t detest them.
Slowly but surely, I kept discovering younger musicians who were being influenced by the generation of artists my parents were listening to. I started to really like The Sadies, and then realize that the Dallas and Travis are sons of The Goods Brothers. Justin Townes Earle is the son of Steve, and also named after the great Townes Van Zandt. Artists like Hayes Carll and Deer Tick are influenced by John Prine and glad to embrace that fact.
Basically, I’m really into alt-country/Americana/roots/folk-rock – they’re pretty much all country derivatives, but saying “I like country” TENDS to imply the wrong sort of things these days.
As the Aboriginal Music Archive Coordinator with OIMA this summer, I have had the privilege on stumbling upon a number of great artists reminiscent of this sort of music.
I recently had the privilege of meeting Andy Mason – a multi-talented First Nations artist. It’s hard to categorize him in one genre – his album Long Walk 49 (now on OIMA) encompasses folk, bluegrass, country, and rock songs together seamlessly. It’s certainly one of my favourite additions to OIMA over the course of this summer. For starters, check out his songs Morning Train, Forgotten Rhymes, and Beat Up Old Guitar. Some of his first recordings consisted of a cassette demo with his Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young tribute band Four Way Street. He went on to perform with several Ottawa-area bands such as Seventh Fire, Chapter 23, and Crooked Horn. After a decade-long move to Vancouver (where he recorded his album), Andy is back in Ottawa and hoping to put out some new material in the near future.
Another band that I found during my research that I instantly got hook on is Jacques & the Shakey Boys. While their sound is certainly their own, I can feel influences of Steve Earle, The Good Brothers, and Hank Williams. There sound is a mix of great alt-country and a tinge of blues (which they have aptly names ‘bluntry & western’). Jacques’ vocals definitely encapsulate the fun, laid back, and often tongue-in-cheek sentiments that alt-country often espouses, while still touching on issues of emotional and physical turmoil.
It’s hard to touch on even a fraction of the talented artists I have discovered playing this type of music. Andy and Jacques are just 2 suggestions of what to listen to if you feel like dwelving into the realm of roots-rock/alt-country. I hope you do!
While I have most certainly branched out with my musical tastes, I always feel a sense of home and peace when discovering a new alt-country band. It's the music that inspired me to pick up the guitar and play music myself, and its often what brings my family together whether at the cottage, at home, or during the holidays. While I spent much of my youth fleeing the musical influences of my parents, I never got very far. And while the music my parents listened to most likely differs from what yours listened to, I hope this article may convince you to stop denying it and just embrace this simple fact of life.
