A couple of visits to the Lone Star State this time around, representing my slightly less-awkward alt-country phase, a latter day disc from a new favorite, and an underappreciated aberration from a vast, critically praised catalog that I still quite like a lot. Enough explanation?

♦- Dixie Chicks – Taking The Long Way: This record generated a bit of controversy when it came out, and justifiably so – a big extended middle finger to the hidebound nature of Nashville regarding the expectations the industry has for performers’ public personae. Heck, the cover of this record is probably more appropriate than the tasteful glamor shot that graces the front of this disc. “Not Ready to Make Nice” was the big single, of course, and directly addresses the whole “shut up and sing” fracas, while still wrapped up in a stylish Rick Rubin (better known for his hip hop and metal work…and Johnny Cash) production ready for the radio, but much of the rest of the record is just as much about challenging the status quo. The title track goes directly against the standard country themes of home, roots, and family through the voice of family black sheep that feels driven to blaze her own trail, and “Lubbock of Leave It” is probably even more agressive than “Make Nice” in it’s upending of expecatations of the powers that be, all to the accompaniment of a blistering bluegrass breakdown. The Chicks really came into their own with this record, and is probably the best of their output, if you like this sort of thing.

♦ – The Derailers – Reverb Deluxe: This record comes from another neo-traditionalist Texas combo, this time from Austin instead of Lubbock, and the style is more honky tonk than Bluegrass, but I still enjoy it. I didn’t come to this record via an investigation of the roots of American music, per se, but rather the fact that I was in a really crappy band with the bass player in high school. Even so, my acquiring of the disc for that reason did lead to my greater appreciation of the roots of country music, coming around the same time I was listening to a lot of Johnny Cash and alt-country acts like Wilco and Uncle Tupelo. The sound on this record comes from the junction between early rock-n-roll and country, before they were different things – songs both uptempo and winsome (“Lovers Lie”, “Just One More Time”), dressed up in Rhinestones and pompadours. Plus, a genius honky-tonk cover of Prince’s “Raspberry Beret” with more than a little disco tossed in for flavor.

♦ – Patty Griffin – Flaming Red: Griffin followed up the sparse, haunting “Living With Ghosts” with a very different sophomore effort; this record is as full of pounding drums and buzzsaw guitars as the previous record was devoid of them. It’s a different feel, to be sure, and like Suzanne Vega before her, changing up the style didn’t do her any favors with the label or with audiences. This record didn’t sell as well as the first, and a third record, “Silver Bell,” in the same vein, was rejected by the label and never released. It’s a shame, because there’s a lot of great stuff here, even if it doesn’t fit the template established by the success of LWG. The title track, with it’s distorted everything and racing tempo signals a departure from the formula right away, as does the shuffling tempo and risque subject matter of “Wiggly Fingers.” However, there’s a lot of thoughtful and folkie here as well, amidst all the fuzztone and electronics – “Goodbye” is a touching meditation on dealing wth grief, and “Tony” tackled the subject of the bullying of gay teenagers leading to suicide with sensitivity, grace, and realism long before Dan Savage started up his excellent It Gets Better Project. I’m sorry this record didn’t sell better, though things worked out well enough for Patty Griffin in the years following it, with several more sucessful records and a bunch of high profile songwriting credits for folks like Emmylou Harris (who did a strange cover of “One Big Love” from this record) and the Dixie Chicks.

♦ – The Replacements – Pleased to Meet Me: I’ve covered a couple of replacements discs in this series, so I can dispense with all the usual blather about missed discovery. This record, in fact, I only picked up a couple of weeks ago at Plan 9 in Carytown, leaving me only one disc short of the whole commercial catalog. This disc continues the bands evolution from a rough-edged punk band to a more straight ahead rock singer-songwriter outfit. It includes what might be the band’s most prominent “hit,” “Can’t Hardly Wait,” a song whose title spawned a sadly underrated teen comedy, and the track’s presence under that film’s closing credits (horn section and all) is actually what clued me into the band’s existence in the first place. Also on this disc is the excellent “Alex Chilton,” about the prolific singer/guitarist o The Box Tops and Big Star, whose work was a big influence on the ‘Mats, as well as lots of other early alternative bands such as R.E.M. Interestingly, Chilton himself plays guitar on “Can’t Hardly Wait.” Definitely worth a listen.