Alt Country Women

Loretta Lynn might not exactly leap to the forefront of anyone's outline of alt-country, being trad-country royalty and all, but when the White Stripes' Jack White decided to produce, everyone rethought her situation, and fairly so. The boundaries of alt-country aren't even contained by one nation: k.d. lang and Kathleen Edwards are Canadian, and Kasey Chambers is an Aussie.

Maria McKee was at the forefront of alt-country back in the '80s, when she fronted Lone Justice, so it's little wonder her solo career has continued on an adjacent path. Ex-Mekon Sally Timms (a Brit, incidentally) weighs in with "Sweetheart Waltz," a lush production that recalls the late Owen Bradley's style recording Brenda Lee. And Freakwater (another term for moonshine) recalls country's old-time-y back-porch era — minus the mutants.

Trailer Bride manages to weave a little of the Cramps and Dick Dale into their "All Thine," creating a sort of surf-goth-country. Nice. Meanwhile, Laura Cantrell and Gillian Welch seemingly try to out-sincere each other with their plaintive "Don't Break the Heart" and "Bar Room Girls," respectively. Then again, authenticity (or a simulacrum of same) is one of alt-country's hallmarks. And the Meat Purveyors, with a nod to Talking Heads, gleefully proclaim, "We Kill Evil."

Just as alt-rock arose in response (some would say in opposition) to power chords and spandex, so the women of alt-country arose in response to power hair (any hairstyle that requires architecture or chemistry to maintain its shape) and . . . wait for it . . . spandex. Sometimes turning to the Carter Family for inspiration, sometimes to George Jones, sometimes to Wanda Jackson, these women of alt-country reenergized a genre that was in peril of losing its way. And we thank them.