NO DEPRESSION

1
NO DEPRESSION

• George Babcock
• Library 155
• Fall 2003

2
WHAT IS ALTERNATIVE COUNTRY?

• In the introduction to the book No Depression,
  Alternative Country is by artists too old, too
  loud or too eccentric for country radio.
  
• A local radio program is produced each week which
  may be clue in those interested in Alternative
  Country. The program, Swinging Doors, airs
  Thursday nights on KEXP (90.3 FM) from 6PM to
  9PM. Play lists are available at kexp.org
• News Flash! Faith Hill is not country!

3
THE ORIGIN OF THE TITLE

• No Depression (in Heaven) by The Carter Family
• No Depression by Uncle Tupelo

4
THE CARTER FAMILYNo Depression (In Heaven)
1936(A.P. Carter, S. Carter, M. Carter)

• For fear the hearts of men are failing,For these
  are latter days we know.The Great Depression now
  is spreading,God's word declared it would be so.
  
• CHORUSI'm going where there's no depression,To
  the lovely land that's free from care.I'll leave
  this world of toil and trouble,My home's in
  Heaven, I'm going there.
• In that bright land, there'll be no hunger,No
  orphan children cryin' for bread,No weeping
  widows, toil or struggle,No shrouds, no coffins,
  and no death.
• This dark hour of midnight nearingAnd
  tribulation time will come.The storms will hurl
  in midnight fearAnd sweep lost millions to their
  doom.

5
UNCLE TUPELONo Depression (A.P. Carter, S.
Carter, M. Carter)

• Released in 1990
• Rockville Records
• Re-mastered and re-released with bonus tracks in
  2003.
  
• Columbia/Legacy Recordings

6
VITAL STATISTICS

• Frequency Bi-Monthly.
• ISSN 1088-4971.
• Published by No Depression, Inc.,
• 5816 9th Ave. NW, Seattle, WA 98107.
• Current Publication of 27000 Copies.
• Newsstand Price 4.95.
• Subscription Price 18.00/year 2nd Class,
  30.00/year 1st Class.
  

7
CHIEF PERSONEL

• Kyla Fairchild (Seattle, WA) Advertising
  Distribution Director. Marketing and promotion
  inquiries should be sent to Kyla.Mary Schuh
  (Seattle, WA) Subscriptions Finance. Please
  contact Mary with questions about subscriptions
  and merchandise, to change your address, and to
  check on missing issues. Trish Wagner (Austin,
  TX) Advertising Representative and Marketing
  Assistant. All advertising inquiries should be
  sent to Trish. Peter Blackstock (Durham, NC)
  Co-editor. Please query Peter with new review
  questions.Grant Alden (Nashville, TN)
  Co-editor Art DirectorMarcia Smith
  (Nashville, TN) Web Slave. Please leave Marcia
  alone unless theres an issue with the website
  itself that she can resolve.

8
REGULAR COLUMNS

• Front Porch Letters, Editorial Comment,
  Artist Obituaries, etc.
  
• Miked Live Reviews.
• Town and Country Regional Scene Reports.
• A Place To Be Regional Portrait.
• Dont Ask Me No Questions Interviews.
• The Long Way Around Extended Features.
• Sittin Thinkin - Essays
• Not Fade Away Reissued Music Reviews.
• Waxed Music, Film and Book Reviews.
• The No Depression Top 40 Music Chart
• Screen Door - Variety

9
AUDIENCE

• The intended audience is Alt-Country musicians
  and fans.

10
THE FIRST ISSUE

• Fall 1995.
• Assembled in the Editors Seattle homes with the
  help of Kinkos Copies.
  
• Originally a quarterly publication.

11
GOING BI-MONTHLY

• After four issues, No Depression switches to a
  bi-monthly periodical.
  
• Issue 5 covers September/October 1996.

12
LATEST ISSUE

• Issue 48, November/December 2003.
• The title reads just Depression in tribute to
  the passing of Johnny Cash.

13
ONLINE VERSION

• An online version of the magazine can be found
  at http//www.nodepression.net/
  
• Not all articles found in the printed version are
  available online.

14
REVIEWS

• The ideal No Depression reader believes that
  Johnny Cash and Jeff Tweedy are both gods and for
  similar reasons they respect tradition enough to
  rebel against it. The same can be said for the
  magazine that covers them with a similar restless
  energy. Started in the mid-'90s as a vehicle to
  cover alt-country upstarts, No Depression has
  since broadened its range to include all kinds of
  roots music, including folk, blues, bluegrass,
  indie rock, and even the occasional classic-rock
  icon (but only when former Led Zeppelin singer
  Robert Plant is singing Bob Dylan and Bukka White
  covers). It's fitting that the name of the
  magazine comes from a 1990 Uncle Tupelo album
  title, which in turn was borrowed from a Carter
  Family song lyric from the '30s, because No
  Depression is interested in music that draws on a
  rich rural history but is now played and enjoyed
  by urban hipsters as well as roots
  traditionalists. Although the writing and design
  tend to be as utilitarian as a pair of denim
  overalls, each issue is jammed full of reviews
  (of CDs, concerts, movies, and books), short
  profiles of regional musicians, and lengthy
  features devoted to major artists (recent
  subjects have included Guy Clark, Dolly Parton,
  Linda Thompson, and Rhett Miller). If you prefer
  your country music shrink-wrapped by Nashville,
  look elsewhere. However, if you think Austin,
  Texas, is the music world's mecca, No Depression
  is probably for you. --Keith Moerer From
  amazon.com review.

15
REVIEWS

• The alternative country movement, which
  comprises cowpunkers, folkies, Bakersfield sound
  revivalists, anyone "too old, too loud or too
  eccentric for country radio is still waiting for
  a magazine to do for it what Rolling Stone did
  for rock and roll. In the interim, the jovially
  amateurish fanzine, No Depression, founded in
  1995 by Seattle writers Alden and Blackstock and
  named after an A.P. Carter song, fills the gap.
  Publishers Weekly

16

• I suppose I should start by coming out with my
  confession that I have always had, well, some
  slight problems with "No Depression"... To
  wit, I (and a few other people) have long
  regarded the magazine as more of a booster
  society for twangcore than as a vehicle for
  critical commentary... the reviews are generally
  non-critical and often adulatory of even the most
  marginally talented of bands. Such boosterism is
  all very well and fine -- it's a matter of
  preference, and in some ways is a refreshing
  change of pace from the snarkiness of say, "SPIN"
  or various indie-rock zines. But at the same
  time, there is something to be said for offering
  sincere criticism if no one will point out the
  flaws in an artform, how can it be expected to
  grow? In a similar vein, the editorial slant at
  ND seems to encourage loose, personalized,
  expressive writing from its dozens of freelance
  contributors. Writers regularly interject
  themselves into their stories, or go out of their
  way to use quirky -- even show-offy --
  phraseology and other purposefully-amatuerish
  techniques that come out of the 'zine ethos. At
  times this is rewarding to the reader. More often
  than not, though, I find it distracting and
  difficult to get around if you're writing about
  Hank Williams, then tell me about Hank Williams
  don't try to write a Homeric ode in his praise.
  The editorial hand seems light at "No Depression"
  -- perhaps they're just unwilling to offend
  contributors by offering actual guidance -- but
  they also seem to overvalue dense or lengthy
  prose as a way to persuade the reader of the
  gravity of what is being discussed. Ironically,
  in this regard "No Depression" has little to
  worry about -- it is clearly the leader of the
  pack in the current twang craze, so as music
  historians of the future look back at today's
  country-roots revival, ND will doubtless take on
  the authoritative stature that it tries so hard
  to project in the present day. Amazon.com

17
MAGAZINE IN BOOK FORM

• In 1998, a book was published which collected 37
  feature articles from the magazine.
  
• No depression an introduction to alternative
  country music (whatever that is) / Edited by
  Grant Alden and Peter Blackstock.
  
• 1998, Dowling Press, Nashville, TN

18
MY REVIEW

• I like the music and the magazine covers it
  extensively.
  
• I like the fact that it started as a zine and
  has gained widespread acceptance.
  
• No Depression is an independent organization, not
  beholden to corporate interests. Bonus points in
  my book.
  

19
THE END