That’s Country, not Mainstream

Most people associate “country” music with the crap they hear on the mainstream radio stations. You know the stuff, Toby Keith, Travis Tritt, Brooks & Dunn, basically the type of musician that not only gives country music a bad name, but music as a whole a bad name.
Most people don’t realize that country music has a rich history and people with actual talent, not just guys in cut-off t-shirts singing about beer and pickup trucks.

Believe it or not, there are musicians out there who represent classic roots rock/country music faithfully to this day. Sadly, they do not get much air play on major stations and commonly get thrown into the subgenre referred to as alt-country. There are some successful bands out there who dabble in the alt country genre, like Wilco, Ryan Adams, Shooter Jennings and some others.

My general knowledge of alt-country is pretty lacking other than the above-mentioned. Luckily there are a couple of fellows in town who know it pretty well, and have their own alt country band “The Cedars.”

Twin brothers Darrin and Darrell Albert host the “Rhubarb Jam” show on KNDS Wednesdays from 1 to 3 p.m. It’s a great place to get acquainted with the roots rock/alternative country scene. They play anything from the mainstream stuff like Wilco to countless lesser known artists.
I asked Darren and Darrel how they got into the roots rock thing as opposed to the rap/rock/pop that most young people are into.

They responded “We started out as outcast kids in high school at about 16. We got into punk first. Being from a farm, we naturally implemented a touch of that to it (roots rock). That led us into some of the darker alt country bands.”

This really shows on the brothers radio show. They not only play a lot of alt- country, but also spin a lot of punk bands on their show. It seems as though their love of punk at a young age bled into a love of alt-country.

Punk and Country have more in common than you think. They both seem to represent the working class.

Another defining feature of the “Rhubarb Jam” radio show is the brothers’ tendency to play their own music on the show. I asked them if it was ever nerve racking doing this.

“It’s Definitely anxiety-provoking, We don’t even listen to it, we just sort of turn the volume down.”

You may think it’s kind of vain for people to play their own music on their own radio show, but there is a very democratic feel to the show. They wouldn’t hesitate to give anyone’s music some air play, talented or not.

“We will put out on our show, ‘are you a musician or a poet? call us up and come and do your thing, no demos required’”

To them talent isn’t the important thing, self-expression is.

“We value people expressing themselves over people obsessing on how talented they are. When we listen to music we don’t really care so much about talent”

As for their music, Ceder Bros. music is all self-recorded, and self-sold at their shows. It seems as though they have no interest in the business end of making music.

They play at various venues in town.

Their music is really interesting in that the brothers display amazing vocal harmony. When singing their voices sound similar and very distinct at the same time.

One brother tends to play lead guitar and one tends to play rhythm guitar. Recently they have been playing with a drummer, but the core of the group is the two of them.

Although they haven’t played any shows lately they plan on playing some soon, so be sure and keep an eye out for them, and definitely check out their radio show for some roots rock goodness.

Turn on, Tune in

What: Darrin & Darrell Albert, “Rhubarb Jam”
Where: KNDS Thunder Radio, 96.3FM
When: Wednesdays, 1 to 3 p.m.
Info: 701.231.6703