What Are The Different Genres Of Alternative Music
Posted by Mike Schumacher
This article will discuss what are the different genres of alternative music. There are a lot of different genres of music and sometimes, it can be confusing to figure out what genre an artist falls into.
However, this list will help you identify and distinguish between the different alternative music genres.
Folk
Folk music is an American genre that originated in the early 1800’s. Lyrical themes focus on stories of life, love, nature, and the past.
Folk music artists include Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Emmylou Harris and Billie Holiday.
Classic folk music artists include Tom Paxton, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake.
Ska
Ska music is a Jamaican dance hall genre that originates from the 70’s. Ska is a fusion of reggae and ska, which is often sung in Jamaican patois and in English.
Ska artists include Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Ziggy Marley, Shabba Ranks, Chronixx, Tone Loc, Bob Sinclair, Larry Marshall, Gregory Isaacs, and Willy Morgan.
Rock
The term rock was first coined in 1943 by music critic Paul Dergarabedian.
He used the term to describe the musical style of the Beatles in a review of the group’s release “Please Please Me”. Rock is a musical genre that originated in the late 19th century, usually referring to the music produced during the 1960s.
“Crowded House” is a rock band formed in 1981. Other rock bands include The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Led Zeppelin, the Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, and the Grateful Dead.
Classic rock and alternative rock is a sub-genre of the alternative music genre. As a result, it involves acoustic guitar and can have a minor or loud bass.
Classic rock bands include The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Doors, The Doors, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Queen and Led Zeppelin.
Americana
Americana music is a blend of folk music, blues, country music, and Americana.
Americana artists include Johnny Cash, the Allman Brothers Band, Neil Young and Jeff Beck.
Alternative country
Alternative country is a sub- genre of alternative rock. Alternative country artists focus on political and social issues.
The genre includes John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson and Roy Rogers.
Northeast California/Northwest California
In Northern California, the majority of music is played at dance clubs and raves.
Northwest California is the name for the musical region which includes Northern California, Nevada, Oregon and parts of the state of British Columbia.
Northwest California artists include Missy Elliott, Stevie Nicks, Sinead O’Connor, The Cranberries, Johnny Cash, and even John Mellencamp.
Other artists include Joni Mitchell, Ian Hunter, Graham Parker and the Rumour, The Ramones, and Iron Butterfly.
New York
NY is an alternative country sub-genre and name for the city of New York, New York.
New York artists include Johnny Cash, the Grateful Dead, Patti Smith, and Bob Dylan.
Other artists include Richie Havens, Bo Diddley, The New York Dolls, The Kinks, The Velvet Underground, Ike and Tina Turner, and Sly Stone.
Deltron 3030
In 2000, three friends, Dan The Automator, Kid Koala, and Q-Tip from the group A Tribe Called Quest created a studio album, “Deltron: Futuristic Storm”.
On this album, the three band members employed African and Jamaican musical influences. The album was an underground success.
In 2001, it was re-released under the name “Deltron: Futuristic” and includes two new tracks.
By the end of the next year, the track “The Mob Goes Wild” was featured in the movie “200 Cigarettes”.
In 2003, the name Deltron 3030 was used for a series of four CDs of new music, which was used as the soundtrack for the anime series “”. The tracks included “Solar Summer”, “Temptation”, and “Time For Change”.
By 2006, the group’s popularity had waned.
On March 27, 2012, Dr. Dre announced that he had finished recording the next Deltron 3030 album in the studio. The album was released in 2013 as “Thunderstorm”.
Devon County (England)
Devon County is a landscape of rolling hills and dales in North West England.
The local dialect is called Tiverton and the county is home to a thriving community of musicians and musicians’ clubs.
Devon County folk includes Robin Williamson and John Renbourn.
Southwest England
Southwest England includes many bands and artists, such as David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Mick Jagger (the Rolling Stones), Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Richard Thompson (both from Fairport Convention), Sting, Eric Clapton, and The Stranglers.
Scottish singer, Loreena McKennitt, is also from Southwest England.
Tunisian blues
The Tunisian Blues is a subgenre of music that originates from Tunisia.
The music style was influenced by US blues artists and British blues performers and was developed from World War II into a style of rock and roll which was followed by the generation of 1980s rock and roll, and is widely mixed with world music styles.
The current Tunisian blues performers are composed of local Tunisians living in countries of the world.
Surf music
Surf music originated in California and is found in many American cities, including San Francisco. It includes surf rock and other forms of modern music performed by surfers.
In the 1950s, surf music was a part of the Beach Boys’ repertoire. Surf music reached the Japanese people in the form of The Surf Punks in the 1960s.
These musicians came to the United States by a series of programs arranged by the American Council for the Arts and were members of the group The Little Rascals.
Some Japanese companies such as Fuji Photo Film, Nikon, and Canon began to invest heavily in surf music.
Japan and North America now both produce some of the most popular surf music around.
Surf rock
In the early 1950s, surf rock arose, in many ways, from a fusion of surf and rock and roll.
Its name came from the 1970s genre of surf rock which emerged from California. It refers to the offbeat feel of the genre, which was mainly influenced by surf and American rock and roll music.
In the beginning, surf music was most often influenced by Hawaiian music. However, the influence of American rock and roll and psychedelic rock grew as the music scene developed.
Early on, surf music was often associated with a band called The Beach Boys, which gained worldwide popularity in the early 1960s.
Due to the band’s popularity, surf music found a mainstream following.
In the 1950s, the US and Canada were common destinations for many surf bands to play.

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