In September 1998, an Uncut covermounted CD, Sounds Of The New West, helped to define a scene not yet called Americana by compiling disparate yet kindred artists including Willard Grant Conspiracy, Will Oldham, Emmylou Harris and Lambchop. There have been four sequels to date, each introducing strong new voices such as Joan Shelley and Courtney Marie Andrews. Now Uncut is celebrating the series, and its own 25th anniversary, with a limited-edition coloured vinyl double-album of the same name, selecting series highlights including songs by Drive-By Truckers, Margo Price, Lift To Experience and Frazey Ford. “Those are some of my favourite artists,” Ford informs Uncut. “It’s such an interesting and eclectic grouping of songwriters and bands.”
Uncut’s founding editor Allan Jones recalls that it all began when brainstorming ideas for a CD to complement a cover story on Neil Young’s ‘Ditch Trilogy’. “I’d been listening to what we called at the time ‘New Country’. I compiled a playlist including tracks from Lambchop, Calexico, The Pernice Brothers, Vic Chesnutt, The Handsome Family, Will Oldham and Silver Jews, and came up with the title Sounds Of The New West: The Best Of Alternative Country.” The indie labels he approached welcomed the coverage, for music getting scant airplay. “Loose Music had put out their own compilation, New Sounds Of The Old West,” Jones notes, a useful prototype.