Joey Allcorn
Encyclopedia
Style
Allcorn's music is a blend of neotraditionalNeotraditional country
Neotraditional country, also known as "new traditional" country, is a country music style that emphasizes the instrumental background and a 'traditional' country vocal style. Neotraditional country artists often dress in the fashions of the country music scene of the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s...
and alternative country
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
music. He cites Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb
Ernest Tubb
Ernest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...
, Faron Young
Faron Young
Faron Young was an American country music singer and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s and one of its most successful and colorful stars...
, Buck Owens
Buck Owens
Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...
, and Jimmie Rodgers
Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)
James Charles Rodgers , known as Jimmie Rodgers, was an American country singer in the early 20th century known most widely for his rhythmic yodeling...
among his idols; modern-day influences include BR549, Robbie Fulks
Robbie Fulks
Robbie Fulks is an American alternative country artist originally from Pennsylvania but who is a longtime Chicago, Illinois resident...
and Dale Watson
Dale Watson (singer)
Dale Watson is an American alternative country/Texas Country singer, guitarist and songwriter based in Austin, Texas. He's positioned himself as a tattooed, stubbornly independent outsider who is interested in recording authentic country music...
. Also evident in his music (especially his live shows) is the punk/grunge influence of early 90's bands like Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
and Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
.
Albums
His first release, 50 Years Too Late (2006), featured duets with Hank III and Lonesome Wyatt. After tours with both Hank III & Those Poor Bastards, as well as shows supporting Unknown HinsonUnknown Hinson
Stuart Daniel Baker, better known by his stage name, Unknown Hinson, is a comedic country musician, songwriter, and voice actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as the voice of Early Cuyler on the Adult Swim cartoon series Squidbillies....
, Wayne Hancock
Wayne Hancock
Wayne "The Train" Hancock is a country musician.Hancock began writing songs at the age of 12, and at 18 won a talent contest called the "Wrangler County Showdown." Immediately after the contest, he was shipped to recruit training and served four years with the United States Marine Corps. In 1994...
and Th' Legendary Shack Shakers
Th' Legendary Shack Shakers
The Legendary Shack Shakers are an American punk blues band. They are inspired by punk, Delta blues, rockabilly, Texas polka, gothic rock, and other traditional Southern music genres, formed in Paducah, Kentucky in the mid-1990s...
, Allcorn's fanbase grew amongst the alt-country and psychobilly
Psychobilly
Psychobilly is a fusion genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. It is one of several subgenres of rockabilly which also include thrashabilly, trashabilly, punkabilly, surfabilly and gothabilly...
crowd. With his second album, 2009's All Alone Again, Allcorn tried to distance himself from the harsher tones of the "hellbilly" scene, avoiding the grungier side of 50 Years Too Late. All Alone Again is also one of the last albums featuring Hank Williams' steel guitar
Steel guitar
Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
player, Don Helms
Don Helms
Don Helms was a steel guitarist best known as the steel guitar player of Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys group....
. Allcorn continues to tour and records on Blue Yodel Records.
Capitol Hill Testimony, 6/28/07
In June 2007, Allcorn appeared before the United States House Committee on Small BusinessUnited States House Committee on Small Business
The United States House Committee on Small Business is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives.-History:On December 4, 1941, the U. S...
, arguing against federal royalty increases on internet radio
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
stations. Allcorn presented himself as a niche market performer whose success depended, in large part, on his music's online accessibility.