Willie Nelson helped found Farm Aid in 1985 and has raised millions of dollars to help farmers from losing their homes, invested in his own line of biodiesel (called BioWillie and which his own tour bus uses), headlined a concert that raised over $100,000 for victims of the 2004 tsunami, and has spoken out against animal cruelty and for peace. To me, that is far more patriotic and inspirational than empty lip service and an infinite number of yellow magnets on the trunks of minivans.

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So I was browsing around the iTunes music store and I stumbled across a section called "Alternative for Adults". Having just turned 30, I was curious what they expect adults who like alternative should be listening to these days. Well, I was slightly mortified. Here is the list:

Brandi Carlisle, Augustana, Ray LaMontagne, Patty Griffin, Bright Eyes, Amy Winehouse, Fountains of Wayne, Martin Sexton, Amos Lee, Angelique Kidjo, John Mayer (?!), Joss Stone (equally ?!), Norah Jones, Ryan Shaw, Son Volt and Tori Amos.

Is this what we're all doomed to turn into or does iTunes have a low opinion of what adults who do not want to listen to mainstream want to hear? Honestly, I would consider maybe 3 of those acts as "alternative," while the rest just seem to be NPR neo-country/neo-jazz. Of course, I suppose that is alternative in its own sense. How do we deal with aging as modern rockers? Should I just give up now and start buying the Ray LaMontagne back catalog and burn my Fugazi and Atari Teenage Riot CDs? *Sigh*

Here's some stuff worth setting the creaky VCRs for over the course of the next few days: Lily Allen, Silversun Pickups, Ira Glass and Morrissey.

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Get your YeeeHAW! on this Tuesday night.

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