The term “alt-country” can be damning. It often reeks of scraggly, bearded men in their 20s and 30s playing a sort of country-era Rolling Stones sound with the obligatory Johnny Cash or Hank Williams references thrown in. Bands such as The Drive By Truckers or Uncle Tupelo have been able rise above the stereotypes but all too often, the results have been grating.

Ten years ago, Marah started making records in a broken-down auto garage. Somewhere along the line, the group was slated to be the second coming of Springsteen, the new Oasis and the next great hope for rock and roll.

“It’s nothing I’d ever go to if I saw that listed,” admits Henry Rollins about the phrase “spoken word performance.” “I’d think, wow, how boring, must be like a poetry thing.”