AltCountryTab.com is still down

Grumble grumble... I've heard a rumor on the Guitartown mailing list that it's down for good. Evidently the guy who ran it has vanished, and someone's come in and hacked the site. Since the original guy is gone, no one can get in to fix it. Or something along those lines anyway.... like I said -- "rumor." In any case, it's been down for days and shows no sign of coming back up. It's been down for extended periods in the past though, so here's me holding on to hope.

I've got to admit that site is a bit of a guilty pleasure, as I'm not 100% sure of the legality of people posting tablature and lyrics like that. I know as a hobbyist musician it's been a great help for me, but I wonder if it steals money from artists? I like to think of it as a "loss leader" -- that is, the musicians might lose money on the tiny amount they'd make if they sold their sheet music, but since people discover new music through the site -- it's all made up for in increased CD sales. I sure hope that's how it worked for other people than just me, anyway.

(And for the record, I'd buy more sheet music if more was available in an easier consumed format -- not those awful expensive books only for Top 40 artists and hairbands. There was a time in our nation's history when a "hit song" meant that the sheet music for it was selling well.)