The magazine, which charted the rise of Americana, or alternative country, or No Depression music, or whatever you want to call it, started in September 1995 with Son Volt on the cover and far more quite good writing inside than one would have expected, way back in what was then the fanzine era. Among other things, the first issue had a scintillating column (by one of the founders, Peter Blackstock) detailing the history of covers of “Wichita Lineman.” From the very start the magazine had a magnanimous attitude toward coverage, looking for good music emanating from a wide swath of personal expression.

In a letter to subscribers, Blackstock (co-editor), Grant Alden (co-editor and art director) and Kyla Fairchild (ad director) track the forces that doomed the magazine:

In this evolving downloadable world, what a record label is and does is all up to question. What is irrefutable is that their advertising budgets are drastically reduced, for reasons we well understand. It seems clear at this point that whatever businesses evolve to replace (or transform) record labels will have much less need to advertise in print.

The decline of brick and mortar music retail means we have fewer newsstands on which to sell our magazine, and small labels have fewer venues that might embrace and hand-sell their music. Ditto for independent bookstores. Paper manufacturers have consolidated and begun closing mills to cut production; we’ve been told to expect three price increases in 2008. Last year there was a shift in postal regulations, written by and for big publishers, which shifted costs down to smaller publishers whose economies of scale are unable to take advantage of advanced sorting techniques.

Then there’s the economy…

The result? Ad sales down a third from what they were two years ago. The full text of the trio’s note is here. The magazine’s web site, which has a complete archive, will remain active.