If Rip Van Winkle were a country music fan waking up today and flipping on the radio, he’d probably be just as confused and lost as the character in Washington Irving’s classic tale.
He’d hear candy-coated pop songs, recycled classic rock riffs and, of all things, guys in cowboy hats rapping. He’d hear songs about deep subjects like disposable plastic cups and country girls shaking their rumps. He’d probably wonder what happened to the great storytellers of country music. What happened to the songs that made you feel the moment they were written. What happened to the heart and soul of country.
The good news is, it’s still around. It’s just a little bit harder to find these days. There are plenty of acts out there doing things themselves, touring hard in little dive bars and honky tonks across the country, playing music from the heart instead of cashing the check. There are still songs that can tug at the heartstrings, tell us a sad story, and yes, even occasionally make you want to raise a glass or shake your rump, if you’re into that sort of thing.
This song isn’t really one of those deep and meaningful numbers, but it did seem the obvious place to start the conversation.
An advance single for his upcoming March 2012 album Family Man, the song finds Shooter Jennings ranting about the current crop of manufactured outlaws in Nashville and defending his father and the others that led the charge in the movement years ago. Jennings uses an ingenious approach to the subject, actually delivering it among the trappings of some of the industry’s current radio fare. There’s some rock and even hip-hop influence in the music, and there are hooks galore. It’s an earworm that sticks with you after the first listen. But there’s a difference. There’s soul and feeling in the song that’s missing from much of the Nashville fare.
Then, there’s the blunt message of the song: “Country ain’t just about where you’re at; it’s about being true to what’s inside of you.” That message is couched in a lot of clever, snappy lyrics, my favorite being “and there’s a million old Waylon fans saying ‘don’t y’all think this outlaw bit has gotten way out of hand,’” but that one line in the chorus pretty much sums up the feelings of a lot of folks.
Granted, Shooter Jennings does have a few problems in trying to lead the resurgence of honest country, as he’s trying to do with his poorly-named XXX movement. He started his career as a rocker, and his last experimental album Black Ribbons, as good as it was, featured very little country at all. What Jennings does have going for him though, is that I believe he’s truly felt and meant everything he’s done, whether it be the fairly traditional country of his debut album Put the O Back in Country, the Southern rock sounds of the follow-up Electric Rodeo or the Sabbath-style riffing on the opening track of Black Ribbons. I believe it’s true, which, as he tells us in this song, you can’t buy.
Country doesn’t have to be “the same old tune, fiddle and guitar” as Shooter’s dad famously sang. It can draw on rock, hip hop and any other musical style, but you’ve got to feel it, and some artists still get that.
[amazon_enhanced asin=”B005J29MR6″ container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B006WVC22K” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B0000062EQ” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B004AAKEPM” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B0007OY3U2″ container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /]
- The ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ Song That Confirmed Queen’s Metallic Genius - November 8, 2024
- Blackberry Smoke – ‘Be Right Here’ (2024) - June 10, 2024
- Why That Self-Titled 1994 Album Is the Best Motley Crue You Never Heard - March 18, 2024
