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Where Are the Mainstream Country Rebels?
Remember that promising yet all-too brief period in the mid 1980s when it seemed as if the so-called New Traditionalists--Dwight Yoakum, Steve Earle, Patty Loveless, Lyle Lovett, et al.--might just rescue mainstream country from the overproduced schlock it had become? Well, we know what happened to those people. Whether they were too country (Yoakum and Loveless), too eclectic (Lovett), too rockin' or too political (Earle), you just knew that mainstream country radio couldn't contain them for very long. And it didn't. As the Western swing of George Strait gave way to the contrived bathos of Garth Brooks and sexed-up country-pop of Shania Twain, it became pretty evident that we were losing the war once again. Since then there have been occasional glimmers of hope--the Dixie Chicks, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Nickel Creek, the O Brother soundtrack--but nothing that's really shaken mainstream country up the way Waylon and Willie shook things up in the '70s. Why is that?
Sure, we've had Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show, and the Grammy-winning Robert Plant/Alison Krauss collaboration, but these artists are probably more folk than country, and, with the exception of Plant and Krauss, haven't really been given the kind of exposure necessary to challenge the status quo. Certainly there's no shortage of first-rate Americana and alt-country artists making a name for themselves on the fringes of the country music industry. My question is, where are today's mainstream country rebels? I'm not talking about manufactured upstarts like Miranda Lambert or the outlaw posturing of Toby Keith, but real-deal bad-asses like Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard? I could be wrong, but it seems to me the state of mainstream country music has never been quite as sorry as it is right now. For a while the problem seemed to be cyclical, but we've been so long without a bona fide insurgency in mainstream country that I'm beginning to wonder if things will ever turn around again.
Does anyone else share this fear? Is all the good stuff doomed to exist only in the margins from here on out? What do you think?
Tags: Mainstream, New-Traditionalists, country, insurgent-country, music
Views: 1086
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jack on -
Shawn, I think the really, really good stuff, country or otherwise, is usually well off the beaten path, with fairly rare exceptions. After all, how frequently do classics like Cash and Haggard and their counterparts in other music really come along? I think there's plenty of great music currently being made, but looking to the mainstream for rebels is more often than not looking in the exact wrong direction, no?
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Permalink Reply by Shawn Edward Cote on -
The mainstream probably is the wrong place to look for rebels, but it seems to me this wasn't always the case. Probably the bulk of mainstream country or rock music from any decade is shit, but for a while there was always somebody--a Springsteen or a Steve Earle or what have you--who kind of kept us from throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Now everything mainstream just seems so uniformly bad that you want to turn your back on the whole scene and the idiots who feed it. That said, there probably never was a time when a song as good as "Windfall" would have found purchase in any mainstream format, and the closest Townes Van Zandt ever came to a hit single were those songs of his that were covered by then-mainstream country acts like Emmylou Harris and Merle and Willie. And no, I'm sure I wouldn't like to hear Lucinda Williams played alongside ear candy like Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum, any more than I wanted to see Miranda Lambert on the cover of No Depression magazine a few years back. But can't we all remember a time when it was still possible to separate some wheat (Patty Loveless) from the chaff (Reba McEntire) in the mainstream? Now it's all chaff. Suzy Boggus was at least a poor man's Nanci Griffith, one of those rare mainstream acts with enough taste to cover the truly good stuff (Griffith, John Hiatt, etc.). That doesn't happen much anymore, to my knowledge. But then I haven't listened to mainstream country radio on purpose in a long, long time.
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Permalink Reply by Derek on -
Two come to mind: Jamey Johnson and Brad Paisley.
I submit Jamey Johnson because he recorded his album, "That Lonesome Song" on his own, or at least as independently as possible in Nashville. He had been dropped from his major label and not signed to a major label at the time. He used his own band, wrote many of the songs. At least according to the narrative, he was abusing drugs/alcohol and going through a divorce. But, he managed to win ACM and CMA song of the year for this (not to mention his fantastic song "Give it Away" won a year earlier):
Now, Brad Paisley doesn't seem like an outlaw. Hear me out though. First, he plays some pretty traditional country. Heavy use of pedal steel, great Bakersfield style guitar playing. Strong song writing that isn't abusing the usual cliches. I'll get to more of that later.
Second, he released, an instrumental album at the height of his popularity. Very gutsy, and a nod to the old pickers like Les Paul, Buck Owens, etc.
Third, he's revived the country tradition of using humor. Now, I readily admit that some of it is too much (I'm looking at you "Online"). I'll also admit he's gone quite corporate as of late. But so did Johnny Cash.
Finally, I submit his song "Welcome to the Future." This song undercuts so much of what mainstream country glorifies. He's talking about today being better than yesterday. Even the "no depressionistas" fetishize the past and get caught up in nostalgia (no good outlaw music since the 70s!). The idea that today is better is RADICAL for this era. But, country had a tradition of honoring technology (specifically the train).
Also, he has a whole verse that glorifies the election of Obama and says the prior generation was wrong. He made this a country hit in Red State America. Outlaw.
Ok, I admit the corporate powers that be had to soak the following video in childhood goodness to mask the radical lyrics, but it's still worth a listen.
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Permalink Reply by Shawn Edward Cote on
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I can see making a case for Johnson, though he's not my cup of tea. Paisley's another story. I just don't hear it. Sorry. That's my prejudice. I'd rather listen to John Schneider.
Steve Earle once said in No Depression that it was a barometer of how f****d up country radio was that Buddy Miller wasn't given any airplay. He was right. The same might be said for Kelly Willis, the Robison brothers, Robert Earl Keen, or any number of other Americana artists. Kelly Willis is gorgeous, she sings beautifully, and eats up any video footage she's in. What's kept her from getting the exposure she deserves. Are her songs too literate? Too adult? Not catchy enough? All the above?
I think I'm going to regret starting this thread. I'm not even sure what my question was anymore. Whatever it is, I'm beginning to suspect I already knew the answer.
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Permalink Reply by Liz Dexia on -
Listening to current 'country' radio, John Schneider sounds radical. (and not just because one of his guitarists is a friend!) Charlie Robison almost caught on, Townes and Keen have voices mass radio can't accept - nothing wrong with being the songwriter. Have you heard Harland Howard's recordings? Buddy Miller should be canonized. He has all the weapons to win a radio shootout and his playing style and production techniques have been co-opted by many current stars. It is a sin Kelly Willis is better known for Claratin commercials than her fine work. But every time Tim McGraw covers a Fred Eaglesmith tune or Miranda Lambert pens a great song buried late on a cd, I have a twinge of hope that someone listening will like that better than Carrie Underwood's latest rewrite of her pissed-off girl anthem and search for more songs like those. Finding them is the hard part, so many disparate sites to troll, so few mass marketed alternatives. Makes one miss record stores with product you can hold and peruse and staff you can use as references. Yeah, I'm turning into an old curmudgeon, but if the old ways weren't better in this case, the new ways aren't an improvement.
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Permalink Reply by Ronn Miller on -
Again....How Can It Be Country if It Sounds like Rock n- Roll (c-1986)
All politicians start out honest, believeing they will do good things. dollars buy them away from their good intentions and honesty, they're just paid for political leader who couldn't care less about their morals, intentions or dreams. It's the dollerz!
How does that relate to Country Music....simple, they all start out in front of the video camera chest thumping on how inspired they are by Hank Sr, Lefty, Jones (Grandpa & George), Lynn, Cline, etc., first offer of money, airplay, record deal, they all forget about the COUNTRY MUSIC they love and always wanted to do and who inspired them. It's the dollerz!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Permalink Reply by NT on
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Not mainstream and still on the margins, but more country than folk... Wayne Hancock, Elizabeth Cook, Hank III, Rachel Brooke, Jayke Orvis and James Hunnicut are a good start.
If you haven't seen http://www.savingcountrymusic.com, you might check it out.By the way, while I expect Paisley supports Obama, I see this as referencing ML King, not Obama.
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Permalink Reply by Derek on
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Not to get too philosophical, but he sings, "Wake up Martin Luther, welcome to the future." My interpretation is that he believes Martin Luther King's dream of the 60s is closer to coming true because we have our first black president, Obama, today.
@shawn, I know what you mean, this question will lead down a rabbit hole. But that's the fun. My point, however, is that many music fans define real country music as "not mainstream." I suspect that even if this generation's Johnny Cash was played on the radio, they wouldn't accept the music precisely because it was on mainstream radio. You simply can't argue with that logic.
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Permalink Reply by NT on
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I understand you can hear it that way, yet there is nothing explicit about Obama, just a general suggestion that racial issues are better. I think that undermines your point. I guess I would see the song as really bucking the Nashville culture if he did explicitly reference Obama, or take a more current, explicit political stand. Referencing MLK is safe, Obama isn't. MLK is no longer controversial except to a minority of right wing nuts. That is a step forward, but I think as Americans we like to pat ourselves on the back about the civil rights era as a way to ignore current economic and racial inequalities.
I don't see this as a particularly courageous song. I still agree he is one of the better mainstream folks.
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Permalink Reply by Shawn Edward Cote on
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I think NT is right. Paisley's playing it pretty safe here. If this song came out today, it would probably reference the late Steve Jobs, another "safe" hero. If Paisely did reference the president, he'd probably alienate half his fan base. Not that Obama's a radical by any stretch of the imagination, despite what his detractors say.
More and more, I also agree with Jack. I think most of the truly good stuff is to be found underground, or, as he says, off the beaten path. Maybe that's as it should be. The middle of the road is no place for a serious artist these days, and fence-straddlers impress no one. I'm sure even Steve Earle had to compromise his art to a certain degree to get Guitar Town out where the masses could hear it. That's just the way the system works.
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Permalink Reply by Liz Dexia on
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"...MLK is safe..." A point directly attributable to Garth Brooks' video for 'The Dance." At least when he was starting out, Garth new there was some balance between the songs and the performance. Then content lost the contest...
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Permalink Reply by Ronn Miller on
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As I've never heard the song with the lyric "Wake up martin Luther, welcome to the future", Might I suggest that MLK may not have been the Martin Luther he referenced unless he said "king". (and from what i gather herein, he didn't)
Martin Luther was also a world reknowned (White) Confederate Drummer who sounded the "Last Call" at the signing of the Civil War surrender between Lee & Grant. Matter of fact, I was recently honored to be asked to sing a song of my choice, fitting the occassion, of course, I sang "Dixie" at his gravesite as they placed the Confederate Iron Cross beside his Stone with a full ceremony with civil war actors from both sides present to do the dedication.
Which would by any standards fit a song with such a line. and to realize by the younger generation who don't really study history anymore and when they do it is often a lesson on racial history, not actual history on equal grounds, more or less, just what tidbit of history the local news tells them is what they know.
Martin Luther King was not the only person of well known fame to carry the name Martin Luther. There were several and not all were African or Caucasion.
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