Gangstagrass – ‘Nickel and Dime Blues’
“Nickel and Dime Blues” speaks on issues such as financial insecurity and health care. The song showcases Gangstagrass’ bluegrass side, with the pickers grooving against a funky clap track. Dan Whitener sings lead and follows a poor worker into a pharmacy where he is unable to afford medicine, a liquor store to discover he can’t afford to buy a bottle to soothe his worries, and ultimately to prison. Fiddle, banjo, and scratching fill the space between country crooning and raps describing widely shared hardships. “We believe in talking about the economic struggle,” band founder Rench says. “These are things folks across the country can relate to — rural and urban, black and white — despite thinking that they’re so different. We have to unlock solidarity.”
Gangstagrass first gained national attention with “Long Hard Times To Come,” the Emmy-nominated theme song of the FX series Justified. FX asked Rench to write a song for their new Western crime series. The result was the Emmy-nominated “Long Hard Times To Come,” the song that opens every episode of the series. Since then, the band has made four studio albums and a live album. Their latest project, No Time for Enemies, come out Aug. 14.
Find Gangstagrass on all socials @gangstagrass.
SPONSORED BY AntiFragile Music