A Little Bit Country?

By Andrew J.R.

I'll admit, when I was younger I was one of those people who, when asked what type of music they prefer, would respond with "anything other than country." And at the time, it was true, I was listening to jazz, punk rock, blues, soul, indie, etc. I was a purist, sure, and only listened to a small portion of those genres. Nonetheless, I never even let country on my radar. I'm sure that I'm not the only one; it's a pretty common response from what I've witnessed, and it continues to be so. Today I asked a new acquaintance what they listened to, and their "anything but country" response is what inspired this blog. But why is this the case?

In my opinion, which I won't get too far into as to avoid offending anyone, today's mainstream country is the problem. Perhaps not a problem, because there are obviously a whole lot of people buying those records, but it maybe a barrier. For instance, if you turn on a country station today, you might hear passionate songs written about the artist's Ford-F150, drinking Bud Light, or perhaps about sticking a boot in someone's ass. But what happened to soul in country? What happened to the great songwriting? (just my opinion*)

Over the past few years, maybe 7 or 8, I have been having what you might call a love affair with Jamaican music. I can't get enough of the early 60's traditional ska, the rocksteady grooves, the dark psychedelic dub, and of course the dirty gritty reggae. I am also a huge fan of old soul and R&B, specifically a lot of stuff that came out of the sixties. Otis Redding, Wilson Pickette, Ray Charles, anything off of Stax or Motown. In fact, I am one that would argue that Sam Cooke is one of the greatest singers/songwriters of all time.

It wasn't until I truly began to appreciate these forms of music that I realized, I really really like country. I heard Ray Charles singing Hank Williams Sr.'s "Your Cheating Heart," I heard the reggae greats, Toots and the Maytals, cover John Denver's "Country Roads." And then it hit me. All of these styles; country, soul, reggae, old rock&roll... it's all the same. Hell, Willie Nelson even put out a reggae album, "Country Man," a few years back (not bad by the way). Bob Dylan has a ton of stuff that borders on the country sound. The same songwriting styles, even the same topics within the lyrics, and the soul.... It's got to be the soul. I don't just hear it as country anymore, with that same stigma attached. Now it's just good songwriting to me. Since then, it's been hard for me to keep the likes of Hank Sr., Johnny Cash, Les Paul, and Willie out of my regular rotation.

Lately I've also been hearing a lot of (good) country show up in the music of my generation. Jenny Lewis has a lot of country influence on her latest album, particularly the track "Carpetbaggers" with Elvis Costello. Even Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys has shown some liking for the country style on his record "Keep It Hid," which I can't get enough of. While it might not be obvious, a lot of bands are starting to embrace the country style in their writing, and I for one think it's great. Now you won't find me listening to Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, or any of that.. but I'll put on Willie Nelson's "Red Headed Stranger" and listen the whole way through any day. So while I still may be picky about the music that I enjoy, I've long since left the "anything but country" mindset.