By Marty Smith
Country Boy Casserole
Most every respectable country music song fits my life in some fashion or other.
From my earliest memories of song, great southern music always seemed to apply well to personal convictions reared on a beef cattle farm in southwest Virginia by a no-nonsense daddy and a God-fearing momma, built bail-by-bail throughout adolescence in dusty hayfields and solidified by more than a decade spent on a relentless road between Charlotte and San Francisco and back again.
The City of New Orleans. The Gambler. Highwayman. All the Gold in California. Angel of the Morning. Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes. Seven Spanish Angels. Roll On 18-wheeler. These are songs about love and life and hard work, yarn spun from empty whiskey bottles and the road less traveled.
They're about strife and struggle, and triumph over both. They chronicle life's fundamental truths. They aren't frivolous.
There is plenty of frivolity in modern country music, but several of today’s stars are upholding the standard set by the legends, guys like today’s Outlaw Quartet -- Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, Josh Thompson and my buddy Eric Church. Zac Brown deserves mention in that group, too. He ain't outlaw, but he sure as sugar did it his own way.
Brad Paisley gets it. Dierks, too. Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean cut good songs by good writers.
As I write this I’m somewhere over Georgia at 38,000 feet, ear buds hammering Houser’s “Whistlin’ Dixie” loud enough to block the scream of the engines. With this song, Houser added well to the catalogue of country anthems for the what-you-see-is-what-you-get crowd, unafraid to get its hands dirty; those that appreciate a foundation and ancestry rooted in simple-man self-confidence.
Listening to it reminds me why I love country music -- and why I'm so thankful for it.
As far as I’m concerned, though, nobody says it like Church says it. Eventually, country radio and whomever it is that votes on these random awards shows will cast aside political gain, wake up and appreciate his excellence. The wave is coming. Trust me. He is, from my perspective, unparalleled as a songwriter and performer.
I’ve learned much from him about self-confidence and intuition. No one will ever convince me that Sinners Like Me isn’t the greatest album ever recorded in any genre in any era. I have my reasons. That record was there when I needed it.
That’s the beauty of music. When you need it it’s there. Even if everyone else deserts you, music is staunch. It is your voice when you don’t know what to say. It is your sounding board when you need to vent. It is comfort. It is solace. It is inspiration. It is revelation.
I can be fury. It can be rage.
The same song can carry completely different meanings for different people.
Knowing who you are takes serious guts. Accepting it is an admission. It is tearing down vulnerabilities and accepting quirks. It is the willingness to forgive those that question your particulars. It takes most folks decades. Those that know quickly in life are truly blessed. With that admission comes unshakable confidence.
Country music is helping cultivate that admission in me.
I went through the rock stage and the rap stage and the alternative stage, and I still appreciate greatly each of those genres of music. I still go bananas at weddings when Poison and Jovi and Vanilla Ice and John Denver hit the speaker. I consider Ice Cube and Eminem and Chuck D and Metallica and Justin Timberlake and Usher among the world’s most talented musicians.
But country is different, probably because it’s where I’m from and who I am and what I’ve lived. And as I age, and engage in each new life experience, there’s a song that speaks directly to my life in that moment.
It may buoy me when I’m treading water. It may embrace me when I’m alone. It may be a mirror of reflection on a rich, blessed past. It may be the fuse to ignite a hell of a party.
And for that, I am thankful.
All I can say about this entry is that I was moved to tears. Everything you've just said is exactly what goes through my mind on a daily basis. Thank you for finding the words for me, Marty.
ReplyDeleteThe country boy really has a way with words. Hard to believe, but I think you outdid yourself on this one - and as a good ole Nascar fan, for that I'm grateful.
ReplyDeleteCash, George and Tammy, Loretta, Tom T, Tanya, Waylon and Willie. Memories of an 8-track player and two 6x9's mounted in the bed of a '72 Chevy pickup with a camper top. My older brother and I and hours and hours of road time spent looking out the front window of that camper top through the cab where Mom and Dad navigated our way through weekends 'down home' and family vacations.
ReplyDeleteMy son and I recently saw Jamey Johnson in concert, and a year ago George Jones. He enjoys the music his friends listen to, but I know he's received the same gift my parents gave me when I hear something from "The Guitar Song" blaring from his car stereo as he leaves for school.
Funny how we've come full circle. I can remember how you and I groaned from the backseat every time Mom turned up the radio and said "her car, her music." You reckon she knew we'd eventually see the light? ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd a country song can find new meaning as the years go by.
ReplyDeleteA great write up Marty. You placed into words feelings about Country music I have always found hard to get others to understand why I love it so.
It is a santuary. It is a foundation. It is a peace of mind.
I never liked country music until I heard Crystal Gayle sing "I'll Get Over You" in 1976. I was going through a divorce and it became my anthem. I fell in love with country music. Tammy, Loretta, Dolly, Conway, Willie, Reba, The Judds, Shania, Gretchen, Dixie Chicks, Faith, Garth, Tim, Trace, Carrie and so many more became a part of me. I can't imagine my life without country music.
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge country music fan. I like all the ones you mentioned and appreciate their talents. My all time favorite is Clint Black and I travel all over to see him perform. Thanks Marty for sharing your love for country music. Country rocks!
ReplyDeleteWhile the industry awards shows probably will never catch up to anything that isn't somewhat political, hopefully the fan voted awards shows will. With the rise of the social networks, stars are being made bigger that would have been ignored or barely heard of years ago...thanks to not only journalists like you, but for every blogger, twitter tweeter, facebook"er" that shares and spreads the word the armies are built to an enduring and endearing fan base!
ReplyDeleteSeven Spanish Angels holds a very dear spot in my heart. My dad always loved that song and promised him we would play it at his funeral. My dad lost a long hard fight this June and today was our first holiday without him. I know he was watching from above. Be thankful you have your family because sometimes we take them all for granted.
ReplyDeleteCowboy Mouth. Oh yeah.
ReplyDeleteAll of the artists mentioned are great and on top of the list - Alan Jackson. He makes me cry, makes me laugh, makes me feel special and I'll never meet him.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I'm thankful for today, Marty, is how your writings make me cry, make me laugh and make me feel special and we will probably never meet. I have a couple of pictures of you from the track though, and pictures of Alan from concerts I've attended. Good memories.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Carol
These come from a place where modernity is pushed back a little. They are not songs of urban life or post-modern angst or global economics. They are songs about fundamentals, about people clinging dearly to what matters most to them, often in recoil from modernity: family; a place where common sense is valued more than intellectual rigor; a place where willingness to fetch for and sit with a neighbor is noble. They are the songs sometimes of a people who are disenfranchised but don’t know it; despite the insight, say, of Alan Jackson’s ”The Little Man,” they are glad that Walmart is in their town; they resent the fact that some elites somewhere view them with condescension, but insist still that they are the backbone of a great nation. “A walking contradiction,” as a Rhodes Scholar penned in another context.
ReplyDeleteI particularly like the inclusion of Steve Goodman on the list. There was someone who was not country in any way shape or form but clearly “got” country music.
Currently listening to "The House That Built Me" by Miranda Lambert. The first time I heard it, I loved it. Then, at the end of August, my parents lost their home of 26 years (it was a long time comin', and we knew it would come to that), and that song has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I grew up in that house. My son had spent nearly every Sunday (Race day!!) for the first 2 years of his life in that house. Now they live 20 minutes away, and it feels like there's a continent between us. Perhaps some of the distance is emotional.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, whenever I hear this song, I cry. It's every feeling I have about that situation wrapped up in less than 5 minutes. I can never explain my feelings quite like some songs can.