The Origins & Epicenters of Underground “Muddy” Roots

From the outside looking in, one may look at the lineup of The Muddy Roots Festival for example, and wonder how a throwback legend from Texas like Wayne “The Train” Hancock, a hillbilly punk freak from Tennessee like Joe Buck, a golden-throated singer from Michigan like Rachel Brooke, a crazy hellbilly songwriter from the Pacific Northwest like Bob Wayne, and a blues legend from Mississippi like T-Model Ford could all be booked right beside each other and it work seamlessly.

This illustrates the dramatic sonic and geographical diversity that goes into creating what we know now as the underground country roots, or “Muddy Roots” world. Below is a list of the disparate origins of Muddy Roots music that came together from a mutual understanding and appreciation of the roots of American music, and the epicenters where this music originated from and/or is thriving today.

ORIGINS:

The revitalization of Lower Broadway in Nashville.

In the early 90′s, lower Broadway street in downtown Nashville comprised the last bastion of old buildings that symbolized what Music City used to be. Overrun with dirty bookstores and titty bars, and The Grand Ole Opry’s original home The Ryman shuttered, young cowpunk and neo-traditionalist musicians like BR549, Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, Hillbilly Casino, Greg Garing, and Joe Buck and Layla, commandeered lower Broadway and revitalized the strip into the tourist destination it is today. Emmylou Harris‘s legendary concert with the “Nash Ramblers” in 1994 also breathed new life into The Ryman, and later Hank Williams III would cut his teeth in lower Broadway venues like Layla’s Bluegrass Inn.

The fierce appreciation for country’s roots combined with an independent, punk mentality is what revitalized the most historic portion of downtown Nashville, and created the foundation for the blending of country, blues, and punk that Muddy Roots music would spring from.

Read more about lower Broadways revitalization: PART 1 — PART 2 — PART 3 — PART 4

 Outlaw Country

Not just Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, but Bobby Bare, Kris Kristofferson, and especially Tompall Glaser’s “Hillbilly Central” renegade studio in Nashville is the origin of the Outlaw spirit behind underground country roots, the “Do It Yourself” attitude to not allow labels to arrest creative control from the artists and to always respect the elders and traditions of the country genre while also allowing the music to innovate.

Punk

Underground country and Muddy Roots is very much a construct of the “post punk” music landscape. As punk music and scenes began to become stale or gentrify, punk artists and fans looking for the raw approach to music, and many times raised on traditional country and bluegrass, began to turn back to their own roots and put down their Flying V guitars for fiddles and banjos. This is where some of the fast, aggressive approach to roots music comes from, on both the country and the blues side, as well as the DIY spirit, and the grassroots approach to scene building and album production.

After Hank Williams III’s stint with the punk metal band Superjoint Ritual is when many punk and metal heads found themselves listening to country music again. In 2006, when Hank3 recorded his album Straight to Hell at home on a consumer-grade machine and put out an album with a Parental Advisory sticker on the front through one of Nashville’s major labels, many barriers were broke down and parameters set for how Muddy Roots music would evolve.

North Mississippi Hill Country Blues & Deep Blues

One of the reasons both country and blues music can work right beside each other in Muddy Roots is because in many cases they are both being infused with punk, just like artists Scott Biram and The Black Diamond Heavies do. Many times the infusion is with a very specific type of blues from the North Mississippi Hill Country, brought to the attention of the rest of the world by Fat Possum Records in the early 90′s, just about the same time lower Broadway in Nashville was being revitalized by young country punks.

One of the first events that put these like-minded blues and punk blues musicians all in one place, and included a few country-based artists as well was the Deep Blues Festival put on by Chris Johnson in Minnesota starting in the mid 2000′s. Deep Blues fest was where the relationship between blues, punk, and a deep appreciation for the roots of blues by young white musicians was codified.

Rockabilly

In a similar way to infusing both country and blues music with a punk edge and mentality, rockabilly artists in the early 90′s like The Reverend Horton Heat pioneered “pyschobilly”, a punk version of rockabilly. Just like their blues and country counterparts, they were neo-traditionalists, staunchly educated in and preservers of the roots of the music.

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EPICENTERS:

Part and parcel with the sonic diversity of underground country roots is the geographic diversity. Unlike many other past music movements that sprang up in specific geographical areas (or maybe in a few general areas, like East Coast vs. West Coast), Muddy Roots has epicenters all across the country as illustrated in the map below.

1. Tennessee (Nashville)

As explained above, Nashville has played the most vital role in the formation of underground country roots, from the Outlaw country music movement in the mid-70′s, to the revitalization of lower Broadway beginning in the mid-90′s, and today with the Muddy Roots Festival just an hour east in Cookeville, Nashville and Tennessee remain the major Muddy Roots epicenter, including the up-and-coming east Nashville, home to many venues supporting underground musicians, and the home of Hank Williams III, arguably the most important musician to the formation of a country music underground.

2. Austin, TX

As the”Live Music Capitol of the World” and a huge music town, Austin follows only Nashville in it’s importance to Muddy Roots music. Home to Wayne “The Train” Hancock, Scott Biram, Dale Watson, and many other underground roots musicians, as well as one of the epicenters of the original country music Outlaw movement and a lot of independent music infrastructure, Austin is a vital epicenter in underground roots.

3. The North Mississippi Hill Country

It’s not just any old blues that builds the nexus between blues and country into that unique underground roots concoction, it is a specific type of blues from the north Mississippi Hill Country. Fat Possum championed the sound of artists like RL Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, T Model Ford, and many others beginning in the early and mid 90′s. That sound has since been picked up and combined with punk by artists like Scott Biram, The Ten Foot Polecats, Restavrant, and The Black Keys to form what is more commonly referred to today as “Deep Blues”.

4. Michigan – (Detroit, Flint)

On the surface maybe one of the most unlikely epicenters for country and roots music is also possibly one of the most vibrant. The home base for artists like Whitey Morgan & The 78′s, Rachel Brooke, The Goddamn Gallows (Lansing), as well as a vibrant local scene with bands like Some Velvet Evening, Michigan has grown just about as many underground roots acts as anywhere else. To grow good roots bands you need support, and events like the legendary “Honky Tonk Tuesdays” at Club Bart in Ferndale created the community and collaboration that have allowed Michigan roots music to thrive.

5. The Upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin)

The Upper Midwest is the proving ground for many early and influential Muddy Roots bands, including the Gothic country stalwarts Those Poor Bastards from Madison, WI, the premier punk/bluegrass .357 String Band from Milwaukee, and Trampled by Turtles from Duluth, MN. When you throw in Michigan as an Upper Midwest state as well, the region becomes one of the strongest in the country for roots music.

Minnesota was also the scene of the crime for the original Deep Blues Festivals, and is the home of Chris Johnson, the founder of Deep Blues, and the owner of Bayport BBQ, a blues-based venue near St. Paul. Along with Weber’s Deck in French Lake, MN, they make Minnesota an Upper Midwest roots haven.

6. Arizona (Phoenix)

It only seems appropriate that one of the places where Waylon Jennings began his legacy from would years later become an underground country epicenter. The original home of Hillgrass Bluebilly Records, and a must-stop for touring bands going to or coming from The West Coast, Phoenix feels like home for many, and is home to artists like Ray Lawrence Jr. , Junction 10, and “Valley Fever” every Sunday night at the Yucca Tap Room. Hillgrass Bluebilly events are where many underground roots artists would meet for the first time, sparking collaborations on albums and tours that created a coagulating effect in an otherwise spread-out movement.

7. The Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is like a factory for underground roots talent. Bob Wayne, Larry & His Flask, McDougall, James Hunnicutt, Hillstomp, and Brent Amaker are all from there, and the list goes on and on. And then when you start digging deeper, many artists who are now based out of other places originated from there, like some of the original members of BR549. Both Loretta Lynn and Willie Nelson did time in the Pacific Northwest early in their careers. And we can’t forget the punk world’s Eddie Spaghetti and the Supersuckers started doing country side-projects in the late 90′s and collaborated with Steve Earle.

Bluegrass is big in the area, and there seems to be a kindred spirit between the rainy west and the deep South because of the rural life and landscape, and because many of the original settlers of the Northwest were originally from the South. With a population that tends to support the arts and music, and many specific neighborhoods and venues and festivals like Pickathon that cater to the roots scene, the Pacific Northwest is one of underground roots’ biggest power players.

8. Montana

Montana may look like a lowly outpost on the map, but it played a vital roll in the formation of underground roots in the mid to late oughts, specifically with a promotion company called Section 08 Productions putting together the “Murder in the Mountains” tours. By bringing together artists from all around the upper part of the country like Rachel Brooke, JB Beverley, .357 String Band, Bob Wayne, Slackeye Slim and others, they were one of the first to take the theoretical underground roots scene, and give it some substance. Section 08 Productions has since morphed into Farmageddon Records, and is still based in Montana.

 9 – California

California has always been the force in country music just behind Nashville and Texas, and that counts for underground country and roots as well. Where California played a key role in the formation of underground country was the interjection of punk influences and the transition of punk fans. Mike Ness of Social Distortion, Jon Doe and Exene Cervenka from the band X doing country side projects in the 80′s and 90′s is what led to the punk/country nexus. The Devil Makes Three from Northern California were one of the very first bands to bring a punk attitude to string music, The Pine Box Boys from San Francisco were one of the pioneers of Gothic bluegrass, and Los Duggans from LA were an important Deep Blues band.

10. North Carolina

Boasting some great music towns and big time roots music labels like Rusty Knuckles, Ramseur Records, and Yep Rock, North Carolina can make the case for itself as having the best music music scene and the most infrastructure right behind the big boys of Nashville and Austin. It also doesn’t hurt that one of the most successful roots acts in recent history, The Avett Bros., call North Carolina home.

11. Chicago, IL (Bloodshot Records)

Chicago will always be a big important part of underground roots as the home of Bloodshot Records. Bloodshot was one of the first labels to put their money where there mouth was in 1994, being “drawn to the good stuff nestled in the dark, nebulous cracks where punk, country, soul, pop, bluegrass, blues and rock mix and mingle and mutate.” As home to artists as important and wide ranging as Justin Townes Earle, Scott Biram, and Wayne “The Train” Hancock, Bloodshot Records’ impact and influence will always make Chicago a roots epicenter.

12. Central Florida

The scene in Central Florida is young, but burgeoning. Being the home of artists like the legendary Ben Prestage, Lone Wolf OMB, The Everymen, and many more, Florida is primed to become one of the underground country and roots hot spots.

13. Lawrence, Kansas

As a college town with a music school, Lawrence, KS is one of the best mid-sized music towns out there. Lawrence brings the support for live music, and not just for the usual college-town indie rock fare. It is home to bands like the long-running Split Lip Rayfield, and the high energy Calamity Cubes, and some of the coolest music venues you can find, like the Jackpot Music Hall, 8th St. Tap Room, and The Bottleneck.

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Other important epicenters: Little Rock, Arkansas, and specifically the legendary Whitewater Tavern. Bloomington, Indiana, a big music and roots town, and home to Austin Lucas, Davy Jay Sparrow, and many more. And Denver, CO, home to Slim Cessna’s Auto Club amongst many others.

Bob Wayne’s “Till The Wheels Fall Off” & Duet w/ Hank3

Country music madman, the Outlaw Carnie Bob Wayne has just announced he has a new album coming out May 22nd, 2012 (April 9th in Europa) from Century Media called Till The Wheels Fall Off, and that the album will feature a duet with none other than Hank Williams III called “All My Friends” that will be released MONDAY (3-26-12). ***UPDATE – Song has been released and can be PURCHASED HERE.

“When I recorded my first album Blood to Dust, I had about 30 songs written to choose from.” Bob explains. “The next two albums I recorded were a lot of older songs that I had in the bank. Then with the Century Media release of Outlaw Carnie we made kind of a “best of” album. I can tell you this, this album is EXACTLY where I’m at right now in life!”

Bob Wayne began his country career after years in metal bands when touring with Hank3 as a guitar tech. Wayne and his song “Working Man” appeared on Hank3′s 2008 album Damn Right, Rebel Proud as a duet. His new album, just like all of his albums, was recorded by Hank3′s steel guitar player Andy Gibson, and Hank3 had a little input as well.

“I had just gotten home from 312 shows in 17 different countries with no break. The day I got home Andy and I started breaking everything out and getting it going. My ears were completely burned out from touring so hard and I had gone over to his (Hank3′s) house to play him some tracks and he gave it a listen. It was pretty funny because I thought we were almost done mixing, and he looked over at me and goes, ‘Wheres the acoustic guitar?’ Then I started really listening and he was right!”

Though Andy Gibson has always recorded Bob Wayne’s albums, Bob explains that the process has evolved dramatically over time.

“Back then we were recording on an 8 track machine. The next two records were also done in this fashion. As Andy helped with several more Hank 3 albums and a Goddamn Gallows album and several .357 String Band records, his studio became more and more advanced, better mics, more recording knowledge, better gear all around, etc. Also through the years I was touring constantly on these songs and I became more confident in my singing. I think that’s pretty obvious in the performance differences from my early recordings to now.” 

“The funny thing is when I hear people talk about really liking the old cd’s and now that Century Media signed us were all overproduced or whatever, that’s really funny to me because they have nothing to do with the recording except give us money (laughing), it is still just me and Andy in here grinding it out. The biggest difference in the way we recorded back then and the way we record now is we track the drums and bass and acoustic guitar and vocals live. Before we didn’t have enough equipment to do that so we had to record everything one at a time. I really like recording the foundation of the record live as it is more true to what we actually sound like.”

Along with Hank3 and Andy Gibson, Wayne also had help on the album from Donnie Herron (BR549, Bob Dylan) on the title track that was written at the 2011 Muddy Roots Festival.

“It was at Muddy Roots hanging outside my camper one night. Brook from The Calamity Cubes happened to be walking by and Jean “La Diabla” from Holland was there as well. We ended up writing the song together right there in the campgrounds! A few fans even stopped by and listened! “Spread My Ashes On The Highway” is probably my favorite song on there. It actually kind of got me chocked up while writing it. The lyrics about all my friends quitting their jobs and hitting the road to travel and have fun kind of got to me. I actually wrote most of that driving by myself down some highway in Holland after playing the last show of a 312 day run.”

XSXSW 5 Official Lineup Announcement

Hillgrass Bluebilly Records, Muddy Roots Music, and savingcountrymusic.com, along with KVRX 91.7, The Real Deal KOOK 93.5, and Cracker Swamp Productions are excited to announce the complete lineup for XSXSW 5, or “Saving Muddy Hillgrass”, a two day event happening parallel with South by Southwest, the annual mid-March music festival in Austin, TX.

The “X” in XSXSW stands for the independent spirit of the event, attempting to re-create the original magic and focus of SXSW by bringing together artists, fans, media, and music management in a healthy environment free of the rigors that plague the modern-day SXSW landscape, and where music and people are the first focus.

XSXSW 5 will be showcasing talent from as far north as Michigan, as far west as California, as far east as Florida, and as far away as Australia, while also highlighting some of the best Texas talent, from the 17-year-old fiddle phenom Ruby Jane, to the legendary elder-statesman of authentic country music, James Hand. This is the 5th year of XSXSW, started by Hillgrass Bluebilly in 2008, and joined by Muddy Roots and Saving Country Music this year to create an event with even more local scope, and international impact.

Within the principle of putting people first, then music, and using music as a bridge to build community, XSXSW 5 is being held at Austin’s legendary Moose Lodge, an institution harkening back to a time where values and community were more closely cherished. The sprawling facilities will house 3 stages, a full bar, food, camping, plenty of easy and free parking, and lots of great music and good times.

The Moose Lodge is perfectly located for SXSW goers. It is outside of the madness that SXSW brings to Austin’s downtown corridor and the surrounding neighborhoods, making it the ideal destination for locals who want to enjoy great local and national music, but do not want to deal with the drama and headaches SXSW usually affords. Yet at the same time, it is mere minutes from downtown, making the short trek for hardcore SXSW attendees quick and simple.

And if you can’t make it there in person, the event will be broadcast LIVE at http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/live.

The artists and organizers of XSXSW 5 ask you to head over to the Austin Moose Lodge on March 16th & 17th to take in real, authentic roots music sung from the heart and from some of the best talent from around the country. XSXSW 5 is thrown with the idea that a song can change a life, and music can change the world. Come on by and see where a song takes you!

Admittance: Donations start at $10/day. Doors open at noon. Tickets at the door.

XSXSW 5 Lineup:

Main Stage – Friday 3/16 Presented by KVRX 91.7

• 2:45-3:15 – Moonhangers
• 3:15 – 4:15 – Chili Cold Blood
• 5:15-6:15 – Run On Sentence
• 7:00-7:45 – Old Gray Mule
• 8:30-9:15 – Rachel Brooke
• 10:00-10:45 – Owsley Brothers
• 11:30-12:30 – Possessed by Paul James
• 1:00 am – Restavrant

 Cracker Swamp Stage - Friday 3/16 by KRVX 91.7

• 1:00 PM – 1:45 – Patrick’s Beard
• 2:00-2:45 – Farmer Barrett
• 4:15 – 5:15 – Pearls Mahone
• 6:15 – 7:00 – Lone Wolf OMB
• 7:45 – 8:30 – Captain Mudhole
• 9:15 – 10:00 – Husky Burnette
• 10:45 – 11:30 – James Leg
• 12:15 – 1:00 am – Soda

Main Stage – Saturday 3/17 Presented by The Real Deal KOOK 93.5

• 2:30-3:30 – Pearls Mahone
• 4:30-5:30 – Ruby Jane
• 6:30-7:30 – Hashknife Outfit
• 8:30-9:30 – Soda
• 10:30 – 12:00 James “Slim” Hand
• 1:00 AM – Sunday Valley

Saturday – Cracker Swamp Stage 3/17 by KOOK 93.5

• 1:30 – 2:30 – Water Tower (Bucket Boys)
• 3:30-4:30 – Rachel Brooke
• 5:30-6:30 – Lone Wolf OMB
• 7:30-8:30 – Calamity Cubes
• 9:30 – 10:30 – Hellbound Glory
• 12:00 – 1 AM – Tom VandenAvond

Stage 3 will be an outdoor stage where performers will be warming up, and jamming and collaborating with other artists. Stage 3 will be active only when there’s no performance on the main stage.

Directions:

The Austin Moose Lodge is located in east Austin, minutes from downtown at 2103 E M Franklin Ave Austin, TX 78723, easily accessible from the airport by 183, and from downtown by either MLK Blvd or Manor Rd.

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JD Wilkes Will Always Be A Blues Player

JD Wilkes. The Colonel. Consummate front man. A founding father of underground roots. Genuine throwback. General madman. And most of all, a blues player.

The leader of Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers recently extruded a new musical tentacle into the creative world in the form of The Dirt Daubers, an old-time mountain string band of sorts that he fronts with his lovely wife Jessica. Their album Wake Up, Sinners! I continue to assert is one of the gems of 2011 and foolish to be overlooked. The release of a new video last week for “Get Outta My Way” and a current tour has recently given the project a renewed push.

But with a series of slight disturbances in what for lack of a better term we’ll call the “underground country” movement recently, with some wondering if it has lost its way, or even dying, I asked JD Wilkes being one of the elders for his counsel, and if The Dirt Daubers was his answer to a style of music that needs to mature.

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Col. JD Wilkes: I’m not trying to do anything that isn’t just completely natural to where I’m going, my natural inclinations and aging myself. I’m almost 40, and sometimes it’s kind of embarrassing to see someone over 40 rocking out. I started off as a blues harp player. That’s all I am. I like playing blues, and I can play it in a loud band and I can play it in a soft setting. I guess I’m just trying to enjoy both sides of it. The Shack Shakers fulfill a sort of therapeutic function for me. At the same time I’m not getting any younger, and The Dirt Daubers touch base with the roots of what The Shack Shakers is all about. Old country blues, hillbilly blues. That’s what I like to play. I’ll always be a blues player.

I think more people in the mainstream get off on the blues, it informs rock & roll, it informs R&B. Country has a stigma. The twang of country, the Southern accent, Hollywood has done its level best to humiliate us and has created a stigma that you’ll never get beyond. Little, lowly Muddy Roots Festival will never compete against Hollywood, and the onslaught of negative connotations it heaps upon The South and country folks. And plus, it isn’t like it was in the 50′s or 40′s anymore. The reason that pop country is so popular is not because people are so stupid, it’s how the times have gone. We’re a slick, fast food, instant gratification, mini-mall culture now.

The Dirt Daubers

The honky tonks are almost ironic, the square dances are ironic. It’s all done in the underground as sort of a joke instead of being a function of the rural people anymore. That’s sad because I’m a nostalgic person.

But here’s the hope: In the same way people are going back to farming, even if it’s hipster ironic farming, at least it’s a start in the right direction. I foresee a return to one room schoolhouses as the public schools crumble. I think the home schoolers will band together and have “old school” school. I could see a rejection of all of this crap by more and more people as the years go by. But it won’t happen overnight unless there’s a cataclysm.

You see irony as things catch on more because it starts to percolate up into an upper higher echelon of people. Hipsters and yuppies will embrace what we do out of irony. We do it for other reasons. We loved our grandparents. We remember what it was like on a farm or in the country, or listening to the music our grandparents listened to. There’s a lot of things we do to romanticize the past. I don’t do it out of irony, I do it because I feel it in my bones. Some people do it to fit in and belong to something, wear a certain badge, have a certain tattoo so they could feel part of a greater whole. And some people are just old souls trapped in young bodies. Some are artists, or people that had a combination of artistic sensibilities, nostalgia, and a certain kind of upbringing.

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The Triggerman: In the late 90′s when you started on lower Broadway in Nashville, did you even know what hipster irony was? Here in Austin, TX  it’s an epicenter for hipster culture, but when you start talking about hipsters and irony, some people from the outside looking in are confused, unfamiliar with the term or who it refers to.

Col. JD Wilkes: I consider myself a hipster in a way, I know what’s hip, I know what’s ironic, I know what’s funny. I’m hipster compared to some people, but I’m also from Paducah, KY so I can’t be too hip. But that’s what I’m saying, Austin, TX is one of those places where country music is trickling upwards, to that upper echelon of the gentrified yuppie class. It’s entertaining and ironic for them. But it’s that age old discussion of what makes something campy and what makes something kitchy. Something is campy if you’ve got a tongue and cheek element to it. But if you genuinely like it even if it is campy, is it still campy?

Camp is out of the gay world, the gay movement. John Waters films with pink flamingos, that’s camp. Peewee’s Playhouse. B-52′s is as camp as it gets. But at what point do you say, “Oh I really do like pink flamingos or this old TV set from the 50′s, or this old wallpaper?” I don’t think it’s because I’m a closet gay or anything, maybe I just like stuff from the 50′s? What if that was a better time?

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The Triggerman: Is blues keeping “underground country” alive?

Col. JD Wilkes: Blues will always get you further. It was the blues in all the throwback music resurgences. That was at the heart of it. The rockabilly, the swing revival, O Brother Where Art Thou, it was the blues in there, the country blues at least, it wasn’t necessarily the twang. The Carolina Chocolate Drops are winning Grammy’s now. More people can feel that for some reason. It’s an important sonic invention, the blue notes, it catches your ear. It makes you feel something that the major scale doesn’t always illicit.

But if you’re a white guy, a hillbilly, a Southerner, or whatever, you have to be careful to not come across as a mistral act. Be proud of who you are. Be yourself. That was what the rockabilly acts were best at. They were blues, Elvis was playing the blues, but they were unabashedly white hillbillies. Just “be yourself” no matter what color you are. I like it when black people play country and I like it when white people play blues.

That’s the great thing about America, that’s where the integration starts, in the art and music.

Muddy Roots Festival 2012 Complete Lineup

The first year of the Muddy Roots Festival was about breaking ground. The second was about breaking even. The third year will be about breaking the mold of everything a music festival can be.

Muddy Roots isn’t just a festival my friends. No. It’s an act of solidarity. It is a force of the collective Will of real roots fans united from disparate backgrounds, coming together to say “We are here, and things can work differently.” It is proof that music can be true to it’s roots, while still innovating and moving forward. It is an example how success can be measured not simply by money and numbers, but by the amount of memories made, the amount of friendships forged, and the strengthening of community through a focus of sustainability. The Muddy Roots Festival isn’t just a big party, it is principles and philosophies in action; it just happens to be one hell of a good time as well.

Find below the additions to the initial Muddy Roots lineup, and then the rest of the linuep below that. “I gotta say man, this line up is our dream team all star lineup. I can’t wait!!” says Muddy Roots Promoter, Jason Galaz.

Additionally, Muddy Roots is working on potentially providing a 3rd stage that would work as an “open-mic” stage. When putting together a festival like this, there will never be enough spots for all the bands that want to play, and all the bands the patrons might want to see. This open-mic concept is something Saving Country Music has lobbied hard for, but will only help with the cooperation of bands and fans, sponsors, and volunteers. To stay up-to-date on all the Muddy Roots news, stay tuned to SCM, and make sure to sign up for the Muddy Roots mailing list.

 Purchase Tickets to The Muddy Roots Festival 2012

LINEUP ADDITIONS!

• Ramblin’ Jack Elliot
• Dr. Ralph Stanley
• Slim Cessna’s Auto Club
• Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers
• The Goddamn Gallows
• O’ Death
• The Dirt Daubers
• Slim Chance and the Can’t Hardly Playboys
• Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
• Camptown Ladies
• Owen Mays
• Motorhome

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FULL LINEUP!

• The Reverend Horton Heat
• Dale Watson
• Wayne Hancock
• Possessed By Paul James
• T-Model Ford w/ Gravel Road
• Joe Buck Yourself
  
• Cutthroat Shamrock
• ANTiSEEN
  
• Cletus Got Shot
• Soda
• Sean Wheeler y Zander Schloss
• Husky Burnette
• Rachel Brooke
• Viva Le Vox
• Reverend Deadeye
• Hooten Hallers
• The Calamity Cubes
• James Leg
• Peewee Moore
• Scott McDougall
• The Pine Box Boys
• Left Lane Cruiser
• Valerie June
• The Atomic Duo
• Molly Gene the One Whoaman Band
• Hillbilly Casino
• Immortal Lee County Killers
• Pearls Mahone
• Everymen
• Filthy Still
• Sarah Gayle Meech
• Pine Hill Haints
• Rest^vRant
• Jayke Orvis and the Broken Band
• J.B. Beverly & The Wayward Drifters
• Bob Wayne & The Outlaw Carnies
• The Defibulators
• Tom VandenAvond
• Dad Horse Experience
• The Cheatin’ Hearts
• Last False Hope
• Cashman
• James Hunnicutt

Farmageddon Records Music Festival, July 20-22, 2012

Farmageddon Records, home to such roots acts as Jayke Orvis and The Goddamn Gallows, has announced they’re throwing a full-scale, 3 day festival this summer, July 20-22, just outside of scenic West Yellowstone, Montana, behind the Longhorn Saloon on Hebgen Lake.

Farmageddon founder Darren D knows a little something about promoting shows, and even more about Montana, being from the Big Sky State. He started in the music business on a mission to bring roots talent to the region.

“We decided to throw a festival to give the Western half of the US a destination to see roots music,” says Darren. “There has been a lot of momentum building up to the festival in the last few months, and we have had a fair share of international interest as well. We are certainly aiming to make our festival a destination for anyone and everyone who enjoys this kind of music.“

So why West Yellowstone?

“If you are going to throw a music festival it’s important to make it a destination point for the folks that are making a long distance trek to be there. West Yellowstone is home to the label and is right on the SW entrance to Yellowstone National Park. This is a great way to make a summer vacation out of the trip.”

“This particular part of the country is stunning, and if folks haven’t had a chance to visit the park yet this is a great excuse to do so. There are ample places to camp in and around West Yellowstone Montana, and there are also plenty of motels and hotels in the area. West Yellowstone is a small town, and it defiantly gives off a small town feel when you visit. It’s really the perfect place to do a festival.”

A few years ago, the one last piece that seemed to be missing out of the underground country/roots structure was a good festival, or group of festivals. Since then many artists have participated in festivals like The Heavy Rebel Weekender and Pickathon. The Deep Blues Festival has been resurrected, the 2nd Annual Lowebow Fest will be going down in Orlando March. And The Muddy Roots Festival has risen to become the flagship festival for underground roots/country. Folks worried that the Farmageddon Festival may somehow take away from Muddy Roots, or that Farmageddon artists may no longer participate, need not worry according to Darren.

“We will be promoting the Muddy Roots Festival heavily at the first Farm-Fest. There is easily enough folks out there to support both festivals, and we wouldn’t be surprised if you see familiar faces at both events. We are huge supporters of what Muddy Roots is doing, and we will continue to support them and their efforts. We are all planning on attending Muddy Roots this year again, how could you miss it! This is really geared toward the folks who live on the left side of the country, and it’s not going to be a carbon copy of Muddy Roots, so people who decide to attend both won’t be seeing too many repeat performances.“

Purchase Tickets to the Farmageddon Music Festival

As can be seen from the lineup below, there will not just be Farmageddon artists performing, but many folks from the greater underground roots community. (note: lineup can change)

Lineup:

• Shooter Jennings
• Southern Culture on the Skids
• Slim Cessna’s Auto Club
• The Goddamn Gallows
• Jayke Orvis & The Broken Band
• Stevie Tombstone
• Graham Lindsey
• The Calamity Cubes
• Filthy Still
• JB Beverley & The Wayward Drifters
• Calamity Cubes
• Soda Gardocki
• Black Eyed Vermillion
• Bob Wayne & The Outlaw Carnies
• Carolina Still
• The Pereeze Farm
• James Hunnicutt
• Ugly Valley Boys
• Cletus Got Shot
• Sean K Preston
• Danny K & The Nightlifers
• Owen Mays
• Tales From Ghost Town
• The Deadnecks
• Highlonesome
• Tom VandenAvond
• Angie & The Carwrecks
• Shivering Denizens
• Husky Burnette
• Dog Bite Harris
• The Cheatin’ Hearts
• Philip Roebuck
• Whiskey Dick
• McDougall
• Ronnie Hymes
• Slackeye Slim
• Ando Ehlers
• Danny Infecto
• Saint Christopher
• The Dead Tree String Band
• Aran Buzzas
• Hard Money Saints
• Carrie Nation & The Speakeasy

Initial Lineup for 2012 Muddy Roots Festival Europe

2012 will go down as the year that the roots music revolution went transcontinental, as the Muddy Roots Festival heads over to the Old World to storm the beaches of Europe with a ridiculous lineup of talent. Though the festival is happening in Europe, it will mostly feature American acts, similar to the lineup of the original American Muddy Roots Festival going down in Cookeville, TN August 31st-September 2nd, but a few European acts will be featured as well.

“The inspiration for doing a festival over there came from the fans,” according to Muddy Roots promoter Jason Galaz. “We had just as many people come to Muddy Roots from other countries as from Nashville. Seems like they deserve a party in their own back yard. You could say I got a “calling” from the Good Lord to spread the Muddy Roots Gospel to every living creature.”

The invasion will go down June 9th and 10th, at the Cowboy Up Steakhouse Saloon in Waardamme, Belgium. Please note this is the initial lineup. More bands will likely be added later, and other bands currently on the list could change.

Click Here to Purchase Tickets

• Wayne “The Train” Hancock (Sunday Headliner)
• Hillbilly Moon Explosion (Saturday Headliner)
•  Lucky Tubb & The Modern Day Troubadours
•  Bob Wayne & The Outlaw Carnies
•  Jayke Orvis & The Broken Band
•  Slim Cessna’s Auto Club
•  The Hackensaw Boys
•  James Hunnicutt
•  Derek Dunn (formerly of .357 String Band)
•  Hollowbelly
•  Molly Gene the Whoaman Band
•  Reverend Deadeye
•  Cashman
•  Tom VandenAvond
•  Honkeyfinger
•  Heinrich XIII and the Devilgrass Pickers
•  The Buckshots
•  Tio Gringo

Muddy Roots Festival 2012 Initial Lineup

The first year of the Muddy Roots Festival was about breaking ground. The second was about breaking even. The third year will be about breaking the mold of everything a music festival can be.

Muddy Roots isn’t just a festival my friends. No. It’s an act of solidarity. It is a force of the collective Will of real roots fans united from disparate backgrounds, coming together to say “We are here, and things can work differently.” It is proof that music can be true to it’s roots, while still innovating and moving forward. It is an example how success can be measured not simply by money and numbers, but by the amount of memories made, the amount of friendships forged, and the strengthening of community through a focus of sustainability. The Muddy Roots Festival isn’t just a big party, it is principles and philosophies in action; it just happens to be one hell of a good time as well.

In 2012, the Muddy Roots Festival will take place August 31st-September 2nd, at the June Bug Ranch in Cookeville, TN, where it was held the previous two years. Please note that below is just the initial lineup. A dozen or so additional names will be added in the future, others could change, and future names could include more headliners, or your favorite band that is not on the list at the moment.

 Purchase Tickets to The Muddy Roots Festival 2012

• The Reverend Horton Heat
• Dale Watson
• Wayne Hancock
• Possessed By Paul James
• T-Model Ford w/ Gravel Road
• Joe Buck
• Cutthroat Shamrock
• ANTiSEEN
  
• Cletus Got Shot
• Soda
• Sean Wheeler y Zander Schloss
• Husky Burnette
• Rachel Brooke
• Viva Le Vox
• Reverend Deadeye
• Hooten Hallers
• The Calamity Cubes
• James Leg
• Peewee Moore
• Scott McDougall
• The Pine Box Boys
• Left Lane Cruiser
• Valerie June
• The Atomic Duo
• Molly Gene the One Whoaman Band
• Hillbilly Casino
• Immortal Lee County Killers
• Pearls Mahone
• Everymen
• Filthy Still
• Sarah Gayle Meech
• Pine Hill Haints
• Rest^vRant
• Jayke Orvis and the Broken Band
• J.B. Beverly & The Wayward Drifters
• Bob Wayne & The Outlaw Carnies
• The Defibulators
• Tom VandenAvond
• Dad Horse Experience
• The Cheatin’ Hearts
• Last False Hope
• Cashman
• James Hunnicutt

Muddy Roots + Hillgrass Bluebilly + SCM = XSXSW 5

I am very excited to announce a unique partnership between Saving Country Music, Hillgrass Bluebilly Records & Entertainment, and Muddy Roots Music (The Muddy Roots Festivals) to bring together the 5th Annual XSXSW showcase, aka XSXSW 5, as part of the annual mid-March gathering of the tribes in Austin, TX known as South By Southwest.

The idea is to create a larger and more robust footprint for underground country and roots music at what is the yearly premier music event for the independent music industry, held in the “Live Music Capital of the World.” Unfortunately over the years, SXSW has become more “industry” and less “independent” as the festival has grown, and it has become a logistical nightmare for bands and fans alike to attend. SXSW is in essence a “pay to play” event, asking for non-refundable money for artists to be considered for officially-sanctioned showcases, and the event overtakes the entire downtown corridor of Austin for official SXSW use.

The spirit behind XSXSW is to offer fans and artists an alternative to the SXSW madness, while still giving them the opportunity to take advantage of the massive collection of talent, resources, and networking capabilities SXSW affords, and unlike many SXSW events, it is completely open to the public. This is the 5th year Hillgrass Bluebilly has thrown the XSXSW event, and Saving Country Music and Muddy Roots are coming on board to give the showcase that much more support and impact. Previous XSXSW acts include Los Duggans, Left Lane Cruiser, Hillstomp, O’Death, Austin Lucas, & The Harmed Brothers.

And this is not just important to artists and people in and around Austin. XSXSW 5 will be a national event, with a national focus, yet still in the original spirit of SXSW of showcasing local talent next to national acts. For folks from Texas, the Southwest, or anywhere else that can’t make it to other big independent roots events like The Muddy Roots Festival, Farmageddon Fest, The Deep Blues Festival, etc., this might be your chance to take part in a large scale event. And for those that can’t make it at all, the event will be broadcast right here on SCM LIVE, giving rise to national, and international participation via the web.

And since the event is being held at The Austin Moose Lodge on the east side of town, just outside of the SXSW madness, it offers an alternative to Austin locals who regularly avoid the annual festivities because of the headache they create. Ample parking, huge indoor/outdoor facilities, 3 stages, yet not too far out of the city makes the Austin Moose Lodge the ideal location. And as Hillgrass Bluebilly founder Keith Mallette states, The Moose Lodge embodies:

…a revival of “lost America”, for our friends and family to have a place of our own. A place that IMPROVES & BUILDS FOR US as we bring them beautiful, exceptional music that you just flat out cant get anywhere else… and prove once again that you never know where a song might take you!

This initial lineup of bands is just the tip of the iceberg of what the two day event will include, but we wanted to make folks aware of what will transpire. Florida’s Cracker Swamp Productions is also involved, and other entities and sponsors will be coming on board soon. Stay tuned to Saving Country Music for more announcements and information on XSXSW 5 as March gets closer.

• Hellbound Glory
• James Hand
• Possessed by Paul James
• Rachel Brooke
• Husky Burnette
• Lone Wolf
• Ruby Jane
• Restavrant

Muddy Roots Expanding to Europe

It has become evident over the past few months that Muddy Roots is the answer that many artists and fans have been waiting a long time for. The answer to what? To what to call a varied mish mash of music, how to define and put four corners around a mutable movement, and how to support it, give it structure and direction, and shine a spotlight on a collection of roots musicians that has gone unrecognized by the greater consciousness for far too long.

Nerds like me can peck at keyboards all day and play fantasy football with theoretical solutions, but at some point you need boots on the ground, tents in the air, and someone with the dedication and resources to implement ideas. That is exactly what Muddy Roots has done through the strength and success of their marquee Muddy Roots Festival.

Now Muddy Roots has announced that they are expanding to Europe, with a full-fledged two day festival June 9-10 at the “Steakhouse Saloon” compound in Belgium this upcoming summer.

“We chose Belgium because it is central to Europe.” Muddy Roots founder Jason Galaz explains. “The venue is close to the French border, not far from the English-French tunnel, and 45 minutes from the Brussels airport. Many Muddy Roots bands already tour there and have a good time. It is a small American style steakhouse on 3 acres of land. They host rodeos and American car shows and have been very helpful in helping us plant our Muddy Roots seeds. They should be ready for harvest June 9th-10th.”

To many touring Muddy Roots bands, Europe has been a vital market to keeping the show on the road. As unintuitive as it many seem, many independent country and roots bands, if not the majority, find more support in Europe than they do in the States. That is why a stronger influence in Europe positively effects all fans and artists regardless of location. Dozens of Europeans showed up at the 2nd Annual Muddy Roots Festival in Cookeville, TN this September, proving the demand is there.

“The inspiration for doing a festival over there came from the fans,” according to Galaz. “We had just as many people come to Muddy Roots from other countries as from Nashville. Seems like they deserve a party in their own back yard. You could say I got a “calling” from the Good Lord to spread the Muddy Roots Gospel to every living creature.”

And though the festival will mostly feature American bands, it will also give an opportunity for some of the roots bands based in Europe to be showcased. And of course all of this is possible because of the success of the American Muddy Roots Festival a few months ago, which doubled in the amount of bands and attendees from its inaugural year.

We were able to pay our bills without borrowing money so that was good enough for me to be happy! Hell even if I lost money it would have been a success to me.” says Galaz. “I wouldn’t mind earning a living at it but it’s not really about that.

More details on Muddy Roots Europe coming soon.

Album Review – James Hunnicutt’s “99 Lives”

The term of endearment I have for James Hunnicutt is “The Glue That Binds.” At this year’s Muddy Roots Festival, no other musician contributed more, from playing drums behind the legendary Don Maddox, to playing lead guitar with JB Beverly & The Wayward Drifters, Jayke Orvis, Owen Mays, and Rachel Brooke. James Hunnicutt is the ultimate selfless musician, who makes so many projects and tours that wouldn’t happen without him come to life, and makes projects already happening that much better.

But Hunnicutt’s most memorable contribution at Muddy Roots was his solo set, just him and a guitar, standing in a pool of water with folks huddled around him under a tent as the rain poured down, giving an intimate performance with no amplification. This ultimate test for any performer, when you strip everything back and solely rely on song craft and the art of performance, is what is captured brilliantly in the album 99 Lives. Think of Billy Bragg without the political baggage. Considering the amount of friends and favors James could call in, he’d have a fully instrumented album cut and pressed in no time, but instead he chose this methodology as a means to convey his dark, open, and lonesome sound, and make it more about the message.

99 Lives is one of those projects I have to give the disclaimer “Not for everyone” to. It’s no coincidence this review is being posted on Halloween. The album is dark to say the least, but not from the usual suspects of dark elements in music, like screaming drug references or double bass hits. Think more Edgar Allan Poe than Hank3, or The Misfits more than Metallica. The darkness comes from Hunnicutt’s mastery of chord progressions and the minor key, and his ability to match those chords up with the themes of his songs seamlessly.

And though I say 99 Lives may not be for everyone, certainly there’s songs from the album that are. The title track made it on my Top Songs of 2011 So Far list in June, and will likely be among the top candidates for Song of the Year. “My Pain” in the middle of the album takes a breather from the dark shades a bit, and this understated approach may make it a good staring point for people first getting into Hunnicutt’s music.

99 Lives calls upon the Gothic elements of country, like Johnny Cash and The Carter Family before: the cautionary tales, the struggles between the soul and temptation. These themes run like a backbone through the album, giving it a classic feel, grounded in the very early roots of Gothic Americana culture. James delves into the depths of human frailty with clarity and honesty: how guilt pummels the mind, and Will is compromised by the whims of the heart and the spell of addiction.

James speaks in the second song “The Misery That’s In Me,” “I sold my soul, so that the pleasure of flesh might ease my pain.” and then resolves in the final song “Never Meant” about his real-life sobriety, “This much has become evident, that past is rarely Heaven sent. So I’m letting it go to hold the promise of today.” In 99 Lives, Hunnicutt creates a circle of wisdom through fearlessly conveying his personal, intimate experiences in life, and by intimating his fears and frailties, and his victories against them. Honesty is the benchmark of all great albums, and 99 Lives’s honesty is unchecked.

And those words and honesty are complimented by the most powerful voice in all of independent country roots. There may be more colorful, more unique singers like Dale Watson, Rachel Brooke, or Lucky Tubb, but when it comes to sheer power and control, Hunnicutt has no peer.

And all the stuff I’ve mentioned about this album, and I still haven’t mentioned two of the most important elements of James Hunnicutt himself. The first is that he is a ringer of a lead guitar player, one of the few up to the task of standing to the right of Wayne “The Train” Hancock and in the shadow of Eddie Biebel and hold his own. However, Hunnicutt’s lead guitar skill set is displayed very little on this album, favoring more of a melodic, chord-based approach that compliments the music and mood better, and this might be the wisest element of the album: to resist the temptation to add overdubs that could have only taken away from the mood, and blurred the focus on James’ excellent lyrics and message.

And the last important element to James Hunnicutt, if not the most important element is who James is as a person. As we always say around here at Saving Country Music, it’s about people first, and then music, and you will be hard pressed to find a better person in music than James Hunnicutt. I touched on his selflessness before, but this is just the beginning. Unfortunately in 99 Lives, you will not hear about what a wise, patient, and inspiring person James is to be around, but anyone who has ever been around him can’t help but be candid about it at the first mention of his name.

Again, probably not for everyone, but for those who enjoy songs meant to be listened to and not heard, and a dark, sparse, and classic approach to music will find James Hunnicutt’s 99 Lives right in their wheelhouse.

1 3/4 of 2 guns up.

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Purchase 99 Lives from Farmageddon Records

Album Review – Husky Burnette – “Facedown In The Dirt”

2011 has seen the rise of more entities and organizations to support music in the greater underground roots/country movement than possibly all the other years combined. One of those entities has been Reverend Nix’s Cracker Swamp Productions out of Orland, FL, which in the spirit of full disclosure, broadcasts a podcast from this very site through SCM LIVE on a weekly basis.

With a servants heart, Rev. Nix buries his nose deep into the murky recesses of music that many of us dare not to go, with a tireless drive to find the audio gold just waiting to be discovered. It was in this pursuit that he unearthed Lone Wolf early this year, a previously-unknown banjo-playing one man band whose first album was Cracker Swamp’s freshmen release and featured one of the freshest approaches to banjo music in years, and still holds up after 6 months as one of the standout albums of all 2011.

With Husky Burnette, it is a little less about discovery, and more about making sure an excellent album doesn’t fall through the cracks. Husky is a wily veteran of the underground roots circuits where country and blues intertwine with no prejudice, playing lead guitar for Roger Alan Wade for 2 1/2 years, and doing time with Polecat Boogie Revival who opened for Hank3. Zach Shedd, Hank3′s current bass player, plays bass on a couple of tracks for this album that is by far more blues than country.

Very few albums pass under my nose that I can’t find at least something wrong with, yet I can’t bring forth any gripe about Facedown in the Dirt. It’s not that the music is hugely groundbreaking, it simply is consistent and solid throughout, which is exceptional in its own right in this day of homespun, impatient projects cluttering the landscape.

Husky plays an electric, Mississippi Delta-style version of the blues, but what makes it so unique is his ability to straddle lines without crossing them. His voice has a hard grit and growl to it, but he doesn’t scream or sacrifice melody. His guitar tone is crunchy, but not so much that you would mistake this for metal. And the groove is the glue that binds Husky’s great taste for tone with his top notch songwriting, which works in traditional blues themes. Husky’s drummer Tony “Tonky Ponk” Jones also deserves props. His name might not be on the cover, but he is half responsible for the infectiousness of Husky’s grooves as the heartbeat of this blues tandem.

This is music to get you moving. I can’t listen to this album at home. I’ll get flying around and break things. I can only listen while driving, with a foot pumping on the gas pedal to the groove. If somebody was listening to this album and wasn’t at least bobbing their head or tapping their foot, the next thing I’d do is put a mirror in front if their mouth.

This is one of those albums that when someone first tells you they’re all originals, your gut instinct is to call bullsh. The songs are just too good, and too steeped in the authentic blues modes. But the liner notes don’t lie. They’re all Husky’s. And if you have any good sense, you should make them yours.

Two guns up!

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Purchase Facedown in The Dirt Directly from Husky Burnette

Preview and Purchase Tracks from Amazon

Husky playing a suitcase with a hollow bone at Muddy Roots. Jay from the Ten Foot Polecats on Harmonica.

Album Review – Lucky Tubb’s “Del Gaucho”

A pleasant surprise for early Fall is the unexpected release of Lucky Tubb’s fourth LP entitled Del Gaucho, and folks, this is a good one.

Right after Lucky’s set at The Muddy Roots Festival, in a rush, he handed me this CD. I asked him when it was going to be released. He said “Now”, and jumped in his tour van to play the world famous Midnight Jamboree named after his Great Uncle in Nashville.

Though I was surprised to see the album was ready to go, this wasn’t the first I had heard of Del Gaucho. When Lucky was touring Europe earlier in the year with his band The Modern Day Troubadours, I’d heard rumors of a recording session over there that had given rise to a slightly new direction for Lucky, one using drums, with a more rockabilly or Western feel, and that I was going to be blown away once I heard it. That Euro session and another one in Austin is what comprises Del Gaucho’s 13 delicious tracks.

In some ways, I’m surprised that the music on Del Gaucho works so well. So many other artists and bands, to take this same selection of covers and originals and record them, it would just come across as cheesball retro country with it’s anachronistic language and outmoded style. But Lucky Tubb has a swagger that makes him immune to such concerns. To him, this isn’t playing country like it used to be done, this is playing country like it is supposed to be done, and with that purity of purpose, and with heart and a good barometer for what is cool, he’s able to take classic sounds and themes and makes them as fresh and relevant as anything else being put out right now. He’s also aided by a solid band, with a ‘Robin’ to his ‘Batman’ in fiddler and singer Natalie Page, Casey (The Barber) Gill on bass, and the silly-sided William Owen-Gage, who has the tone and taste of Lucky’s neo-traditional style dialed right in.

Like most of Lucky’s albums, Del Gaucho includes a few songs from Tubb’s famous songwriting family, a song highlighting Natalie Page, and is finished out with Lucky’s originals. Though a few of the selections took a little warming up to, I wouldn’t second guess any track on this album, even the two sappy ones not written by Tubb blood, “White Silver Sands”, and “Lil Ole Wine Drinker, Me”. Lucky’s choices of Justin Tubb’s “Bachelor Man”, his uncle X Lincoln’s “Never Shoulda Fell In Love” and “Stood There” by Glen Douglas Tubb all feel like they could be written for this album exclusively. And like all of Lucky’s previous albums, his originals are the best songs of all.

Lucky Tubb pens instant classics. The songs are so good, and carry such classic themes, you keep looking back at the liner notes, swearing someone must have done that song before. There’s a few songs here that will fit right into his top tier of his signature songs. There’s possibly more of these from this album than any other. The fun “Officer Garero”, the classically-sweet “Guess I’m a Fool”, the exquisitely-arranged “Heard Your Name”, “Rhythm Bomb”, and my personal favorite, the final track “That’s What I Get” are all ‘A’ list material. The instrumentation, performances, singing, style, songwriting on these songs, it’s all superb.

My only nit pick about this album, and it was something I noticed immediately when I first listened to it, is that the music sounds a little foggy, like it wasn’t mastered, or was mastered hastily. Or maybe it was made that way on purpose, but either way, I found it slightly frustrating to the ear, though the fervor for the music subsides this concern over time. I’m also not sure about Lucky’s tendency to use backup singer chorus lines in his songs. It reminds me a little too much of the Nashville Sound, and seems to stick out a bit in his style. Stylistically though, this is Lucky’s best album, if not his best grading it on all fronts. He creates that classic Western space in “Heard Your Name”, has an almost mod 50′s feel in “Never Shoulda Fell” and “Rhythm Bomb”. There’s a lot of boogie here, though staying solidly more country than rock n’ roll.

To say that songwriting is strong in the Tubb bloodline is an understatement, but beyond Ernest, performance and singing have mostly been second thoughts. Until it came to Lucky. He has the smooth, unique voice and sense of style, with a showbiz swagger that commands a room from center stage. He also has the demons that tend to haunt those humans with the aforementioned attributes, but as long as they’re tamed, at least to some extent, those demons help to draw an energy and authenticity to the music, making Lucky a wickedly-engaging performer. And above all the other kudos for Del Gaucho, translating Lucky’s engaging persona is the album’s marquee accomplishment.

Two guns up!

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Preview Tracks on Roots CD

Please note: Lucky’s music is never available on Amazon or iTunes, and he does not have a personal online store. The best place to get his music is at his Lone Star Music store, but Del Gaucho is not available there at the moment. The only place to get it at the moment is at a Lucky Tubb live show or an Ernest Tubb Record Store, or on rootscd.com from the UK. You can find his current tour date with Ronnie Hymes below. The only place to currently find Lucky Tubb tour dates are on the Saving Country Music Calendar.

Lucky Tubb tour dates with Ronnie Hymes:

• Sunday Sept. 11th – Martin’s Downtown, Roanoke, VA
• Monday, September 12 – Snug Harbor, Charlotte, NC
• Tuesday, September 13 – Black Cat Lounge, Fayetteville, NC
• Thursday, September 15 – Yellow’s Beard, Parkersburg, WV
• Saturday, September 17 – The Basement, Kingston, NY
• Sunday, September 18 – Cafe Nine, New Haven, CT
• Tuesday, September 20 – Snug Harbor, New Paltz, NY
• Friday, September 23 – Portland, ME
• Saturday, September 24 – Hill Country BBQ, New York, NY
• Friday, September 30 – Hillcountry, Washington, DC
• Thursday, October 6 – The Chop Shop, Lakeland, FL
• Friday, October 7 – J&J’s Our Place Saloon, Titusville, FL
• Saturday, October 8 – Kreepy Tiki Festival, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
• Sunday, October 9 – Junkyard Saloon, Deleon Springs, FL

Recap – Muddy Roots Festival 2011

The idea of sitting down in front of a keyboard to try and describe an experience as epic as this last weekend’s Muddy Roots Festival seems like the essence of fools errand. However I feel inclined to attempt to tackle this impossible task for the folks that weren’t there, the folks that were, but maybe were not able to take in the full experience, and hopefully somehow attempt to chronicle the magic that went down at the June Bug ranch, just north of Cookeville, TN on Labor Day weekend, 2011 for future reference.

My perspective on the fest is somewhat skewed, because I did not go there as a participant, but as a volunteer. I watched most of the bands with their backs to me, but I can honestly say I did not see one performer that weekend that I was unimpressed with. Granted, this was a festival whose epicenter is very similar to the music that is covered here on Saving Country Music, but the diversity of talent when you take a step back was astronomical. There were country music legends like Don Maddox of The Maddox Brothers & Rose, and Wanda Jackson. There were deep blues artists like the Ten Foot Polecats and Left Lane Cruiser. There were punk-infused roots bands like Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, neo-traditionalists like Lucky Tubb, and all manner of variations in between.

While the big city an hour to the west of Cookeville continued to deal with the historic contraction in music consumption, Muddy Roots more than doubled its numbers from its inaugural year. Folks from Canada, Belgium, Spain, The Netherlands, many other foreign countries and all around the United States made the trek to what is quickly becoming an annual epicenter for independent roots music.

Weather was a major factor for the 2011 Muddy Roots Festival, with scorching 99-degree days for Friday’s setup and on Saturday as well, chased by torrential downpours courtesy of the remnants of a tropical storm on Sunday. And then again, weather wasn’t a factor at all. Great music, and the fellowship between real roots artists and their fans was going to happen, and the adversity of uncontrollable elements seemed to only make for better stories. We’ll take temps in the 80′s and clear skies next year though if the weather gods are reading.

Though Muddy Roots did not officially begin until Saturday, by the end of Friday night it already felt like a memorable music experience for many participants, as droves of artists and fans, many that had not seen each other in a year, others that had never met each other ever, or only knew of each other over the internet, were finally able to make a personal connection face to face. Like a gathering of tribes, groups of friends and bands coagulated and intermingled until the early hours of the morning. Rusty Knuckles, one of the labels represented at Muddy Roots had a booth that could transform into a stage, and the band Filthy Still regaled a large crowd late into the night. Meanwhile Uncle Sean & The Shifty Drifters with members of Liquorbox and Cletus Got Shot played the June Bug Biker Bar at the front of the property to a packed crowd.

A late night made for a slow-starting morning, with Cashman, and Mark Porkchop Holder taking the first time slots on the main Muddy Roots stage, but by the time Jayke Orvis and his Broken Band took the stage at 1 PM, people were ready to brave the heat and his set drew one of the biggest crowds of the whole festival. The Broken Band consisted of Fishgutz and Baby Genius from The Goddamn Gallows, James Hunnicutt, Joe Perreze, and a fiddle player.

Meanwhile on Stage 2 under the tent, the blues were being represented by the Ten Foot Polecats who made the trip from Boston, followed by the ramshackle fire and brimstone one man band Revered Deadeye. About the only set of music that wasn’t well attended all weekend was Derek Hoke on the main stage, and it was a shame, because it was one of the best classic country performances of the fest. The low attendace had me worried of what might happen when the 90+-year-old Don Maddox took the stage. My concerns turned out to be unfounded as a decent crowd swelled to see the West Coast country legend, with a band consisting of the omnipresent James Hunnicutt on drums, Felix Thursday of The Cheatin’ Hearts on guitar, Banjer Dan, and Johnny B, a local venue owner from Medford, OR on standup bass.

Don Maddox was followed on the main stage by JB Beverly & The Wayward Drifters. The Drifters lineup included two banjos, and JB’s excellent original songs were complimented by the full sound. JB also gave one of the best, most impassioned speeches all weekend about the beauty and importance of the Muddy Roots gathering.

The Muddy Roots schedule had a few very cool runs where like-minded bands were featured back to back. One of these runs featured The Clamity Cubes and Cletus Got Shot on the second stage. Unfortunately I didn’t get to catch any of the Dirt Scab Band or the Spinderellas, but made it back to the main stage in time to see why Ronnie Hymes has recently been picked up by the Rusty Knuckles record label, and left Muddy Roots on a tour with Lucky Tubb.

Speaking of Lucky and cool runs in the schedule, Lucky’s set on stage 2 was preceded by Slim Chance & The Can’t Hardly Playboys, sans Slim Chance, but still with a cool lineup that included Zach Shedd of Hank3′s Damn Band. Lucky showed up to Muddy Roots with copies ready to sell of his brand new album Del Gaucho, and was followed by Possessed by Paul James, who put on one of the best, if not the best performances of Muddy Roots 2011. By the end of his set, some folks were in tears, and everyone was talking about the mysterious burst of wind on that blisteringly hot day that hit the stage 2 tent right as he began to play.

Bob Wayne and the Outlaw Carnies had a daunting task of following up Possessed, but he did so admirably. Bob’s ear to ear smile and fun-to-be-around attitude was all over the place on the weekend. I can’t remember how many times I looked out over a crowd and saw Bob there smack dab in the middle, leading the charge and cheering on the performer.

On the main stage, O’ Death made the smart decision to hold the beginning of their set until Possessed by Paul James was done, and then entertained the crowd with their dark and original take on Americana roots. They were followed by two legends, from different worlds: the always enchanting and charismatic Soda, and on of the true pioneers of independent roots country, and an American original, Wayne “The Train” Hancock, who dazzled possibly the biggest crowd of the whole festival.

Those still not satiated by Saturday’s festivities sauntered back to stage 2, which after the performance of American Pickers’ star Danielle Colby‘s dance troupe Burlesque le Moustache offered a late night lineup of Black Jake & The Carnies, a band I had never seen or heard before, but were very entertaining with a high energy show and a frontman full of bits, including a flashing banjo that shot fire out the head stock, while he smoked a cigar wedged in a harmonica holder. Viva Le Vox followed up with their own light show and fiercely entertaining songs custom fit for the deep of the night. Unfortunately Farmageddon Records alum Owen Mays got shafted when the sound crew decided to call it quits at 2-something in the morning, but a decent crowd that stuck around were revered with an intimate, all acoustic set that included Banjer Dan, James Hunnicutt, and others fleshing out Owen’s original compositions.

Sunday began on the main stage with Liquorbox, Felix Thursday’s aforementioned Cheatin’ Hearts, and Davey Jay Sparrow, who was introduced by his very young son, who also revered the crowd with a few choice knock knock jokes. They were proceeded by a couple of roots music transplants from the punk scene in the form of Sean Wheeler and Zander Schloss, while on stage 2, a couple of string bands got things going: The Hogslop String Band, and one of my personal favorite acts of the weekend, Thomas Maupin & Daniel Rothwell. Daniel is a young, up-and-coming banjo player, and Thomas Maupin is a champion tap dancer. Folks still sleeping off Saturday night really missed a treat.

As a pinup pageant was going down on the main stage, things really got cranking on stage 2, with the Celtic-infused Cutthroat Shamrock and the sludgy blues of Left Lane Cruiser revering the Dirtyfoot fans of Hillgrass Bluebilly music. This was contrasted by the straightforward Appalachian-style of JD Wilkes of Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers‘ side project with his wife called The Dirt Daubers touring in support of a new album. I’ll admit, since the beginning of this project, I’ve been worried Shack Shaker nation will want more blood and guts than what The Dirt Daubers can offer, but simply put, they killed it, and were joined on stage by Liz Sloan of Bob Wayne’s Outlaw Carnies.

Unfortunately I did not have the time to see many of the handful of performer’s slated for Sunday’s stage 3, but I did get to check out a few good songs from banjo player Joe Perreze of The Perreze Farm, who also sat in with numerous other performers over the weekend, as well as a few blazing blues numbers from last minute fill-in Husky Burnette, who at times was joined by washboard Avery from the Goddamn Gallows, and Soda and Jay Scheffler from the Ten Foot Polecats on harmonica. Yes, collaboration was everywhere on the weekend.

As punk band Hans Kondor was playing on Stage 2, and Art Adams Band on Stage 1, the rain came. And it came. And didn’t stop all night. This forced a reshuffling of the lineup and the closing of the open air Stage 1, moving the big Muddy Roots headliners under the tent. Leroy Virgil and Hellbound Glory were forced to play a short set, but did an excellent job with their post-Chico (their drummer) lineup that includes Leroy sitting on a bass drum and playing it backwards while picking and singing.

Then came one of my favorite runs of shows of the festival, with two legends of Nashville’s lower Broadway fronted by two of the best frontmen in all of music, as Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers and Hillbilly Casino took the stage one after another. As the rain continued to fall, the Muddy Roots patrons got muddy, and were treated to some of the best live music that exists.

At this point the rain had turned into an outright deluge. The sound equipment had to be lifted out of pooling water, and there was concern the main headliner Wanda Jackson would call the performance off. But all strings were pulled to accommodate the 73-year-old queen of rockabilly, and folks, she absolutely killed it. Her voice was as solid as when she dumped Elvis, and her stage presence was spellbinding. When Wanda called on her crisp yodel, the crowd went crazy. They sang along with full lung with the gospel number “I Saw The Light”. Wanda ran through her set list, and started adding songs sensing the fervor of the crowd. It was a spectacular performance.

After Wanda came short but solid sets from performers that got the short end from the weather: the great one man band Scott McDougall from the Pacific Northwest, the Whiskey Folk Ramblers that made the drive all the way out from Ft. Worth, and the lovely and talented Rachel Brooke.

Muddy Roots 2011 was capped off by one of the few bands that could tackle such a task, The Goddam Gallows. By this time there was water ankle deep no matter where you walked with sheets of rain still falling, but very few people had retreated, and those not watching the Gallows, were watching or participating in a huge jam under the cover of the main stage that included Wayne Hancock, J.B. Beverley, Banjer Dan, Nathan from Cletus Got Shot, all of Hellbound Glory, and many others.

Though I am afraid of attempting to compile a list of the non-musicians that were there or involved in Muddy Roots that deserve recognition because I am sure I will leave important names out, I must mention that independent country elder statesman Mr. Bandana was there all weekend, and using his 4-wheeler to help haul gear and people around the site. And of course, huge props goes to the promoters Jason and Anthony Galaz, and right hand man Jason H. Buchanan for pulling the whole thing off.

There’s really no way I can sum up the 2011 Muddy Roots Festival, and any written treatise just feels like a reduction of the experience. Truly, you just had to be there. But for the folks that weren’t, take note that Muddy Roots is quickly becoming one of those events you plan your year around. I will say that above all the excellent performances, the jaw dropping lineup, the beautiful and ideal grounds, the greatest asset of the Muddy Roots experience is the people it draws, and the fellowship it creates. As the world obsesses more every year with making money, Muddy Roots offers an opportunity to make memories.

2011 Muddy Roots Festival Official Schedule

The Muddy Roots Festival being held in Cookeville, TN this September 3rd & 4th is about a month away now, and Saving Country Music is proud to present to you the complete festival schedule. Please note times, stages, and performers are subject to change.

Also, Muddy Roots is looking for workers, volunteers, people willing to lend music gear, transport vehicles, stages, hay bales, etc., so if you have something to contribute, please help do your part to make the festival a success.

Purchase Tickets

Saturday September 3rd

STAGE 1

• 11 am – Cashman
• 12 pm – Mark Porkchop Holder
• 1 pm – Jayke Orvis and the Broken Band
• 2 pm – Derek Hoke
• 3 pm – Don Maddox
• 4 pm – JB Beverly and the Wayward Drifters
• 5 pm – The Dirt Scab Band
• 6 pm – Spinderellas
• 7 pm – Ronnie Hymes
• 8 pm – O’ Death
• 9 pm – Soda
• 10 pm – Wayne Hancock
• 12 am – Hellbillies

STAGE 2

• 11 am – Porter Hall Tennessee
• 12 pm – Ten Foot Polecats
• 1 pm – Reverend Deadeye
• 2 pm – Calamity Cubes
• 3 pm – Cletus Got Shot
• 4 pm – Peculiar Pretzelmen
• 5 pm – Slim Chance and the Can’t Hardly Playboys
• 6 pm – Lucky Tubb
• 7 pm – Possessed By Paul James
• 8 pm – Bob Wayne
• 9 pm – Hellfire Revival
• 10 pm -
• 11 pm – Burlesque Le Moustache
• 12 am – Black Jake and the Carnies
• 1 am  – Viva Le Vox
• 2 am – Owen Mays

STAGE 3 – Films

• 3 pm – Burly Q movie
• 5 pm – Folk Singer
• 6 pm – Mink Cousins
• 8 pm – Folk Singer

Sunday September 4th

STAGE 1

• 10 am – Liquorbox
• 11 am – The Cheatin Hearts
• 12 pm – Davie Jay Sparrows
• 1 pm – Sean Wheeler y Zander Schloss
• 2 pm – Pinup Pageant Intro and Talent
• 3 pm – Pinup Pageant Housewife Dress and 3:30 will be awards
• 4 pm – Joshua Black Wilkins
• 5 pm – Art Adams Band
• 6 pm – Hillbilly Casino
• 7 pm – Legendary Shack Shakers
• 8 pm – Sound Check and set up
• 9 pm – Wanda Jackson

STAGE 2

• 10 am – Sunday Services
• 11 am – Hogslop String Band
• 12 pm – Thomas Maupin & Daniel Rothwell
• 1 pm – Cutthroat Shamrock
• 2 pm – Left Lane Cruiser
• 3 pm – The Dirt Daubers
• 4 pm – The Krank Daddies
• 5 pm – Hans Condor
• 6 pm – Hellbound Glory
• 7 pm – Harmed Brothers
• 8 pm – Scott McDougal
• 9 pm -
• 10 pm – Whiskey Folk Ramblers
• 11 pm – Rachel Brooke
• 12 am – Goddamn Gallows

STAGE 3

• 12 pm – Scissormen
• 1 pm – The Perezze Farm
• 2 pm – Last False Hope
• 3 pm – Smokestack and the Foothill Fury
• 4 pm – The Dirty Dougs
• 5 pm – James Hunnicutt
• 6 pm – Graham Lindsey
• 7 pm – Highlonesome

Dex Romweber – An Originator of Music (Album Review)

In music, one way you can break down musicians is by classifying them as either originators, or imitators. The next thing you might expect me to do is trash the imitators, and sing the praises of the originators, but aside from usually being the most commercially successful of the two sides, the imitators can also be widely influential and creatively relevant as well.

Both originators and imitators are necessary in the music world. The imitators are the ones that can take the originator’s ideas and make them accessible, present them to the masses, mix music from different originators together, and popularize styles, because sometimes the originators are too untamed, too avant-garde for mass consumption.

But when you’re a hardcore music junkie like me, who has spent years building up a heavy tolerance from excessive music listening, or you just want to find the heart of the music, you must search for the truly potent stuff by breaking music down to the the germination of a style or approach by seeking out these originators to find that same magic you felt the first time you heard some of your favorite bands or artists.

Someone people might finger as an originator of music is the widely-influential artist and producer Jack White (The White Stripes, many others), but even Jack can be broken down further. If you follow his influences, where you’ll end up is a handful of artists, including an early 90′s band called The Flat Duo Jets, and their frontman Dexter Romweber. It isn’t that Dex’s style is so wholly original to the ear. For convenience, you could classify it as rockabilly, and this would be fair. But his ability to bridge and flow between so many different classic American styles: rockabilly, country, blues, jazz, surf, garage; and his ability to do it with the most unparallelled authenticity of rabid energy, is the reason that Dex Romweber is a musician that musicians listen to.

A saying you see is that Dex Romweber taught Jack White how to be Jack White. Check this out:

The thing I liked about the Flat Duo Jets was they were showing people what was possible in a live performance and on a record. It was really refreshing to see a band like that, that it was obvious when you watched Dexter perform, he didn’t care what people though about him, he just wanted to express these songs that were coming out of him.

The Flat Duo Jets recorded their self-titled 1990 album in a garage on two tracks. After the group broke up in 1999, Dex Romweber began a solo career. He now performs as the Dex Romweber Duo with his sister Sara, who gets my vote as one of the best drummers carrying two X chromosomes. Dex’s duo approach has also been cited as a seminal influence on the greater music world, contributing to bands like The Black Keys.

The Dex Romweber Duo has just released a new album, Is That You In Blue through Bloodshot Records. If spending 25 years mercilessly using his body as a medium to express American roots music in a wild manner has slowed Dex down or diminished his effectiveness, there is no evidence to that end in this work; the evidence is to the contrary.

Is That You illustrates the healthy mix of classic American music modes that is Dex’s signature. His originals sound like classics. The classics he chose for the album sound like originals. If songs could talk, they would beg for the Romweber treatment. To be handled with such energy and class, to be presented with such tone and taste is an honor. With his white on black, classic Silvertone guitar, Dex exudes his songs more like an incantation than a performance, allowing the soul of the song to flow through him, with no regard to how goofy the ritual makes him look. Dex is also not afraid to slow it down on this album, and rely on his deep voice that evokes Memphis of the mid 50′s, and the madness of raw human emotion.

Dex Romweber has solidified his place as an American original by keeping originality alive in American roots music. Deep roots make strong branches, and though roots may be hidden underground, the strength of Dex Romweber has allowed many branches to climb high, and made the tree of American music a much more beautiful, interesting, and entertaining thing to behold.

Two guns up!

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Is That You In Blue is available on CD or Vinyl

Listen to Samples

Dex Romweber Duo from The Muddy Roots Fest 2010:

The Dirt Daubers to Release “Wake Up, Sinners!”

In the still relatively young underground roots scene, there’s only a few folks you could really call a “legend”, but one would certainly be Col. JD Wilkes of Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers. Over the last couple of years, the “Jekyll” to JD’s Wilkes “Hyde” from the madhouse Shack Shakers performances, has been a side project called The Dirt Daubers. Recently The Daubers have picked up steam, including a recent tour with Scott H. Biram. They released a homespun self-titled album in 2009 but are now planning their first proper release Wake Up, Sinners! for September 13th via Colonel Knowledge Records, distributed by Thirty Tigers.

The Dirt Daubers include JD’s wife Jessica on mandolin, and Shack Shaker’s bassist Mark Robertson. A recent press release gave some good insight into what songs and style we can expect on the album:

Mixing acoustic rockabilly, blues, jazz and country into a thrilling Frankenstein hybrid, Wake Up, Sinners is a collection of raw originals and covers, recorded together in real time in a big, live, open room…From the crooked, Gothic hymn of “Wayfaring Stranger” to the Coney Island dream of “She and Us Pets,” the band knits together a patchwork of vivid American imagery… topping it off with a none-too-subtle, acoustic-sonic sucker punch.

On their rollicking homage to working-class heroes, “Trucks, Tractors and Trains,” the sounds of J.D.’s harmonica buzz in the breaks between his old school clawhammer banjo.  But Jessica holds her ground, belting out fiery lyrics over the Hot Jazz jangle of “Get Outta My Way.”  And the wooden thump of Mark’s “bull fiddle” takes a wild turn in the Gospel rave-up “The Devil Gets His Due.”

Other songs, such as “Can’t Go to Heaven” recount real stories of real people.  From the opening sound of distant thunder, you are instantly swept into the dramatic, TRUE tale of the mysterious John Akin, a misunderstood bogeyman from the deep woods of Kentucky. And the ghostly polka of Jessica’s original “Be Not Afraid” is a tribute to her grandmother, whose memories of a bygone time are hauntingly recounted to bittersweet effect.

When I interviewed JD Wilkes about a year ago, he mentioned he would probably always do the Shack Shakers “just to get the devil out of me”, but explained how he found the simple approach of The Dirt Daubers appealing.

I’ve always appreciated the roots of what we do. Sometimes I think the roots of it get lost in the rock n’ roll aspect. It’s just a way of breaking it down and making it a little more obvious. I also just indulging my appreciation for mountain music, string band music, jug band music, hot jazz. I just love that stuff and want to be a part of it. I feel sometimes the sheer volume of the Shack Shakers diminishes it at times. I want to be able to purely touch base with that.

You can catch both Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers and The Dirt Daubers at this year’s Muddy Roots Festival Sept. 3-4.

Muddy Roots Documentary Coming-Kickstarter Launched

The Muddy Roots Festival in Cookeville, TN this upcoming September 3rd & 4th is just over two months away, and in preparation they are ramping up plans to have a full-on documentary of the event created by Judd Films. To help fund the film, Jason at Muddy Roots has set up a Kickstarter campaign, with the hopes of raising $6,500 for the film’s expenses.

Festival founder Galaz has recruited Blake Judd of JuddFilms to produce and direct a documentary project about the music, musicians, and the fans.  Through live music, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage, the film will bring much-deserved exposure to a growing scene and showcase the sincerity and dedication of its musicians and supporters.

Galaz said, “I knew that Blake would be perfect for this.  He has worked with a lot of the artists in the scene and understands what we are looking for.  This festival is something, when documented, deserves the eye of people who understand where these bands and fans are coming from and what it means. All  the funds raised go into production and Blake and his crew are willing put their efforts behind this for the cause. I’m  excited that he was willing to work on this with us.”

“I can’t wait  to get started on the project, “says Judd, “The Muddy Roots Festival is becoming the Bonnaroo or the Woodstock for this scene.  No one is going to get rich from this, but it’s more of a place that all the bands and fans alike can come together, play music, hang out, and have a great time.  It’s a lifestyle and that’s what we’re out to document and celebrate. This is a passion for these people and for us alike.”

The Muddy Roots Festival will have over 60 bands performing, including headliners Wanda Jackson, Wayne “The Train” Hancock, and Country Music Hall of Famer Don Maddox of The Maddox Brothers & Rose. (see full lineup below)

Country Rap Is Here: A Survival Guide

Last week, as I predicted, off of the strength of Jason Aldean’s country rap song “Dirt Road Anthem”, his album My Kinda Party took the #1 spot in the country music album charts, and “Dirt Road Anthem” rose to #6 on the song charts. For once, the collusion of country radio rotation managers actually works in favor of country purists, as this is the only thing keeping “Dirt Road Anthem” from being a #1, but the video for the song has been CMT’s #1 video for weeks.

Country rap is here ladies and gentlemen. It has been milling around for a while, but now it is a full-blown chart-topping mainstream-acceptable sub-genre of country, like it or not. So what is a country purist to do? Well I have assembled a survivor’s guide to help you through the inevitable ramp up of country rap parody that Music Row is no doubt manufacturing right now to take advantage of this most ill-conceived of music trends. Here’s your guide to help rebuke some of the ridiculous claims being made by country rap apologists.

Not All Dissension Against Pop Country Is About Race

Without question, many people, if not a majority of the people that have a problem with country rap do so from a very basic reactionary stance based on race. However there are many fundamental reasons to be opposed to country rap that have nothing to do with race at all, and anybody who is willing to speak out against country rap would be wise not to bring up race as the foundation of their argument.

Proponents of country rap are playing the race card as the only reason people are opposed to it. Legendary country music writer Chet Flippo’s article on the subject seems to imply that if you embrace the traditions of country music, you must embrace ALL of them, including the racist ones like blackface comedy and David Allan Coe’s foul-mouthed period. This just simply isn’t true. You can rebuke the racist elements of country, and still rebuke country rap as well.

They also insult the intelligence of country-rap opponents by preaching to them about how the roots of country (as white music) and blues (as black music) are very similar, when many of the elements opposing country rap are the only ones truly embracing the intertwined roots of country and blues. This very site has a blues show on SCM LIVE whose motto is “saving country music with the blues.” The Muddy Roots Festival, the country’s largest independent/underground country music festival, has just as many blues bands in the lineup as country ones, with the fundamental approach of supporting all roots music, regardless of the color of those roots. Hillgrass Bluebilly’s award-winning album Hiram & Huddie put the songs of Hank Williams and Leadbelly side by side. Mainstream country has completely forgotten it’s roots, country and blues, but now brings them up as a convenient truth.

There’s A Difference Between Rapping And Spoken Word

This is the dumbest, and most insulting of the arguments for country rap, that, “Hey, Charlie Daniel’s ‘Devil Went Down To Georgia’ was the first rap song ever because he spoke instead of sang”. Please. Charlie Daniels, Red Sovine, the old cowboy country poets were speaking, and Jason Aldean is rapping, and we all know the difference, and we all know Aldean is rapping because that is the gimmick he’s employed to get people to pay attention to him. Yes, there may be some very minor aesthetic similarities between rap and spoken word, but in no way is “Dirt Road Anthem” an extension of the spoken word tradition of country music, or spoken word in country an originator of rap.

Country Rap is Not Evolution, It’s Devolution

DO NOT fall prey to the idea that country rap is part of the natural evolution of the genre, and that “purists” have always been against “change”. Yes, there were some that fought the electrification of country or the introduction of drums, but rap is not a newly-introduced take on instrumentation, it is a 35-year-old artform being introduced as a last ditch effort to save a dying industry. Country rap is not evolution, it’s devolution by definition. Country music has been trying to evolve for years, but these elements have been pushed into alt-country and Americana, independent and underground channels, as mainstream country favors the quick fix that has done nothing but stultified the music and created an environment of economic uncertainty for the industry.

Country Rap IS Pop Country

Country rap is not an evolution, or an extension of spoken word, it is a version of pop country, and it is important to understand this from a fundamental level. Maybe not ALL country rap is pop country, but the country rap they would play on the radio or you’d see in the charts most definitely is. Music Row knows “pop country” is a bad word to a growing demographic, so they are disguising it, re-branding it as country rap and “new Outlaw” music. But it is still a pop country derivative, and should be approached as such.

Country Rap Is Not Diversity, It Is The Death of Diversity

With the corporate consolidation of radio, we have already bled most of the local and regional flavor off the airwaves to the point where no matter what city you go to, you hear the same songs on the same formatted stations. Now it is getting to the point where you hear the same music no matter what station you’re on. How this can be sold as diversity? Diversity is keeping the differences between genres strong, and celebrating our differences instead of attempting to resolve them.

I’m sure many people think that concern for the infiltration of country rap is tilting at windmills, but the diversity issue is where this becomes about more than just music. America’s “melting pot” ideal is often cited as a primary reason for the strength of the United States. Compromising that diversity could cause social problems and economic problems beyond the world of music.

Not All Country Rap Is The Same

Do not diminish the arguments against country rap by lumping all country rap together. I am sure there has been in the past, and will be in the future, some blends of country and rap that are respectful to the roots of the music, and enjoyable to listen to while not insulting the intelligence of the listener. These projects will likely be ignored by the radio and the industry, but it is not fair to the honesty and heartfelt approach of these artists who are breeding originality through bridging artforms to lump them in with the Jason Aldean’s of the world.

Understand How History Will Judge Country Rap

In the end, the joke will be on them. Look at what happened with the mainstream blending of rock and rap. “Limp Bizkit” is now a punch line, and rock is no longer a viable mainstream genre of American music. The wise will understand that in the future, mainstream country rap will be looked back on and mocked like the pet rock or parachute pants of country. But it is still important, however symbolic, to make a stance against it, especially because of the threat that just like rock music, the infusion of rap could be the last hoary gasp of a dying genre.

Wanda Jackson & Shack Shakers Added to Muddy Roots

That’s right my friends, royalty will be gracing the Muddy Roots Festival stage in Cookeville TN on September 3rd & 4th. And when I say “gracing”, I don’t know that there has ever been another to rock with such grace than the Queen of Rockabilly herself, the lovely and talented Wanda Jackson.

Few artists can still call themselves relevant and engaging over 50 years after their career started. Even fewer can say they once dumped the King of Rock n’ Roll. Wanda Jackson can say whatever the hell she wants to say, because there’s has never been anybody bigger or better in the rockabilly world in my opinion. Folks making their way to Cookeville should not just feel excited that Wanda will be there, they should feel honored to be attending an event with her as the headliner.

But as excited as I am to have a Rockabilly legend in attendance, I might be even more excited that Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers will be there as well. I cannot name you another band above the Shack Shakers that I would rather see live. Even if you can’t make it to Muddy Roots, they should be on anybody’s top 5 bucket list to see before you kick it. When company like Robert Plant and Jello Biafra of The Dead Kennedy’s is singing your praises, you know it’s something special. And to make it even better, frontman JD Wilke’s stripped-down mountain music project The Dirt Daubers will be playing a set as well.

And while were speaking of legends, Rockabilly Hall of Fame legends the Art Adams Band has been added to the lineup as well, and so have the high energy Harmed Brothers from Oregon, and the lovely Sabina Kelley as the pin-up pageant judge, “Captain” Sean Wheeler of Throwrag (and occasional Joe Buck Yourself collaborator), Zander Schloss of legendary punk band The Circle Jerks, and the Davy Jay Sparrow & His Well-Known Famous Drovers!

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