The Endorsement: Lost Highway Records
Normally, this site is reserved for my "delightfully irreverant spin on the rich tapestry of life" - I believe that quote is from Rolling Stone , whose reviews have coincidentally been on a consistent downward spiral for years - but even I feel the need to express my affinities for things other than pop culture of the recent past every once in awhile.
So let me drop some knowledge on you about Lost Highway Records.
Lost Highway is basically the only real country imprint left. All the big labels have put an office in Nashville by now, and as a result, you have the same producers working with Jessica Simpson and Faith Hill. This is why most of country music totally blows. In fact, I refuse to even acknowledge most of it as country music. Just because you wear a cowboy hat, doesn't make you a country singer (especially if you match that hat with leather pants - I am looking in your direction, Tim McGraw).
Unfortunately, country music, as of late, has fractured into two distinctive types: sad bastard and frat boy.
Sad bastard country music is your typical "my wife left me and took my truck" music. This would be the country equivalent of early 90s depression-rock (Depeche Mode, The Cure, etc.). This music is classic if, say, David Allan Coe sings it. You actually believe that his ex did this. When Brad Paisley sings a song like this, you question if he has even ever had a girlfriend. Basically, you should only sing a song like this if you look like you have had the shit kicked out of you on several occasions for getting drunk and hitting on someone's woman (or abused copious amounts of drugs) - see Coe, the Man in Black, Waylon, Willie, etc. And when you do sing one of these songs, it shouldn't ever be understood as sad. Wistful? Ok. Full of remorse? Sure. Learned? Yep. Tender? Without a doubt. Pissed off and ready to get loaded? Of course. But never sad.
Frat boy country music is exactly what it sounds like. Called "Texas Country" in Texas and "Southern Rock/Country" elsewhere, this is the music that guys like Pat Green, Jack Ingram, Cory Morrow, and Robert Earl Keen play. I actually enjoy this on occasion. These guys know they have nothing to bitch about, so they don't. Why should Pat complain about a cheatin' heart when he is happily married? (Though Cory should have some nice coke songs in a few months.) The problem that arises with frat boy country is that it's not really country music. It is closer to Skynard than Hank Williams. There is, admittedly, a fine line between Southern Rock and country music, and these guys straddle it firmly. I say this because I don't know who Pat Green would fit in better with on a double-bill - Alabama or Hootie and the Blowfish.
Anyway, Lost Highway doesn't put up with any of this shit. They return to the roots of country music - the country (notice I have not once referred to it as "country-western"). Thus, you have a lot of bluegrass and folk-influenced artists, along with more "traditional" country artists. It should speak volumes that Willie has decided to release his albums through Lost Highway, as does Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, and the late Johnny Cash. The label has also released several anthologies and collections of southern music released throughout the era of recorded music.
But it's not just older acts that have made a home at Lost Highway. Younger artisits such as Ryan Adams are under the Lost Highway banner (including the passionate and heartbreaking Pneumonia - the lost final album of his former band, Whiskeytown).
This label is where Lyle plays with his Large Band, where Willie has decided to age gracefully (Have you heard It Will Always Be? Incredible.), and where Ryan Adams throws hissy-fits. You should check it out and see what all of country music could be like if the no-talent ass-clowns got out of the music-for-money business.
So let me drop some knowledge on you about Lost Highway Records.
Lost Highway is basically the only real country imprint left. All the big labels have put an office in Nashville by now, and as a result, you have the same producers working with Jessica Simpson and Faith Hill. This is why most of country music totally blows. In fact, I refuse to even acknowledge most of it as country music. Just because you wear a cowboy hat, doesn't make you a country singer (especially if you match that hat with leather pants - I am looking in your direction, Tim McGraw).
Unfortunately, country music, as of late, has fractured into two distinctive types: sad bastard and frat boy.
Sad bastard country music is your typical "my wife left me and took my truck" music. This would be the country equivalent of early 90s depression-rock (Depeche Mode, The Cure, etc.). This music is classic if, say, David Allan Coe sings it. You actually believe that his ex did this. When Brad Paisley sings a song like this, you question if he has even ever had a girlfriend. Basically, you should only sing a song like this if you look like you have had the shit kicked out of you on several occasions for getting drunk and hitting on someone's woman (or abused copious amounts of drugs) - see Coe, the Man in Black, Waylon, Willie, etc. And when you do sing one of these songs, it shouldn't ever be understood as sad. Wistful? Ok. Full of remorse? Sure. Learned? Yep. Tender? Without a doubt. Pissed off and ready to get loaded? Of course. But never sad.
Frat boy country music is exactly what it sounds like. Called "Texas Country" in Texas and "Southern Rock/Country" elsewhere, this is the music that guys like Pat Green, Jack Ingram, Cory Morrow, and Robert Earl Keen play. I actually enjoy this on occasion. These guys know they have nothing to bitch about, so they don't. Why should Pat complain about a cheatin' heart when he is happily married? (Though Cory should have some nice coke songs in a few months.) The problem that arises with frat boy country is that it's not really country music. It is closer to Skynard than Hank Williams. There is, admittedly, a fine line between Southern Rock and country music, and these guys straddle it firmly. I say this because I don't know who Pat Green would fit in better with on a double-bill - Alabama or Hootie and the Blowfish.
Anyway, Lost Highway doesn't put up with any of this shit. They return to the roots of country music - the country (notice I have not once referred to it as "country-western"). Thus, you have a lot of bluegrass and folk-influenced artists, along with more "traditional" country artists. It should speak volumes that Willie has decided to release his albums through Lost Highway, as does Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, and the late Johnny Cash. The label has also released several anthologies and collections of southern music released throughout the era of recorded music.
But it's not just older acts that have made a home at Lost Highway. Younger artisits such as Ryan Adams are under the Lost Highway banner (including the passionate and heartbreaking Pneumonia - the lost final album of his former band, Whiskeytown).
This label is where Lyle plays with his Large Band, where Willie has decided to age gracefully (Have you heard It Will Always Be? Incredible.), and where Ryan Adams throws hissy-fits. You should check it out and see what all of country music could be like if the no-talent ass-clowns got out of the music-for-money business.
posted by The Humble Best at 1:02 AM
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