Your Country Music Guide OR Not All Country Sucks OR Johnny Cash vs. the World

We covered a Carrie Underwood song at Westwinds a couple of weeks ago and, I must say, Kelsey McCracken rocked it. It was awesome.

When we got done, quite a few people (after high-fiving Kelsey and telling her she should audition for American Idol) mocked me for being a liar. “I thought you don’t like Country music! See! Country is cool! Neener neener, etc.”

Ummm . . . I picked the song. That should say something.

But, I know what they were getting at. They have heard me at times make fun of “certain kinds” of Country music. And, really, I’m way more of a Rock guy any day.

Here’s the thing: those who aren’t musicians, music addicts and/or audiophiles tend to lump country music into one category. However, there are quite a few different kinds of Country, just like there are different kinds of “Rock.”

You can’t say you are a Rock & Roll fan and automatically mean you like Elvis, Sex Pistols, Elton John, The Beatles, Megadeath, Korn, Thin Lizzy, Prince, Ramstein, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s and Bryan Adams in the same sentence. Unless, you actually mean that. Which is odd.

According to AllMusic.com, there are traditionally about 7 types of Country music. These categories are typically labeled Alternative Country, Contemporary Country, Country-Pop, Honky Tonk, Progressive Country, Traditional Country, and Western Swing

In all honesty, there are at least 3 of those I don’t really care for. However, even in those sub-genres, if one of my favorite bands tries a song in a particular style I don’t typically gravitate towards, I might like it. If Foo Fighters want to try Honky Tonk for a spell, I will probably dig it.

These categories are okay, but I have some different categories I would like to suggest. These are typically the categories I think in when it comes to Country. Some I like. Some I don’t.

Twangy
Typically, I can’t stand this. This is where everyone sings like you know they don’t talk. There is only one person that can get away with this in my mind and it is authentic. Reba. Period. I don’t really like Reba either (she’s great as a person), but at least I believe her. I’ve seen her TV show. She’s really like that.

Patriotic
Most often, this drives me nuts. It’s not that I don’t love my country, it’s just that it usually ties in loving America with loving Jesus and has a tinge of “we’ll kick your ass if you don’t love both.” Not for me.

Narrative/Stories
Not all of this is bad but most of it is. These songs tell stories designed to make you cry. Many of them have dumb lyrics. Some of them are timeless and classic. It’s really a crapshoot here.

Johnny Cash
Cash gets his own category. Because he rules. Because he’s Cash. Because he’s the man in black. Because he owned Folsom prison. And San Quentin. And he covered Nine Inch Nails and Dylan and Neil Young and Sting and Tom Petty and Springsteen and The Beatles and The Stones and U2 and Depeche Mode and Beck and Soundgarden. And the list goes on. And he recorded with U2. He’s Cash. All Country music must bow.

Should be Called 70’s Rock
If you grew up listening to Eagles and loving them, you will like 25% of what is on Country radio. I love Eagles. I love them so much I just typed Eagles instead of “The” Eagles in order to honor their true name. It doesn’t make you less of a fan if you say The Eagles, but I just want to set the record straight. LOTS of new Country fits in this category.

Sappy Crappy
This sub-genre includes any songs about dads and little girls, growing up, losing love, towns or factories shutting down, etc. If I had no self-respect, if I didn’t care about tainting my family name, if I didn’t care about my son getting into fights at school, I could write one of these songs in five minutes and make a million dollars. Ummm, the ones about dads and little girls always make me cry. There. I said it.

Hot Chicks
This could be any sub-genre of Country but the fact that it is played by and/or sung by hot chicks makes it cool for any guy to own. Most guys hope there is a lot of pictures inside the CD and therefore do not buy the digital download. Carrie Underwood, Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Martina MacBride, etc. Most guys justify that it is really good music (and I’m not saying it isn’t) but half the guys wouldn’t own it if the exact same songs were sung by . . . someone less attractive.

Pretty Boys
Most of this makes me ill. However, there are a few in this category who rise to the top no matter how pretty they are because they can flat out play guitar. Keith Urban anyone?

Mean and/or Vengeful and/or Angry Chick Songs
This sub-genre includes any woman who can and will kick any guy’s ass. It also includes sweet girls who just sing a song that sounds like they could metamorphose at any time and kick a guy’s ass. Some guys dig this though it kinda scares them when their wife or girlfriend learns the words. Gretchen Wilson goes here all the time. Do not mess with her. However, a song like sweet little Carrie Underwood’s “Next Time He Cheats” goes here as well. You could take Carrie out ballroom dancing but if you cross her she will beat you to death in your sleep with a Louisville Slugger.

It’s Country but it’s Too Cool and Creative So We Must Call it Rock
Sheryl Crow.

It’s Country but it’s Called Rock Because Country Doesn’t Want it Because it Sucks
Kid Rock.

Cowboy songs
This is cool . . . if you’re a cowboy. And if you make coffee over an open fire. And read cowboy poetry. And have actually branded something. And smell like cigarettes and manure. Otherwise, it sucks.

Crossover?
This sub-genre is full of Country stars with a pop flare or ones who couldn’t make it as a pop star so they called them Country.

American Idol
This will continue to be a huge category over the years. I promise it will keep growing. Now, Carrie rules this world and is legit. She really doesn’t belong in this category anymore. She is her own deal. But there are quite a few who didn’t “make it” that the Idol machine tossed into this category hoping someone would think they were cool. Bucky? Bucky, are you there?

Hmmm. I Guess I’ll Try Country.
This one is strange to me. Some pop and rock stars who have had a successful career in their genre sometimes decide they want to go Country. I don’t know why. To each his own. Hootie? Michelle Branch?

Rock and Blues Stars who can Pull Off Country at ANY Time and Make it Cool
This is a long list. I will name a few. These are guys and gals who are really rock (or blues) but can play something “technically” Country and it sounds indigenous to their genre. Tom Petty. Kings of Leon. Bruce Springsteen. The Beatles. The Black Crowes. Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Alison Krauss
She makes bluegrass cool.

Southern Rock
Skynyrd. 38 Special. Molly Hatchet. Marshall Tucker. ZZ Top. Allman Brothers. Some of it freaking awesome. Some of it sucks. But, you have to pretend to like all of it is you are a Country fan or you will be outcast--just like if you don't like Patriotic Country.

There you have it! Your complete Country music guide. My mind is a bit twitsted and convoluted . . . I get it. Highly subjective . . . I get it. But, I’m right. If you want to know if a Country song or band is cool, just ask me. I will help you out. I’m here to serve.

Tinted Windows. Your New Supergroup.

I’ve always been intrigued by supergroups—bands that form from the prominent members of other bands. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Audioslave; Asia; Damn Yankees; Traveling Wilbury’s; Velvet Revolver; Cream; Bad Company; Temple of the Dog; Journey; and Eagles (to name a few) have all formed from at least two members of other popular rock/pop bands coming together in a new amalgamation.

So, imagine my excitement when I recently got news that a new band was forming with four prominent power-pop icons. Strap on your seatbelts for Tinted Windows.

Meet the band:

Adam Schlesinger, currently of the band, Fountains of Wayne, has been a hero of mine for the past ten years. Long before “Stacy’s Mom” was playing in every mall and heating up living rooms with it’s corresponding video, FOW has been on my iPod or in my CD player. Schlesinger wrote songs for my favorite family-friendly movie, “That Thing You Do” (including the Oscar nominated theme song) and the box office bomb, “Music and Lyrics” that had some great pop tunes even if the movie sucked. FOW songs have been on at least 20 other TV shows and movies from Gilmore Girls to NFL commercials. Schlesinger is a freaking genius. Period.

James Iha, formerly of The Smashing Pumpkins is one of the biggest reasons The Pumpkins rocked the Casbah in the early to mid nineties. If you ever screamed out the lyrics to “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” while driving down the road at breakneck speed, or were mesmerized by the repetitive yet haunting guitar hook in "1979", you owe a little gratitude to Iha. Sidenote: Iha is a co-owner of independent Scratchie Records with Schlesinger.

On lead vocals . . . Taylor Hanson. Yes, that Hanson. I don’t care what you say, the Hanson boys were not cut from the same cloth as the other boy bands of the 90’s. Did the radio play “MmmBop” to death in the late 90’s? Yes. Did it get stuck in your head? Yes. Did many think it was annoying? Yes. Do people make fun of it? Yes. Was it nominated for two Grammys? Yes! These kids wrote great hooks. Great pop. Played their own instruments and wrote their own songs. And, the kid has a great voice. Do I own Hanson albums? Yes. No apologies.

Last but not least . . .

Cheap Trick drummer, Bun E. Carlos is 32 years older than Hanson and has been rockin’ like Dokken since the 70’s. Cheap Trick first kicked my booty with a little offering entitled “At Budokan.” I was 11 years old. I remember screaming out the lyrics to “I Want You To Want Me’ in the back of the bus on the way to school when I was in 6th grade and Bun E. Carlos was laying down the groove. I saw Mr. Carlos rock with Cheap Trick a couple of years ago with my friend Scott and he still has it.

The band will be on The Late Show With David Letterman on my birthday, April 20th. The album hits stores the next day.

Do I think the band will stay together for years and years? Probably not. I don’t care. This will be fun as long as it lasts. What an incredibly eclectic and wonderfully bizarre lineup.

What weird party did these guys meet at?

Radiohead in Chi Town

It has been a dream of ours (mine and my son, Connor) to see Radiohead for a long time. It’s not like they come around everyday.

Quite frankly, if you want to see some of your favorite alt rock bands in the Midwest, Lolla is THE place to be. For 60 days before and 30 days after their Lollapalooza appearance, Lolla bands are prohibited from booking a show within 250 miles of Chicago (which includes Madison, Milwaukee, Champaign, Indianapolis, Ann Arbor and Iowa City).

So, save your money for Lolla if you live in the Midwest and want to see some of the best bands in rock and roll.

The first time I ever heard “Creep” I fell in love—back in 1993. Connor was a baby then but I got him indoctrinated as soon as he could say “Beatles.”

Yesterday, we left Jackson at 5:30am and traveled by auto then train to Chicago for Lollapalooza—the concert festival event to end all events. Radiohead was the “big draw” for day one of Lolla. At 8:00pm, the boys from England took the stage.

For two hours, Radiohead wowed the crowd of 75,000. It was quite overwhelming to be shoulder to shoulder in the hot, musty air. But, though we second-hand smoked at least three packs and Connor got puked on by some kid who couldn’t hold his booze, the show was intense.

Playing most of their hits (though conspicuously leaving out “Creep”) to one of the most technologically advanced stage sets/lighting/and jumbo screens, Radiohead did not disappoint.

There is nothing quite like being in the middle of a crowd of people who know all the words to songs and scream things out at all the right times.

More than once I wished people had that much enthusiasm for corporate worship gatherings. Not concerts per se—that kind of participation is a given. But, normal, every week church gatherings.

If you would like to live vicariously through me, here is the setlist and the iTunes links for your downloading pleasure.

Setlist

15 Step

Airbag

There There

All I Need

Nude

Arpeggi

The Gloaming
(Link Not Available)

The National Anthem

Faust Arp

No Surprises

Jigsaw Falling Into Place

Reckoner

Lucky

The Bends

Everything In Its Right Place

Fake Plastic Trees

Bodysnatchers


Encore

Videotape

Paranoid Android

Dollar and Cents
(Link Not Available)

House of Cards

Optimistic


Encore Numero Dos

2+2=5

Idioteque

King's X : : : Rock's Best Kept Secret

One of my favorite bands of all time, King's X is on tour with Extreme this summer. This show will certainly kick butt. Period. Get ready to have your face rocked off if you go to this show. I have seen the X 5 times and each time I do I want to either throw away my guitar and give up ofter the show or practice till my fingers bleed.

If you have followed King's X at all you know of their crazy hit and miss career that has kept one of the greatest rock bands of all time on the sidelines of rock. Though the music has never stopped rocking, and the fans are intensely loyal, King’s X has never enjoyed the greatness they deserve.

In the early days (late 70’s) King’s X had it’s roots in the Christian music scene when Doug Pinnick (bass) and Jerry Gaskill (drums) were brought together for a project with Greg X. Volz of Petra fame. The project fell through and the boys spent time touring with Phil Keaggy in support of his Ph’lip Side album (uhhhh, this album changed my life by the way.

The boys hooked up with Ty Tabor sometime after that and became the touring band for CCM artist Morgan Cryar—Ty and Doug even co-wrote some of the tunes on Cryar’s ’86 album “Fuel On The Fire.” If you know anything about Cryar and King’s X you are laughing right about now because the two artists are nothing alike.

In 1988, after renaming themselves, King’s X released “Out of the Silent Planet” (borrowing the title from the book of the same name by C.S. Lewis).

MTV video hits, opening up for AC/DC, touring with Living Colour, a single on the soundtrack for “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey,” a gig at Woodstock ’94, 13 albums (if you don’t count indi releases), and a swarm of loyal fans . . . and King’s X seems to still be waiting for their big break. They are rock's best kept secret.

Though King’s X has never labeled themselves a Christian band or even tried to break into that market, their undeniable spiritually fueled lyrics, biblical imagery, and alignment with Christian thinkers like C.S. Lewis garnered them a huge Christian fan base.

In 1998, Bass player and lead vocalist Doug Pinnick came out of the closet and announced he was a homosexual. In true Christian marketing fashion, all Christian bookstores immediately pulled King’s X music off their shelves.

King’s X continues to make incredible thought provoking musically intense art. Their new album XV is now available in stores. Buy it.

This month, PluggedInOnline.com published a great article on King’s X entitled, “King’s X Marks Its Spot.” If you are a King’s X fan at all, check this article out. Great stuff to think about.

Night of Day of Fire

Last night I put on my rocker pants, tight black Tee and leather jacket and headed out to a rock club in Michigan City with my friend Joseph Byler—about 15 minutes from home. Every once in awhile I need to get my rock on. I don’t do as much head banging anymore—it’s not the same without the hair—but I do enjoy a good and loud adrenaline rush on occasion.

Joseph is a dyed-in-the-wool hard rocker and when my friend Rachel at the local radio station hooked me up with tickets to a rock show Joseph was my obvious choice in comrades.

Last nights offering? Day of Fire.

Day of Fire have been touring with Daughtry and are now on a tour with fellow Nashville musicians—Ligion (originally from Cleveland).

It wasn’t too long ago that Josh Brown of Day of Fire was the front man for Full Devil Jacket making appearances with Stone Temple Pilots, P.O.D., Papa Roach, Incubus, and Nickelback. But, it was their set at Woodstock '99 that landed them on to tours with Chevelle, Type O Negative, Slipknot, Fuel and Creed.

My first intro to Josh Brown was when I saw Full Devil Jacket play with Creed in California after winning tickets on the radio.

Fast-forward a few years.

From the Day of Fire website : : :

Those days ended when Brown found peace with God. He was compelled to walk away from everything that controlled his life - fame, money, and addiction. He resolved to share his experience. Brown joined with Gregg Hionis, a friend back in his hometown of
Jackson, Tennessee, to record Day of Fire in 2004. All of the energy
that he once poured into songs of despair with Full Devil Jacket exploded into songs of freedom through Day of Fire's first album. Ambitious musical visions, built to fit the power of the message, turned Day of Fire into an unforgettable, Grammy-nominated, Dove Award winning debut.

In the ensuing time since the debut album's release, the band's faith deepened with greater understanding. Along with this understanding, the ambition of the band evolved as well. With a new resolve, Brown, Hionis, guitarist Joe Pangallo, his brother Chris Pangallo on bass, and drummer Zach Simms, set out to create an aggressive rock record with an uncompromising message.

I had a fun time at the “volume of 11” show but the greatest part for me was the surprise two-hour conversation we had with Josh Brown. My friend Joseph and I had the privilege of hanging with Josh and talking about life, God, family, hang-ups, church, baby girls (our daughters) and rock and roll.

I appreciate Josh’s passion for what he is part of and his willingness to put his family above it all. I appreciate his transparency and authenticity. I appreciate where he has come from and his heart for his audience. He was very approachable and I saw him hanging with many kids and shooting pics after the show.

It’s not everyday you go to a rock show with a high-profile artist and hang in the back drinking a beer (Brown drank water) and get acquainted. What a treat it was. We exchanged email addresses and are going to try and hook up next time I am in Nashville.

If you like your rock served high energy, check out Day of Fire.