Rollercoaster
The hills of Cow Gap stood rugged and awesome
But you have to have fill dirt when you're building a road
And the hills of Cow Gap, they weathered the ages
Got wiped off the map at 12 dollars a load
Uncivilized pagans drank untreated water
Right out of our rivers back in their day
Now those streams bubble with clean treated sewage
While they sit in their hot tubs and drink perrier.
They call it the hill country, I call it beautiful
I'd call it progress if it could be saved
They call it the hill country, I call it home.
But what will they call it when it's leveled and paved.
I've had a sort of weird history with country music. I was more or less raised on it. The old stuff though. The kind of music that was called "country" or "western" because that's what it was ... not the crap you hear a lot of these days that is only labeled country because it's made in Nashville. In reality you are seeing an industry full of pre-fab songs spit out by the machine and snatched up by the next aspiring singer willing to put on a pair of boots and cowboy hat and hop on the stage. I mean, I'll hand it to them though. The people eat that crap up and it's almost always the "people" that set music trends on a collision course with mediocrity as I personally think has happened in Nashville. On a sort of side note, did you know that of the over 50 #1 hits from George Strait he wrote exactly zero of them.
So there are a couple different areas of the all encompassing genre of coutry music that I find appealing and personally I feel they are what country music really is. First of all I was raised on a combination of western swing (from its creator Bob Wills) and "Texas" country from guys like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. There is a sense of purity in what these guys created that is hard to find these days. In the past 10 years or so there has been a sort of resurgence of country music in Texas by people from Texas like we saw in the '70's. (I didn't actually see it then because I wasn't born yet. But you know what I mean.) A few months ago I went with a good friend of mine to see a guy do a small acoustic show with only a guitar and fiddle in a little bar over in Lewisville. His name was Randy Rogers. I was so excited to see a guy my age on stage playing the fiddle. I mean isn't that one of the first instruments you think of when you think about country music? And yet it is used so little in popular country. So anyways, I liked the show and several weeks later picked up the guy's newest record to see what the entire band sounded like. And now hear I am presenting "Rollercoaster" by the Randy Rogers Band as the latest edition of "Record of the Week". This guy has that singer/songwriter blood in him and joined forces with guys like Cody Canada and Radney Foster to create what I think is some of the best contemporary Texas country out there right now. The song "Tonight's Not The Night" has been on the radio for a couple months now and I believe I heard the first track "Down and Out" on radio as well. This is the kind of record with the kind of voice that makes you feel like you're in a little smoky bar watching live even though you're on your way to work at 7:00 in the morning. It creates more than just music. It creates an atmosphere and evokes familiar emotions. Song #3 is a great up tempo song and then #4 slows it down so you can dance with your girl without getting rid of your bottle of beer. Apparently resting it against her hip is the cool move. The above lines are from song #9 called "They Call It The Hill Country". Great song as well.
So check it out at:
www.randyrogersband.com
or
www.randyrogers.com
If you're into that kind of stuff I would recommend a show or picking up the record. If not, stay tuned. There will be more rock 'n roll to speak of soon. For now ... sit back, pop open a 16 oz Lone Star and enjoy a little Texas country. Until next time ...
But you have to have fill dirt when you're building a road
And the hills of Cow Gap, they weathered the ages
Got wiped off the map at 12 dollars a load
Uncivilized pagans drank untreated water
Right out of our rivers back in their day
Now those streams bubble with clean treated sewage
While they sit in their hot tubs and drink perrier.
They call it the hill country, I call it beautiful
I'd call it progress if it could be saved
They call it the hill country, I call it home.
But what will they call it when it's leveled and paved.
I've had a sort of weird history with country music. I was more or less raised on it. The old stuff though. The kind of music that was called "country" or "western" because that's what it was ... not the crap you hear a lot of these days that is only labeled country because it's made in Nashville. In reality you are seeing an industry full of pre-fab songs spit out by the machine and snatched up by the next aspiring singer willing to put on a pair of boots and cowboy hat and hop on the stage. I mean, I'll hand it to them though. The people eat that crap up and it's almost always the "people" that set music trends on a collision course with mediocrity as I personally think has happened in Nashville. On a sort of side note, did you know that of the over 50 #1 hits from George Strait he wrote exactly zero of them.
So there are a couple different areas of the all encompassing genre of coutry music that I find appealing and personally I feel they are what country music really is. First of all I was raised on a combination of western swing (from its creator Bob Wills) and "Texas" country from guys like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. There is a sense of purity in what these guys created that is hard to find these days. In the past 10 years or so there has been a sort of resurgence of country music in Texas by people from Texas like we saw in the '70's. (I didn't actually see it then because I wasn't born yet. But you know what I mean.) A few months ago I went with a good friend of mine to see a guy do a small acoustic show with only a guitar and fiddle in a little bar over in Lewisville. His name was Randy Rogers. I was so excited to see a guy my age on stage playing the fiddle. I mean isn't that one of the first instruments you think of when you think about country music? And yet it is used so little in popular country. So anyways, I liked the show and several weeks later picked up the guy's newest record to see what the entire band sounded like. And now hear I am presenting "Rollercoaster" by the Randy Rogers Band as the latest edition of "Record of the Week". This guy has that singer/songwriter blood in him and joined forces with guys like Cody Canada and Radney Foster to create what I think is some of the best contemporary Texas country out there right now. The song "Tonight's Not The Night" has been on the radio for a couple months now and I believe I heard the first track "Down and Out" on radio as well. This is the kind of record with the kind of voice that makes you feel like you're in a little smoky bar watching live even though you're on your way to work at 7:00 in the morning. It creates more than just music. It creates an atmosphere and evokes familiar emotions. Song #3 is a great up tempo song and then #4 slows it down so you can dance with your girl without getting rid of your bottle of beer. Apparently resting it against her hip is the cool move. The above lines are from song #9 called "They Call It The Hill Country". Great song as well.
So check it out at:
www.randyrogersband.com
or
www.randyrogers.com
If you're into that kind of stuff I would recommend a show or picking up the record. If not, stay tuned. There will be more rock 'n roll to speak of soon. For now ... sit back, pop open a 16 oz Lone Star and enjoy a little Texas country. Until next time ...
posted by Craig at 8:25 PM
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