Solid Country Gold...

...is a Shooter Jenning's song...and the basis of this blog.

An excerpt from the song:

"I've been sinkin’ like a rock in this high society
‘Cause all that means so much to them, don’t mean shit to me
If I were into money, fame and power, I’d be sold
But I know I tried, and I just can’t find that solid country gold

Now I was born in Nashville but I left there long ago
‘Cause they built Music City by sacrificing soul
L.A. ain’t much different, ‘cept they got them fancy clothes
And there’s nary a sight or a leaving light of solid country gold"

Shooter Jennings is the son of country music star Waylon Jennings. Waylon, among others, was deemed an "outlaw" of country music, rejecting the "Nashville Sound," a style of music that was widely accepted during his time. The "Nashville Sound" revolved around infusing country music with pop music elements. Though this type of music sold, it sacrificed substance for polished sounds. In Waylon Jenning's autobiography, Waylon discussed the time he spent at RCA under Chet Atkins, one of the creators of the Nashville Sound. Jennings argued that the problem with this type of style was how it was produced. According to Jennings, the producers took much of the creative control away from him and disapproved of him recording music with his own band. The country genre was losing touch with its roots.

The same can be said about the "country" music of today. Pseudo-artists are being drafted into music because of how well they look in a cowboy hat and jeans. Most have never picked cotton or ploughed a field, yet they claim to in their ghostwritten songs--They're a joke...

...which brings me back to the point of this blog. I want to examine what it truly means to be "country"--what solid country gold really is.