The Loss of Music: Country

Throughout my life, I have been intrigued with music. I grew up surrounded by music, and with a brother who was instinctively talented as a drummer and never had to take a lesson. Then, there is my father, the naturally talented artist. The man could literally weld and sculpt a tin roof into a whale, while listening to Chopin or some form of the blues. My talent is that I love to discover new sounds, rhythms, genres, even those I would normally be discontent to start with. I am usually that person who listens intently to the lyrics before I pick up on the sound, rhythm and beat.

Today, or rather within the last four years, I have lost interest in discovering new music. I have lost the flavor and have become stagnant within the 1,500+ songs I’ve collected throughout my life. Recently, I found a new path and one to discover the old greats I haven’t heard before. There is music from that past that is “new to me” today (never thought I’d say that phrase).

I noticed that my 15-year-old is more interested in the music of the past, too. We sat for a while and discussed why he felt this way. He quite bluntly (as I would) said, “Well, today’s music is trash and gross.” I was elated. At that moment, I saw that all I taught was sinking in.

So, here we go, on to the genre, along with so many other that have a sub-genres.

I am allowing myself to start with something that is sort of a tough subject for me, as it has never been a favorite of mine. I grew up without being introduced to country music; that is, aside from the older greats, those such as my granddaddy would play for us, all of which I adored. No, I would say my interest in country really took a hold of me about twenty years ago.

I remembered how the songs my granddaddy would play that made me feel like I was part of someone’s life, or their family. I felt their joy, pain, struggles, and, my favorite, the nostalgia if it. As I would listen to those songs, they were filled with every bit of heart and soul, and you could feel it in every cord and lyric. When I was younger, country music served to portray a moment in time passing, and reflected on the stories and histories of Southerners. For me, the folk and more “bluish” country touched my soul the most.

What grabbed my shoulder and shook me, what really presented itself to me as I was discovering country music, was that most of these artists, within their songs and within their lives, was how important their faith and authenticity was. They held a loyal bond to it. It is for this reason that this genre, and only a few others that are specifically unique to it, have a critical genuineness about it. Until recently, that is.

Within the last 50 years or so, and even more so now within the last decade, our history, Southern history, has been attacked, judged, and blamed for everything wrong in the American Empire. We have dealt with the aggression of the Yankee, our cities burned down, Reconstruction, afterward punished with poverty, and now face modern Reconstruction (that continues to this day). We have already lost much of our past, only last year more of our history burned, and the mockery made of our blood and soil tainted with lies. But our music, the storytelling we can still do through music, that must never diminish.

Pop-Bro country is absolute trash. Contemporary stars have been killing country music for years. In my opinion, most things go astray when the Lord has been lost, and I feel they have deeply lost that connection and you can see it is missing in country music today. It the one thing about country music that mattered, along with the storytelling. Nashville has become a joke in the modern musical landscape, even country’s own stars feud over the quality of the genre. So here it is, it is modern artists like Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line that are demolishing country’s reputation and are alienating its fans. For over a decade, the top country songs were almost exclusively degenerate songs about parties, trucks and hooking up. Exemplified by the song “Cruise” by Florida-Georgia Line, this campy, uncomfortably unwholesome trend has earned itself the name “pop-bro country.”

These songs lack the vulnerability and sincerity that made country music great and has removed all traces of “storytelling” in favor of the sickening songs about bar scenes and one-night stands. Again, a testament to the days we live as being unmoral, as the further away from God people become, the worse off we will all be. Another example is the band The Dead South. At first listen to their music I was intrigued, instrumentally, then the incoming lyrical trash and disgusting displays of making fun of “country folk”, in songs such as “Banjo Odyssey” and many others, I was only able to listen for a few seconds.

Perhaps it returns, as all good things do. All is not lost, I have heard a few new artists that are bringing back the wholesome storytelling to the genre, such as Colter Wall, Cody Jinks, The Steel Woods and my personal favorite song “Keep The Wolves Away” by Uncle Lucius. Okay, okay, I know these are not brand new 2021 artists, but I am just now trying to rediscover more music. Please send me more wholesome music I have yet to hear.

Until next time, Deo Vindice!

Take care y’all, God bless you and your families.

-By Dixie Anon