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Concerts

Yellow House Revisited: an Evening with Jason Boland, Cody Canada, and Mike McClure

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For the people who didn’t grow up in Texas and Oklahoma in the 90’s and 00’s, and the people who have flocked to Texas country and Red Dirt recently because of Turnpike and Cody Jinks, it might be hard to imagine just ow prevalent Red Dirt music was here in those days. You can still go to Texas and find stations just playing Texas music, and others that play Texas country and Red Dirt right along with mainstream stuff, and for those looking to Americana to become a viable alternative format to mainstream country, Texas has already done that, with its own charts and festivals and fans that have sustained these artists’ careers for years. In Oklahoma, it was much the same before corporate radio, before iHeart and Cumulus dictated everything from on high–I grew up with Jason Boland and Cross Canadian Ragweed on my radio dial right beside Tim McGraw and Keith Urban. One of our local country stations had a show called Red Dirt Nights and played this music with pride. My divorce from country radio had as much to do with the sudden blacklist of Red Dirt music from the airwaves as it did with anything else.

Understand, then, that to see Jason Boland, Cody Canada, and Mike McClure onstage together is a legendary experience in the world of Red Dirt, akin to hearing three mainstream stars, or the Red dirt equivalent of what people would like to see with Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, and Chris Stapleton. These three are all legends in their own right in the landscape of Oklahoma music, and it’s great to see any one of them live. To see all of them together doing acoustic songs and swapping stories is a different kind of experience, and one that is just as special for Red Dirt fans.

It was that experience that I got to witness Friday night, (6/22_, at Oklahoma City’s historic Tower Theatre. This venue has welcomed me now for several events during my 2018 concert series, and I looked forward to this one because this would be unlike anything I’ve covered or will cover in 2018. I’ve seen these artists at Medicine Stone, and I certainly enjoy them live with a full band. That’ll be a great experience come September, but this was different, it was intimate. It was three friends onstage together, taking turns playing their songs and trading stories in between. They’ve named this tour “Yellow House Revisited” after a house they lived in in Stillwater, and it’s just so interesting to hear stories from those early days of Red Dirt music. It’s great to hear the story of how Cross Canadian Ragweed’s “Seventeen” was written after a conversation between Cody Canada and Jason Boland; it was Boland who said, while they tried to avoid the cops, that “you’re always seventeen in your hometown.” Canada and McClure’s ill-advised trip to Nashville turned into an even more ill-advised trip to Panama City, Florida, and with virtually no money to get back home, Canada decided the only thing he could do was write a song, and “Alabama” was born.

All that underscores the way that artists in the Texas/Red Dirt scenes are like a family. Mike McClure sang “The Funeral,” which many will know as a Turnpike Troubadours song, and if you’re at all familiar with Red Dirt, you’ll recognize that as a common practice. These artists record each other’s songs and sing on their albums and support each other. It was mentioned by one of them onstage that they’d been told Oklahoma’s music was different from Texas music, and the difference was the loyalty. I believe the whole scene is loyal, but there is something about three Oklahoma musicians traveling around singing each other’s songs that just wouldn’t happen anywhere else. That makes songs like “If I ever Get Back to Oklahoma” all the more special, and songs like “Boys from Oklahoma,” the perfect choice for an encore, all the more fun. I will never get tired of hearing either of these songs in a live setting because the kinship with the artists and the fans is something irreplaceable.

It’s that kinship, and that commitment to live music, which makes Red Dirt music a special thing. all three of these artists embody what makes this music important to our state, and further drive home the point that we should never have cast it off our airwaves. If you’re not that familiar with this subgenre, a show like this is a great introduction, and a case for what the elusive term “Red Dirt” actually means. If you’re already a fan of this music and these artists, this is a show you go to to see them in a different light, to hear those old songs reimagined, and to get that camaraderie between artists and fans that only exists in Oklahoma music.

Best Live Songs: “Fightin’ For,” “If I Ever Get Back to Oklahoma,” “Pearl Snaps,” “Boys From Oklahoma”

Playlists

My Top Thirteen Songs of 2018 so Far

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Editor’s Note: These are not ranked in any particular order, and all songs have been reviewed or featured in some way, whether in Memorable songs or on one of our playlists, by Country Exclusive. Please respect this list for what it is–one person’s opinion, and an outlet for sharing good music. That said, feel free and encouraged to share your favorite songs of the year so far in the comments below!
And don’t ask why I picked thirteen, some things should remain a mystery.

Anderson East: “Cabinet Door”

From Encore, featured on our January playlist

This was the first song to blow me away in 2018, and yes, hopefully I will review this album at some point. This is the tale of a man whose wife of fifty-two years has passed away; he’s left lost and alone trying to pick up the pieces, and he’s talking to her about everything he misses, and everything that hasn’t been right since she’s been gone. It’s just an incredible song of love and loss, and it’s impossible not to feel something when you hear it.

Caitlyn Smith: “This Town is Killing Me”

From Starfire

What an honest, bittersweet, heartbreaking story of an artist’s struggles in Nashville, the things they’ll give up and go through in order to chase that dream, and the reasons it’s worth it. Caitlyn Smith is a world-class vocalist, and she’s known for belting and displaying her incredible range, but it’s a song like this, where her emotions are laid bare before us, that really sets her apart and makes her special. An artist with this much talent shouldn’t be struggling for a second in Music City, but it’s the hardship that led to this poignant, beautiful song.

Mike & the Moonpies: “Steak Night at the Prairie Rose”

From Steak Night at the Prairie Rose

Maybe it’s the relationship I have with my dad, or maybe it’s the stories of chasing his dreams of music, or perhaps it’s just a damn good song, but I think “Steak Night at the Prairie Rose” has been really underrated as a song in 2018. Just a simple tribute to his father and to music that should just be heard. Also, love that organ.

Wade Bowen: “Day of the Dead”

From Solid Ground

An underrated song from an underrated album. Putting some really cool Mexican influence in his Texas country, Wade sings of a man who’s run off to Mexico during the Day of the dead on his ex’s wedding day. It uses some interesting metaphors for the death of their love, and it’s one where the melody, instrumentation, and lyrics all work together to create a really great piece of music.

Courtney Patton: “Round Mountain”

From What it’s Like to Fly Alone

As I said recently on Twitter, here’s a song that blows me away every time I hear it. A beautifully crafted narrative of a woman who married young and felt trapped by her life and family–she made mistakes and eventually abandoned them, and the beauty here is that she’s neither apologetic for her actions nor unaware of what she’s done and the people she’s hurt. Also, there’s an overdose of lovely fiddle.

Courtney Marie Andrews: “Took You Up”

From May Your Kindness Remain

An incredibly moving love song that reminds us the best things in life are free. What a world it would be if we could all learn to embrace life like the lovers in this song. Also, Courtney Marie Andrews absolutely sings the hell out of this.

Red Shahan: “Waterbill”

From Culberson County

And for those of you who don’t think fun songs can be on these lists, I present Red Shahan’s “Waterbill,” the best album opener of the year so far and an absolutely fun, infectious tune that’s been one of my most played in 2018. It’s also got one of the best lyrics this year with: “you ain’t livin’ unless you’re livin’ life broke.” It’s impossible not to smile when you hear this song.

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers: “New Ways to Fail”

From Years

Another fun tune, and probably the most honest, relatable song you’ll hear for a long while. I can’t say anything else about this, I can just assure you that you’ve felt like this at some point in your life, and that relatability is what makes a great country song.

John Prine: “Lonesome Friends of Science”

From The Tree of Forgiveness

John Prine is a songwriter like no other, and we’re blessed to still be getting great, thoughtful songs from him at this stage of his life. He can create empathy for anyone or anything, even “poor planet Pluto,” who was demoted and uninvited by the other planets, as he explains in this song. And what a great way to live, thinking it doesn’t matter if the whole world ends today because this place is not really your home.

Ashley Monroe: “Orphan”

From Sparrow

Overall, I did not care for the overly polished sounds on Ashley Monroe’s latest effort, but this autobiographical sketch of an orphan is beautiful, and it’s made even better by the lovely strings supporting it. This is a story only Ashley Monroe can deliver, and it might be the best song of her career thus far.

Old Crow Medicine Show: “Look Away”

From Volunteer

In a world where Southern culture is being forsaken and eradicated at an alarming rate, “Look Away” uses lines from “Dixie” and embraces everything that is good and cherished about the South. This is a five-minute case for why Southerners still have things to be proud of, and why so many people embrace this land and its rich heritage.

American Aquarium: “One Day at a Time”

From Things Change

The best songs come from a place of honesty, the ability to release a part of your soul out into your music. BJ Barham gives us that in “One Day at a Time,” detailing his journey getting sober. And “you see the man left holding the pen controls how every story ends, and truth becomes a martyr for the sake of the song”–that line is just brilliant.

Jason Boland & the Stragglers: “Hard Times are Relative”

From Hard Times are Relative

The first time I heard this, I declared it the best song of the year so far. I don’t know how that will hold up, but this is an excellently crafted story song and a reminder to us that when we think our lives are tough, these people in times past had it far worse.

Honorable Mentions

  • Blackberry Smoke: “I’ve Got This Song”
  • Brent Cobb: “Come Home Soon”
  • Ashley McBryde: “Livin’ Next to Leroy”
  • Courtney Marie Andrews: “Border”
  • Kayla Ray: “Rockport”
  • Brandi Carlile: “The Mother”
  • Dierks Bentley ft. Brandi Carlile: “Travelin’ Light”
Reviews

Album Review: Josh Ward–More Than I Deserve

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Rating: 7/10

For a long time, I couldn’t think of how to write about this album. It’s not a masterpiece lyrically, and it’s not reinventing the wheel sonically. But like Randall King and Shotgun Rider have already done this year, Josh Ward delivers a solid, lighthearted album that calls to a specific time period in country music. It took me awhile to put my finger on why I enjoy this record so much, and the answer is astonishingly simple: it’s the sound that I love, the 90’s country where many like me find their nostalgia. We’ve got people like Joshua Hedley and Zephaniah Ohora trying to recreate and, in the case of Ohora, modernize the 50’s and 60’s styles, bringing the countrypolitan sound to the modern ear. We’ve got countless people trying to keep the 70’s outlaw era alive, to the point the term “outlaw” has been run through the ringer, and the music is often almost a parody of itself, and we’ve got others pushing the envelope in modern country in order to create something forward-thinking that still respects the roots of the genre. But until recently, there haven’t been many people embracing the 90’s neotraditional sound, and that’s ironic and unfortunate when you take into consideration that so many of the listeners and fans who loved that style are the ones who divorced themselves from the mainstream in the last decade because they miss those country sounds. The 90’s and early 00’s are when so many of us came to country music in the first place, and it’s a shame that more people haven’t been carrying this sound forward into the present.

I am certainly one of these people who grew up on 90’s country, and I miss that style more than I can say. Brianna heard this album before me, and she said that I’d like it because Josh ward sounded like a “twangy Travis Tritt.” I’d heard ward before but hadn’t made that connection, and she was right. And maybe that explains my enjoyment of this album–it’s so refreshing to see this sound being embraced in 2018 and not forgotten or relegated to the realm of nostalgia. You have no idea how much you’re missing this style of country, or how much it’s needed in modern music, until you hear it come through your speakers like a long-lost friend.

It’s not just that it’s embraced by Ward, though, it’s that he interprets this sound so well and makes it sound fresh and natural in 2018. It’s impossible not to smile at “Home Away From Home,” a fun little ode to his favorite bar that would have been a radio hit in 1996. “Another Heartache” features some lovely piano as Ward sings of not wanting to complicate things with the woman he met tonight on the dance floor and wants to make sure they’re on the same page about where this is going–“I don’t need another heartache, so baby, let’s don’t fall in love.” “Say Hello to Goodbye” is another in a long line of country heartbreak songs, but it’s also a reminder that some of them don’t need any analyzing and are just simply good songs. The same goes for the steel-soaked “One More shot of Whiskey.” As mentioned, you aren’t going to be blown away by the lyrics of this project, but it’s just so solid and comforting. I said this about shotgun Rider’s Palo Duro, and the same thing applies here–it’s not a record for thinking but rather a record for drinking, and we absolutely need both.

There’s one lyrical exception, though, which offers some real depth, and that comes in the album’s crown jewel, “The devil Don’t Scare Me.” This one is also a heartbreak song, but it’s told from the angle of the narrator having once been scared of God and petrified in church pews as he heard about hell and fire and brimstone, but now that she’s left, nothing, not even the devil or death, can get to him. “I ain’t afraid of dyin’ ’cause I lost the one thing I was livin’ for, the devil don’t scare me anymore.” This one is certainly the highlight of More Than I Deserve and is the one you should check out if you only pick a single track. This one’s also featured on our May playlist.

This is not some groundbreaking masterpiece, but it’s not a groundbreaking masterpiece you want playing while you sit around drinking with friends on a Saturday night. It’s a record like this one, and this is why we do need both, and why not everything has to be a piece of musical genius. Josh Ward brings us a solid, uncomplicated slice of 90’s style country music, and if you need that sound in your life, definitely check this out. Good, comforting, refreshingly country record.

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Reviews

Album Review: Erik Dylan–Baseball on the Moon

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Rating: 6.5/10

With midyear lists in the works and the amount of new releases slowing down some after a ridiculously crowded last several months, it is time to clear a few albums from the 2018 back burner. This Erik Dylan record is one that I’ve been trying to wrap my head around for over a month now, and I’ve had about a thousand different opinions as I kept listening to it. But unlike so many albums and songs these days that fade into the background after a listen or two, this record held my attention, and I kept seeking words for it despite my conflicting thoughts.

This is an album that has much to say and can be a lot to take. If you thought BJ Barham got too political on Things Change, you probably aren’t going to be into this record, at least not all at once. We’ll hear about immigration, racial tension, America’s justice system, the plight of American farmers…the list goes on. It’s not that any of these songs are bad–in fact, we’ll get to just how good some of them are–but as an album, it can be a bit overwhelming. Dylan should be commended for addressing these issues, though, and singing about what he believes is right.

Often, however, the album’s best moments come when there’s a break from the political nature. “Someday” and “Ain’t my Town” make a great moment together and showcase the unique importance of track placement, as the first features a narrator who’s fed up with his one-horse town and wants nothing more than to get out, and the second sees the narrator lamenting the stereotypes of small-town America all over the radio dial and embracing his home. It’s a cool contrast and yet a perfect way to explain many people’s feelings about their hometowns–they’d love to leave and chase bigger dreams, but at the same time, it’s home, and to hear anyone else criticize it is blasphemy. It’s great to hear this duality expressed so well in these two songs. “Touchdown Town” also adds to this story later on the record, as its main character can’t fit into the football-focused town and has to get out and pursue his dreams of a career in music. “13th Floor” is another strong non-political moment on the album and speaks of the hurts and failures and demons we all carry with us and keep hidden in our minds, on the “13th floor,” a superstitious and haunted place where all those bad memories dwell.

As for the political and social commentary, as always, it is best when telling a story or discussing specific characters. For example, “Funerals & Football Games” works so well with its story of factory workers being laid off after years of employment because it speaks to the mentality of this character that grown men can’t cry–unless, of course, if someone’s dying or his son’s scoring a touchdown. “Flatland Sunrise” stands out as a highlight, as the narrator stares up at the cruel summer sky and prays for God to help him keep his family’s land. “Honest Work” details an immigrant coming to America alone and just trying to find work and raise enough money to send back to her family; it’s not preachy, but rather more of a story, and when you get to the part about how your grandpa or some other ancestor came here in the same way and was welcomed with open arms, you can’t help but feel the plight of these people in a new light.

It’s songs like “Color Blind,” where the message is too transparent, that really don’t add much to the record. “Color Blind” is a more transparent, less thoughtful “White Man’s World,” even down to the reference to his child; “The world is on fire” did this also, in fact, although it was more about the election in general than one specific issue–and it just doesn’t add much value. It’s certainly the right stance to take, wanting to rid the world of ridiculous and unfair biases based on race, but it’s just not executed well at all.

The other problem with these types of songs is that while many are great on their own, it can be draining to listen to them all at once. To reference “White Man’s world” again, that song was so effective partly because it was a rare political moment on an otherwise apolitical album. The best political and social commentary doesn’t alienate half its audience, but rather seeks to bring people together and foster dialogue and understanding between all sides. It’s why “Black Jesus” is such a brilliant song, for it shows that less is more and calmly makes its point without calling people out. Baseball on the Moon is not really a divisive record, but with all these songs all together, it’s a bit of an unapproachable one for some listeners. That’s a shame because the majority of these tracks are pretty great on their own. Listen to “Honest work,” and it’s a great, thoughtful tune; listen to it as the thirteenth track of a heavy, politically charged album, and it loses some of its value as a song that speaks to people.

This is why it’s been so hard to write about this album, and why even now, assigning a rating is really tough. Taken individually, many of these songs are quite good, and if you like this type of material, you’ll definitely enjoy this album more than I do. But if you don’t like politics, it’s probably not the album for you, and you’d be better off checking out specific songs. It’s a record where the songs themselves are worth more than the sum of their parts. and yet, it’s precisely because of those songs that Baseball on the Moon needed discussing. You’ll know who you are if you’re going to like this record, and for the right audience, there’s much to enjoy here.

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Reviews

Album Review: Sugarland–Bigger

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Rating: 4/10

Okay, so am I the only one who actually used to enjoy Sugarland? I’ve seen such an outpouring of hatred toward this duo leading up to this album that it seems like everyone has always hated them. I enjoyed their first two records, and indeed, I still play Twice the Speed of Life frequently. It was their third album, Love on the Inside, where things started to turn toward more pop and less substance. That record was uneven; I enjoyed about half of it. Then “Stuck Like Glue” infected the airwaves, and that has to be one of my most despised songs ever, including anything any of the bros have ever released. Their breakup felt inevitable and almost overdue, and yet now we’re looking at Sugarland 2.0 several years later for some inexplicable reason. This record isn’t horrific, but it proves that the dying embers of Sugarland should have never been revived.

They could have gone back to what made them popular and likable in the first place, but of course that isn’t the case, and this shows them doubling down on the pop direction that hindered their last two records. Understand, there’s nothing wrong with pop country, and there’s nothing wrong with pop music as long as it’s not incorrectly labeled–but whose idea was this to take Jennifer nettles’ undeniable, sometimes even exaggerated to the point of annoying, twang and pair it with pop beats and electronic elements? No one is going to make Katy Perry try to sing like Loretta Lynn because it would sound absolutely ridiculous; you can’t take a good chunk of this album seriously with Nettles’ traditional country twang trying to fit into pop music. It doesn’t sound natural, and more than that, it doesn’t sound flattering to her at all.

The writing is often incredibly generic and bland as well–I already wrote about how “Still the Same” is supposed to be this great comeback song, and it just ultimately says nothing. “Babe” takes unapologetic advantage of Taylor Swift by giving her a few syllables and allowing her name to make this song a talking point, assuring its success on country radio. Say what you want about Taylor Swift, but she’s a great songwriter and a smart businesswoman, and there’s a reason she left this off Red. She realized that it was subpar material for her and wisely chose not to cut it. It’s got the makings of a good song about a woman’s reaction to finding out her man has been cheating, but again, it’s just so generic in its execution. “Bigger” and “On a Roll” are two of those incredibly upbeat, optimistic numbers that make for bland, boring filler which add nothing to the album, and as if “Stuck Like Glue” didn’t already prove she couldn’t do it, Jennifer Nettles makes the latter track insufferable by rapping. With that twang, she may honestly be the worst rapper I have ever heard.

There are some really lame attempts to get political with this album. The problem with songs like this is that often they’re just too vapid and shallow to say anything of actual importance. “Bird in a Cage” seems to be about hypocrisy and forsaking what the church would have us believe, but it’s incredibly vague and almost comes off condescending when it says, “it’s hard to explain to a bird in a cage,” as if the audience to whom this track is being addressed is too stupid to understand it. “Tuesday’s Broken” is cited on Apple Music as a song about gun control–this is not entirely correct, as it paints two different portraits, one of a mass shooter and one of a girl contemplating suicide, and asks if the world wouldn’t be a better place if we just reached out and loved people. It’s a good message, and also one of the more stripped-back, country moments, but it still lacks a lot in the writing. “Let me Remind You” is described on Apple Music is being about women’s empowerment, and this actually made me laugh out loud when I heard it because it is simply a sex song and a boring one at that–I’m not faulting Sugarland for these descriptors, I’m just amused by the attempt of Apple Music to advertise this as some sort of progressive, forward-thinking project when it’s actually so bland and uninteresting.

But there are some brighter moments on this album. One comes in the heartwarming “Mother”–which incidentally is far more empowering to women than “Let me Remind You”–a song that actually manages to go deeper than the surface and celebrate motherhood in a respectful way. Sure, it’s still pretty listastic, but it’s on a song like this where the details and examples work pretty well. “Love me Like I’m Leaving” and “Not the Only” both provide some actual country instrumentation and flavor at the end of the record, and these display Nettles at her best vocally. Both are flattering to her voice, and neither shows her exaggerating her accent. Kristian Bush’s harmony also works much better on these songs, the former depicting a woman who finally has the courage to leave after turning back at the last minute so many times before, and the latter crying out for others who feel the same loneliness and pain in this crazy world.

I’ve heard worse pop country albums. It’s not an offensive or shockingly terrible record, except for the God-awful “on a Roll.” It’s just so colorless and uneventful for so much of this. It’s like almost no effort was made in the songwriting, everything going for the most basic and shallow of sentiments. The sound doesn’t suit Jennifer Nettles in any universe for a good portion of this, and although there are times when you can see flashes of the earliest version of Sugarland, they’re few and far between on this record. Not a horrifically bad album, but an underwhelming, disappointing, forgettable effort that makes me question why we needed a reboot of Sugarland in the first place.

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