“Who the hell is Julius Caesar? You know I don't follow the NBA.”
- Ron Burgundy
Whatever the genre of music, without a doubt it has been sub-divided into smaller categories. Those in turn, sub-divided again and again down to tiny specialized ones, interesting to only the truly esoteric and nerdy. For instance, take the broad term Rock and Roll. Under that umbrella you have: Acid Rock, Adult-Oriented Rock, Alternative Rock, Arena Rock, Art Rock, Glam Rock, Swamp Rock, Punk Rock, Post-Punk, Psychedelic Rock, Rockabilly, Southern Rock, Folk Rock, Yacht Rock, New Wave, Goth, Grunge, Heavy Metal, Death Metal, Jam Bands, Prog Rock, Shoegaze, and on and on, all with niche sub-divisions within them.
So it is with every genre including “Country Music” which is why I'm writing this, to talk about one of its sub-sub division. I think maybe the majority of people consider country music to be whatever Nashville is slinging at the time. Currently, from my limited hearing, it seems to be some kind of, as Merle Haggard called it, “bubble gum” flavored formalistic bro-country stuff. A lot of it you hear over the speakers at BassPro. It is to country music what Coors Light is to beer.
Every so often someone will ask me if I like country music. I know they're likely thinking of the kind I just described, so I'm at pains to say, “Well, yes, but not what you're thinkin', probably.” But then, to try and explain in a few seconds, before they begin to glaze over, the distinctions of all the many sub-categories I prefer, it's a frustrating and fruitless exercise. Never mind.
Most of what I dig falls under the great big tent now called Americana, none of which Nashville would ever see fit to play: Alt-country, Outlaw Country, The Bakersfield Sound, Traditional Country, Neo-Traditional, Cow-Punk, Bluegrass, Texas Singer/Songwriters and this one I'm wanting to highlight, “Red Dirt Music”
It primarily comes out of Oklahoma, having originated in Stillwater in the 1970s. While there is some Texas crossover, it tends to be pretty Oaky-centric. It's a gritty, blue collar blend of traditional country, blues, folk and rock and roll. Some of it's well known representatives were and are Bob Childers, Tom Skinner, Cross Canadian Ragweed, The Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Boland and the Stragglers, Reckless Kelly and a host of others.
I started out with this just wanting to mention Jimmy Lafave, but then I got to chasing my tail. Anyway, a song of his I included on the buffalo blog a couple of days ago. He was one of the torch bearers for Red Dirt. He was a sweet singing, hugely gifted guy who died at 61 back in 2017 from a rare cancer. Here he is along with some other keepers of the Red Dirt flame.