Merle Haggard once said to me, when we were doing an interview for the Country Music Hall of Fame, and they were doing an exhibit on Bakersfield, he said that the difference between the country music from Nashville and the country music from the West Coast was that country music in Nashville came from churches, and the country music in the West Coast came from honkytonks and bars. And it really was about that.He hooked up with punk rockers who were fading out of that scene, and rediscovering the older sound. It became something that sounded a bit like this:
Every 10 years, there's a cycle, and the young rockers will rediscover their heritage, if you will: the Okies, John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath heritage on the West Coast -- the country music that came out of here during the end of the dustbowl and led to the Bakersfield sound -- in greater Bakersfield, actually. It's around all the San Joaquin Valley, and its labor camps.
Cowpunk
Dwight Yoakam gave an interesting interview on his early years in Los Angeles. The music he did was quite different from the Outlaw Country being produced in Nashville and in the East.
A bunch of them made a great Merle Haggard Tribute album- Tulare Dust. I think the project was driven mostly by Yoakum and Dave Alvin, formerly Lead Guitarist of the Blasters.
ReplyDeleteYou all might like Dave Alvin's solo stuff too. Much of it touches on historical settings (like "Andersonville" of the infamous Civil War prison). Also "King of California" Puts on a great live show too- funny guy.
Sounds great. I'm always looking for good music I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI've loved Yoakam's sound for decades. I would have never associated it with punk.
ReplyDeletedouglas, thanks for the info. I'll check it out.