The People Speak Out - Searching for America's Soul

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Hillbilly Joe - Another Voice in the Wilderness

Every quadrennial the Colton's Point Times likes to leave our safe haven and find out what the real people out there think.  It always seems more timely when the interview takes place during a presidential election year.

This election we are doing a follow up interview with the most entertaining guest ever to appear in the CPT, Hillbilly Joe.  Hillbilly lives down here in the Yankee Confederate Demilitarized zone in Southern Maryland.

This place was torn during the Civil War being a member of the Union and more Southern than any Southern state of the Confederacy.  In fact Maryland, the Union state, was the most dangerous place on earth for President Abraham Lincoln.

That was about 147 years ago that it ended, or 375,585 days, 5 hours and thirty-seven seconds since the South surrendered and the world came to a premature end according to Hillbilly Joe.

It seems a lot has happened to Hillbilly Joe since our last interview.  First he had a music video with the bad boys John Galt and the Junk Yard Dogs.  Then the people "lost their wits" in Hillbilly's terms and elected that "Barak Obama" as president pretender.

That alone was enough to cause contemplated fleeing to another country but none could be found offering adequate immunity to Hillbilly's family and in particular their beloved "huntin' dawgs", Darrell, Darrell and Darrell of course.

Finally Hillbilly Joe put his foot down and a cloud of dust exploded from the seismic shock, and told his family he was not leaving Southern Maryland cause he wanted to keep his John Deere Dealer and nothing on this earth, preacher included, was as important as a competent John Deere Dealer.

Besides, that dealer gave him a bona fide John Deere hat.  You don't mess with John Deere loyalty in Hillbilly country.

I once asked Hillbilly what political party he joined and he said neither since they both supported the socialist government in Washington, which is only about 60 miles away.  To Hillbilly there is a simple choice between American or Socialist.

So what makes up an American to Hillbilly?

"Real Americans don't allow code enforcement by them bureaucraps," he shot back.  "Ain't nobody gonna tells us what we like, what we eat, or what we think.  And sure as hell no one gonna tell us how to build our homes or what to do with our toilet water.

So what do you think of the job Barack Obama did these last three years I asked?

"Whose he?" Hillbilly said though I think he might be pulling my leg.

"You know, our president," I replied.

"Oh that Obama.  Daddy says he's an alien, like those Avatars from Hollywood.  You know the ones?  Anyway, I think it's time he got a new job."

"So who would you vote for?" I asked.

"Not one of them thieves!" he bellowed, "I ain't even registered to vote and I can't because I might become one of them socialists."

"Either way we got another four years under a minority president and that sucks."

I reminded Hillbilly that Romney was White but Hillbilly said he was also Mormon and that made him minority.

"So what is the biggest problem facing America?" I asked.

"Damn diesel is too expensive for the John Deere.  It's killing us little people.  I tell you if that diesel gets over $5.00 a gallon the Deere people will stop mowing, stop weed cutting, and stop hauling junk to the dump!  We could see the renewal of the Civil War at $6.00 a gallon."

When I asked how the recession affected his life he lit up.

"Can't afford good steaks for the barbeque, got to cook burgers and chicken.  Walmart's been overrun by cheap China stuff.  And they sold Bud to foreigners.  Even the Bud frogs and Clydesdales are foreign owned.   Can you imagine that?

Can't even afford our big trucks anymore.  Now we faced critical decisions.  Do we drive the hog or eat fries and Big Macs?"

"Come to think of it, for the first time in my life as a bona fide bachelor, I had to start thinkun' about how much food my date ate so as I could afford her."

According to Hillbilly downsizing for a Hillbilly or Redneck is impossible.  Most of what they got filling the garage, basement, attic and front yard are priceless treasurers.

Take for example, the Bathtub Mary.  Now that is a shrine like no other.  Old Joe says it is Hillbilly landscaping.  Once the tub stops holding water you turn it into a shrine.  A form of ancient recycling. 

But most junk comes in the form of parts from something that broke, all the left over nails, screws and wood from projects that didn't get finished, and anything he came across that he did not recognize.  You see, if he didn't know what it was then he better hang on to it until he found out.

Hillbilly also went through a real relationship for a time, even attempting the concept of cohabitating for a while.  He thinks he might have been under some powerful kind of voodoo spell then because what else could make him move from the comforts of Hillbilly Heaven to the alien landscape of town.

Now Hillbilly lives in his parent's garage with his car and television which is quite a step up from our last interview before the 2008 election.  Back then he lived in a house trailer in his parents back yard until the giant Pine tree started dropping branches from about 100 feet onto the roof of the trailer.

With his corner condo in the garage he only needs to leave home to go to the bathroom or shower across the yard in his parents house.  As a culture Hillbilly's really have little regard for expensive working bathrooms when Mother Nature has always taken care of things.

Hillbilly left the comforts of home to try his hand at living with someone but a Hillbilly without family is like a Big Mac without meat.  In time he returned to his shed full of parts, skunks under the house, Bathtub Mary and mom's home cooking.

He did blame Obama for some of his recent suffering.  Since Obama started raising the price of diesel and gasoline he was forced to make an economic choice, to get rid of his Ford pick up or John Deere tractor to save money.

No way the Deere was going, I mean it was a true revenue generator bringing in tax free bucks mowing lawns.  So he traded in the Ford truck for a Chevrolet Sonic, a 40 mile per gallon car.

Hillbilly felt bad buying a car from Government Motors Company, GMC, when Ford was the only one to not take a bailout.  But his purchase of a Chev really hurt Hillbilly Joe's pop who was Ford lifer. Hillbilly might as well have become an Obama socialist.

As for the class warfare issue raised by the president, Hillbilly said it was stupid with a capital "D", everyone knows there are two classes, Hillbillies and Inferiors.

On the issue of food quality Hillbilly said people been gettin' sicker ever since the white coats started messing with the food chain and pumpin' drugs into our livestock.

War in Afghanistan?  Why are we fighting there when illegals are running all over our borders back here?  Bring the troops home.

According to Hillbilly Joe it seems we have provided so much protection to the doctors through insurance and government regulations with so many restrictions that they don't do any genuine healing for fear of setting a bad example.

Yet Hillbilly considers himself a true patriot unlike those socialists in DC.  Why isn't it obvious from the Confederate flag flying from the pole in the bzckyard, with the Don't Tread on Me flag below it, while living in the garage condo just a stone's throw from the nearest bathroom.

Okay, we heard enough for this election.  Can't wait for the next quadrennial.

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The Roots of Country Music - Appalachia to Nashville

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Most people probably have little understanding of the roots of country music in America because it has always been taken for granted that country is one of the core genres we have always had around. It is known as the heartbeat and soul of America and been around about as long as the Europeans have been here.

Over the years we may have heard country music we liked, some even crossed over to pop and rock charts, and many stars in other genres either started as country music singers or became famous and then cut a country song or album. But do we really know from whence it came?

When English speaking America was first being colonized in the 1600's the coastal areas were settled first, Virginia, Massachusetts and Maryland, all by 1634 and it did not take long for the European immigrants to make their way to the Appalachian Mountains, the Southern Appalachians that is, which included the Blue Ridge Mountain range and Cumberland Plateau. Western Virginia and Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee territories along with pieces of the Carolinas and Georgia made up the region which served as a barrier to westward expansion.
 

Immigrants came to the area because the coastal regions were already populated and with them came the Old World musical instruments were brought together in barn dances and celebrations by these hardy people settling the region. This was in the days before electricity, before electric guitars and synthesizers

The Irish fiddle, German dulcimer, Italian mandolin, Spanish guitar and African banjo were brought to these celebrations and played together in hillbilly jam sessions far from the operas and symphonies of the cities on the east coast. This came to be known as "Old Time" music.

In the 19th century some immigrant groups moved to the Texas area to settle and further integrated the hillbilly sound with Spanish, Mexican and Native American music and large dancehalls were built where the locals could gather and dance to the sounds. This was the final step in the evolution of the roots of Country Music.

 Then came the 20th century with cars and roads and radio which brought down the barriers of communication and people from throughout the nation could hear this unique American creation. The first country recording was in 1921 and throughout the 1920's as radio expanded so did the country music.



Country musicians were great innovators ever since mixing the instruments from five counties up in the Appalachians and electricity, recording and touring gave them more and more opportunities to do this. Hillbilly music grew in popularity driven by the Carter Family and Jimmy Rodgers and in 1925 WSM-AM radio in Nashville started the first country music broadcast, on November 28, 1925, when the WSM Barn Dance was first broadcast. In time it would become the Grand Ole Opry under the guidance of people like Roy Acuff.

 By the 1930's and Great Depression people were poor and the radio became the primary source of news and entertainment. Soon a fledgling movie industry introduced the Singing cowboys while radio was expanding the barn dances with legendary country shows being broadcast from Chicago to Texas to California. In the 1940's these shows introduced singers like Roy Acuff, Bill Haley, Eddie Arnold and singing cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.



Bob Wills and his legendary Texas Playboys was among the innovators of country music when in 1935 he introduced drums to the band, a first, then became the first group with the electric guitar in 1938. Yet it was not until the early 1960's that the steel guitar and drums were fixtures in country bands.

 Hillbilly music spawned Hillbilly Boogie by 1939 and a new country genre called Bluegrass emerged with the sound of Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs at the end World War II. By this time country music included Hillbilly, Boogie, Blues, Honky Tonk, Gospel and Rockabilly.



To the rest of the world country music was called Hillbilly until 1944 when the name was changed to Folk and Blues music. By 1949 it was labeled Country or Country Western, the latter referring to the singing cowboys of movies and then television. Honky Tonk saw the rise of Ernest Tubb, Floyd Tillman, the Maddox Brothers and Rose, Lefty Frizell and Hank Williams.



Along came the 1950's and country music changed again as Rockabilly dominated with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins leading the way. From 1955-1960 ABC-TV became the first network with a nationwide country show called the Ozark Jubilee that showcased country stars to the nation. Elvis helped drive the cross-over between Rockabilly and Rock 'n Roll.

Late in the '50's came the Lubbock Sound of Buddy Holly and then there was a country backlash as the industry felt rock 'n roll was to dominate. Ray Price, Marty Robbins and Johnny Horton began to shift the music back to traditional country.

In the early 1960's the Nashville sound became dominant with producers like Chet Atkins, Owen Bradley and Billy Sherrill reviving the genre with legendary singers Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold. Ray Charles introduced Country Soul in 1962 with his release of I Can't Stop Loving You. A new sound in Nashville called Countrypolitan was created featuring the sounds of Tammy Wynette and Charlie Rich. But soon the Nashville sound became stale.

Out west Honky Tonk and Western Swing were merged by Bob Wills and Lefty Frizell to form the Bakersfield Sound. It would encompass the diversity of different styles from Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Tommy Collins and Wynn Stewart.



In other places like Lubbock, Tulsa and Austin the disappointment with the Nashville Sound and control of the record labels was causing an Outlaw movement. Inspired by the success of The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Rolling Stones in demanding creative control of their music and control of their songs, the Outlaws gravitated to Austin where Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson became the leaders.

 Not only did their music change but their image as well. Gone were the clean cut, clean shaven cowboys of old and in were the long haired radical Outlaws of the future. Jessie Colter, wife of Waylon, was one of the female pioneers while Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard soon joined forces.

With The Beatles astounding success blending rock and pop music Nashville was hungry to tap into the crossover sound needed to reach the mainstream markets. Others, seeking a return to the "old values" of rock 'n roll, created a new genre called Country Rock.

The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker Band, Poco, Buffalo Springfield and Eagles exploded onto the music scene as Southern Rock and Heartland became new subgenre spin offs. Ever since there has been a tug of war between traditional country and country rock or country pop as stars like Dolly Parton, Rosanne Cash, Linda Ronstadt, Juice Newton, Alabama, Hank Williams, Jr., Brooks and Dunn, Garth Brooks, Dwight Yoakum, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and Keith Urban helped move country towards rock over the years.

By the mid 1970's Olivia Newton John and John Denver captured the Country Pop crossover market and powered their way to CMA and Grammy Awards with multi million selling hits. Soon a whole new group of country performers would take up the mantle.

George Straight, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Toby Keith, Reba McEntire, Kenny Chesney, Alison Krauss, Vince Gill and Tim McGraw among others perform the Classic Country style today while the pop crossover comes from new artists like Carrie Underwood from American Idol fame and newest sensation Taylor Swift who have breathed new life into the country music industry.

What is next? Who knows. Still, those who understand that country music is an ever-changing genre that morphs into a variety of styles depending on the needs of the people and the innovation of the artists, must feel good as a broad range of artists currently dominate the radio airwaves and rule the concert circuit.

As the major record labels collapse, the radio stations strangle on their own automated programming and the formula music once again becomes stale we know it is the time when country music always rediscovers itself. Nashville will be a lot better as a result, all country artists will benefit, the public will reap the rewards of new and innovative country music and history will once again record that the American country sound once again became relevant in a time of need and a time of truth.

.

The Roots of Country Music - Appalachia to Nashville

Most people probably have little understanding of the roots of country music in America because it has always been taken for granted that country is one of the core genres we have always had around. It is known as the heartbeat and soul of America and been around about as long as the Europeans have been here.

Over the years we may have heard country music we liked, some even crossed over to pop and rock charts, and many stars in other genres either started as country music singers or became famous and then cut a country song or album. But do we really know from whence it came?

When English speaking America was first being colonized in the 1600's the coastal areas were settled first, Virginia, Massachusetts and Maryland, all by 1634 and it did not take long for the European immigrants to make their way to the Appalachian Mountains, the Southern Appalachians that is, which included the Blue Ridge Mountain range and Cumberland Plateau. Western Virginia and Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee territories along with pieces of the Carolinas and Georgia made up the region which served as a barrier to westward expansion.

Immigrants came to the area because the coastal regions were already populated and with them came the Old World musical instruments were brought together in barn dances and celebrations by these hardy people settling the region. This was in the days before electricity, before electric guitars and synthesizers

.

The Irish fiddle, German dulcimer, Italian mandolin, Spanish guitar and African banjo were brought to these celebrations and played together in hillbilly jam sessions far from the operas and symphonies of the cities on the east coast. This came to be known as "Old Time" music.

In the 19th century some immigrant groups moved to the Texas area to settle and further integrated the hillbilly sound with Spanish, Mexican and Native American music and large dancehalls were built where the locals could gather and dance to the sounds. This was the final step in the evolution of the roots of Country Music.

Then came the 20th century with cars and roads and radio which brought down the barriers of communication and people from throughout the nation could hear this unique American creation. The first country recording was in 1921 and throughout the 1920's as radio expanded so did the country music.

Country musicians were great innovators ever since mixing the instruments from five counties up in the Appalachians and electricity, recording and touring gave them more and more opportunities to do this. Hillbilly music grew in popularity driven by the Carter Family and Jimmy Rodgers and in 1925 WSM-AM radio in Nashville started the first country music broadcast, on November 28, 1925, when the WSM Barn Dance was first broadcast. In time it would become the Grand Ole Opry under the guidance of people like Roy Acuff.

By the 1930's and Great Depression people were poor and the radio became the primary source of news and entertainment. Soon a fledgling movie industry introduced the Singing cowboys while radio was expanding the barn dances with legendary country shows being broadcast from Chicago to Texas to California. In the 1940's these shows introduced singers like Roy Acuff, Bill Haley, Eddie Arnold and singing cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.

Bob Wills and his legendary Texas Playboys was among the innovators of country music when in 1935 he introduced drums to the band, a first, then became the first group with the electric guitar in 1938. Yet it was not until the early 1960's that the steel guitar and drums were fixtures in country bands.

Hillbilly music spawned Hillbilly Boogie by 1939 and a new country genre called Bluegrass emerged with the sound of Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs at the end World War II. By this time country music included Hillbilly, Boogie, Blues, Honky Tonk, Gospel and Rockabilly.

To the rest of the world country music was called Hillbilly until 1944 when the name was changed to Folk and Blues music. By 1949 it was labeled Country or Country Western, the latter referring to the singing cowboys of movies and then television. Honky Tonk saw the rise of Ernest Tubb, Floyd Tillman, the Maddox Brothers and Rose, Lefty Frizell and Hank Williams.

Along came the 1950's and country music changed again as Rockabilly dominated with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins leading the way. From 1955-1960 ABC-TV became the first network with a nationwide country show called the Ozark Jubilee that showcased country stars to the nation. Elvis helped drive the cross-over between Rockabilly and Rock 'n Roll.

Late in the '50's came the Lubbock Sound of Buddy Holly and then there was a country backlash as the industry felt rock 'n roll was to dominate. Ray Price, Marty Robbins and Johnny Horton began to shift the music back to traditional country.

In the early 1960's the Nashville sound became dominant with producers like Chet Atkins, Owen Bradley and Billy Sherrill reviving the genre with legendary singers Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold. Ray Charles introduced Country Soul in 1962 with his release of I Can't Stop Loving You. A new sound in Nashville called Countrypolitan was created featuring the sounds of Tammy Wynette and Charlie Rich. But soon the Nashville sound became stale.

Out west Honky Tonk and Western Swing were merged by Bob Wills and Lefty Frizell to form the Bakersfield Sound. It would encompass the diversity of different styles from Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Tommy Collins and Wynn Stewart.

In other places like Lubbock, Tulsa and Austin the disappointment with the Nashville Sound and control of the record labels was causing an Outlaw movement. Inspired by the success of The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Rolling Stones in demanding creative control of their music and control of their songs, the Outlaws gravitated to Austin where Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson became the leaders.

Not only did their music change but their image as well. Gone were the clean cut, clean shaven cowboys of old and in were the long haired radical Outlaws of the future. Jessie Colter, wife of Waylon, was one of the female pioneers while Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard soon joined forces.

With The Beatles astounding success blending rock and pop music Nashville was hungry to tap into the crossover sound needed to reach the mainstream markets. Others, seeking a return to the "old values" of rock 'n roll, created a new genre called Country Rock.

The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker Band, Poco, Buffalo Springfield and Eagles exploded onto the music scene as Southern Rock and Heartland became new subgenre spin offs. Ever since there has been a tug of war between traditional country and country rock or country pop as stars like Dolly Parton, Rosanne Cash, Linda Ronstadt, Juice Newton, Alabama, Hank Williams, Jr., Brooks and Dunn, Garth Brooks, Dwight Yoakum, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and Keith Urban helped move country towards rock over the years.

By the mid 1970's Olivia Newton John and John Denver captured the Country Pop crossover market and powered their way to CMA and Grammy Awards with multi million selling hits. Soon a whole new group of country performers would take up the mantle.

George Straight, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Toby Keith, Reba McEntire, Kenny Chesney, Alison Krauss, Vince Gill and Tim McGraw among others perform the Classic Country style today while the pop crossover comes from new artists like Carrie Underwood from American Idol fame and newest sensation Taylor Swift who have breathed new life into the country music industry.

What is next? Who knows. Still, those who understand that country music is an ever-changing genre that morphs into a variety of styles depending on the needs of the people and the innovation of the artists, must feel good as a broad range of artists currently dominate the radio airwaves and rule the concert circuit.

As the major record labels collapse, the radio stations strangle on their own automated programming and the formula music once again becomes stale we know it is the time when country music always rediscovers itself. Nashville will be a lot better as a result, all country artists will benefit, the public will reap the rewards of new and innovative country music and history will once again record that the American country sound once again became relevant in a time of need and a time of truth.