Just two dudes out her trying to bring about the resurgence of traditional country music, and God bless ’em for it.
With the release of his debut studio album Cold Beer & Country Music, Zach Top has quickly become a household name in the country music industry, selling out some big venues. And he’s done it all without snap tracks, drum beats and the latest pop and hip hop influences, . He’s done it by harkening back to the sound of Keith Whitley and Alan Jackson… fiddle, steel guitar, real deal country music.
And what’s more, he’s doing it in the mainstream. Even at the peak of bro country, boyfriend country, and every other season of terrible pop influenced “country music,” good country music has always been available, you just had to do a little extra work to find it because you weren’t gonna hear it on the radio.
Jake Worthington is another one keeping the traditional country sound alive, and once again, more or less doing it in the mainstream. Signed to Big Loud, the same Nashville music label that has brought us acts like Morgan Wallen, Ernest, and Hardy, Jake is doing it the right way, continuing to help swing the pendulum back towards true country music.
So naturally when bring these two together, and you’re gonna get a little country music gold. And that’s exactly what fans at the Ryman Auditorium got the other night when the pair teamed up for a duet of “Murder On Music Row.”
“Murder On Music Row” was originally written by Larry Cordle and Larry Shell in 1999, and recorded by Larry’s bluegrass band Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, as the title track from their album of the same name. But when George Strait and Alan Jackson got a hold of it, it became a hit… especially among fans of more traditional country music who were upset at the direction of the industry. George and Alan performed it at the 1999 CMA Awards, as a bit of a middle finger to the industry at the time, and then the pair recorded the tune for Strait’s 2000 Latest Greatest Straitest Hits album. It went on to win Song of the Year at the CMA Awards the following year. Pretty ironic, eh?
During his headlining set at the Ryman last week, Zach took the opportunity to address the audience, just to make it clear that he was sending a message with the song selection. And he didn’t pull any punches:
“What they label country music ain’t always what is my favorite country music, and that’s ok. I ain’t pointing no fingers at anybody, but Nashville in general has a real good knack for ruining country music, the way country music is supposed to be. And so we’re gonna sing a little song about that… we got the twin fiddles here, we got the steel guitar, just everything you need to make Nashville’s skin crawl.”
Damn… and you can imagine how many Music Row executives and industry folks were probably in the audience as he was tearing into it. And Zach has such a nice aura about him that a tongue lashing like that doesn’t even sound mean-spirited, but damn if that wasn’t a pretty savage move right there in country music’s own town. It certainly felt like a shot over the bow… and I ain’t mad at it.
