Ed March 13--A trip to the country

I took a little break from "lost in the 50's with Miles and Bird" to listen to a 2002 Buddy Miller album I'd not heard, Midnight and Lonesome.

I was raised on country music and spent some of my formative years playing with Ernie Gardner and the Country 4 at the Shirley VFW. I still like it on occasion. But I just can't tolerate the stuff Nashville's putting out now, which is just so...well...manufactured. Oh, I understand the market dynamics of mass production for mass consumption--god knows, it's what pays my mortgage. And most of the stuff hitting the country charts is craftfully produced by phenomenonally talented people. But I can't handle it. Maybe it's a generational thing. Maybe those in the previous generation were declaring similarly, "Merle Haggard, he's just a cheap, drugstore knockoff Lefty Frisell."

Buddy Miller, he's different. Real handmade country. Damned fine guitarist, (even if he's not as fast and slick as Brent Mason). He plays exactly the right stuff; like nobody else. Good singer. Good songwriter. Good producer. I don't get tired of listening to him.
Listen to some Buddy Miller if you any kind of tolerance for country and haven't heard him.

Speaking of country, Bill from AR Rec. & CD Exch. pointed me to the blog of of friend of his, Red Neckerson. If you enjoy old country and rockabilly, this is a great blog. He's using a free file sharing service that also might be worth a look. Hit some of the song links.

BTW, keep on reading here. Our buddies AG, and Bluefootball have first-here posts with some stuff worth checking out.