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Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, and Other Good Stuff


Seasick Sailor

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Regarding upthread about Sturgill, I also like watching his ACL performances on YouTube. Plus there are some great covers I'm not sure have made his albums:

- Have to Be Crazy
- Desperado (Rihanna)
- Paradise (John Prine)

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dood and juanita has a couple really great tracks on it.  one in the saddle, one on the ground is solid.  played out is probably in my top 5 sturgill songs and definitely my top 1 sturgill song about dogs.  but yeah the rest of it lacks what i was hoping for when it was announced.

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37 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

I think the verse criticizing the obese for receiving food stamps is off the mark quite a bit but it's not a paper and yeah that song goes

I THINK he’s getting towards the idea that food stamps should be applied to healthy foods and not just a set dollar amount.

I took it as “food stamps indirectly promote obesity”, which is kind of true.  The cheapest food is the shit that makes you fat.  Eating healthy isn’t cheap in rural America.

Imagine a food stamp assistance that only provided healthy food, but did so in adequate amounts to the people who need it.

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Just now, Al_4_ISU said:

I THINK he’s getting towards the idea that food stamps should be applied to healthy foods and not just a set dollar amount.

I took it as “food stamps indirectly promote obesity”, which is kind of true.  The cheapest food is the shit that makes you fat.  Eating healthy isn’t cheap in rural America.

Imagine a food stamp assistance that only provided healthy food, but did so in adequate amounts to the people who need it.

ahh, i didn't get there but that makes a lot of sense

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1 hour ago, NOMAAA said:

unless the search function is borked, it doesnt look like there is.  maybe i will start one.  anyone else going to the dallas/austin/berkeley shows?

There’s this one:

 

the search here sucks. It’s easier to google “surly horns wilco” than it is to find anything on here. 

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On 8/11/2023 at 8:16 AM, NOMAAA said:

Awesome.

I'm seeing them at Cain's in September for maybe the 10th (?) time or so?  Can't wait. 

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Red Clay Strays showed up in my IG feed this morning.  Never heard of them before.  Lead singer channeling Stapleton. Devil in my ear seems to be a new song for them.

They have a few shows in Texas in the coming months.

I’d likely catch their show on McKinney in Sept but it’s the same night as pearl jam in ft worth.

They have a show in deep ellum in nov. I’ll likely go to that one. 

 

 

Edited by GenXer
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1 minute ago, Buzzrock said:


Joe Rogan posted it so I’m sure some people now think it sucks.

That’s no surprise. I loved the song the first time I heard it a few days ago. It has an authenticity and frustration to which people from all walks of life can relate. I also knew right away that this song would be adopted by the political tribalists on both sides and adopted as anthems for their respective “teams.”  I’ve already seen this on Twitter and took a peek at the comments on YouTube. I feel bad for the artist. It’s a good song and people couldn’t wait to ruin it by filtering through their own politics. 

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1 hour ago, Celery Man said:

I mean the song is explicitly political. If you don’t want people to filter your song through politics don’t write political songs. I’m happy for him, even if Joe Rogan posted it.

I take it as song expressing the frustration of the modern American experience, or 1970’s American experience, or 1930’s, or the robber baron era, or any era.

It’s a great song that aligns with talking points on both sides of the aisle. Brave in today’s environment.

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36 minutes ago, GenXer said:

I take it as song expressing the frustration of the modern American experience, or 1970’s American experience, or 1930’s, or the robber baron era, or any era.

It’s a great song that aligns with talking points on both sides of the aisle. Brave in today’s environment.

Yeah for sure, doesn’t fit clean on one “side” or the other, no surprise that lots of people are identifying with things from it.

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That’s no surprise. I loved the song the first time I heard it a few days ago. It has an authenticity and frustration to which people from all walks of life can relate. I also knew right away that this song would be adopted by the political tribalists on both sides and adopted as anthems for their respective “teams.”  I’ve already seen this on Twitter and took a peek at the comments on YouTube. I feel bad for the artist. It’s a good song and people couldn’t wait to ruin it by filtering through their own politics. 

Nailed it
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30 minutes ago, GenXer said:

I take it as song expressing the frustration of the modern American experience, or 1970’s American experience, or 1930’s, or the robber baron era, or any era.

It’s a great song that aligns with talking points on both sides of the aisle. Brave in today’s environment.

Exactly. My frustration is certainly not with the artist, but rather with the co-opting of a powerful song by people determined to present it as applying exclusively to their specific party or other tribalist identity. I know we’re way past it, but I wish we could use songs like this to find common ground in the human experience instead of “this is proof that our side is right & righteous and the other side is wrong evil.” I guess I just I just foolishly cling to hope that I’ll live to see more people moving towards unity instead of division. 

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It’d be cool to see people take a song like that and maybe do verses with the same sentiment from…. original artists perspective (which I think is Appalachian Virginian living somewhat off the grid), dying rust belt town perspective, “inner city” perspective, booming but unaffordable metro perspective, underemployed college grad perspective, ag perspective, rgv/border perspective, etc. Show the stupidity of the rural/urban or college/non-college divide when it should be the <not gonna go there here> divide.

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Exactly. My frustration is certainly not with the artist, but rather with the co-opting of a powerful song by people determined to present it as applying exclusively to their specific party or other tribalist identity. I know we’re way past it, but I wish we could use songs like this to find common ground in the human experience instead of “this is proof that our side is right & righteous and the other side is wrong evil.” I guess I just I just foolishly cling to hope that I’ll live to see more people moving towards unity instead of division. 

You are inside of my head on this.

I’m left of center and I’m just shaking my head at the other liberals that are mad that he wasn’t nice enough to poor fat people.
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46 minutes ago, Whitewater Horn said:

Exactly. My frustration is certainly not with the artist, but rather with the co-opting of a powerful song by people determined to present it as applying exclusively to their specific party or other tribalist identity. I know we’re way past it, but I wish we could use songs like this to find common ground in the human experience instead of “this is proof that our side is right & righteous and the other side is wrong evil.” I guess I just I just foolishly cling to hope that I’ll live to see more people moving towards unity instead of division. 

This song is what art is supposed to do. It’s making me think.

Most songs and artists that dip their toes into politics stay true to one side or the other. My worldview doesn’t align perfectly with one side or the other, and it’s changed over the years. I suspect many people have a similar experience.

This song differentiates itself by the artist’s honesty of his worldview. I suspect he knew this when writing the lyrics. A new artist introducing himself to the world knowing he could piss off literally every listener. Honest and brave.

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1 hour ago, Al_4_ISU said:


You are inside of my head on this.

I’m left of center and I’m just shaking my head at the other liberals that are mad that he wasn’t nice enough to poor fat people.

I think he gets the “fat people with food stamps” thing wrong as a “position” (as much as he takes one there) but it’s also weird from a… songwriting/cohesiveness of thought and message perspective to have a “cut welfare” verse in your populist/anti rich men from dc song. It’s, they’re taxing his dollar all to hell and giving it to the broke fatty down the road and now it’s about poor people buying the wrong groceries.

 

(edit to be clear - I'm not interested in or attempting to argue about the rightness of any kind of position on how welfare should be administered, just admitting that I do disagree but that bit bothers me for a separate reason as well)

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1 hour ago, Al_4_ISU said:


You are inside of my head on this.

I’m left of center and I’m just shaking my head at the other liberals that are mad that he wasn’t nice enough to poor fat people.

 

47 minutes ago, GenXer said:

This song is what art is supposed to do. It’s making me think.

Most songs and artists that dip their toes into politics stay true to one side or the other. My worldview doesn’t align perfectly with one side or the other, and it’s changed over the years. I suspect many people have a similar experience.

This song differentiates itself by the artist’s honesty of his worldview. I suspect he knew this when writing the lyrics. A new artist introducing himself to the world knowing he could piss off literally every listener. Honest and brave.

These replies resonate with me. It’s nice to read replies consistent with my own experience and observations in the real world confirming I’m not alone.  I’m also left of center (very much so by standards of being a white, male, veteran from Texas), but also in a state of continuously attempting to learn and evaluate the world around me. I always loved the lyric from Tom Sawyer, “no his mind is not for rent, by any god or government.”  That, along with other literature and music, has reminded me to not buy in to any single philosophy for too long. Keep thinking, keep taking to people human to human, keep looking for common ground. 
 

Despite what we see in social media and all types of online forums with people proclaiming their supposed vehement tribal affiliations, the face to face interactions I have with family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors every day tell me that most of us actually live somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. There are a lot of people talking a big game about being “all in” for their tribe, but I know who they are behind closed doors and how hypocritical or not aligned their actions are with stated values of their proclaimed allegiance. 
 

That’s a lot rambling to say that I’m glad I’m not the only person who can take the politics of this song as the artist’s own commentary, and not as a prize for someone’s stupid partisan trophy case. 

Edited by Whitewater Horn
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41 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

I think he gets the “fat people with food stamps” thing wrong as a “position” (as much as he takes one there) but it’s also weird from a… songwriting/cohesiveness of thought and message perspective to have a “cut welfare” verse in your populist/anti rich men from dc song. It’s, they’re taxing his dollar all to hell and giving it to the broke fatty down the road and now it’s about poor people buying the wrong groceries.

 

(edit to be clear - I'm not interested in or attempting to argue about the rightness of any kind of position on how welfare should be administered, just admitting that I do disagree but that bit bothers me for a separate reason as well)

I thought it was a weird segue too, and I don’t agree with him, but I’ve seen people on social media losing their shit over it.  No one in here is modeling that behavior FWIW

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46 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

I think he gets the “fat people with food stamps” thing wrong as a “position” (as much as he takes one there) but it’s also weird from a… songwriting/cohesiveness of thought and message perspective to have a “cut welfare” verse in your populist/anti rich men from dc song. It’s, they’re taxing his dollar all to hell and giving it to the broke fatty down the road and now it’s about poor people buying the wrong groceries.

Yeah, that definitely sticks out like a sore thumb. I enjoy that it’s not in total alignment with my own opinions and values. I don’t have to be in complete agreement with someone to appreciate what they’re trying to convey, especially when it’s music, literature, or standup comedy. I want to be challenged and question my own bullshit often. It’s that kind of awkwardness and lack lyrical polish that keeps it in the realm of a good song and not a great song. The performance is earnest and the messages are relatable. 

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This dude had his first show since exploding. 
 

 

1 hour ago, Celery Man said:

I think he gets the “fat people with food stamps” thing wrong as a “position” (as much as he takes one there) but it’s also weird from a… songwriting/cohesiveness of thought and message perspective to have a “cut welfare” verse in your populist/anti rich men from dc song. It’s, they’re taxing his dollar all to hell and giving it to the broke fatty down the road and now it’s about poor people buying the wrong groceries.

I don’t think it’s confusing. He’s definitely saying, I bust my ass, pay my taxes, and some fat, lazy fuckers take advantage. I guess that’s his perspective/experience. 

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On 8/11/2023 at 6:20 AM, NOMAAA said:

unless the search function is borked, it doesnt look like there is.  maybe i will start one.  anyone else going to the dallas/austin/berkeley shows?

Grab tickets for the Wilco show in Auston a few months ago.

 

and then a few weeks later for Brent Cobb at the Parish without realizing it was on the same night.

dilemma.

really wish I could make both 

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Finally saw some of the Oliver Anthony discourse on social media and got thrown on a Bottle Rockets stroll

 

 

I’m so curious what the thought process was with this song - let’s see if we can do 5 second verses and play the chorus 8 times in the first 90 seconds. I like the song, it’s just so fast to throw out the chorus 

 

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