For Country
Learning to enjoy a new genre in spite of myself
Last week, I listened to an episode of “The Town” podcast where the host recalled a conversation with a Hollywood agent at an Emmy afterparty. The agent had watched the Emmys In Memoriam segment and had no idea who Jelly Roll was. The anecdote was delivered as part of a general bashing of the Emmys broadcast. But there was also an undertone of, “How did this fat hick get into our coastal media elite circle jerk?”
I do know who Jelly Roll is. It’s not just because I don’t live under a rock or because I love Uber Eats commercials. It’s because for the past three or four years, I’ve been listening to a good amount of country music.
I’m not sure how a genre I’d never paid much attention entered my consciousness so emphatically. While I grew up aware of mainstream country artists like Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, and Garth Brooks, I couldn’t name a single song by any of them outside of “Friends In Low Places,” which I knew primarily from karaoke.
My current arrival at an appreciation of country music probably starts with my relationship to the bluegrass roots of the Grateful Dead. From there it meanders through the Southern rock sensibilities of the Allman Brothers before dropping me off in modern day Nashville.
Whatever the reason, I am now well acquainted with the various Lukes (Combs, Bryan) and Zac/Zachs (Brown, Bryan—no relation to the Luke with the same last name, which it took me a while to figure out) that make up the pop country landscape.
To be clear, the country music I am referring to is definitely the pop variety. I’m talking about Big Nashville Machine country, where the most successful tracks move up the IHeartRadio food chain from the country stations to the pop stations. Once I started listening to country. I was surprised at how many of the songs I heard on Z100—the major pop radio station in NYC—I had already heard months previously on country stations.
This music can be cheesy, overly sentimental, and formulaic. In spite of all that, I can’t get the songs out of my head (they’re the earwormiest earworms) or stop getting chills when I hear certain lyrics. My critical, cool-guy mind wants to hate on it, but my subconscious can’t get enough.
I think that is because country music does a good job of tapping into the basics of human existence, and as such, is able to effectively speak to some universal truths that are very relatable regardless of our individual circumstances.
As the chorus to “Same Boat,” by Zac Brown Band goes:
We're all in the same boat
Fishing in the same hole
Wondering where the same time goes
And money, too
Could I poke multiple holes in that idea? Probably. Does it ring true as I try to balance work, family, and a dozen other things? Definitely.
Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks
I have been in a reading rut this year and badly needed to get out of it. This collection of short stories about some of the worst, yet most captivating people did it for me. I’m free and clear, an impassioned reader once again. Not sure if I’ve ever read anyone as good at investigative longform as Patty Radden Keefe. I can’t wait to read his 2018 book (apparently a banger too) as soon it becomes available for me in Libby.
—Andrew
Strands
My daughter recently put me on to The New York Times’ game Strands. For some reason, it’s not one of the games listed on the Games tab in the Times app, so I’ve just been playing the web version. (I haven’t downloaded the standalone Games app because I feel that’s purely for enjoyment, whereas playing games in the Times app is merely a brief respite from more important intellectual pursuits. I know this is just a weird self-justifying lie I tell myself, but oh well.) Anyway, Strands is another one of those games that’s fun and makes you feel smart so play it.
—Justin
Blackbird Tilde Incense Cones
I tasted these delicious, woody, and peppery incense cones last week at a Kindred in Woodstock. They pair incredibly well with stuffed animal heads on the wall and Roberta Flack on the record player. Now, we will see how they pair with Lichen furniture and NTS Radio in Brooklyn. I also later realized that the great menswear store Meridian in Hudson also stocks these tasty cones, and I quite liked them when I sniffed them there a few months ago. I’m a simple man! I only want about $6M so I can have this house and all the incense I desire.
—Andrew