There’s Steve Earle and Willie Nelson, who are pretty tied into liberal politics. Are there any other mainstream country acts who openly espouse “liberal values.”
The thread in GD about the Dixie Chicks got me wondering about this. My theory is that the reason they were lambasted the way they were is because they were part of a genre that openly and jingoistically panders to conservative “values,” and when they spoke out against Bush, their fans took as a repudiation of those values. As I recall there were quite a few rock artists who spoke out against the war and Bush early on, but didn’t receive anywhere near the backlash the Dixie Chicks did.
My theory is that most country music fans are conservative. There, I said basically the same thing you did without insulting country music or its fans.
I wasn’t insulting anyone. I’m a country music fan myself, but I listen mostly to the old school outlaw stuff like George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, etc. I couldn’t care less about their personal politics. For all I know they could all have been Rush Limbaugh-style conservatives, but if they were they were never really in your face about it.
What I was saying was that a lot of country fans took the Dixie Chicks fracas awfully personally.
Might wanna re-read your post.
"part of a genre that openly and jingoistically panders to conservative “values,”
Look at what you wrote - “jingoistically panders”…and then “values” in quotes as if “conservative” and “value” are somehow mutually exclusive.
Make a note: if the singers/songwriters genuinely hold those views, it’s not pandering…pandering would be Willie Nelson writing and singing a song aimed specifically at the flag-waving crowd, with the express purpose of making money.
On another note, I find your patronizing tone and smug deprecation of both conservatives and country musicians to be shallow and not particularly becoming of a poster on the Dope. Are you new, or something?
If that was your intent, then your opening post should have stated such, without all of the negative filigree around it. Instead, your subsequent posts smack of the same tone as, “hey, I have lots of black friends!” that many folks use when accused of making a racist comment.
Dolly Parton is liberal in some areas. People were saying she was gay and she said “I’m not gay, but what does it matter if I am?” Also when she hosted SNL she only had 1 request - no skits making fun of Jesus, she was OK with anything else.
K.D. Lang is an open lesbian, vegetarian and animal-rights activist; but, being Canadian, I guess she doesn’t really count.
Yes, he was, despite your cherry-picking attempt to prove otherwise. Hell, even Neil fucking Young wrote a combatively worded song after 9-11, but I don’t see anyone calling rock music jingoistic.
I believe that Toby Kieth is a registered Democrat, though one from the Texas/Oklahoma strain of the party.
I raise you Hank Williams Jr.'s jersey-clad ode to the “McCain-Palin tradition”.
Hell, if I keep piecemealing examples, and I’m not going to run short anytime soon, we’ll get this thread up to a thousand posts.
And supporting McCain is jingoistic in your very humble opinion?
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are both Democrats, how liberal they are I don’t know. I’ve read somewhere that Pam Tillis is a politically active liberal. Ralph Stanley supported John Edwards in the last presidential race, and when he bowed out, Stanley threw his support to Obama. Kris Kristofferson has shown support for left wing causes.
I listen to country music at times but not enough to know many of the artists but there is a segment of social awareness/fight injustice/protest type of songs. Similar to much of the folk music of the 60’s.
Yeah. He’s A-Okay with ridiculously long-term military occupation of sovereign nations.
John Prine is a country singer? I’d call that folk, myself, although it’s a fuzzy line, to be sure.
I suspect that whichever member of Diamond Rio wrote “The Box” is liberal, at least in some sense of the word.
As opposed to Obama who…oh, wait. :rolleyes:
Kinky Friedman