Sturgill!

Glyph

Glyph is worse than some and better than others. He believes that life is just one damned thing after another, that only pop music can save us now, and that mercy is the mark of a great man (but he's just all right). Nothing he writes here should be taken as an indication that he knows anything about anything.

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32 Responses

  1. Will Truman says:

    I could have sworn that I responded! Sorry, man. I’ll get on that.Report

  2. KatherineMW says:

    Speaking of modern country music, allow me to present: “The Truck Got Stuck”, a Canadian classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDY6bWT5oTMReport

  3. Chris says:


    View on YouTube


    View on YouTube


    View on YouTube

    Simpson has a song called “Turtles All the Way Down,” which means his music will find life on the internet forever.

    I imagine most good country these days gets called either “alt-country” or “indie folk” in order to distance itself from Nashville country, which is basically top 40 with a twang.Report

    • Glyph in reply to Chris says:

      Thanks for the tracks, will play them as soon as this meeting ends.

      In that KEXP one especially, the music is a real throwback, and Simpson talks about how he lives in Nashville but isn’t part of the scene there at all, spend a lot of time on the road instead I guess. He does correctly note that there are a lot of good restaurants there.

      He plays “Turtles All The Way Down” on the NPR one. It’s apparently about (or inspired by) DMT.Report

      • Chris in reply to Glyph says:

        One of the things that I’ve always thought was a shame about Nashville is how many wasted world class musicians there are. Now, they’re making real money, so good for them, but it’d be nice for us if they were making real music too.

        Simpson is definitely a throwback. Sounds like country from the outlaw era. He plays, or at least used to play, in Austin often enough. I suppose he fits in with the alt-country scene here better than the Nashville Country scene.

        And now I want some Loveless and some hot chicken, damn it.Report

      • Glyph in reply to Glyph says:

        His first album is definitely sort of “outlaw” classic/hard country. Not just the instrumentation but his singing style/vocals.

        The new one is, for lack of a better word, kinda psychedelic for a country record (its title, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, riffs on Ray Charles’ Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music).Report

      • Chris in reply to Glyph says:

        Modern Sounds In Country & Western Music… i.e., in both kinds.Report

      • aaron david in reply to Glyph says:

        @chris
        Loveless?

        You need to go to Noshville! (I refuse to wait in line for Loveless)Report

      • Mike Dwyer in reply to Glyph says:

        ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ does reference DMT but the name of the song is from a quote by Stephen Hawking:

        “A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: “What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.” The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, “What is the tortoise standing on?” “You’re very clever, young man, very clever,” said the old lady. “But it’s turtles all the way down!”

        If you like Sturgill I would encourage you to listen to his appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast. It’s at least 2 hours long and very interesting. We tried to get tickets to see him here in Louisville at the end of the month but it sold out quickly. Happy that a fellow KY boy is doing well.Report

      • Chris in reply to Glyph says:

        Aaron, I should probably know this, but are you in or around Nashvegas?Report

      • aaron david in reply to Glyph says:

        @chris
        My inlaws live in McNairy county, but we usually stay in Nashville for a bit when we visit. We live in the SF bay area. And there is a good used book store right in that neighbor hood.Report

      • Chris in reply to Glyph says:

        McKays?

        My parents are in Franklin.Report

      • aaron david in reply to Glyph says:

        Bookman Bookwoman. McKays is OK, just a little to maintream for me. I think we swung threw Franklin one time.Report

      • Chris in reply to Glyph says:

        I love McKay for a couple reasons: 1.) I can often get out of there with a dozen books that I want to read for under $15, and 2.) I actually have a pretty significant credit there because I sold a bunch of books a few years ago, but can only by so many at a time because I have to bring them back in a suitcase.Report

    • Chris in reply to Chris says:

      Oh, and after Oh Brother Where Art Thou?, “roots music” became a bit of a fad, and there was some good stuff that came out — old country, ol’ timey music, roots blues — and that seems to have mostly gone back under whatever rock it usually hides beneath. Which is a shame, because I really enjoyed a lot of that stuff. I’m sure someone here knows what’s still goin’ on with all that, though.Report

  4. Notme says:

    From the picture i thought this thread was about a homeless guy.Report

  5. Mike Dwyer says:

    I’m a huge country music fan from way back and while there is a lot of stuff I like out there right now, the ‘bro country’ stuff is getting old. For me the guy that is killing it right now remains Zac Brown. He has a bluegrass attitude towards music and also an openness to taking elements from a lot of other genres. We’ve seen him twice now in concert and I found both shows to be awesome.

    Also, check out Delta Rae.Report

  6. Badtux says:

    Oh my, there is so much good country and country-influenced singer-songwriter music out there that you can’t swing a bat without hitting some of it. You won’t find it on the radio. But you won’t find *anything* worth listening to on the radio anyhow, so… here’s some folks I’ve listened to lately.

    Lera Lynn. She sounds like a love child of Loretta Lynn (to whom she is *not* related) and Emmylou Harris. http://youtu.be/kBIQlpv1N-w

    Turnpike Troubadours — bluegrass-influenced country. http://youtu.be/uTYq66Tx1GY

    Darrell Scott — a Nashville legend, but as a session musician or songwriter on other people’s albums. He does his own songs as well. http://youtu.be/svS6MwQ5mBY

    Chris Knight — bleak country music from a guy from the West Virginia coal mine country. http://youtu.be/0U2Px5OR0eA

    Slaid Cleaves — more of an Austin sound, but very country. http://youtu.be/bGoE9SGyC48

    Shovels & Rope — http://youtu.be/8nElVTkXmLo

    Justin Townes Earle. Sounds like his daddy Steve and Townes van Zandt had a kid. http://youtu.be/NErNFPSxU4c

    James McMurtry. http://youtu.be/jY5HFFH2Z50

    I’d go on, but this should get you started on some new country…Report