country music in need of a revival? - or genre clarity?

[2lane]

Lyrics... storytelling... seems what'd be appealing to long-haulers.
Bet most of them have some wild stories to tell of their own; mostly beginning sorta like:
"Y'aint gonna believe this, but.... there was this one time..."

I was one for 19 years. It's a rough and lonely life. If we had the same classes as they do in India, truck drivers would be in the "untouchables" class, not so much from the general public, but from the viewpoint of the "shippers" and "receivers". There are exceptions, I had a dedicated run for a year going from the caves in Independence, MO to Maine, and because I worked with the same people they get to know you and treat you great.

When I would hear that song "America" by Waylon Jennings, "...Well I come from, down around Tennesee
But the people in California
Are nice to me, Amer-ica
It don't matter where I may roam
Tell you people that it's home sweet home
America, Amer-ica "
I would get a strange feeling, because it didn't ring true at all from my driver's perspective.

Before 911, on a Sunday morning in Oklahoma City walking over to the Waffle House for breakfast, I was passing by a white BMW 8 or 9 series, it was a nice car and I complemented them on it, I'd never before seen a series higher than a 7 series. The two young Arab men asked me directions to Tinker AFB, they were going to attend a seminar that afternoon about flying jet planes, they were going to become pilots. I didn't even remember the incident until I came through some time after 911 and picked up a local newspaper in OK City and read a column that some of the terrorists had went to a nearby flight school in Norman. I don't know if they were terrorists, but the point is, I was treated better by them and had a nice half hour conversation, than by most of the people I had to deal with across the country.

So for me, lol, I don't see a future in writing songs about my experiences in that profession per se! And I dang sure don't want to hear no truckin' song,lol, songs at that time were an escape for me.

Crazy story Len!!
Truckers are cool, my Dad was one for many years. My only memories are of when I was 8 or so, and he used to take me on short hauls, and I loved bouncing in the seat when he hit bumps in the road.....hit that one Dad!!

[Len911]

If the current artists are "charlatans", it's because the paying audience wants charlatans. Most artists on mainstream radio has been screened, signed and delivered by major label A&R. I think mainstream means that they are not the least offensive to anyone, maybe except for a select group of traditional fans that expects more from music. But that group are left behind the moment they stopped buying CD's, which many does sometime during their 40ies and 50ies, if they aren't involved in music. Maybe people stop listening to new music after they have had their formative years. But either way, its the paying audience who gets what they want. If you don't pay you get nothing. I think both is what's happening today. What comes out of the wallet is a lot more credible to the record companies than what comes from people's mouths. It's a business, and they just know more about who lays it on the table.

I'm not sure what sales statistics actually reveal. Do people purchase more chicken because it's more available to their budget, were they told chicken was healthier than beef, or because they've never tasted lobster??

Mainstream/least offensive might have more to do with the manufactured consent, propaganda, than truth.

Why do people quit buying music in their 40's and fifties? Maybe it's like toys, there's usually a recommended age range on most of them except for autos, boats, and firearms,lol, okay, and some say 12-Adult, maybe that's what mainstream music is, 12-Adult!

A couple years ago Leonard Cohen was one of, if not the highest grossing tour. (Democracy is Comin', to the U.S.A.)
Maybe there's more of a hunger for adult themed, or even nerdy teenage music, than is imagined? It might be an uphill battle though, if it doesn't conform to the propaganda. I mean suggesting that the U.S.A. isn't democratic is blasphemous to the propaganda and what the powers that be have told us. Politics and religion are taboo topics to question, not just here on the forum but in the mainstream as well, hope I don't get booted If I do, it's Leonard Cohen's fault

[Len911]

Crazy story Len!!
Truckers are cool, my Dad was one for many years. My only memories are of when I was 8 or so, and he used to take me on short hauls, and I loved bouncing in the seat when he hit bumps in the road.....hit that one Dad!!

I have nothing but the highest respect for drivers, at the same time I am so glad I am not one anymore. But I suppose I could say that about every job, profession or career I've ever had!

[jonnybutter]

I'd say driving is one of the toughest jobs in the US. It's certainly one of the most dangerous. God bless em

[funsongs]

I'd say driving is one of the toughest jobs in the US. It's certainly one of the most dangerous. God bless em

Yep... totally agree.
When I was a kid, I thought I'd be drivin' a big ol' Mac truck when I grew up. 'Liked that little bulldog on the hood. Of course, a Peterbilt woulda made the most sense.
During cross-country road trips with a 7-member family in a station-wagon, we'd make a game outta seeing who could get the most drivers to sound their air-horns.

Was probably a whole lot better career 30+ years ago than today, especially around the metropolitan areas... eesshh.

Props to the folks that do that in these times. Big respect there.
Cheers.
Peter

[Len911]

So sad, I just learned on the news of the Wal-Mart truck and celebrity van crash on the NJ turnpike.

I don't know how it is today, better or worse, and maybe I always had more anxiety while driving than most, but one of my biggest anxieties was finding a proper and secure place to park when it was time to sleep. As usual, the press is going to question regulations, driver's driving sleepy because they are greedy, ...

The logbooks were always a major obstacle imo, they never took into account the real world. It's really rare that logbooks are "correct". If the log books say you only have 2 hours to work that day, and you are fully rested, and home is 3 hours away, you're not going to drive 1 hour from home, park (if there is a place), and wait until midnight when you get new hours back to drive home, where having been up all day, you for sure are now tired, and being 1am, if you park at a local truck stop, good luck finding a parking place at that time of the night. Of course not, you're gonna drive home, park, and log it like you started at midnight and arrived at 1am, take your time off, and let your log book catch up.

There just aren't enough legal places to park, that's the number 1 problem. If it weren't for driver's parking illegally, ramps, parking lots... the problem would have been much worse.

[funsongs]

Jeepers... how'd we go from Country music to trucker stories?!
Oh... wait: that's not a stretch whatsoever.
Keep on truckin', y'all.
... and... turn it up!!

[funsongs]

Almost time for some more lyrical attempts...?
(to the tune of "Take It Easy" - a parody? "It Got Cheesy")

V) Well, I'm truckin' down the road... just haulin' a load
Got a country station tuned in fine
Much of it just bugs me... guitars are loud and fuzzy
What happened to "here's Patsy Cline"?

C) It got chee - zay... it got slea - ee - eezay...
The sound of this new stuff drives me craze - zay...
Make it right, while you still can... don't leave out the fiddlin', Man!
Put back in place the steel-guitar man...
Don't leave it "chee - zay"!!...

[2lane]

So sad, I just learned on the news of the Wal-Mart truck and celebrity van crash on the NJ turnpike.

I don't know how it is today, better or worse, and maybe I always had more anxiety while driving than most, but one of my biggest anxieties was finding a proper and secure place to park when it was time to sleep. As usual, the press is going to question regulations, driver's driving sleepy because they are greedy, ...

The logbooks were always a major obstacle imo, they never took into account the real world. It's really rare that logbooks are "correct". If the log books say you only have 2 hours to work that day, and you are fully rested, and home is 3 hours away, you're not going to drive 1 hour from home, park (if there is a place), and wait until midnight when you get new hours back to drive home, where having been up all day, you for sure are now tired, and being 1am, if you park at a local truck stop, good luck finding a parking place at that time of the night. Of course not, you're gonna drive home, park, and log it like you started at midnight and arrived at 1am, take your time off, and let your log book catch up.

There just aren't enough legal places to park, that's the number 1 problem. If it weren't for driver's parking illegally, ramps, parking lots... the problem would have been much worse.

They say the driver of the truck hadn't slept in over 24 hours? I didn't think that could even happen today. The trucker I talked to told me they keep him on a pretty tight leash as far as logs.....would figure it even worse these days.
Sad that he's gonna have to live with this for the rest of his life, and was just trying to make a living. They say he's charged with the accident, poor guy!!
No good in any of it.

[Len911]

They say the driver of the truck hadn't slept in over 24 hours? I didn't think that could even happen today. The trucker I talked to told me they keep him on a pretty tight leash as far as logs.....would figure it even worse these days.
Sad that he's gonna have to live with this for the rest of his life, and was just trying to make a living. They say he's charged with the accident, poor guy!!
No good in any of it.

Yes, the two companies I was employed by and leased to also were very strict on logs. In other words, they wouldn't accept logs that weren't in compliance with the regulations, so if you are in traffic actually doing 25mph at rush hour, you don't log it that way, you log it at the speed limit which might be 55mph. If you logged all the time you spend in traffic, and waiting to get loaded and unloaded, you would drive very little, not have the hours to run. That eventually will create a problem with your dispatch and terminal manager, because you don't have any hours to run and meet a minimal standard of miles for the month.

Let's quit this trucking talk, I'm getting depressed already,lol, for sure, nothing is as it seems!