We got pickup trucks, chicken clucks
Happy even when we’re down on our luck
We got fatback
That’s a fact
If you don’t know
That’s a country rap
—“Country Rap,” by
David Bellamy
Back in 1986, when the Bellamy
Brothers recited those lyrics to a chicken-pickin’ instrumental track,
the concept of a country act rapping was pretty funny. What could be
more incongruous than turning such an honest, genuine,
straight-from-the-heart art form into the most despicable affront to
popular music since disco? Hell, at least disco had a melody and
performing it actually required a little musical talent.
Today, just when we thought the hot
country train couldn’t drag us any lower than the phony
commercialization of Rascal Flatts, the dismal vocalizing of Kenny
Chesney or the vapid adolescent poetry of Taylor Swift, here comes Big & Rich
to the New York State Fair Grandstand, on Friday, Sept. 4. (Tickets are
$30 and $35.) They’re more hip-hop than country with a hip-swiveling
guy in a big hat, known as Cowboy Troy, as their main
conspirator. What they try to pass off as clever, hip and creative is
actually a desperate attempt to make a splash by being different
because they don’t have the talent to excel at singing and playing.
Expect this show to be the low point in a dismal State Fair for country
fans.
Candy Coburn, Big & Rich’s
opening act, deserves cheers for more than music because of her
dedication to the battle against breast cancer, brought to life in the
inspirational song, “Pink Warrior.”
The only other “country” grandstand show is Kenny Chesney’s
fifth appearance on that stage, on Friday, Aug. 28 (tickets run $55 and
$65), and he’s really not getting any better. Predictably enough,
shameless radio stations play his soulless starter country to death and
the Country Music Association jumped in to surrender all credibility
their awards had left by naming this second-rate singer Entertainer of
the Year four times. His organization will likely prove again this year
that they’re totally lacking in class and professionalism by refusing a
photo pass to the Syracuse New Times, presumably because Kenny’s previous reviews on our pages have been consistently and deservingly negative.
While we’re willing to cut the new
State Fair concert promoter Triangle Talent some slack, they should
make it a priority to give country fans some better choices next year,
acts like Craig Morgan, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Sugarland,
Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson or the return after several years of Alan
Jackson. Or how about showing some real integrity by defying the
blacklist and booking the Dixie Chicks, a great act that has never
played here. After all, back in November, America showed we had finally
decided that the Chicks’ doubts about Bush were well founded.
Que Sara: Darius Rucker and Sara Evans
(below) will be among this year’s country acts at the State Fair.
It’s worth noting that George Strait,
the current king of the cowboys, has never played the Geddes
playground, indeed has never played Syracuse. Hard to believe,
impossible to accept, but true. Although he may be tough to fit at the
New York State Fair due to his asking price and his preference for
daylong, big-venue festivals, what a coup it would be.
Those attending Chesney’s show should arrive early to catch young Jake Owen,
a soulful throwback singer who has shown real promise with songs such
as “Don’t Think I Can’t Love You” and “Startin’ With Me.”
Meanwhile, Chevrolet Court will host at least one genuine country singer, the dynamic Sara Evans,
who plays Thursday, Aug. 27, 8 p.m. Although she’s hardly a traditional
holdover, Evans employs her explosive voice on songs that often can be
described by the title of her first CD: Three Chords and the Truth. Earlier that same day at Chevy Court, young Chuck Wicks,
best known for the sugary “Stealing Cinderella,” seeks to establish
himself among the flood of pretty boys on hot country radio. He goes on
at 2 p.m.
The first country CD for former Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker,
who plays Chevy Court on Sunday, Aug. 30, 8 p.m., was both commercially
successful and credible in terms of poignant songs and sincerity of
delivery. Although his Capitol disc Learn To Live leans toward pop, it surpasses a lot of today’s country with introspective, intelligent lyrics.
Another young country singer, honky-tonk kid Eric Church,
is persistent in trying to get his hardy voice and spirited style
noticed, the latest attempt being the single “Love Your Love,” a
catchy, if derivative, track. He’s at the courtyard stage on Friday,
Sept. 4, 2 p.m.
Speaking of catchy, country’s very own Barry Manilow, Lee Greenwood,
will check into Chevy Court for a 2 p.m. show on Thursday, Sept. 3. The
former Las Vegas lounge act and composer of commercial jingles has been
more recently celebrated as the flag-waving crooner of “God Bless the
USA.”
The token country veteran act is the Oak Ridge Boys,
a harmonizing foursome that dates back to its gospel roots in the early
1970s. Also due at Chevy Court on Thursday, Sept. 3, 8 p.m., the
quartet from Tennessee has always been a little too Vegas to be really
country. But they surely know how to put on a show that takes full
advantage of their lengthy list of hits, among them, “American Made,”
“Love Song” and the quirky “Elvira.” Oom-pa-pa-mow-mow!
