Why Can’t Texas Music Save America?

Yesterday, August 13, Oliver performed for a huge crowd on 25 acres at the Morris Farm Market in Maple, North Carolina. He opened the concert up reading from Psalms 37.

“The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming,” he quoted the Bible to the large audience.

The entire concert was broadcasted on Rumble. He started his set with “Rich Men” to an audience riled up. He had company, too. At the middle of his hour-long set, country star Jamey Johnson appeared on stage with him. Oliver started singing Johnson’s signature hit, “In Color.” With sweat pouring through both of their T-shirts, Johnson joined Oliver singing the Johnson hit (23:30 in the Rumble video).

“It is hotter than a fresh fried fish sandwich out here, I’ll tell you what,” Oliver said when finished.

“Rich Men” is an anthem for the working man for this decade with a subtle nod to the north-south divide. How else would a southern gentleman describe bureaucrats in D.C. than to point out they all live north of the former capitol of the Confederacy? It is bigger than that, though. The north-south divide has morphed into a metaphor for the haves versus the have-nots. The have-nots can live everywhere in America and particularly in rural areas between California to New York. The south no longer an exclusive habitat for the poor working class.

The wonder is why didn’t a Texas Country music artist come up with the idea first? I know I tried, pitching the idea to songwriters like Josh Grider as far back as 2014. The problems Oliver sings about didn’t start with President Joe Biden’s administration. Even back during the heights of the Obama era, Grider demurred. Steeped in the influences of woke Austin along the I-35 corridor, like many Texas artists are, he just didn’t see the opportunity, I suppose. Besides Grider, I have pitched the song to countless Texas Country singers and songwriters to no avail. I was going to pitch the idea to Kaitlin Butts. She was too busy celebrating the life of a transgender woman in an Ardmore, Oklahoma cafe. The song “What Else Can She Do?”, an overt attack on traditional country values, remains pinned to her Twitter profile to this day.

San Angelo crooner Case Hardin considered the idea but wanted to hold a songwriting session first. That no Texas Country artist saw opportunity in relating to the working man’s problems is a sign of good economic times in Texas — at least the economic opportunity is better in Texas than the plight of workers just outside the orbit of the Rich Men North of Richmond. And this may be a reason why Texas Country music, that at one time was approaching mass appeal, has been lagging lately, or supplanted by grunge and rap music. For an example, hear Giovannie and the Hired Guns. This is basically a hard rock band that could be confused with any band in the Seattle music scene circa 1992 than touring the Texas Country music circuit today while “half drunk with a lit cigarette,” as the lyrics to their latest hit "Ramon Ayala" state.

American Aquarium, a transplant from North Carolina touring the Texas circuit, offered hope until lead singer and songwriter BJ Barnum decided to write and publish a song condemning his audience to hell for voting for Trump. Yet, Aquarium received its just reward for this, a debut in Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium a year ago. Watch and listen to Barnum's “The World is on Fire” below.  Maybe Barnum can save Nashville now.

Koe Wetzel showed promise but his songs are too self-absorbed. After all, Wetzel’s top hit, “February 28, 2016,” is about himself passing out drunk and high and waking up on the Erath County Jail. “Who is sober enough to take me to Taco Bell?” Wetzel whines in his song.

Transgender waitresses in Ardmore and drunk driving to Taco Bell while smoking a half-lit cigarette are signs that Texas Country music has turned into a hot mess of existentialism. Meanwhile, this guy from west of Richmond, Virginia reads The Psalms and points out the true reasons this country is headed in the wrong direction. He has our attention. Oliver Anthony needs to come to Texas. Maybe he can save Texas Music. God knows Kaitlen Butts, Giovannie, Wetzel and American Aquarium are failing.

Lyrics

Rich Men North of Richmond
By Oliver Anthony

I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day
Overtime hours for bullsh-t pay
So I can sit out here and waste my life away
Drag back home and drown my troubles away

It’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to
For people like me and people like you
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true
But it is, oh, it is

Livin’ in the new world
With an old soul
These rich men north of Richmond
Lord knows they all just wanna have total control
Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do
And they don’t think you know, but I know that you do
‘Cause your dollar ain’t sh-t and it’s taxed to no end ‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond

I wish politicians would look out for miners
And not just minors on an island somewhere
Lord, we got folks in the street, ain’t got nothin’ to eat
And the obese milkin’ welfare

Well, God, if you’re 5-foot-3 and you’re 300 pounds
Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of fudge rounds
Young men are puttin’ themselves six feet in the ground
‘Cause all this damn country does is keep on kickin’ them down

Lord, it’s a damn shame what the world’s gotten to
For people like me and people like you
Wish I could just wake up and it not be true
But it is, oh, it is

Livin’ in the new world
With an old soul
These rich men north of Richmond
Lord knows they all just wanna have total control
Wanna know what you think, wanna know what you do
And they don’t think you know, but I know that you do
‘Cause your dollar ain’t sh-t and it’s taxed to no end
‘Cause of rich men north of Richmond

I’ve been sellin’ my soul, workin’ all day
Overtime hours for bullshit pay