Country music is hot right now – arguably hotter (and hipper) than it’s ever been, especially among rock fans. The death of Johnny Cash almost three years ago and the massive success of the biopic Walk The Line is certainly one factor in the growing interest in all things country.
In fact, Cash’s legend shows know signs of waning. His fifth Rick Rubin-produced album, A Hundred Highways: American V has just been released to rave reviews and looks like being one of the albums of the year.
Everywhere you look these days, there are rock 'n' rollers turning their sights towards country – whether it’s Van Morrison recording a pure country album (Pay The Devil) or Jack White co-producing and duetting with country legend Loretta Lynn on the superb Grammy winning Van Lear Rose.
Meanwhile, another important figure in country music – the late great Gram Parsons – continues to hold sway over new generations of musicians and fans, particularly in the alt. country/Americana scene. Parsons’ recently released box set The Complete Reprise Sessions is an essential purchase for anyone interested in the synthesis of rock and country.
Cinema too has played a large part in popularising country in recent years. The traditional/bluegrass end of the spectrum received a huge boost with the success of the soundtrack of O Brother, Where Art Thou? a few years back, while more recently Brokeback Mountain, with its country-oriented soundtrack, has done no harm either.
Meanwhile, acts such as The Dixie Chicks and Gretchen Wilson have broken into the mainstream in the US and beyond, taking country into the 21st century while holding true to its roots
All of which makes the upcoming Midlands Music Festival, Ireland’s first ever large scale open air country-oriented event, a tantalising prospect. Even though some of the acts involved aren’t country artists in the strictest sense, they represent the broad church that is country.
But then, country music has always held the door open for anyone who wanted to come in, whether it was Elvis Costello or Ray Charles, both of whom have recorded successfully in its domain.
At the recent CMA festival in Nashville – the biggest event in the country music calendar – it was astonishing to see the ecstatic reaction among 40,000 fans when Keith Urban (aka Mr Nicole Kidman) – an Australian with no roots in country music, made a surprise appearance with native superstars Brooks & Dunne.
The history of country is one of cross pollination with other genres. One of the headliners of the Midlands Festival, Glen Campbell, who was for a brief period a Beach Boy, successfully crossed over into country pop in the late ‘60s, becoming one of its biggest stars.
Likewise Kenny Rogers – one of the most prominent male country stars of the ‘70s and ‘80s – successfully evolved from his previous incarnation in the more pop oriented First Edition in the late '60s.
Jackson Browne may be the quintessential '70s singer-songwriter but he wrote the country-rock anthem ‘Take It Easy’ for The Eagles.
Even the wonderful Emmylou Harris, perhaps the most highly-regarded female country artist of all time, started out playing folk music in Washington before meeting Gram Parsons, who steered her in a country direction.
The Midlands Music Festival also includes traditionalists such as the Del McCoury Band, and brilliant songwriters like Don McLean, Guy Clark and Nanci Griffith. On the other hand, there’s room for Dwight Yoakam – a maverick country performer if ever there was one – who spearheaded the roots revival in the mid-’80s. He’s a superb live performer into the bargain and will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the Midlands Music Festival.