ONWARD THROUGH IT ALL   •   Jim Lauderdale

Don't let the sappiness of most of the mainstream Country market deprive you of the essential American listening pleasure called Country. There's plenty of great Country music out there, and Jim's one of the artists leading the pack. At first, a lot of so-called Alternative Country acts I saw struck me as mediocre garage bands, but digging deep into the best of the genre has made me a real believer. To me, there's nothing really alternative about Jim Lauderdale, he's keeping the best of traditional Country alive and thriving with great songs and good arranging, the same things that made the golden years great. Hip Country, that's what I call it.

Jim's songwriting is near legendary in Nashville, because he's maintained an unquestionable integrity and still landed a lot of major cuts with huge selling artists. He writes with great humor and an obvious respect for tradition, and yet pens tunes with the likes of Robert Hunter, the lifetime co-writer of Jerry Garcia. That tickled me no end, as he's still one of my favorite lyricists ever.

Lauderdale's an absolute hoot live, a goofball showman and a ladies man. Also a bit of a Zen enigma, an intriguing combination of far flung qualities that attract people to him and to his shows. So there's no need to complain about the state of Country music, we've all heard it before. But if you haven't heard Jim Lauderdale, take heart, friend. Buy a good Country record and pop it in your truck. Man, it feels good.
• FG

jimlauderdale.com      dualtone records

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