Maybe I am just a bit of liberal snob, but for a long time I was prejudiced towards people with Southern accents. Southern United States, to be geographically and linguistically specific. Below the Mason-Dixon Line, East of the Mississippi and throw in Texas for good measure. In my mind, the dialects and the speakers all mash up into a pretty unsophisticated stereotype not too far from ol' Gomer Pyle.
My prejudice told me that people who spoke in such a manner were intellectually inferior to most of the rest of our nation (save for Anglo-Southern California natives). Even "Southern" music, from the Delta Blues to Allman-style Blue-eyed Blues, hillbilly to juke-joint, struck me as less smart than similar artists from other regions. Sure, it was visceral and moving, and sometimes absolutely transcendent, but I never felt challenged by those of southern-ilk, never felt engaged in my brain, only in my legs and pelvis.
Many would say, "Well, that's the point of popular music. DUH." And in return I'd say, "After the dancin' and the luvin', I still want to be able to listen to the song and feel connected and inspired. So it helps if they're sing about somethin' with some substance."
Being an Indiana native, I have absolutely no right to a sense of regional superiority and elitism. Heckfire, we gave birth to Jim Nabors, for Heaven's sake. Nevertheless, my musical opinions were surely affected by my snootiness towards the Southern drawl.
At some point, probably while listening to Woody Guthrie or reading Faulkner (Hey, I am still a liberal elitist, c'mon...) my better angel prevailed and I realized that out of the mouths of Southerners can come profoundly satisfying artistic statements. Along that continuum of smart Southern folk comes Joey Kneiser and his compatriots from Murfreesboro, TN in the band Glossary.
And here's where my sales pitch starts. No, I'm not going to try to sell you timeshares. I'm going to try to sell you Glossary. I'm going to try to get you to buy two, three, maybe four records. I've written about them before , but didn't really come out and say, "Glossary is badass and underrated and you should go get one of their records right now, motherfiretruckers!" So now I will.
Glossary - "Little Caney", "Save Your Money for the Weekend", "Days Go By", etc. - Various albums
Glossary is silly underrated. Go get a record.
You want rock music composed with thematic through-lines and a strong narrative presence? Glossary is your band. You need indie lo-fi mixed with whiskey-fueled alt.country? Here you go. You like Exile-era Stones? Merle Haggard? Thin Lizzy? Superchunk? Come and get you some.
Joey Kneiser's songwriting is at its best when he writes about concrete experiences framed within the context of life as a Southern musician. He writes songs about being on the road that don't ask you to feel sorry for him, they simply ask you to look at the gray areas that enshroud the black and white choices an artist makes. In Glossary's world there is always sacrifice for the sake of art. Are some nights, "too easy to forget," as Kneiser says in the song "Shakin' Like a Flame"? You bet. Do you wake up some mornings so elated from the night before--still a little buzzed, still a little horny--that you wanna go out and get married to the sweet girl laying next to you? Absolutely.
Another frequent Glossary theme is the dichotomy between the values preached in Southern churches and the behavior of the parishioners once they hit the sidewalk in front of the church. Sometimes Mr. Kneiser rails against the hypocrisy other times he relishes the forbidden fruit created when a religion espouses deprivation over moderation. "Save Your Money for the Weekend" takes a big bite of that apple, letting us know that "Southern girls are the sweetest when they're full of Jesus' love." Wink wink.
I'll admit that the casual listener will probably not be as into the entire Glossary discography (I celebrate their entire catalog) as I am. But every one of their albums has at least one single that is a major league alt.country grand-slam. Here they are for your listening pleasure:
2 comments:
"Maybe I am just a bit of liberal snob..." Don't sell yourself short, you are more than just a bit!
I'm adding that to my list of morning affirmations.
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