Stratovarius Community

I remember the Crazy Vids thread, and thought why not start a Cool Pics thread?




This is a cool photo of my friend Roger Alan Wade and his granddaughter, Audrey, at a recent event. As you can see in the pic, she loves her grandfather!

Roger is a local legend that has written songs for Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, George Jones, and Hank Williams, Jr., among others, and is one of the best singer/songwriters in the "Outlaw Country" genre. He is also a cousin of Johnny "Jackass" Knoxville, and has contributed to the soundtracks of both MTV "Jackass" films, in addition to cameo appearances.

Oh wow that's awesome!

I wish I knew people outside the internet...

Lynyrd Skynyrd onstage in Helsinki- if this doesn't make "Neon Vomit" vomit, then I don't know what else would!

Outlaw Country? is that like gangster rap, but in country form?

doc_holliday wrote:Outlaw Country? is that like gangster rap, but in country form?

It's a whole sub-genre of country- and more or less consists of the artists that existed outside of "the establishment" in Nashville. Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Jr., and David Allan Coe helped define the music.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw_Country

Outlaw country has been around since the '60s, which was way before rap ever existed. Blues, rock, and even Southern Rock have all been a part of the style, in addition to more traditional 'honky-tonk' and roadhouse style country.

Here's a song that defined the genre very well-

Hank Willams, Jr. - Family Tradition
http://youtu.be/IHjaW9sXl7s

The lyrics are pretty autobiographical, since the Nashville "establishment" (record company executives, and top producers such as the famous guitarist Chet Atkins) never really liked Hank Jr., despite the fact that his father Hank Sr. was the godfather of country music.

The wiki article also lists newer artists, such as Steve Earle, as also being included in the genre-

Steve Earle- "Copperhead Road"

http://youtu.be/xvaEJzoaYZk

It's a song about the author's father and grandfather running moonshine stills (and running from the law) in the Tennessee backwoods. The son grows up, goes to serve in Vietnam, and comes back to begin growing weed in the same hills that his dad and granddad brewed moonshine in.

It's not exactly the type of content that would that powers-that-be in Nashville would be eager to promote.

hmm, strange, since that "Family Tradition" song's lyrics are not very outlawish

doc_holliday wrote:hmm, strange, since that "Family Tradition" song's lyrics are not very outlawish

Outlawish in the fact that Hank would never conform to what the establishment in Nashville wanted. Back then, if you wore garish rhinestone costumes, let someone else write your music, and were fortunate enough to have Chet Atkins produce the album with more string sections than the London Symphony Orchestra, then you were considered as an ideal artist.

Hank wanted nothing to do with any of that glitz and glamour, he wrote his own music, played many of the instruments himself (instead of hiring someone like Vince Gill to play guitar at $500 an hour), and with all due respect to Chet Atkins, who was a great guitarist, Hank decided to go against the grain and do his own thing. That's where the "outlaw" thing came in to play.

These guys were way outside the established norms in Nashville, and at the time, it was considered shocking by the establishment. The record company execs, producers, and the rest of the Nashville mafia had long thought that no one could do anything without their say so, but the guys like Waylon, Willie, Hank, and others proved them wrong in the end. They wrote and produced the music on their own terms, and basically told the establishment to kiss their ass, and I really respect them for sticking to their guns and doing their own thing.

i see. that's cool

doc_holliday wrote:i see. that's cool

Your question about country/gangster rap did bring one artist to mind-


Big Smo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDxSgq88Clw

Kickin' it in Tennessee

I'm not a big fan of rap or modern country, but the song reminded me of Kid Rock a bit.

Now is this a rock n' roll baby or what? My friend Todd's daughter, Riley.

Crazy eye!