re: Jason Isbell has the #1 record in country music

Palmetto Rose is a solid track. Country music needed this album

Not getting how this is/was classified as country music, more like Americana/southern rock. Not as wide ranging as say, JI and the 400 Unit title, but definitely not country to me. And I hate boy pop country with shitty dumb lyrics, not talking about that as country reference.

They played 24 frames on the radio today, I about wrecked the truck in shock.

country is such a broad genre now though. you have sub genre's of americana/folk/alt folk/alt country/country rock/southern rock etc

jason isbell's new album is "country"

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fla/ga line

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I think they're starting to fade... Finally

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jason isbell's new album is "country"

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I am a big fan of Justin Townes Earle, he's not easy to qualify, either. I would call him Americana, some blues, lots of "other", but I would have a hard time labeling that JI release as country with so many genres touched. I don't consider Americana as country and sub-categorize from there. Instead it is a broad spectrum of artists that can't be pigeonholed, like what Son Volt became.

I don't think it's a pivotal moment or anything, as country music radio is getting more and more entrenched with the bro country stuff. What we're witnessing is the slow splintering of the genre. The country music industry has just cut out the "true country" folks, and those artists are finding that they don't need Nashville, as they can survive without radio airplay in this era.

We're seeing the punk rock influence on country music. First off there's a graying punk fanbase that isn't interested in angry and loud, but clings to the tenets of "authenticity". They've adopted Americana and "true" country as they've aged into their NPR-listening years. Show me an old Fugazi fan's record collection (and yes, pretty much every Fugazi fan owns records - another "true punk" holdover) and I'll find a Sturgill Simpson and/or Jason Isbell record in there.

And the artists have borrowed the DIY and anti-corporate ethic of the punk scene. The proliferation of indie labels and a powerful distribution network (as well as the clubs to play in) provided a blueprint for country artists on how to release music without any industry support (to be fair, this ignores the entire genre of Texas country, which thrived for years due to benign neglect). Black Flag never released a record on a major label, but you can't walk into a hipster bar without finding someone with the four bar tattoo.

Indie grew up and had kids, and it started listening to country, but it redefined country for itself, just as it did with rock. Let's put it like this, Jason Isbell has more in common with the Minutemen and Husker Du than with Garth Brooks and Alabama. He's a country artist who philosophically identified with the punks.