Country Music Revival?

[Douglas Schuch]

I am on Facebook a good bit as that's how I keep up with my friends in distant places, as well as it's where most online commerce and promotion happens here in the Philippines - music, new restaurants, etc - it's rare for them to have a website, but they all have a FB page.

Recently my page has been getting bunches of "post suggestions" and "reels" of young country artists, and I got to say, I'm digging it! For once the algorithm is making sense! I notice a lot of guys (so far it's been all guys) seem to like the honky tonk music of the 80's and 90's, which would have been before most of them were born!?! But they cover those songs, and write new songs in that style. Some feature pedal steel in their songs. Most have "albums" - much easier to do these days with digital recording and sites like bandcamp and DistroKids. I am also digging that the musicians represent a fairly broad ethnic diversity.

As an old man, they seem so young to me. But then I remember that the musicians I listened to as a teen were mostly in their 20's - the age most of these guys are at. If you do FB, just click on these guys, listen to some of their reels, and give them a thumbs up, or follow their page, and your feed just might transform into the next generation of country artists!

Here are some of the names (I'll post their official FB names in parenthesis as many already have copycat sites):

Alex Miller (amillermusic) - most of us probably already knew about him as he's been very busy touring and has appeared on the Opry.

Dzaki Sukarno (officialdzakizukarno)- a young guy from NM with a great voice who has pedal steel through most of his recordings. A number of original songs, very much in the honky tonk 80's and 90's style.

Maurice McCray (OfficialMauriceTheMusic) - more basic, more of a busker, but I think it's mostly original music?

Los Hermanos Mendoza (loshermanosm) - From Bakersfield, and playing a lot of classic Bakersfield music. Stand-up bass and 2 guitars if it's just them, but there are reels of them at a performance with pedal steel, fiddle, and drums.

David Adam Byrnes (davidadambyrnes) - A Texas boy singing great country music. He's out touring. Maybe he's well-known in Texas? I live far away from Nashville, Austin, and Bakersfield, so I miss out on the local buzz. He seems a bit more "produced" (that's not usually a good thing in my book) and has more content out there. But some great tunes IMO.

Kevin Smiley (kevinsmileymusic) - mostly just videos of him singing and playing his guitar, often prodded by his mother (maybe this is scripted, but hey, it's cute). Lots of great country covers. But check out his original tune on Youtube and other streaming sites - LAST RODEO. It falls somewhere between Beyonce's country and more traditional country.

Timothy Baker (timothybakermusic) - His reels are a mix of covers and original songs, mostly with just him and his guitar. Deep country roots, but still has his own sound, I think.

So there's 7 I've followed on FB. What gives me hope for the future of country music is that they all appear to be twenties or younger (just guessing here) yet they all pay homage to the country from before they were born. I'll post more as I find them. I may also see what these guys have on Spotify and/or FB and create a playlist or two. Enjoy!

[Douglas Schuch]

I created a Spotify playlist with these artists. I'll add to it as I find others. The playlist is rather dominated by David Adam Byrnes since he has the most recordings out there. Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1e2HK ... c81d914537

[Douglas Schuch]

And one I missed when compiling my initial list - David Lewis (davidlewismusician). He's got an album on Youtube named BARSTOOL SERMONS.

[Don R Brown]

Doug, I love seeing and hearing various unknown artists and players. There are SO many out there and they run the whole gamut from great, to not worth finishing watching the video.

[Douglas Schuch]

I'm adding some songs by Bryce Leatherwood, the Martin Boys, and Colby Lee Swift.

At least in the near-term, any new additions I'll just edit and add them to this post, so if you are interested and following, just check in here.

I really find it interesting that so many "kids" born in the early years of this century are loving, covering, and writing similar music to that from the last couple of decades in the last century. Timothy Baker's tune Country Kid (on the playlist) sums it up: Thanks to mom and dad and the music they played me, I got a good head start." "I had humble beginnings, with George Jones and Jennings". "Thank God I was a country kid."

A lot of these guys have been on the various TV shows like THE VOICE - that seems to be a decent "incubator" for you musicians with country dreams. And one who broke out through such a show, and should be mentioned (and probably added to the playlist, but is a little better known I think, is Jake Worthington.