When Nashville wants you to conform, move to Texas. That’s what Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson did when they were fed up with producers telling them what to do. These two 70’s musicians created a tradition of creative control and musical experimentation called outlaw country. But is there a new Outlaw movement forming? Can current artists call themselves outlaws without getting backlash?
Eric Church seems to straddle the line of being classified as an outlaw without ever proclaiming himself as one.
He started his career by getting kicked off the Rascal Flatts tour and has been pushing the boundaries of Nashville ever since. He does his own music with controversial songs such as “Two Pink Lines” about teen pregnancy and “Smoke a Little Smoke” which is pro-marijuna. Clearly he doesn’t care about conformity. But is this enough to call him a true outlaw?
Some people will come out and support Church as an outlaw. Darius Rucker believes that Church is a bad boy and “the closest we got to Waylon and Willie.” Brad Paisley, at the 2011 CMA awards, called Eric “country’s latest Outlaw” when introducing his performance. But according to Church, it is a word that gets “misused” a lot. He respects the term used for the 70’s and thinks it fits for those artists but “is now used just because people are unsure how to identify an artist.” He hates genres and claims that he doesn’t want to be branded for the type of music that he plays.
Me at an Eric Church concert in 2014
Personally I think his view, and most other peoples view, of his music can be summed up by his song “Outsiders.” First off, the title is a great substitute for the word outlaw. He can use this word to describe himself as different without using the controversial term to avoid backlash. Secondly, in the lyrics he refers to his rock and roll sound with the phrase, “wide open rocking, that’s how we roll.” Church will always admit to having a rock influence. His song “Springsteen” being a great example of this. Lastly, he creates this line between the in crowd and out crowd. He isn’t part of the in crowd and doesn’t want to be, but is going to stand up and show that he his music has a lot to offer.
There are so many different sub genres of country today that it is sometimes hard to categorize an artist into one place. It is also hard not to offend people when trying to do so. In my opinion there will never be another Willie or Waylon, but I do think that there are artists who can and will come close. Eric Church is just one of many who are still trying to fight the “Nashville Sound” while trying to make music that people will listen to.
“Don’t ever try and be like anybody else and don’t be afraid to take risks.” -Waylon Jennings
Lauren,
I loved this post. I like that you brought in and incorporated so much of the information that we have been learning in class in order to convey your message about outlaws. I think it’s admirable how Church doesn’t want anyone to put him into a genre. Personally I have always been so confused about how an artist can be considered a “bro country” artist, or “nashville sound” or anything, because every artist has such a wide variety of sounds and lyrics. I totally agree that there will never be another Waylon Jennings or Willie Nelson, but do think that Eric Church is just a type of modern- day outlaw. I think there will always be a certain group of artists, no matter what decade that convey a sense of outlaw personas within country music.
Hi Lauren, I think this is a great post since we have been talking about Eric Church a lot in class; it’s nice to finally see various sides of the argument written down in one place. On the one hand I can see how his sound and some of his actions can lead people to think Church is an outlaw, on the other he is nothing compared to what David Allen Coe was, for example. I appreciate that you brought in Church’s opinion because I’d say that’s the real deciding factor. I have always thought Church has a really great sound that is off the beaten path but still stays true to a lot of classic aspects of country music, so in my opinion people can classify him how they want, when it comes down to it hes a great artist!
I personally am a huge Eric Church fan, however, I agree that he isn’t exactly an “outlaw.” Undoubtedly, Church prides himself on being different from the rest of the mainstream country music pack, but “outlaw” is a term better used to describe the styles of Willie Nelson or Waylon Jennings, even with Church’s variety of songs which cover controversial topics. I would also agree that “outsider” is a perfect term to describe his heavily rock influenced country sound and his songs such as “two pink lines” or “smoke a little smoke.” Eric Church is different than most mainstream country artists, but he is less of an outlaw and more of a self-styled outsider.
Lauren, I am one of the biggest Eric Church fans out there and I think you are spot on. Sure, he might represent a bad boy image but that doesn’t necessarily make him an outlaw. He is one of the few artists in Nashville who is allowed to take creative freedom and Jay Joyce, his producer, did a great job at allowing Eric to explore that. I remember reading an article where Church talks about how he wrote over 100 songs for the album and could’ve released an album full of hits but he didn’t want to do that. That is the mark of a true artist.
P.S. I love the picture of you holding the boots for “These Boots.”
I love talking about this topic. Eric Church must have issues with commitment and titles lol jk. But the biggest question I have when talking about whether or not Eric Church is Outlaw country is what exactly defines the category of “outlaw” country? According to the past with Willie Nelson and David Allan Coe, it seems like you have to do drugs and go to jail in order to inducted into the outlaw club. To me, outlaw is exactly what you described at the beginning of this post: an artist that refuses to conform to the Nashville idea of stardom and fame. Eric Church is a great example of this. He used to sing mainstream country songs like “Guys Like Me” or “Drink in My Hand” but he never fully committed to this type of music. And now with his most recent album “Outsiders” he’s expressing himself as an outlaw artist more than ever. But why shouldn’t we accept him as outlaw? Yes he’s young, yes he’s dipped into Nashville’s bubble, but he’s taking risks as an artists and creating his own distinct sound, which is much different than the Nashville sound. I’m a fan that is actually ready to accept him as outlaw.
I completely agreed with your post! I think sometimes today people get too into trying to pin someone down to one genre, which is not fair a lot of the time because artists change and evolve (which is good!). I saw Eric Church perform at the iHeart Country Festival last May in Austin, and I agree with you. Sure, some of the things he says or does are reminiscent of ‘outlaw’, but like he himself said, that was a term for the 70s. I also agreed with how he described that just because people don’t exactly know where to place him, it’s sometimes easiest to put him as an Outlaw. I think he is definitely an Outsider- but still so important to country music. Maybe 20 years from now we’ll have a genre to put him under, but for now people should just enjoy his music!
I totally agree that the best way to describe Eric Church is “outsider” instead of “outlaw.” I can see how maybe in today’s country music scene how Eric Church might be viewed as someone who pushes the boundaries more than others because he does his own thing, but he also has wildly popular songs on the radio, and honestly seems to follow more rules than he defies. I never would have known that people saw Eric Church as an outlaw until this class, but Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings? Those two I had definitely heard about. Maybe because there are so many sub-genres of country Eric Church is establishing his own. Thanks for sharing!