Those ‘Dirt Roads’ Aren’t Really That Remote

There we were – all six of us high school dudes putting our feet up in The Middle of Nowhere, East Texas, soaking in the starry night sky. Six years of outdoor adventures had forged an unbreakable bond between us fellow Eagle Scouts. We were talking about country music that night, although not favorably. Something about the country songs we heard on the radio just didn’t sit well with us. We didn’t mind the lyrics about trucks, girls, or freedom, of course, but there was still something we just couldn’t stand…and still can’t. The way we heard country stars sing about the natural world, about getting outside and being ‘outdoorsy’ and ‘remote’ is what really irked us (and still does).

Now in order to understand country music’s role in our unique group, you must realize more of what being an Eagle Scout means. When we talk about experiencing nature, we don’t mean fishing for sunfish at the local park’s pond. Experiencing nature conjures up memories of backpacking with 60-lb. packs through the mountains, stargazing from high-elevation valleys mostly untouched by the imprints of a human boot, and portaging our canoes at a rocky outcrop so we could scramble on top to enjoy the last glint of the slowly sinking sun over the pastel-painted horizon.

Me taking in the view from a remote overlook in the backcountry of the Guadalupe Mountains (the backpacking trip I just mentioned).

Here’s how these vivid details bias us against Country music. Well, for instance, let’s reflect on the song “Mud On The Tires” by Brad Paisley. When he talks about muddying up his tires driving to a place “where the dirt road runs out,” the fact that he’s even driving there already disinterests my community a bit, let alone that it’s his impression that that is the “only way to get there,” even though a good moonlit hike is far harder to beat than barreling through the night in a big old, exhaust-emitting representation of nothing but industrial America.

So now you can see how his idea that “his perfect place in mind” seems the farthest thing away from the “middle of nowhere” to a group who has hiked for three days straight and seen no more than 3 other human beings. Or even how about an old hit like Dolly Parton’s “Sweet Summer Lovin’”, with lines like, “by a stream in the country, running barefoot and feeling free.” Sounds to us like she’s a ten-minute walk from the farm-house (at the most). Even Jason Alden’s “Dirt Road Anthem” makes us feel like even though they “hit the dirt road” and “jumped the barb wire” – they still couldn’t be more than a 10-minute drive from some semblance of civilization, you know?

You’re probably thinking, “Really!? You’re basing the whole genre on a few songs!” Well, these act as a microcosm for our perception of the rest of country music (however accurate or innacurate it is). Our outdoorsy community talks about country music as pedantic tunes pandering to listeners who wish they could get a glimpse of some semblance of remote outdoors without actually taking the necessary risks and efforts to do so. I guess it’s just that we’ve heard enough country songs with buzzwords about being alone on dirt roads that just don’t seem genuine to a bunch of bros used to hiking hard-to-find footpaths, leaving even the dirt roads behind. However, songs like “Far From Any Road” from Handsome Family give us hope that others out there have experienced the thrill of the remote wilderness as we have.

It’s safe to say our community avoids country music, for, I’ll admit, an obscure and fairly arrogant reason.