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RM chops it up with Old Crow Medicine Show
Americana music has always had a unique kind of patriotism. It tends to avoid the shadow of imperialism or—dare we say—anti-intellectualism that mainstream country music sometimes preaches, and instead totes patriotism for the people, by the people.
So when old-time crooners Old Crow Medicine Show set out to make a “patriotic” album, they aimed their focus on people—not parties—percussionist, vocalist and banjoist Cory Younts tells RM. Their newest record, Union Made, drops June 5 amid a ~six month U.S. tour—including a stop at Koka Booth Amp in Cary May 28.
Commentary that felt fitting—or at least pride in their country—didn’t come easy at first. “Management didn’t want to use the word patriotic,” emphasizes Younts, “but wanted some sort of tribute to the 250th anniversary of America. Let’s face it: Who’s proud of America right now?”
Despite starting out discouraged, Old Crow rose to the occasion to make an album for everyone. “How much longer will it be before we reach as one, torn apart and divided by the colors that we see, refusing to believe we’re all in the same family,” sings the track “Beautiful Land,” calling out the steep and often nonsensical divide through the country. “[OCMS frontman] Ketch loves to—as he says—get the hippies and the rednecks together,” notes Younts.
Bipartisanship has always coursed through the Nashville-based band’s blood. What other band would open for staunch conservative Hank Williams Jr. only to later feature blatantly leftist folk artist Jesse Welles in an opening track? Younts tell RM that while they wanted Welles on the record, he didn’t have a hand in writing the opening track “Howdy Do America”—he only had a voice in the vocals.
“That song is very Fozzie Bear and Kermit to me,” quips Younts. “It’s very moving right along.”
Also gracing Union Made is Merle Haggard’s influence via a cover of “Rainbow Stew,” a whimsy and hopeful (at least by Haggard standards) deep cut. “Merle didn’t perform it the way we do,” says Younts. “We listened to it, and ‘I said, you know, we could double time this and make it our own,’ and we’ve been performing that pretty much every night.”
On top of “Rainbow Stew,” OCMS is still happily strumming “Wagon Wheel.” The show may be in Cary, but the line “If I die in Raleigh, at least I will die free” will hit close to home no matter where you are.
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