She's Acting Single (I'm Thinking Double)

In which Joe puts on his amateur philosopher hat and thinks. Words ensue. Extra points for getting the title.

In the world of competitive athletics, it is well understood that the on-field product improves every following generation. Numerous reasons imply this. For one, records continuously get broken. The Olympic gold medalists of one hundred years prior posted times that are routinely bested by mildly accomplished high school athletes in the current age. Pro athletes are selected from ever-increasing pools of eligible amateur athletes worldwide. Granted, athletes are stronger in part due to this selection bias, however even ignoring that, it is undeniable that things such as advanced strength training have made unimaginable impacts. No longer could a rural kid who grew up schlepping bales of hay just hop onto the field/arena/court and be the rugged strongman of yore. Now, years of intense training are needed to hone the raw "corn-fed" strength of the mythical small town wunderkind into a modern athlete. The colleges that used to be the wholesome bastions of student competition are now towering factories churning out highly skilled and optimized "student" athletes. Additionally, the explosion of data has lead to a revolution in quantization and refinement via modern science and medicine. Add this to the decades of accumulated wisdom about how best to accomplish the singular tasks required of these immensely talented humans and it is no surprise that modern athletes accomplish feats that would dwarf previous generations. The progress is inexorable. On one hand…

On the other hand, there is this charming contradiction in how we perceive and measure greatness. In sports we have objective measures such that we can quantify who is better. Overwhelmingly and unsurprisingly, sports pros are more talented then ever before. However in many other areas, we acknowledge the pioneers as not just being the inventors, but as also being uniquely talented to levels modern mortals cannot achieve. Where have the Einsteins gone? Who is the next John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart captivating audiences with their mere presences?

As a thought experiment that emphasizes the importance by which we value the inventor relative to the perfecter, the LED bulb is measures of magnitude better then incandescent. Does that makes John Q. LED a bigger inventor then Thomas Edison? Obviously not. Do you even know who invented the LED bulb? I didn't think so. The originator of the form lays the foundation and the successors patch the holes and build on top of what was before them. The originator gets the adulation. So it has been. Philosophers, when they complain about the nature of of their chosen field and its limitations, like to call this the footnotes to Plato.

In defense of the old heads, despite  modern music being more complex and pulling from a greater field of applicants, thereby implying greater talent, it is conceptually different. It plows furrows within ground trailblazed and domesticated by the pioneer classes. The great achievements come, not brilliantly torn asunder from the ether, but rather astutely connected in a switchboard of overwhelmingly massive mazes of knowledge, standing on top of the originators to hone and sharpen the product of those visionaries. Thus, the modern product could not have been made without the genius efforts of the pioneers and in its creative capacity, seemingly falls well short of the herculean output of the past.  This explains the constant adulation of classic rock artists even fifty years removed from their peak. (This is being written as the new Elvis biopic is hitting the theaters and Queen, on the strength of the hit musical Bohemian Rhapsody, is still a top 50 streamed artist.)

However, as is the case in many realms, we have biases. We understand only the raw genius of creation and consequentially, and perhaps unfairly, mythologize the creator figures. By doing so, we ignore the refining figures who also perform at the peak of their - entirely different and no less important- art. "It lacks the creativity of the inventor and ergo must be a shallow reproduction sucked of all genuine vitality”, we huff as we doomscroll our way through the stultifying intellectual molasses of social media. “Expert X says that this lacks the core elements or artistry. Where is the genre pushing? The experimentation? When is the next genre evolution coming?”

Perhaps we misunderstand when artist pursues a style that is not on the cutting edge of the music biz. Because of the commercial pressures of the industry, an all encompassing need for newness undergirds most creative output. Add that to the aforementioned adoration of creative pioneering, and most artists strive to emulate the OGs. Due to the nature of the modern landscape, it is exceedingly difficult to produce something properly original. Everything is evocative of something else. For all intents and purposes, any coherently patterned string of notes has been put into song before. All song topics are cliche. To try and recreate in the modern age that big bang moment when music came to life from collisions in the primordial swamp of the original, highly regionalized original forms of American roots music is quixotic. The "new" lanes, have either all been well paved, or due to lack of alternative, the paths are both obvious and not well suited to each other. The most acclaimed of artistic music in the 21st century is so niche, that listeners can barely figure out what is going on, let alone relate to it. Perfection focused artists are looked down upon. Our perspective is in dire need of reassessment.

Perfecting a form is greatly different then creating it. They are two wholly distinct art forms. The inventor conceived that perhaps these plants could be twisted and formed into a heretofore unknown idea of plant based thread- ie. cotton. The progressive descendant invented the loom, and the modern day avant-garde figured out how to put Simpsons pictures on their t-shirts. They each require unique talents and knowledge bases. In a data filled computer driven landscape, a photographic memory is unneeded to be a contemporary genius. Contrast that to the past, when memory was far more necessary to be able to engage in the sciences. Different skills for different times.

In today’s times, there are generally two buckets that these non cutting edge artists fall into. These are the contexts in which we usually come across current day "Old School" music. The first is the late career artist who has given up hope of achieving any more radio or mainstream success. Given the opportunity to continuously make music into middle age and older, often the artist reverts to the style that they feel most at home with. The product is a more authentic artistic representation.

A great example are two albums that came out in the last few years. Tradition Lives, a Mark Chesnutt independent release from 2016 and Tracy Lawrence and his 2019 Made in America. Both are fine records in their own right. Each primarily hearken back to the styles these veteran acts cut their teeth on. The maturity and warmth in their voices that age brings only enhances what are all wonderful exhibitions of deep and sincere musical expression.

Tradition Lives is a gut wrencher of an album. It is primarily an exploration of heartbreak and loss. Chesnutt is a remarkable country vocalist. As I once discussed in a semi satirical discussion of Bubba Shut the Jukebox, being a country vocalist doesn't mean that the artist can nail the perfect arpeggio with buttery smooth glissando. Country vocals are defined by conversational qualities and nuanced emotion within deliveries. Chesnutt has only gotten better as time goes on. In combination with a thoroughly traditional country instrumental palate (I fully admit my biases. IMO heartbreak goes with fiddle and steel like peanut butter and jelly. No other way to do it properly.) it makes for an exceptional listen. It epitomizes the artistic philosophy how the soft spoken Chesnutt pairs with hard hitting topics.

Tracy Lawrence released Made in America in 2019, and it immediately reminded me of Tradition Lives. Lawrence's voice has mellowed and it adds a gravitas to the album. Chock full of neo-trad Texas country, Lawrence takes the freedom of no longer being bound by commercial aspirations and ruminates on aspects of identity, relationships and humanity. At times somber, at times celebratory, one feels as if Lawrence is fully unleashed on the record. Moments reveal to us the personal conviction of the artist unadulterated.

These artists have devoted decades towards personal expression. Expression is not merely through words. The carefully chosen instrumental arrangements are equally important- and often are just as crucial to an artist's career. These late stage albums are the final buildup of these journeys and are worthy not in their innovation, but in the revelation of self that the decades of slow buildup and work allows them.

The second way we hear older sounding styles is when a young artist who grew up hearing those older sounds, instead of striving for a synthesis with the trend du jour, instead dedicates themself to honing in and perfecting that sound. Using the originators and mentors as masters, these artists are apprentices who eventually become the torchbearers of past glories illuminating the future.

I can think of no better example for this then Zephaniah Ohora. His most recent album Listening To The Music, was released in 2020. Ohora mines 1960's era country sounds to connect to the core of what that era represented. The stories and writing in that time period contained deep sentiment and observations on humanity. Most often delivered in a wry conversational timbre that deepened the relatability, the emotional impact contained within was enormous. To modern ears detriment, the melodies at the time were often swamped by sophisticated and saccharine orchestral pop arrangements. In other words, strings. Lots of them.

Ohora has a very clear understanding of the era that he is inspired by. It is because of this respect and understanding that he doesn't just ape the sounds and textures of the time, slip some digital crackle on it for some old timey vibe, and appeal only to the cottagecore snob crowd. Instead he surgically chips away at the ossified exterior and reveals the pulsating heart within. His music reflects the weighty topics and themes that the past excelled at revealing and discards the fashionable extraneities of production that often obscured the depth and made the songs clunky to modern ears. Stripped of fluff, enhanced by the high fidelity of 21st century recording technologies, and topically relevant to the modern age, the songs zing with vitality. No, the music may not be radically different from the best of, say 1960's Merle Haggard, but the slight thematic and sonic tweaks grow and develop the music to be more digestible to the Millennial and Gen- Z soul. If some vague combination of Merle, Eddie Arnold, Chet Atkins and Billy Sherrill invented the 1960's country equivalent of the incandescent lightbulb, then Zephaniah Ohora, among others, have taken the formula and perfected the form into the modern LED bulb.

In the "media", the "historic trailblazers" are glorified. Artists that either push the sonic, or social boundaries get press and awards far more then their "static" brethren. This is a misunderstanding of reality. Building on the past comes in two different forms: cutting edge evolution based on the past or refining and honing the past allowing it to sparkle with new light. These biases towards pushing boundaries are not a bias to the world of music, rather it is a symptom of the human condition. With a open mind, an appreciation of those who devote their artistry towards perfection can be developed and one can gain a more whole relationship to the vast world of musical art.

La Fin

Joe

PS: Man, this was a tough one. Took me a month to get it all on pixel and even now I'm very much unhappy with how it came out. I hope it was clear enough. I can be my own harshest critic. Any feedback you might have would be greatly appreciated. You can comment down below or reach out at todayiheadblog@gmail.com.

Also, Gary Stewart is awesome. I only thought of the title after writing. Maybe I should've saved it for a post that actually talked about Stewart. He is a super underappreciated artist. Definitely worth checking out some of his hits.