The A.V. Club - Nashville or Bust

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 23: George Strait, The Exception

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:42:00 -0600

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop writer Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year or two immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about, but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After 52 entries, Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. There is a strange category of artists I like to call “the exceptions.” Lauryn Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, Eminem, Digable Planets, and De La Soul all qualify ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 22: Lee Hazlewood, space cowboy/peculiar guy

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:48:00 -0600

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year or two immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about, but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After 52 entries, Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. I first remember reading about Lee Hazlewood in one of the British music magazines I devoured rapaciously during my sorry stint as a teenybopper music obsessive. That’s how friendless ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 21: Keith Whitley, son of Lefty

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year or two immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about, but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After 52 entries, Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. During my piece on Garth Brooks two weeks back, something bizarre and unexpected happened: People read and commented extensively on a Nashville Or Bust piece. This was quite a shock ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 20: Garth Brooks

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:29:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year or two immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about, but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After 52 entries, Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. Well, friends, we have come to a milestone here in the long, strange journey that is Nashville Or Bust. For the first time, I will be writing about a contemporary ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 19: The Legendary Lefty Frizzell

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:14:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year or two immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about, but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After 52 entries, Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. There have been times throughout Nashville Or Bust when I felt like I was writing about the same country legend over and over again. The names and specifics differed, but ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 18: Emmylou Harris and the perfection problem

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:42:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year or two immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about, but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After 52 entries, Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. When I began this project, I wondered if (or when) country music would stop feeling like alien territory, exhilarating in its novelty, and begin to feel like home. I think ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 17: Billy Joe Shaver, Honky-Tonk Hero

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:00:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year or two immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about, but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After 52 entries, Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. Blame it on Billy Joe. Billy Joe Shaver has a genius for getting people into trouble, myself included. Long ago, I was known and respected. Then one day I heard ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 16, Special Silly Little Show-Biz Book Club Crossover Edition: George Jones: The Heartbreak Kid

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:01:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year or two immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about, but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After 52 entries, Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. I am, and always have been, a depressive. I probably always will be. It’s hardwired into my DNA. But there are tangible tools I can use to fight depression ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 15: Jimmie Rodgers’ White Man Blues

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year or two immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After 52 entries, Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. Listen here, all you rounders… There is a fascinating track titled “Jimmie Rodgers Visits The Carter Family” on the fourth disc of Jimmie Rodgers: Recordings 1927-1933, a five-disc collection of ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 14: The Louvin Brothers’ tragic songs of Satan’s realness

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year or two immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After 52 entries, Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. As a child, I lived in fear of everything. I was a sentient ball of anxiety convinced that a nuclear strike lurked forever on the horizon, followed by an eternity ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 13: Tom T. Hall, America’s Storyteller

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After 52 non-consecutive weeks of country (dated from the column’s introduction on March 3, 2009), Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. So far in this series I have wrestled with giants, towering, iconic figures blessed with prodigious talent and damned ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 12: Hank Williams' Lost Highway

Tue, 26 May 2009 15:36:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After one year of country (dated from the column’s introduction on March 3, 2009), Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. As you may have noticed, there was no Nashville Or Bust entry last week. When I introduced this project, I ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 11: Dolly Parton blows up and goes pop

Tue, 12 May 2009 12:23:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After one year of country (dated from the column’s introduction on March 3, 2009), Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. Dolly Parton embodies a venerable American archetype: the secretly sly country girl whose hillbilly demeanor masks a treasure trove of ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 10: Bob Wills, King Of Texas, Father of Western Swing

Tue, 05 May 2009 13:15:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After one year of country (dated from the column’s introduction on March 3, 2009), Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. Twelve years ago, when Keith Phipps and I were roommates, I used to avail myself regularly of his CD collection ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 9: Merle Haggard: Drinkin’, Prison, Laughing and Sammy Davis Jr.

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:50:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After one year of country (dated from the column’s introduction on March 3, 2009), Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. My House Of Memories, Merle Haggard’s 1999 autobiography, begins, somewhat incongruously, with its author living on a houseboat and ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 8: Merle Haggard, poet of Poverty Row

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:00:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After one year of country (dated from the column’s introduction on March 3, 2009), Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. For this week’s entry in Nashville Or Bust, I’m going to do something a little different. For previous ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 7: Gram Parsons' solo years: Life hurts

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:55:00 -0500

A.V. Club head writer and hip-hop specialist Nathan Rabin recently decided to spend a year immersing himself in the canon of country music, a genre he knew little about but was keen to explore. The result: “Nashville Or Bust,” a series of essays about seminal country artists. After one year of country (dated from the column’s introduction on March 3, 2009), Rabin plans to travel south and explore some of country music’s most hallowed landmarks and institutions. At the risk of outing myself as an adolescent fiend for wussy music made by dopey alt-rock dreamboats, my first ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 6: Gram Parsons: The International Byrds Burrito Submarine Brothers Flying Band Years

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:48:00 -0500

Gram Parsons led one of those monkey’s-paw existences: Every blessing came with an equal or greater curse. Parsons was born into one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in the South—to a father nicknamed Coon Dog who committed suicide two days before Christmas 1958, and an alcoholic mother who died at 45 under circumstances shrouded in mystery and conjecture. He was accepted to Harvard—and dropped out after a few months. With the International Submarine Band, The Byrds, and The Flying Burrito Brothers, he pioneered a fusion of country and rock that would go on to win ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Week 5: Genre-hopping Willie

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:30:00 -0500

As the world’s most secular Jew, I’ve never been a big gospel buff. This is ironic, since every gospel song is about this really awesome Jewish guy who performed miracles and shit. It’s like my great-aunt once told me: “Jesus didn’t do but three things: He was born a Jew, he lived as a Jew, and he died a Jew.” As far as I can tell, gospel music is all about how Jews are magical creatures sent by heaven to save the goyim. Over the past few months, however, I’ve been listening to a lot ...

Music: Nashville or Bust:Nashville Or Bust, Week 4: Shotgun Willie’s concept albums, or The voice of imperfect man must now be made manifest

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:25:00 -0500

In my favorite scene in the otherwise middling Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious, the corpulent wordsmith (played by amusingly named newcomer Gravy) tries to atone to his stern, country-music-loving mother for his drug-dealing, school-ditching ways by buying her the corniest-looking album he can find: Willie Nelson’s Greatest Hits. It’s a moment rich with irony, for Shotgun Willie was/is the coolest motherfucker on the planet. B.I.G.’s mother says she loves listening to country music “because it tells good stories.” Amen. Willie Nelson became a towering American icon because he told good stories. The same ...