Lyle Lovett makes country music tolerable, sort of
I don't much care for country music, or its fraternal twin, so-called "alt" country (if the singer does hard drugs it's "alt" country, if not it's just plain country). But with talk of Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt bringing their acoustic show to town, I remembered that I heard a Lyle Lovett song once that I liked, and years later I would even come to identify with it. So it fills me with perverse glee to listen once again to "God Will" from Lyle's first album:
Lyle Lovett has the gift of making country music inoffensive; he usually does it by making it merely boring, but "God Will" is a true gem.
The first time I heard John Hiatt was hearing incessant radio commercials for his album Slugline when I was in high school. I thought maybe the commercials were a radio station joke, because in all the clips from the album they played he sounded, well, retarded. I guess that's what passes for "soul" in white guys. I did actually come to like some of John Hiatt's later work, particularly the Slow Turning album, but I don't really have any urge to hear it again.
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I liked John Hiatt's 1988 Slow Turning album. I'll have to pull it out and give it a listen as I haven't heard it in a long time (it was definitely his best album, IMO).
I don't know much about mainstream country music. I do recall that Lovett was once married to Julie Roberts (go figure).
But I enjoy a few bands that are called "Alternative Country". It sounds to me to be very similar to what I'd call "southern rock". Sub-genres of different musical styles has always confused me.