Listen to This Man's Voice!
Dan Tyminski's 'Southern Gothic' for #FreedomMusicFriday
Throughout my life, I have heard more people say that they dislike country music than any other genre. That observation is anecdotal, of course, but I am willing to bet it’s true: outside of country music fans, I suspect a plurality will pick country as the genre that they dislike the most.
I tend to fall into that category. I like Johnny Cash (but then again, who doesn’t—he’s an American treasure) and I can dig some of the older stuff. But honestly, the newer stuff all sounds to me like it was written by the Awesom-O Country-Music Bot 3000.
On the other hand, I really like bluegrass and old time. And some of it—like Allison Krauss and Union Station—I absolutely love. Allison Krauss’s voice is one of my favorites in the world.
But she’s not the only one with a stunning voice in that band. Her right-hand man, Dan Tyminski, has vocal power and a tone quality all his own. While doing the classic bluegrass stuff, Tyminski’s voice shines bright. But it reaches a whole new level in his solo work (which I just discovered over the last year).
I am not sure what to call his solo stuff. The bluegrass vibe is there, of course, but it also strikes me as something that would really appeal to serious country fans. Whatever you call it, it is terrific—all the songs I have heard so far, I have absolutely loved.
My favorite, and probably the biggest hit, is ‘Southern Gothic.’
I am picking it for this week’s #FreedomMusicFriday for a number of reasons…
Effete cosmopolitan sophisticates love to look down on people in “flyover country” and in the South as being backward rednecks who bitterly “cling to guns or religion.”
Well so be it.
Guns are “liberty’s teeth.” Independent, individual, private ownership of weapons is the single-greatest guarantor, if any guarantor there be, of ongoing freedom. And people in the South own lots of guns.
Religion, for people who are religious, represents a locus of allegiance higher than the state. Even if a religious person is also patriotic, they tend to list their allegiance as “God, family, and country…in that order.” That is a sentiment you will hear frequently south of the 38th parallel.
Family too—another thing that has been of longstanding special importance in the South—creates another sphere of sovereignty outside the state.
None of that sits well with a statist who wants the state to be everyone’s first, last, and only allegiance, but there it is.
Southern people are also among the most self-reliant in the country. If civilization were to melt down tomorrow, you would not ask someone from Brooklyn their advice on how to survive. You would ask someone from Arkansas. And that sort of self-reliance certainly constitutes another form of freedom
These are all among the reasons why our urbane betters look down on Southern people…and their pesky love of freedom.
And yet…
The last couple decades have hit the South quite hard. The de-Christianization of Western civilization is accelerating, and though it is not as far along in the South, it is having an impact there too. So is economic globalism. And with economic downturns come anomie and addiction—opioids, alcohol, and worse.
‘Southern Gothic’ is a lament for what is happening to this part of the country, and an elegy for what has already been lost. The lyrics are moving, the music is fantastic, and Tyminski’s voice is truly stunning. (To get a real sense of that, listen to the acoustic version of the song below).
The setting…
Blackbird on the old church steeple
Spanish moss hanging in the setting sun
Every house house has got a bible and a loaded gun
The decline of religion and morals…
We've got preachers and politicians
Round here its kinda hard to tell which one
Is gonna do more talking with a crooked tongueWe've got a church on every corner
So why does heaven feel so far awayGood fences make good neighbors
But good neighbors make good lovers too
When your man ain't home any man will do
Addiction…
Turns the whisky 'bout as sweet as sin
Every drunk in town can sing a brown bag hymnHigh on homegrown, smokin' that brimstone
I won’t spoil the rest. Listen to the whole thing!
Update: #FreedomMusicFriday elsewhere…
Not sure what is is today, as those great philosophers, Moe, Larry and Curly once said, I feel like the Sword of Damocles is hanging over my head. It starts with the backstabbin republicans signing onto what amounts to a 7 trillion dollar funding bill fully funding all of the democrats attacks on political opponents and a massive growth in the fbi and irs. It does overflow into religion who for years have let us down. Today it seems when we needed these people the most they helped us the least, in fact they have completed the true definition of Judas. J.Goodrich
Thank you, I have never heard of him. This was a good song and an interesting video. That album is now in my playlist, going to have to spend some time with it. Growing up in the rust belt of Appalachia I can certainly relate to this. Many of our small towns have become a choice between drugs or Jesus. Oh, and I also share your affinity for Alison Krauss. My favorite is "I'll Fly Away".