What do politics, progressive thought and country music have in common? The answer is plenty, according to Mark Jackson, an associate professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University. Jackson contributed to and edited a book titled The Honky Tonk on the Left, which features essays by writers, including Jackson and MTSU Center for Popular Music Director Gregory Reish, on the stereotypes and stigmas surrounding country music and its stars, and progressive thought within the genre.
The book was published in May 2018 by the University of Massachusetts Press, but Jackson has been working on it for about four years.
“I had been playing around for a long time with the idea of writing about country music’s politics, and the University of Massachusetts set up a meeting with me to pitch them a project in 2014,” Jackson said. “This is the one I brought to them as part of their American Popular Music series.”
Jackson said that he was led to the idea due to his interest and research on folk musician Woody Guthrie, who composed “This Land Is Your Land,” a song focused on social justice in America.
“[Guthrie] started out playing old-time music and then began to compose many progressive lyrics using country standards as a kind of musical pattern,” Jackson said. “Other songwriters from the early era of country could also be considered as offering up some liberal commentary in song, even local musician Uncle Dave Macon. So I began to see a link between these musicians and more contemporary singers who can also be seen as progressive, such as Steve Earle.”
Each chapter is written by a different writer and focuses on different aspects of progressive thought in country music history, including “working-class feminism,” racial politics of country music, the political life of certain country stars and more.
“My book, which is an edited collection, works to lay out this under-appreciated vein of liberalism in country music,” Jackson said. “This topic is important for me in that I am a country music fan, and sometimes people who are not [country fans] make snap judgements and gross generalizations about this very American musical form.
“They sometimes dismiss it as being corny and dull, but at other times, it is charged as being homophobic, jingoistic, racist—really the list of negative characterization could go on and on,” Jackson added.
Jackson said that progressive thought in country music has existed from the formation of the genre to modern day and that country music was a huge part of his childhood.
“I am from Arkansas, and we did not live in a city or town,” Jackson said. “We lived in the country, and the music matched. Every morning, along with my standard breakfast of bacon, eggs and biscuits, I got a steady diet of Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, George Jones and Loretta Lynn.”
Many did not grow up in such an environment. Therefore, younger people often carry the stigma that all country music represents conservative ideals, and Jackson hopes his book can turn that idea on its head.
The Honky Tonk on the Left dives into a range of topics and artists, including racial integration within the country music industry, standing up to your man, “The Shotgun Marriage of Hip-Hop and Country Music,” “Johnny Cash, Rick Rubin, and the American Recordings;” Garth Brooks, Loretta Lynn, Webb Pierce and many others.
“When people who are often not really aware of the broad history and offerings of country dismiss it as one thing or another, it feels personal, and I wanted my readers to know that many political views can be found in this music,” Jackson said. “But I am not alone, for all my contributors also wanted to make this same argument. Together, I believe we have done a good job of exposing the progressive side of the music, and I hope readers will find the book valuable.”
Order a copy of The Honky Tonk on the Left at umass.edu, barnesandnoble.com or Apple Books.
