Cover Story: Johnny’s dead, country lives on

Johnny Cash’s death this year could serve as a metaphor for the demise of traditional country music, but it would be a lie. While the world mourned the loss of the genre’s most recognizable icon, there were plenty of signs pointing to the continued vitality of country music. And fueling the public’s attention was a healthy dose of good ol’ fashioned controversy, worthy of Johnny himself.

When Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks made her comment about George W. Bush in London and sparked an uproar, it exposed a grand misconception about country music fans. For years, they’ve been stereotyped as a homogenous group — semi-rural, conservative, middle- to lower-class — which is simply wrong. While many people — egged on by country radio DJs — condemned the Dixie Chicks, destroying CDs and vowing to never support them again, others expressed support for Maines’ right to express her opinions. And some even agreed with her. Meanwhile, country found a new archetypal redneck in Toby Keith, who embroiled Maines in a silly war of words. The furor did not prevent the Chicks from packing arenas on tour, though. And eventually, everyone found something else to fight about.

Such as the 2003 Country Music Association Awards. Though CMA winners get selected by industry professionals, there’s typically a fairly predictable congruence between fan popularity and award winning. This year, however, Johnny Cash was posthumously honored by receiving three major awards, for an album and song that had never been played on mainstream country radio. Some fans went ballistic at this supposed betrayal of contemporary country. Who got shut out? Not Alan Jackson, the good-guy veteran, but Toby Keith, the apparent people’s choice du jour.

So where does country music stand today? If you were a Freudian, you might say Keith is the country’s Id, with his songs of warmongering, barroom partying and womanizing, while Jackson is country’s superego, offering more thought-provoking, rational and insightful music. If that’s the case, then country music has a strong and healthy ego, as fans get their kicks with Toby, and find their souls with Alan.

But, anyway, who needs a therapist when you’ve got a good jukebox?