I’ve taken some recent heat from friends and family for being overly negative about country music. I want to set the record straight: I love country music. I don’t think I need to explain it any further than that. But I’ll try.

I don’t love EVERYTHING about country music. Taken at face value, popular country music is the most insipid pop music on the planet–even more pedestrian and hackneyed than the stuff labeled simply as “pop music.” Keep in mind that popular does not necessarily mean bad. For instance, Garth Brooks is one of my favorite performers and Garth is very nearly the most popular singer of all time.

In my estimation, country music has it all: the heartbreak of the blues, the uplift of gospel, the virtuosity of jazz, the regional flavor of bluegrass, the tradition of folk and the hard edge of rock ‘n’ roll. But not all country songs reach the potential of the genre. In fact, few do. That’s a shame, but it’s to be expected.

So what country music do I like? Seeing no particular genre or label that suits my taste, I created my own: Ballz Country.

Ballz Country (n.): um…well, I don’t really have a definition yet. I need some help.

At the moment, it’s one of those “I know it when I hear it” sort of things, but I’m still feeling out the boundaries. It would be easy to just say this is “southern rock,” but it needs to be more inclusive than that. Let’s say Lynyrd Skynyrd is at one end of the range. Some of their songs would certainly qualify at “Ballz Country,” but not all of them do. And I don’t want this to be a total Skynyrd genre. And while some bluegrass can be Ballzy, most of it isn’t. Ditto with singer/songwriter country, which is full of gritty, tough, mean songs, but might not be performed in a way that connotes “Ballz.”

So without clear boundaries to guide us, here are some representative tunes.

“Choctaw Bingo” by James McMurtry

This is my ultimate Ballz Country tune. He’s a singer/songwriter, but he plays a gritty electric guitar. He has a rockin’ band. Lyrics are key here – it’s sort of a redneck talking blues, complete with drug abuse, questionable parenting, trailers, guns and rural details.

“Drink in My Hand” by Eric Church

For the most part, the stuff you’ll hear on pop country radio doesn’t qualify for “Ballz” status. But there are some exceptions. Here is an exception that is a bit more aggressive than the standard country party song. And Ballz Country certainly has room for party songs. Good party songs.

“Let There Be Rock” by the Drive-By Truckers

Flirting with Skynyrd territory here, but I think some Truckers songs are the epitome of Ballz Country. This isn’t twangy, and there’s no pedal steel, but it’s gritty, honest, pure power. That’s Ballz.

“Sin Wagon” by The Dixie Chicks

I’ll admit to a weakness in my genre–not many women. This isn’t to say there aren’t Ballzy female country singers. In some ways, the women are Ballzier than the men throughout country music history. While someone like, say, Loretta Lynn has incredibly subversive and tough songs, I’m not sure I’d blast ‘em with the windows down on a midnight trail ride. So I guess message is important, but the music might be more important. Maybe?

“Copenhagen” by Robert Earl Keen

Here’s evidence that a song doesn’t have to have Marshall stacks to have Ballz. This is a jokey acoustic novelty song, but I think it’s clever enough to warrant some recognition, and the subject matter is certainly country.

So what say you? Have any suggestions?

For those of you with a Spotify account, I have a collaborative playlist going on. I have a bunch of songs in there already, but feel free to add or remove as you see fit. I only ask that if you do add or remove a song, email me at jbeals@freelancestar.com and let me know why.

Together, we can put the Ballz in country. Join me.

Ballz Country

The NBA is sometimes more entertaining because of what happens off the court. Have you seen the horrible suits rookies wear the the draft? How about Yi Jianlian showing off his post moves against furniture? And who can forget LeBron James eviscerating every fan in his home state by choosing to leave the Cleveland Cavs on national television? You don’t get more entertaining extracurriculars in any other sport.

(Just so you’re clear on where I stand, The Decision was horrible. I watched along with everyone else, but you shouldn’t create an entire TV show just so you can flip the bird to a city, even if it is Cleveland.)

It all goes to show that (thanks be to God) the NBA is ham-fisted when it comes to the off-the-court stuff. It’s fitting that the equally ham-fisted Goodie Mob has a song featured in an NBA commercial. Oh, I’m sorry. I meant Goodie Mob feat. Cee-Lo Green. You know, the guy from Goodie Mob.

Cee-Lo (not feat. Goodie Mob) has been on one recently, winning awards for “F*ck you” and flaunting his cross-dressing tendencies as a coach on “The Voice.”

I get that it’s for the name recognition, but could you imagine being one of the other Goodie Mobbers? You’ve seen your (friend?) and bandmate on stage during the Super Bowl halftime show with Madonna. You saw him have huge hit songs as a solo artist and a member of another group. He’s on an insanely popular TV show.

Imagine introducing The Beatles as “The Beatles featuring Paul McCartney.” John would have been pissed. Ringo would have, well…Ringo wouldn’t have cared. Ringo was lucky to be along for the ride.

I can’t imagine the rest of the Mob being as happy as Ringo about this development. Goodie Mob’s first album after Cee-Lo left was titled “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show.” I’ll let you guess who the monkey is.

For those of us who actually know Goodie Mob, the whole thing is cringeworthy. But it’s so fitting that it’s all happening during the NBA playoffs.

The NBA: where ham-fisted, awkward entertainment happens. Feat. Cee-Lo Green.

Chuck Brown has passed on to a better place, although it’s hard to imagine a better place to be than a Chuck Brown show.

Take the time and watch every part of this documentary. Amazing.

And this one:

I’m still a little stuck on Levon Helm’s death, but he had a big enough impact as a musician when he was alive that he influenced a few other artists. Influenced them to the point of writing songs about him. Before he died.Here are three that I could find. Maybe you have more?

“Levon” by Elton John

I’m not so sure this one is about Levon, but Elton John said he named the song and the titular character after Levon Helm.

“The Man Behind the Drums” by Robert Earl Keen

Sounds like a chronicling of Keen’s trip to one of Levon’s famous “Midnight Rambles” at his studio in Woodstock, NY.

“Listening to Levon” by Marc Cohn

I have a soft spot for the “Walking in Memphis” guy.

It looks like all 3,000 of the free tickets to Alan Jackson’s May 20 concert at Louisa County High School are gone. You might notice I’m posting this at about 10:10 a.m. Tickets went on “sale” at 10 a.m. at ticketfly.com and appear to have sold out by about 10:03 a.m. That is Jimmy Buffett quick! While the tickets were technically free, there was a $3.50 service charge per ticket. Not a bad deal to see one of the greatest country singers of all time in a very unlikely setting.

So congrats to those of you who got them, and I’m sorry for those who did not. Let’s hope most of them went to deserving Louisa residents and not some sleazy ticket brokers.

I think it’s time for me to start giving back. There was only one reason I became sounds editor of the Free Lance-Star: to give back to the Fredericksburg community I love. I just haven’t felt like doing it. Until now. After a successful dentist appointment this morning (no flossing admonitions!), I now feel that I am capable of giving back in grand and unexpected ways.

I give my gift in the form of a service. I am willing to use my vast stores of musical knowledge to improve your life, as if I don’t already do that. But this time, it’s personal.

Send me a song and I will dissect it / comment on it / rate it / explain why it makes me retch. I’m talking any song–it could be your favorite or the arch-nemesis of your ears. No matter what it is, I promise to question your taste. Or maybe I’ll love it, in which case you should probably question your own taste.

So there it is, my service to you. Submit your songs below, or email me at jbeals@freelancestar.com.

UPDATE: As of 10:02 a.m., it appears that all the FREE tickets are gone. (They came available at 10 a.m.) Other tickets are available for purchase.

Now that Alan Jackson and Capitol Records have decided to give away half of the 6,000 tickets available for his May 20 concert at Louisa County High School, how can you get them?

As of 10 a.m. today, Mineral Mayor Pam Harlowe said there are still about 60 tickets left for purchase at the Mineral Municipal Building. The cost is $42.50 and sales are cash only. The 60 tickets remain from the town’s original allotment of 1000.

But if you want free tickets, you’ll have to wait until April 18th–Wednesday–at 10 a.m. That’s when the free tickets will be available at ticketfly.com. Ticketfly was also selling tickets to the concert, but has suspended sales. I don’t know if they have sold out, nor do I know whether the free tickets will be subject to service or shipping fees.

Free tickets will not be available at the Mineral Municipal Building or at any other outlets, so you will have to get online to snag ‘em.

If you have any questions, you can call the Town of Mineral at 540-894-5100. The Mineral Municipal Building address is 312 Mineral Ave., Mineral, VA.

The Punch Brothers, the ultra-progressive sorta-bluegrass band that features Fredericksburg’s own Chris Eldridge on guitar, is working the media circuit hard to promote their new album “Who’s Feeling Young Now?” Their most recent appearances include Late Night with David Letterman last night and a trip to The Onion’s A.V. Club undercover experiment.

“This Girl” – Late Show with David Letterman, 4/4/12

The trip to the A.V. Club was a nice surprise, as they decided to cover The Cars’ hit “Just What I Needed.” The Brothers stay pretty true to the original, but they do it with acoustic instruments. No small feat, and a pretty clever arrangement for what is basically a novelty gig.

The Punch Brothers cover “Just What I Needed” by The Cars.

Facebook: Join the discussion and see what others think about the concert on our facebook page.

Unless you are a resident of the Town of Mineral, VA, you will have to buy a ticket to see country superstar Alan Jackson play live in the Louisa County High School parking lot Sunday May 20 at 5 p.m.

They are on sale through Ticketfly.

Now that the nuts and bolts are out of the way, a comment:

Nervy. You might have noticed that the cheapest general admission ticket you can buy will set you back $49.97. That’s pretty expensive, even for Alan Jackson. The cheapest ticket to see AJ in August at Wolftrap–perhaps the best outdoor concert venue in the country–is $39.75. The Louisa ticket is particularly expensive if you consider that this was a “free concert” won in an Internet contest sponsored by eventful.com.

But it looks like Jackson and his record company, Capitol Records, are playing it by the letter of the law here. Mineral is a tiny town, and only (about) 450 people will get into the show for free. Seems like a bit of a hose job considering the second-place city in the contest was Kansas City, population 510,245. I’m not sure they would have gotten away with a free concert for fewer than 500 in a city that size.

Instead, the show is in Mineral. Oh wait. It’s actually in Louisa. But you have to be a Mineral resident to get a free ticket. Mineral residents can pick them up at the Mineral Municipal Building.

The way this is set up, Jackson and Capitol Records will put on an event that could generate at least $233,750 if it sells out at the lowest ticket price. The event is being planned for a maximum crowd of 6,000.

According to Mineral Mayor Pam Harlowe, Jackson’s team estimates it will cost about $200,000 to produce the show. That might not leave much left over for a concert that purports to be a fundraiser for the Louisa Education Foundation. Proceeds are supposed to go toward repairing the schools that were damaged in the August earthquake.

Fredericksburg’s own Chris Eldridge showed up in a New York Times video tribute to recently deceased banjo master Earl Scruggs. Check it out here. Noam Pikelny, one of the banjo players featured in the video, plays in the Punch Brothers with Eldridge.

I should mention that Chris’ father, Ben Eldridge, is also an iconic banjo player. Ben is from Fredericksburg, and he is a founding (and current) member of The Seldom Scene. Ben is an Earl Scruggs disciple, and has earned his own spot among the greatest to ever play the instrument.

For another, somewhat  connected take on the loss of Scruggs, banjo player Chris Pandolfi has an excellent post on his blog about what Scruggs meant to him. Pandolfi and Chris Eldridge have a long musical history together, and they were founding members of Pandolfi’s Infamous Stringdusters. Pandolfi mentions getting some good advice from Ben Eldridge in the aforementioned blog post.

For proof of just how amazing the banjo became thanks to Scruggs, here are some videos:

Earl Scruggs

Ben Eldridge

Noam Pikelny

Chris Pandolfi

And why not: