Country Mike Blog

Trip To The Stockyards

Mike Sudhalter  |  July 28, 2009

Fort Worth Stockyards

A few weeks ago, I listed all of the states, 1 through 50, based on country music. Some of you had opinions on that, saying your state should have been higher on the list.

Another question would be which city has the best country music scene. Obviously, Nashville comes to mind because it's all in one place - Lower Broadway. Austin has a strong Texas Country presence, as do San Marcos, Lubbock, New Braunfels and College Station - but none of those places have the sheer volume of honky-tonks right near each other that Nashville does.

Fort Worth is probably Nashville West, in terms of its Historic Stockyards district, where I'll be this weekend. I haven't been there in seven years, and it should be a great experience to check it out. I will definitely keep y'all posted on the upcoming trip to the Stockyards and Billy Bob's Texas, the world's largest honky-tonk.

As for the Texas Music Charts, Texans-turned Nashville artists Jack Ingram and Pat Green are One-Two with "Barefoot and Crazy" and "What I'm For."

The best song in the Top 10 might be James Lann's "Honky Tonk Two-Steppin' Queen." Definitely, the most country-sounding tune.

Is country music a p.r. tool for rural living?

With the sheer number of pro-small town and rural pride anthems, I'm starting to think it is. Often times, country songs paint images of this lifestyle to be perfect, simple and straightforward. It may mention the hard work that goes along with living in the country, but rarely do the songs convey that theme to the listeners.