Liking the Music, Not the Scene

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My fifth concert of the year was last night (2/25). I saw Whitey Morgan & the 78's and Cody Jinks doing a co-headlining show. While the music was quite enjoyable, I wasn't very enamored with the "scene." Morgan and Jinks are both part of what could loosely be labeled "outlaw." To me, "outlaw" isn't a genre, it's a scene. Now, to be fair, there have been "scenes" in music for ages. Sinatra had the bobby soxers. Beatlemania had its own group of screaming girls and boys who wanted to get haircuts like the Beatles'. In England, there were mods and rockers (and I'll have to defer to British individuals to adequately explain that). The 60's brought the hippies, free love, LSD, and all those other things. And, of course, the 70's gave us disco and punk, where you can first see a music genre and a "scene" around that music defined by the same word. Given that Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson were named "outlaws" about that time (the tag came from their 1976 album Wanted! The Outlaws), maybe that's why people think it's a music genre as well as a "scene." Whatever the reason for "outlaw" becoming a genre of music these days, the "scene" didn't impress me. In fact, it downright scared me. In nearly 50 years of going to concerts I had NEVER been searched with a metal detector before going in a venue....until last night. That was a warning light. Also, I joked to a friend later that I was probably the only person at the club (male or female) without half a dozen tattoos. Seriously, many in the crowd looked like they had just walked off the set of the first Billy Jack movie, Born Losers or the original Mad Max. I'm sure they're fine individuals, and I'm not doing the proverbial "judging a book by its cover" here. But there's something amiss if even club security was taking precautions. (And, for the record, this was my third concert at Headliners, and I was not searched, wanded, or asked whether I was packing knives or guns before I entered with the other two!) So, yes, the "scene" didn't exactly thrill me. Cody Jinks' music, however, is another story. Co-headlining with Whitey Morgan, Jinks began the show after a short opening set by noted songwriter Billy Don Burns (who is a Louisville resident who's had people ranging from Willie Nelson to Connie Smith to Johnny Cash record his songs). He played for nearly an hour and a half, emphasizing songs from his new album The Adobe Sessions. While he may have that "outlaw"/"biker bar" look, his music definitely has its roots in country music. The highlights included "David," a heartbreaking song about a friend who was killed in a car wreck, "Rock and Roll" -- no relation to the Led Zeppelin song, but a tune mourning the changes in one's life and how that effects his friendships -- and what may be his best-known song, "Cast No Stones." Morgan came out to sing with Jinks on this fabulous tune about Christian hypocrisy and judgmental attitudes ("so put down your Bible, or let me get mine"). He was my favorite performance of the night. Morgan played last, performing for about the same length of time that Jinks had played. His songs are predominantly about drinking ("I just move from one drinking song to the next," he commented between tunes), and he does project a "tough" attitude. At one point he complained about a fight that had broken out at one point (I couldn't see it from where I was standing), saying, "This is about the 12th show in a row where a fight's broken out at my show." About half of Morgan's set was covers. He did Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" quite well. Jinks returned to the stage to sing George Jones' "Choices" and again at the conclusion of the show, the Marshall Tucker Band's "Fire on the Mountain." One of the best-received songs of the night from any performer was Morgan's cover of the Townes Van Zandt song "Waiting Around to Die." The music was good. I wish I could have had it without the accompanying "scene."