Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Song Review - "Dear Country Music" by Lars Pluto and The Reavers


Our recent Silverball Country Awards – “The Silver Balls” saw us recognise Lars Pluto as our Male Singer of the year.  His Georgia accent means that anything he sings will always sound country, but with Lars it goes much deeper than that – as his new singe “Dear Country Music” explains


Starting off as a country lament this song very quickly -  having firmly established the theme - kicks up a gear into a very up tempo country number, with the unmistakable traditional sounds of tick tock percussion, fiddle and pedal steel

There can be no doubt when listening to this that not only is Lars the real deal in terms of his country sound but also that he believes strongly in the country sound being the Real Deal -  there's certainly nothing electronic on this track, just traditional country sounds for a country song lamenting and demanding to know how and why the music that is called country music seems to have changed so much

Through the song Lars switches from questioning and mocking the almost plastic country fan image of trucker and trucker cap to pleading with country music for an answer, for an explanation for the change from the old days, for what has perhaps been lost

If you want to know how country music should be Lars will tell you throughout the song - the themes, the instruments, the style - but it doesn't come across as a lesson, it doesn't come across even as ranting because “Dear Country Music” actually comes across as a feel good look back at traditional country music. I first heard Lars sing this live and felt from that first time that it is very listenable - you cannot listen to this without tapping your foot and singing along, although with some of the language used maybe don’t sing it in front of Grandma!Top of Form

Lars himself describes the song as

 a letter to the greatest love of my life which seems to be going through an identity crisis
And reminds us that

“somewhere right now there's a honky tonk band tuning up and getting ready to pick and grin all night long for the hard working and hard drinking folks who like to hear their country music the way it's meant to sound. No snap tracks, no auto tune, no sampled drum beats, no dishonest swindlers trying to sell us on how "country" they are. It's three chords and the truth. So tell the truth.

Three chords and the truth – the way Country Music should be?  Lars Pluto thinks so

“Dear Country Music by Lars Pluto and the Reavers is released on Thursday 24 January – Lars’ 40th Birthday
Now Y’all know what to buy him as a present!

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