With so few terrestrial television stations, you learn to appreciate the ones you have. I'm no country fan, but since there have been many slow periods where there's nothing on, I've seen a lot of this new subchannel called The Country Network, which in the past year or two renamed itself Zuus Country. (And what the hell kind of a name is "Zuus?") Stupid.
Anyhoo, there are some things I like about it. First of all, if you can dodge the informercials that they air from time to time, all Zuus Country does is play music video after music video -- you know, the way MTV was before they stopped airing music that's part of its name. The other thing I like is that the don't just play mainstream country, which frequently is pop these days. There is a two-hour show which they air a couple nights a week called "Americana," which shows videos of not pop-country acts like Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum, but folk and roots and bluegrass bands and artists. It's the "country" I can dig that burnishes the hipster airs I have for myself, while at the same time allows me to sneer at the redneck attitude pervasive among the type of country most people like.
One of the acts I would like to hear more of is a group called The Humming House. I don't remember the name of the song and video that got me hooked on them, but the breakdown of their song has them dancing something kind of close to hip-hop. Meanwhile, there was another song that was good and downbeat which I had forgotten. I remembered it once, thinking, "Yep, that was a good song -- what's the name of it? Yeah, I forget." But while flipping through the channels late this evening I saw it on tonight's "Americana." How fortuitous. This band is called Uncle Lucius, and its timely song is called "Keep The Wolves Away":
It's a very personal song of how the lead singer grew up in poverty, environmental disaster and corporate exploitation. And Uncle Lucius is promoting Feeding America with the video. Good song, great message, fantastic deeds.
Oh, and also an awesome band from a show that should become must-watch for me.
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