Outlaws

(image taken from The Examiner)

(image taken from Harfang Perdu)

For those who are in the New York metropolitan area, or those beyond with an interest and with access to a reliable internet connection, WKCR radio station is in the midst of their annual Country Music Festival; curated and presented thematically, the focus this year is Outlaw Country and general Progressive Country from the 1970s. Rebellious and defiant crooners such as Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings are featured prominently during the three-day event. With the spring weather creeping assuredly towards summer, the unique twang of Southern-inspired country rock is welcome as the windows are down and the wind caresses hair, songs where wanton men bemoan forlorn and chilling love with their women, where wanton men bemoan their ever-emptying liquor bottles, where wanton men combat the fabricated Nashville sound, where wanton men seek solace and answers in the wide open spaces of a new frontier, both terrestrial and in the sense of the then-popular notion of the cosmic cowboy. Tune in the dial and give this frequently neglected slice of American history and culture a listen.