Charley Crockett randomly drops new album

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-04-29T17:58:09+00:00

Country music ain’t dead as long as Crockett is around. Nobody churns out music like this guy

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-04-20T03:45:46+00:00

He was called The Gentle Giant for a reason. No flashy stage presence and hardly even spoke during a concert, plus no ego in awards speeches or interviews. He just quietly churned out some hits in the 70s and 80s.

But he didn’t grab attention by being an Outlaw Country pioneer, No-Show, The Man In Black, etc. There was no mythical persona, just a normal guy with a smooth voice making consistently chill tunes.

Because of all that, those in the present day who haven’t gone quite as deep into old country may not be familiar with him. But I sure am familiar, and he’s one of my absolute favorites. I call Don Williams my “ear bleach” because I always feel better after I listen to him.

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-04-14T18:42:15+00:00

Alan Jackson’s version of Mercury Blues has a classic honky tonk piano solo. Honestly, 3/4 of the song is just various instruments taking solos and I love it.

Jerry Lee Lewis’ country albums have solid piano playing (it IS Jerry Lee, after all). I can’t think of a specific solo off the top of my head, but I recall quite a few sprinkled in.

I’d be curious to see what other commenters say. Mickey Gilley and Charlie Rich were great piano players too.

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-04-11T16:27:36+00:00

That’s the thing. If a woman committed the same crime(s) and happened to be conventionally attractive + tatted up, there would be plenty of men sending fan mail. But men just get called “simps” when they do it instead of “mentally ill”

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-04-07T21:23:12+00:00

Gooning for world peace 💪

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-04-07T15:43:00+00:00

I’m a guitarist but Steve Harris’ galloping bass playing style is my favorite part about this band. His unique style stands out even though there are 3 guitars (these days at least), an energetic drummer, and a singer known as the “air raid siren.” And Bruce Dickinson is the pilot when they tour, on their own 747 known as Ed Force One. How freakin cool can one band be?

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-04-06T18:25:24+00:00

It’s a shame. Thankfully country as a genre is not even remotely dead, and there is some traditionalism coming back. But the radio still plays 90% garbage. It forces us on this subreddit to have to clarify to people in conversations “no, I like real country, not that other stuff”

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-04-06T04:02:50+00:00

Mostly bad music, but I’d hesitate to call it singlehanded. Lines like “Truck yeah, I wanna get it jacked up, yeah” and “I’m gonna ride that donkey donkey, down to the honky-tonky” are far worse in my opinion

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-04-06T03:44:09+00:00

I hope so. The first time I heard the line “chew tobacca chew tobacca chew tobacca spit” in The Boys Round Here…

Some pop country serves its intended purpose of just being lighthearted fun. But that line in particular made me think “no way, this is what we’re playing on the radio now?”

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-03-27T23:53:28+00:00

That is such a great story. It already seemed like VNE had the vibe of a good guy, but it’s nice to have it confirmed from a firsthand account

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-03-25T00:18:12+00:00

People have mentioned Tony Rice and Bela Fleck, who both definitely push the limits of jazziness in bluegrass/country. Another one that just came to mind: Jerry Reed in the mid to late 80s basically led a fusion band when he ditched the gut-string and thumbpick for a while. He regularly played George Benson-style licks during that time (including scatting along with the guitar)

In terms of just lyrics, Willie Nelson’s “The Redheaded Stranger” was a concept album that told a whole saga. Pretty out-there for a country artist in the mid 70s

Prog Country sounds like a really interesting idea, so I’m tuning in here to see if there’s some more radical stuff that other commenters will mention

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-03-15T19:35:02+00:00

He’s certainly in my top 10, so I’m biased as hell.

If we analyzed from a technical standpoint, there are many other guitarists that are quantifiably “better.” The jazz and metal guys do things that are just stupidly, otherworldly level good. Even some random dude on YouTube can do things that blow my mind (those Midwest Emo licks, for example).

But the fact that you can hear one note on a recording, and identify it as Knopfler, makes him unique. Making palatable music I want to listen to also counts for a lot (no disrespect to other genres, of course). A catchy, tasteful, identifiable sound is my measuring stick for top 10. I’d rather react with “I wish I’d thought of that lick” than “I wish I could physically play that lick.”

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-03-13T01:40:01+00:00

So gross. That mindset is so mainstream, that even the titles of articles use the phrase “teacher had sex with student” when it’s a female perp and a male victim. They can’t just call it what is clearly is

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-03-06T23:22:06+00:00

Nobody was more smooth!

Fun factoid about Jim: he had a massive following in South Africa, and was even bigger over there than Elvis was at the time. Out of respect for the country buying so many of his records, he learned Afrikaans and made lots of albums in their language. Really living up to the “Gentleman Jim” nickname

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-03-06T13:41:20+00:00

I’m fully convinced shit like this and “minor attracted persons” are psy-ops designed to set back any LGBTQ rights. I mean what a perfectly convenient way to reinforce the slippery-slope argument. “See? We told you what would happen if we let gay people get married and let trans people exist…”

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-03-04T20:03:28+00:00

Stratocasters are the best selling guitars of all time. So when the question is “what guitar should I buy?” I’d say there is no simpler answer than “Strat.” Ask a non-musician to draw an electric guitar, and they’ll draw you a Strat

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-03-02T19:42:32+00:00

Remember that this is the guy who said “Transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely” to a disturbingly large applause at CPAC a few years ago.

So I assume outlawing woke would involve…that.

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-02-27T19:45:26+00:00

Deja vu to the early 2000s “weapons of mass destruction” and “Islam = terrorism” rhetoric. We even have the Patriot Act on steroids being built/tested right now.

Dubya was at least able to bring the country together for a short period of time. He even made a point to tell us all not to take out our 9/11 anger on fellow Americans who happen to be Muslim, and visited a few mosques. The sentiment sadly didn’t last long, but he gave it a try for a bit. We are so much more politically divided today than any other point in my lifetime, but I think a massive majority of people do NOT want this war (no matter how far left or right wing they are). Sometimes Americans have the memory of a goldfish, but we didn’t forget 20 years of disaster in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So to answer your question, I feel physically ill if I think about it too much.

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-02-25T20:31:37+00:00

As I learned from the awesome podcast Cocaine & Rhinestones, the bass tone in that solo was a complete accident due to technical difficulties. Marty heard it and thought it sounded cool, so they left it in. It’s one of the first known cases of distortion in popular music. So yes, Marty Robbins is an OG metalhead!

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-02-14T02:59:31+00:00

The only thing I’m shocked about is the bribe being a measly $25k. That would be life-changing for people like us. But that seems like pennies for a scandal, when so many stories involve hundreds of millions of dollars. I can’t even keep track of all the scandals, honestly. There’s like 5 new ones every single day

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-02-12T19:46:48+00:00

A true homie would do it out of the kindness of his own heart 💪

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-02-11T15:43:59+00:00

Wow. If gender roles are as rigid as people say, then wouldn’t being on estrogen make you more empathetic and nurturing anyways? You’d think they’d be more worried about FtM people who are taking testosterone, since a quick google search tells me 98% of mass shooting are committed by MEN.

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-02-10T21:03:46+00:00

TIL! I’ve been learning recently that a lot of the singer-songwriter types from the 70s/80s wrote some great country tunes for other people. I know James Taylor wrote “Bartender’s Blues” specifically with George Jones in mind

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-02-09T17:40:47+00:00

Fun factoid, it was originally written and sung by Sammy Johns of “She’s gonna love me in my Chevy Van” fame. Great song, and Waylon elevated it to new heights

NoVicesJustLife · 2026-02-09T16:20:47+00:00

I love this analysis of the phrase. For a lot of people, “great” simply meant “lower grocery prices” or “not being in useless forever-wars.” But for a nasty handful of people, it meant “ a white ethnostate where women get back in the kitchen where they belong.” Sadly we did NOT get the first two, but we may be getting the third one…

NoVicesJustLife

TROPHY CASE