Country-rock is commonly seen as the domain of the Red State Republican, with such luminaries as Bush-endorser Toby Keith producing flag-waving anthems which sing the praises of the Tough American such as Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American): "And you'll be sorry that you messed with The U.S. of A./Cause we'll put a boot in your ass - It's the American way."
It's also the American Way to question whether authority knows what it is doing.
Questioning Authority is the theme of Kakistocracy, a new liberal-oriented country-rock CD by The Spicewood Seven released by Austin Records. It's a yeoman effort, honestly performed with good production values. It may lack the polish of better-funded productions, but such polish would only dilute the angry populist message of Kakistocracy: We're being played for fools by fools - and we want to know why.
Are the Spicewood Seven seeking to turn things around all by themselves? No. "This song won't change the world" sings writer-producer and driving musical force Tommy Spurlock in "Prayer For The Living And The Dead," but the CD does ask a lot of overdue questions in 17 tracks.
"Did the White House tell a lie?" is one such question asked by the tune "Poor Boy."
Luke Powers - writing partner of Tommy Spurlock and singer of several of the tunes - is "a Perot independent sick of both parties" who feels that "everything is too big." He came up with Kakistocracy's concept thumbing through an old dictionary while drinking in a bar [something he no longer does].
What is Kakistocracy?
Kakistocracy is defined as "Government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens." One could certainly make a strong case that the governance of America is now in the hands of such people. A lot of people, both here in America and all across the world have asked why this is so. How could we allow this to happen?
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