A Salute to Old Dominion

Killers, Open Country, and Gun Smoke: Robert Dean’s The Red Seven Playlist

Farce the Music contributor Robert Dean is not only our resident gonzo reviewer of all things punk, hardcore, and Americana, he's also an author. His novel The Red Seven (which I'm about to start reading) is a "Southern Gothic western" full of violence, revenge, and intrigue. Here, he provides a soundtrack (and a Spotify playlist!) for his book. -Trailer

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When you write a book, you’re alone, like all the time. You spend so many hours locked away; it’s just you, your thoughts and many times, the music. Music is central to my creative process. It means the world to me. I’m always thinking about music, about what a song means, how it feels, the texture of the song to the moment.

When I wrote The Red Seven, I tried to capture a spirit. I wanted the main hombre, The Ghost to be ruthless, but I wanted to give him gravitas – a sense that he thrived in chaos. I listened to music that had guts, soul – stuff that held weight in its hands.

The Ghost, along with the villains of the book aren’t paper tigers, they’re layered characters. Music helped visualize and give flaws to some of them. Maybe it was a nod to Keith Richards, or a twang of Otis Rush – all of it’s in there, in the words. 

The Red Seven isn’t just about revenge and killing; it’s about the human experience and what loss does to someone. It’s about how losing someone you love in senseless was changes how you function, how you feel. That’s at the heart of The Red Seven. Is it a fast paced page turner? Hell yeah, it is. But, it’s all got moments of reality that even though they’re from back in the day, those moments never change – they’re everlasting because we’re human, and the animalistic spirit never leaves us. Whether fucking or fighting, we revert; it’s in our DNA. That’s a symbolic way to look at The Ghost – stalking with purpose. 

This playlist I’ve created reflects my moods when creating the book when creating this world. I’m not wild about contemporary music invading a time and place in the past. But, this playlist represents what the book feels like. What the scenes feel like. What bars, what sex, what violence sounds like. I wanted to take a musical journey and take the readers of the book along for the ride. So, if you’ve got an ache for a new book to read, pick up a copy of The Red Seven and pop on this playlist. Maybe you’ll see some shades you’d never imagined while driving deep into a vicious world.

Please check out my Spotify playlist. I spent a shitload of time on this.

~Robert Dean

Vengeance Gonna Be My Name – Slackeye Slim
Wayfaring Stranger - Jack White
Can the Circle be Unbroken – The Carter Family
Lungs - Townes Van Zandt
I Saw The Light- Hank Williams
Sins Of My Father – Tom Waits
Sleepwalk - Santo and Johnny
To be Treated Right - Terry Reid
A Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum
Midnight Rider – The Allman Brothers
Death Letter Blues -Son House
Loving Cup – Rolling Stones
‪I Can’t Quit you Baby - Otis Rush

‪It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels – Kitty Wells
Nights in White Satin – The Moody Blues
Loan Me A Dime - Boz Scaggs & Duane Allman
Rollin’ and Tumblin’ - Elmore James
First Time I Met The Blues – Buddy Guy
Machine Gun - Jimi Hendrix
Angel Flying Too Close to The Ground – Willie Nelson
Life By The Drop - Doyle Bramhall

Old Dominion vs. Hank Sr.

Crud Report Country Headlines 2-16: Stapleton, Hunt, Aldean, Bobby Bones, etc.

Brandi Carlile, Punch Brothers, etc Perform "Lovesick Blues"

Which Luke Do You Prefer?

Cole and Luke Memes

Monday Morning Memes: Florida-Georgia Line, Dallas Davidson

Obviously

Well, There's Our Answer

Hank Prognosticates

Monday Morning Memes: Jake Owen, Hank Williams, Alabama, etc.

Submitted by J. Christopher Smith

Submitted by J. Christopher Smith

You Say You Want an Evolution

Happy Hanksgiving!

Monday Morning Memes: Cole Swindell, Corb Lund, etc.

Submitted by J Christopher Smith

Submitted by Big Damn Heroes Band

Wrong Hank?

Hank Williams Museum Commemorative CD

By Johnny Edlin
Tradional country and honky-tonk musician Joey Allcorn is staying very busy these days. The Georgia native has a new album due out in 2014, but it's the current project Allcorn is working on that is getting a lot of attention.

Not long ago Joey stopped in at the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. What he found there amongst all the Williams memorabilia (including that famous baby blue cadillac) was the inspiration for a tribute album. The Hank Williams Museum Commemorative CD will feature, Joey Allcorn, Rachel Brooke, Arty Hill, David Church, Andy Norman, Jake Penrod and Bobby Tomberlin.

The album will be available only exclusively through the museum. All the money brought in from the album sales will go directly to the museum. Allcorn recently told me the money from the album sales will also help the museum to do projects that promote Hanks memory and legacy.

The album will feature original material as well as, a new recording of "The Death of Hank Williams," "Midnight," which I learned is the last song Hank ever sang and also "Death Is Only A Dream," which according to a 1952 Country Song Roundup interview was Hanks favorite song.

Most of us are broke all the time but we still manage to spend that extra $20 a month on something we do not need. I urge you to spend that extra $20 this month on something worth while. Skip that trip to Taco Bell with the girlfriend, buy your scratch off lottery tickets next week and help make sure this tribute album happens. Hank Williams is considered by many the greatest singer/songwriter of all time. Help make sure his memory and legacy is not forgotten.

To help ensure that this album sees the light of day and to help the museum, I encourage you to visit  www.theHankWilliamsMuseum.net and click on the Hank Record link. There are some awesome rewards you will get based on your contribution. Go see for yourself.

Co-Writers to Crappiness of Song Ratio?

I realize this argument only works in a vacuum, so take this graphic with a grain of salt. 

Many classic songs were written by 2-3 people and on the flip side,
"Achy Breaky Heart" was written by Don Von Tress alone.

Still….

Monday Morning Memes: T-Pain, Dallas Davidson, More Trucks

Lyrical Satirical: Maybe That's What Ol' Hank Had in Mind

I wrote this tongue-in-cheek lyric more than a decade ago with Tim McGraw being the unspoken target. Sadly, it rings truer than ever now.

Maybe That's What Ol' Hank Had in Mind

(©2001) FTM Satires

[v.1]

They slap a hat on any guy

with a drawl and handsome grin

Produce a half pop album

to sell in the country bin

Book him for the Leno show

then a grueling two month tour

Promoting his big single

It'll go Top 30 for sure

[Lift]

Some folks say it's a crying shame

what's been done to Music Row

They should keep their opinions

Cause some things we'll never know

[Chorus]

Maybe that's what ol' Hank wanted

But he never got the chance

to leave the Opry stage behind

To shake his hips and dance

So Nashville looks like Hollywood

and country songs don't whine

It's alright 'cause

maybe that's what ol' Hank had in mind

[v.2]

Can't you see the old troubador

with a jet plane and limousine

Laser shows at his concerts

and talks shows the days between

Cutting songs about making love

Then primping for photo shoots

Who's to say that ain't country

'cause we don't really know the truth

Maybe that's what ol' Hank wanted

but he never got the chance

to leave the honky tonks behind

to shake his hips and dance

So Nashville looks like Hollywood

and country songs don't whine

it's alright 'cause

maybe that's what ol' Hank had in mind

[Tag]

Some folks say it's a crying shame

what's been done to Music Row

but I'll keep my opinion

cause some things I'll never know