Oh, no! Lance is on his country music high horse again!

You mean the one where he thinks anything played on mainstream country radio is Satan’s spawn?

Yeah, that’s the high horse.

Yeah, he went to see that show at the Royal Palace Theatre Friday night, the one that was the fundraiser for the Christmas for Kids drive.

That’s the one. I noticed he had already posted a link to a Dale Watson song on his Facebook page after he got back.

What are you going to do? He truly believes if it ain’t twangy and is on mainstream radio then it ain’t country.

I suppose what really got him going was that Russ Varnell and the Too Country Band.

Yeah, I was there Friday and saw and overheard him talking to Russ about the state of country music today. I heard him compliment Russ when he made a reference to Kenny Chesney on stage and heard them both laugh at a joke about Taylor “Not so Swift.”

I just don’t get how Lance can’t like new country music. I mean it’s hip and happening and the stars are handpicked based on their looks so you get beautiful people singing beautiful music.

That’s not what Lance says. Lance says today’s country stars don’t have the work ethic like Hank Sr. and Lefty. He says the music isn’t the same, that it’s all mass-produced bubblegum swill. He’s always talking about these lesser-known performers who are constantly on the road and do it for the love of music and not the money.

Oh, man, that means he mentioned Wayne “The Train” Hancock and Dale Watson at least a half a dozen times in the conversation and probably talked about how he went to see the Drive-by Truckers in Richmond a couple of weeks ago. I can read him like a book.

Yeah, he mentioned that to Russ. Those two were thick as thieves and I think Lance was really impressed that Russ had played at the Continental Club in Austin and has opened for the Derailers.

The who?

Not The Who, the Derailers. It’s some of that stuff Lance calls alternative country. He says it’s better than the stuff on mainstream radio because the folks playing it aren’t sellouts. He says the music and the artists are true, not a bunch of people wearing $1,000 jeans with designer holes in them.

Yeah, I saw him in his car the other day and he was blasting George Jones. Who listens to George Jones when you’ve got Rascal Flatts belting out hit after hit? Half the folks he listens to have probably never won a CMA.

Consider the source, man. Look at his politics. The dude didn’t even vote for one of the two mainstream candidates for president. Why would you think it would be different in the music he listens to?

Yeah, who thinks like that? Communists, that’s who.

I wouldn’t call Lance a communist; I just think he’s in his own little world where he can’t abide by the mainstream and likes what he likes and wants to share different things with the world.

Yeah, but it’s painful when he gets on these little high horses and we have to suffer from it.

I suppose. The concert was good though and it was for a good cause. Maybe next week he’ll be off on another tangent.

Yeah, like a column on the Electoral College and socks. What was that all about? — Lance Martin

Lance Martin is editor and publisher of rrspin.com