May 12
Del McCoury promotes ‘Moneyland’ CD
The Del McCoury Band will release “Moneyland,” a multi-artist CD which features classic material along side the new on June 24th.Google “money” and instantly flashing on your 21-inch LCD monitor are more ways to become a high roller than you can imagine. Do the same search for “moneyland” and you get pretty much the same results — with one very notable exception.
One search result that pops up mentions McCoury Records. Surely, Del McCoury, the label’s patriarch, isn’t pitching some get-rich-quick scheme, is he?
Not to worry. This “Moneyland” is a new CD, described as “a collection of songs dealing with issues facing Rural America.” It will be released on the McCoury label on June 24.
Although the label is only now releasing advance publicity on the project, it’s sketchy background, more than a year old, touches on presidential politics. On April 23, 2007, the Wall Street Journal reported that the John Edwards Democratic presidential campaign was giving away the “Moneyland” CD to contributors who gave $50 or more. The cover of the CD being offered back then looks like a clone of the new CD that’s headed to retailers.
Fast forward a year from when the Edwards campaign was still on its feet, and McCoury has evidentally taken partisan politics out of the project. (Well, not entirely. McCoury gets a word in about the election in remarks below.) Del McCoury himself is leading the promotional campaign for the multi-artist CD, which includes some classic material and a new tune or two. He describes the project as “a timely … collection that offers a hard-hitting look at economic injustice through songs old and new.”
The CD begins and ends with excerpts from two of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Depression-era “fireside chats.”
It includes the Depression-era tune, “Breadline Blues,” recorded in 1931 by Bernard “Slim” Smith, and “Breadline Blues 2008,” a reworking by the McCoury clan that also features Mac Wiseman, Tim O’Brien, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.
Familiar names and songs abound. Merle Haggard lends his support to the project with his 1973 classic “If We Make It Through December” and the more recent “What Happened?,” which appeared on his McCoury Music bluegrass debut last year. Haggard gets a third plug on the CD with Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell offering their take of his classic, “Mama’s Hungry Eyes.” And, yes, a fourth shot for the Hag — this time, his “Farmer’s Blues” with Marty Stuart.
Dan Tyminski’s “”Carry Me Across the Mountain,”based on a true Depression-era story, and Chris Knight’s “A Train Not Running,” are contemporary components to the project as is the title, “Moneyland,” which could be described as a bluegrass rap about the god-like role of the almighty dollar in today’s society.
In advance publicity about the upcoming CD release, bluegrass veteran Mac Wiseman, another contributor to the “Moneyland” CD, and McCoury talk about the changed face of America.
“I grew up on a farm myself, back during the late ’40s, and we raised everything,” McCoury said. “We raised hogs and chickens, had dairy cows, we shipped milk. Times were good for the farmer in those days, but now the farmers are just hanging on by their fingernails.
“It’s sad to me that country kids can’t stay in their hometowns any more. There’s no opportunity, there are no jobs, there’s just nothing. And at the other end of life, there are a lot of people losing the pensions they worked for. That happened to my wife, Jean — and there are more people relying on Social Security than ever.
“You know, we have a little fun on this album with that Beatles song, ‘When I’m 64,’ but really, it’s no joke. It used to seem like 60 was really old, but nowadays, it feels more like middle age, and to have a lot of years ahead of you without being sure that what you spent a lifetime working for, like a pension or Social Security, is going to be there, well, that just doesn’t seem right.”
“… in my travels, I get the feeling that we’re sliding back to the days of the breadlines, and more and more people are getting the short end of the stick — and a lot of it just seems to come down to greed.”
Wiseman,who grew up during the Great Depression, echoes McCoury’s thoughts.
“It’s very obvious to me that politics is running hand in hand with the big money these days,” Wiseman said. “There’s nothing wrong with a big house and a fine car and having plenty for the family. That’s good. But the greed we see now, that’s something else altogether.”
McCoury and his manager, Stan Strickland, shares executive producer credits. Strickland and Rob and Ronnie McCoury are listed as producers.
“I’m in a position where I can make good choices,” McCoury said. “And aside from just doing what I do musically, I can help others do the same themselves, and get a message out that people need to hear and think about — and, especially in an election year, take action on. This isn’t about party politics, it’s about doing what’s best for our country and everyone in it, not just a lucky few.
“That hillbilly boy in Appalachia and that farm boy in the Midwest and that black kid in the inner city, they’re all looking for the same thing: a way out and up. One of these days, those kids are going to start working together on their common problems-and when they do, they’ll fix them.”
(No Ratings Yet)
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