BOOKS: Rednecks & Bluenecks, Chris Willman (2005)

There was a time when country music and those who sang it were solidly identified with the rural working class and with the Democratic party. But in recent years, Toby Keith's jingoistic anthems and radio boycott of the Dixie Chicks after their anti-Bush remarks have Democrats feeling as if there is no place for them in the world of country music; singers like Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell have taken refuge in the smaller, but more liberal, audiences of the alt-country movement.

Willman traces the history of these changes in country music, which parallel the South's transformation from solidly Democratic to safe Republican territory. He interviews dozens of singers and music executives on both sides of the political aisle, and suggests that Democrats' fear of ostracism by the industry may be overstated; the country music audience, Willman argues, is actually closely divided politically, just as the nation is. For the moment, though, that division is a sharply polarizing one, and neither side seems much interested in seeking middle ground.

Particularly interesting is Willman's final chapter, a look at two of country's legendary figures, Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash. Over the course of their careers, Haggard and Cash have been proudly claimed by both sides of the political divide, often at the same moment. Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee," for instance, was seized on by conservatives who took its hippie-bashing traditionalism at face value, and by those same hippies, who read the song as a wicked satire.

Willman isn't out to predict the future, or to tell us where country music is going. This, he says, is simply a look at where America stands during the Bush administration, as viewed through the lens of the musical genre that seems most willing and able to engage its audience in any sort of political debate. It's an informative snapshot, and will be an useful resource for cultural historians of the future. Best of all, it's not a stodgy academic treatise; Willman's writing is lively, and the people he interviews offer thoughtful and intelligent commentary.