Gary Allan at The Ryman

Contemporary country music's relationship with quote “traditional" country music has always been an unpredictable one. George Strait has minted a platinum-plated career out of playing unassuming, solid-as-furniture chestnuts, while folk like Loretta Lynn and George Jones haven't so much as sniffed the radio in a decade or more (insert mental picture of Johnny Cash-flipping-the-bird-at-DJs poster). And then there's Jamey Johnson, the artist that Allan perhaps most resembles, the so-called "outlaw" whose outlaw stance arose primarily because he dared to defy record company expectations. (When a label sniffs green around such a talent, it markets the artist as "edgy" and "traditional country" to explain why they missed the boat in the first place.) Allan, equal parts George Strait (finely-hewn, understated) and Merle Haggard (his voice is a cross between Keith Urban and a woodchipper) isn't Highwaymen material, per se, but he is worth a drive for people wondering how music can keep a connection its roots without being held down by them.
Thu., Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m., 2009