Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay ConnectedSome call it old country; classic country; real country. We call it traditional country, and that’s exactly what we do here at “If That Ain’t Country”.
For three hours each week, we feature the very best traditional country, honky tonk, bluegrass and western swing from the golden years ’til today. It’s pretty simple but we think you’ll like it.
Hosted by Western Red – it’s US country with an Australian twist, keeping true to the traditions that make country great.
With a genuine love and deep respect for the foundations of the genre, the legends are right alongside the best of today’s independent artists – a mix you won’t find anywhere else.
For more information, email: westernred@ifthataintcountry.net.
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In this week's episode, we're featuring one of the finest collections of straight-ahead honky tonk music that I've ever heard: "Honky Tonkin' With Charlie Walker" (1971). Charlie made his name cutting material akin to Ray Price's honky tonk output - country shuffles, and lots of them. His big hit came in the late 50s with "Pick Me Up On Your Way Down", and this album, from over 10 years later, follows in that vein. We open with "Honky Tonk Season", a galloping tongue-in-cheek ode to a frosty one in a dingy barroom, and continue with highlights including "Let's Go Fishin' Boys (The Girls Are Bitin')", "Before I Found The Wine" and the cautionary "A Honky Tonk In Dallas". All fiddle and steel guitar (except for a ridiculous cover of the Stones "Honky Tonk Women" - who the heck told Walker that was a good idea??) with a tenor Texan twang, if anybody ever asks you: 1. "Who was Charlie Walker?" or 2. "What's honky tonk music?" - Play them this.
In this episode, we're featuring a top notch album from Freddie Hart: "Trip To Heaven" (1973). It spawned only one single - the title track - which turned out to be a number one hit. Alongside that chart topping performance, this release has nine other hard country tunes with a 70s twist, all with Freddie Hart's most distinctive of southern drawls. Hart's career started as a member of Lefty Frizzell's band, but after writing hits for Carl Smith, Buck Owens and Porter Wagoner - he ground his way to the top, a journey which lasted some eighteen years or more. His first number one came with "Easy Loving" in 1971, and by that time, Hart had already lived four lifetimes: earnt his black belt in karate and jiujitsu, owned a trucking business, operated a school for handicapped children, ran a songwriting company AND met Hank Williams in the late 1940s. Chances are that meeting taught him something about songwriting too - because every single song on "Trip To Heaven" was written by Freddie Hart himself - and with his band The Heartbeats, some of the quality picks on this release include "Living On Leftovers Of You", the novelty "Ugly Duckling" and "Skid Row Street".
In this episode, we're featuring a ballad-driven album from Ricky Van Shelton: "Loving Proof" (1988). Shelton's second album, this release sold over a million copies and cemented the Virginia baritone at the top of the new traditionalist wave. A reliance on covers on this album pays dividends for Ricky Van Shelton - he reinvigorates the Ned Miller classic "From A Jack To A King", the Wayne Kemp tearjerker "I'll Leave This World Loving You" and the Wilburn Brothers "Somebody's Back In Town" - all to great effect. Shelton's smooth croon suited an album full of songs about eternal and undying love, heavy on the ballad side - but any slow points were easily offset by the quality songwriting, delivery and production. A stellar album, and a must have for country music fans of the period.
In this episode, we're featuring a classic Dave Dudley album: "Listen Betty, I'm Singing Your Song" (1971). Dudley himself contributed just under half of the writing for this record - impressive for a time when singers were releasing three or four albums a year - and his good friend Tom T. Hall added two as well, including the title track. Two of the songs were hits, but this release was put out as Dudley's star was on the wane. Dudley still very much hitched his wagon to the archetypal "truckin' song" which made his career in the early 60s, and cuts like "The Rollin's All Gone Out Of This Rollin' Stone", "Farewell To The Road" and "Listen Betty, I'm Singing Your Song" (a tribute to a truckstop waitress) demonstrate that he was just as good as he ever was. Even if the chart-toppers were drying up at the time, the material on this release and his back catalogue kept Dave Dudley working personal appearances for many years to come. A solid album.
In this episode, we're featuring a 2016 release from Texas sensation Curtis Grimes: "Undeniably Country" (2016). Known for his Texas Country/Red Dirt sound in previous years, Grimes set out with producer Trent Willmon to make an album that fans couldn't mistake for anything but straight country music. And the result is a resounding success - steel guitar from Nashville maestro Mike Johnson, songwriting from Grimes himself (who grew up on a steady diet on George Strait and Alan Jackson, as he says) in a radio-friendly package but still as country as cornbread. This album is refreshing, and others seem to think so as well. Highlights include the #1 Texas hit "Right About Now", the cheeky "Ten Year Town", "If You Ask Me" and a tip of the hat to Keith Whitley on "Everything Hank Did".
In this episode, we're featuring a mid-70s release from Loretta Lynn: "When The Tingle Becomes A Chill" (1976). With the MCA marketing machine behind this album, it spawned a Top 5 hit in the title track and a further Top 20 for the Coal Miner's Daughter - but this album arguably marked a decline in Loretta's commercial appeal. She backed it up with some success in '77, but after that it was all downhill, sales-wise. Having said that, the album features some solid country songwriters (Ben Peters, Jerry Chesnut) and some A-class Nashville pickers (Grady Martin, Hal Rugg) - and with that backing, hearing Loretta do standards of the era is pleasurable nonetheless. Versions of Glen Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy", Ronnie Milsap's "Daydreams About Night Things" are pleasant enough, but the real gold comes in the title track and the plaintive "Turn Me Anyway But Loose".
In this episode, we're featuring a hard country album from Johnny Bush: "Here Comes The World Again" (1973). After having served in Ray Price's and Willie Nelson's bands, he had paid his dues and this was Bush's first release on a major label (RCA). "Whiskey River" (written by Bush) was just about to become a big hit and it seemed Johnny Bush's star was on the rise. In the summer of 1972, however, a mysterious vocal condition put Bush's well-known high notes at risk. He adopted tricks to get around it, but the impact was profound: within a few years, he could barely speak, and it was only many years later with some enterprising medical treatment that Bush was able to regain his singing abilities. This album came at a very uncertain time for "The Country Caruso", but you wouldn't know it from the material included. This is a fantastic collection of jukebox-friendly shuffles, drinking songs, broken-heart ballads and beer joint singalongs - fiddles and steel guitar abound. Highlights include the "Cold Grey Light Of Dawn", dancehall favourite "Green Snakes On The Ceiling" and "Here Comes The World Again".
In this episode, we're featuring a very eclectic Merle Haggard album: "If We Make It Through December" (1974). Featuring only three songs written by The Hag himself - a statistic which set apart this release from most other Haggard albums - it did not lack for quality songwriting. Hank Cochran, Dave Kirby, Whitey Shafer and Lefty Frizzell all lent their talents to this album and perhaps that explains the range of styles present here: Dixieland jazz, pop string instrumentation, western swing and straight-ahead country make for a sonically diverse (though unmistakably country) listening experience. The title track was the big winner here, becoming Merle's biggest pop hit (#28), but the story song "Uncle Lem", the heartbreaking "Love And Honor (Never Crossed Your Mind)" and the gospel "There's Just One Way" contribute to one of the 70s strongest Haggard albums.
In this episode, we're featuring a twangy album from Porter Wagoner: "The Thin Man From West Plains" (1965). The title alludes to Porter's lanky frame and his home town of West Plains, Missouri - who by rights, would have been very proud of their famous export. Wagoner was in his element in 1965 - his Porter Wagoner TV show had been in syndication for four years at that point, it was a hit in over 50 cities around the country, and with his band The Wagonmasters - he was one of the most in-demand touring acts of the time. And the music he was making in that era only served to fuel his popularity: with the iconic Buck Trent on electric banjo, Mack Magaha on fiddle and Don Warden on steel guitar - this album shines in Porter's typical down-home uptempo fashion. Songs of tragedy, yes, but mixed with a wry sense of fun that makes this the most addictive of country music. Hits like "I'll Go Down Swinging", "Sorrow On The Rocks" and album cuts including "Lovin' Lies" and "My Baby Turns The Lights On Uptown" cement this as example of how good 60s country music could be.
In this episode, we're featuring the second album from one of country's most unique baritones: Ron Williams, "The Longer You're Gone" (2009). Ron Williams is the son of Leona Williams - a marvellous traditional country singer herself with a long and illustrious career, and it seems as though country music was inevitable for Ron, born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. After his mother married Merle Haggard for a period in the late 70s/early 80s, and after having lived under the same roof as Merle for about a decade - something must have rubbed off on young Ron Williams. His voice matured into one of country music's most distinctive and unique baritones: there are shades of the greats in every note he sings, but he has crafted his own style, sure enough. This album is a fun and umptempo affair for the most part, including the swinging "Her Heart Belongs To Texas" and "The F Words" (one of several Bill Anderson co-writes) - but it's on the ballads that Ron Williams really shines, including the heartfelt "Where The Tall Grass Grows".
