Lately, I've been listening to a whole lot of country music on my 'off clock' hours when I'm not rocking the necessary aggressive stuff at the Thorp office. Having moved to the Midwest 3 years ago, the culture of country music has slowly rubbed off on me over the years, and my wife is straight up hooked on it.

I do not have much tolerance for the bubble gum contemporary country music that dominates the airwaves, sans a few tunes here and there that have some proverbial balls to them. But, the overall grass roots, real deal, 'this is who I am, and it ain't fancy' attitude of country just truly appeals to me. The more I have gotten into old Marty Robbins, Hank the first, and the obligatory Cash records, the more I see the correlation between my affinity for old country and for punk and hardcore. Obviously, in any genre there is a wide array of ideology at work and in play, but generally, I feel like country, particularly that of the aged outlaw ilk, is extremely close in intent and aesthetic to hardcore. You could literally take lyrics from PRIDE KILLS "Deep In The Heart" and set them to a country tune and have it be perfectly fit lyrically and thematically for the cowboy crowd. Same with an the ANGEL CITY OUTCASTS record and of course, much of the SHEER TERROR catalog.

I personally gravitate towards lyrics that explicate the struggles, joys, and daily journey of the average Joe doing not-so-average things with not-so-average courage and integrity. The more I deliberately take time to step away from the day to day business aspects of running a label and I focus on my personal connection with the music, this becomes the overall theme and glue that keeps me passionate.

My good friend ONNO CRO-MAG (A & R rep for I SCREAM RECORDS in Europe and writer for AARDSHOCK magazine in the Benelux) recently expressed how inspirational the PRIDE KILLS record was in helping him deal with the recent death of his father, whom he loved and respected very much. Hearing that, and knowing how much PRIDE KILLS lyrics recently meant to me during hard times thrusted upon my family, made me truly re-connect with the music I put out in a an extraordinary way. Running a label is a wild ride, and a great one. But it is stressful and so dependent on many forces that having nothing to do with the music and its message and power. It is my utmost priority and responsibility to continually seek out music of which I have a personal, emotional, and spiritual connection with.

Not sure what my overall moral or intention in writing this is, but I suspect it can be summed up by communicating that it is less the genre of music that engages you that is important as it is the tangibility of the connection the music and message has, or doesn't have, to your life in a real and personal way. I am personally not one who is 100% open-minded to every genre and sub-genre that comes through the doors of modern musical trends, but I have over the years learned to ignore the label and make discoveries on my own with certain music as to whether it connects with the template of my soul or not. Halleluiah, rock n roll, amen, mosh it up.

-- THORP, 06/10/05

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