North Idaho Country Music

Country music carves it's name into North Idaho's leather seats.

Growing up in Idaho, country music seemed like it was just a natural part of the landscape. In the 1930’s my grandmother sang in a popular local western act known as “The Hill Lilies” and according to her, they made quite a name for themselves with their popular weekly radio gig. For as long as I can remember, George Jones has been grandma’s all-time-favorite singer and growing up I must have heard everything he recorded, as well as her own impromptu a cappella versions of his songs. Memories of summertime family road trips include the unnerving mid-song ka-thunk of the 8-track player playing chunky tapes of Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and most repeatedly, the “Classics” album by big-haired crooners Kenny Rogers and Dottie West.

Despite its ubiquity, I realized early on that country schmaltz was not for me. Growing up, I much preferred the Beatles and the Supremes to my parents’ Glen Campbell or Charley Pride records and even “Hee Haw” made me queasy. Once I discovered Disco and New Wave, there was no looking back and for many years I turned my nose up at Country music, dismissing it as twangy, trashy noise for backwoods Barbies and their truck-driving boyfriends.

Several years ago, I took a pop music history class and developed a new appreciation for the original, old-timey country sound. I discovered the various joys of the original singing cowboys and the unhinged croon of Hank Williams, the Nashville Sound of Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves and the rockabilly spunk of Johnny Cash and early Elvis. At the time, I was working in a convenience store where the owner kept the radio dial glued permanently to the mainstream country station. Although I felt strong in my belief that modern Country was musically overproduced, lyrically clichéd and painfully cloying, the endless repetitiveness of the playlist gradually, involuntarily sucked me in to the point that I knew every word of “Redneck Woman” by heart and found myself giddy with excitement upon the opening notes of “I Love This Bar.”

Close friends seemed worried about my mental health, but my countrypolitan phase faded soon after landing a better job. Ultimately, my experiences with the genre left me with a newfound amount of respect for its many fans and musicians. Certainly, it continues to be an integral part of the North Idaho experience, and there’s a tractor load of opportunities to slide into your cowboy boots and your tightest pair of Wranglers and head out for a night on the town, country style.

The Coeur d’Alene Casino has made sure that lovers of mainstream country will have a lot to get excited about this summer by hosting a series of several major concerts by national acts. The line-up starts on June 4 with an appearance by Grammy award winning vocalist LeAnn Rimes, who emerged in her young teens doing a masterful Patsy Cline impression with “Blue”, and went on to sell an amazing 37 million albums by the time she was 24. Former Alabama lead singer Randy Owen takes the Casino stage on July 31 in support of his first-ever solo album One on One and it’s lead single “Braid My Hair.” Judging from Randy’s recent promo photo he could use a serious shampoo and conditioning as well. Sitcom star and comic country musician Rodney Carrington will appear on August 21, when fans will be lining up to watch him perform such questionable-taste classics as “Letter to My Penis”, “Morning Wood”, and others with titles that can’t be printed here.

On a local level, there’s no bigger country act around than Kelly Hughes and his band. His musical career started at age 14 at the Garwood Saloon and at age 21 he opened “Kelly’s” at Stateline, one of the most notoriously rowdy honky-tonks in the storied history of North Idaho. Hughes sold the place in 2004 to spend some time riding around in his giant silver bus and playing music. He doesn’t appear to be hanging up his American flag guitar anytime soon with summer concerts booked all over the place including the Community Bank in Post Falls on June 5, the Hayden Country Club on July 18, and a string of dates starting next weekend at his own former roadhouse, now operating as Big Al’s.

In addition to the region’s most lady-friendly mechanical bull, Big Al’s features a rotating music schedule which includes the all-around best of the North Idaho country music scene. Julie Ann & the Jukebox Junkies will be rattling the rafters of the old place this weekend, and come early to check out the action at Big Al’s infamous mud bogs. Or show up before the concert each Friday for line dance lessons, then stick around to get your eye poked out in one of the weekly Dart tournaments and scoot boots to the tune of upcoming performers like Whiskey Ridge and Rattle Trap.

Another Big Al’s regular act is the Jim Huntsman Band, whose energetic blend of covers and originals has risen exponentially with the seemingly endless gigs they’re willing to play. This is a band with few days off, as evidenced by their live calendar, which lists shows everywhere from this weekend at Hill’s Resort in Priest River, Arbor Crest Winery on June 1, and Post Falls Days on June 6. Recently, downtown Coeur d’Alene’s most chaotic watering hole The Iron Horse has thrown it’s Stetson hat into the country music ring by introducing “Country Sundays” featuring cleverly-named tribute act The Haggard Willies starting tomorrow, May 25. On the band’s MySpace page they describe their sound as “a couple drunk musicians falling down a long flight of stairs.” Actually, if I remember correctly from my music history class, I think that might be how country music started way back when.