Won't back down Heartland rock and the fight for America

Politics rather than geography is the defining feature of heartland rock, contends this thorough history from music journalist Osmon (Jason Molina). The genre originally known as "working class rock" emerged in the 1970s, as artists churned out songs featuring "factory workers, farmers, the American dream, underdogs, the open road" amid a period of social unease. Osmon highlights the careers of Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, Bob Seger, and Bruce Springsteen, focusing on their political leanings and efforts to establish Farm Aid and other benefit concerts. She also explores how their songs have been misinterpreted by popular culture, with tracks like Petty's "I Won't Back Down" harnessed by politicians eager to "inject a working-class subtext" into campaigns, and Springsteen's "Born in the USA," written about the plight of a Vietnam veteran, adopted as an anthem of uncritical patriotism. Despite that--and the fact that the genre has been used in the Trump era as the "soundtrack of insidious white grievance"--Osmon makes a strong case for its enduring legacy, noting how more recent bands harnessed its "against-the-odds moxie" to speak for "the 99 percent." Spotlighting a broad range of famous and lesser-known artists, this is a robust assessment of a quintessentially American genre. (Apr.)

A new look at the small-town rock anthems of the 1980s. The term "heartland rock," writes music journalist and author Osmon, emerged in the 1970s to refer to the "roots-driven rock music that spoke of small towns, the working class, the open road, and coming--of--age nostalgia." If your mind goes right to a certain guy from New Jersey when you read that, you're not alone--many credit Bruce Springsteen's albumBorn To Run, released in 1975 to critical acclaim, as the moment the genre broke through, although Osmon credits Bob Seger with having more influence on the music than people realize. Her book is structured as a year-by-year history of the form in the 1980s, tracing the careers of, among others, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, and Bonnie Raitt, placing the songs and albums in their correct sociopolitical concept "of Cold War paranoia, labor resistance, embattled farmers, Southern reckoning, technological advancements, national mourning, jingoism, generational change, and cultural appropriation." The author writes convincingly about how conservative politicians co-opted the music of progressive artists--President Ronald Reagan played Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." while in New Jersey--and she notes that such songs' "social and political messaging were remixed by the personal biases of its listeners." The book contains some fascinating facts--who knew that Mellencamp and the decidedly non-rural Lou Reed were friends?--and is leavened with humorous asides: "The music video for [Springsteen's] 'Dancing in the Dark,' featuring young Courteney Cox, is further evidence that straight white men can't dance," she writes. The book ends with her conclusion that the genre is "here to stay," citing acts like the War on Drugs, Waxahatchee, and the Drive-By Truckers. A smart, fun look at that old-time rock 'n' roll. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.