I doubt that there ever will be REAL country music again because the lifestyle from which it grew is long gone. How can someone under fifty possibly comprehend how it used to be? You have to have seen the chain gang working on the dirt road that led to the nearest two lane blacktop while you walked behind a plow listening to the Bluebirds sing. You have to know what it means to take a ten minute break under a shade tree to drink water from a Mason jar while the salty sweat makes your eyes feel burned out. You have to remember when a serviceman in uniform could stick up a thumb and tires would squeal as people competed to see who could have the privilege of offering him a ride. You have to have known the kind of people who, although rail thin and looking hungry, would rather go another day without a meal than accept a handout. You have to be able to listen to one of the greatest of all country songs, “I’m Busted” and know what it really means. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8kRsoAZjpM
Yes! That’s where it sprang from. In Bakersfield at that time a lot of the people were migrants from Oklahoma and Arkansas. They came here without a dime and lived in labor camps. The one Steinbeck wrote about was right here outside Bakersfield. I have family that lived in it.
This was mainly an agricultural town but boy did everyone hustle the fields for free food. I remember. And they shared and they canned stuff and prepared for the harder times.
I was young but remember a lot of it. You have to actually experience that lifestyle to know it.