Issue #75: DRTI Election Day Distractions and Playlists

***breathes into paper bag***

So, here we are. Election Day. If we ever ask you to do anything, other than giving Sam Hunt (Natalie) or Charlie Worsham (Marissa) a try, we hope that you will go and vote if you haven’t already. We don’t need to lecture you on the importance of this - we have very smart readers, obviously!! You already know!! - but we’d be remiss if we didn't say it anyway. Vote - and vote all the way down the ballot! For transit, in Nashville! For kicking Ted Cruz out of the atmosphere, in Texas! It matters! Epic photo of Willie Nelson in a Kamala shirt for good measure:

While you wait in line to vote, we whipped you up an Election Day mix, devoted to the Swing States - it’s called Swing for the Swing States, and it’s songs by the artists in those states, or about the states, or both. Listen while you do your duty and let the good music and good vibes percolate (on Spotify and Apple). Don’t leave the house without your ID and your headphones. PS: if you need even more listening material, we also are making our past Your Fourth of July Fireworks Won’t Get You Into Heaven playlist (on Apple here too) available to everyone, not just subscribers.

Ok, now that we’ve covered voting, it’s time for something else: distractions. The reality is, we won’t know anything until much later in the day, if not later in the week. So here are some DRTI-related things to read and occupy your brain while you do anything else but watch cable news. We are also making the comments section open to everyone today if you want to share your own favorite distraction, voting frustration, new tune or anything to bring goodwill as we wait!

• How Midland’s “Drinkin’ Problem” Became a Texas Standard in English and Spanish and Can a Country Star Claim Both Nashville and Texas? Miranda Lambert Thinks So, both by Natalie in Texas Monthly.

• O Bro Where Art Thou?, by Marissa on Chase Rice in Rolling Stone, and on the 10 year anniversary of Metamoden Sounds in Country Music, here (re-sharing because Stu just started his tour and it is extraordinary!).

• Our remembrance of Kris Kristofferson, our meditation on what it meant to have all that roots music at the DNC, Natalie’s great conversation with Hurray for the Riff Raff and our piece on the best country parody of the 21st century. If you’re feeling a bit more somber, here’s Marissa on music in times of grief.

• Casually dropping in the newsletter the new title of Marissa’s forthcoming book.

• Chappell Roan has a new country song!!! Which actually makes an enormous amount of sense - I think it is time we stopped being surprised when people raised on country music eventually start making some? Which is a lot of people? Chappell’s songwriting has always been very country to me, in the way it’s far more storytelling oriented than a lot of pop music. Adding true, fiddle-heavy country song into the mix about lesbian sex? Oh hell yes. I love it. It’s like Dolly Parton’s 9-5 except this is what happens between the hours of 9 pm to 5 am. :)

• Also, check out fellow sub-stacker Margo Price on why we all must vote. Which I realized isn’t exactly a distraction…but hey, today is all about balance, right?