John Rich One of the Not-So-Common "Folk"

John Rich photo by Frank Ockenfels, courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

March 26, 2009 — John Rich has been kicking around the national country scene in one way or another since Lonestar released its first single in the summer of 1995, but with his current single "Shuttin’ Detroit Down," John’s earned a comparison to one of the legends of folk music.

"Detroit," of course, champions the blue-collar worker and takes issue with the people running the economy, and that’s exactly the tack that Woody Guthrie took when he emerged with his Dust Bowl-era songs about the working man. Woody was the author of "This Land Is Your Land," widely regarded as one of America’s most patriotic songs. But when he wrote it, Woody intended it as an attack on the system: "This land is your land/This land is my land." In essence, this land is everybody’s land — not just the land of the upper class.

"Shuttin’ Detroit Down" makes the same statement in another way. When a writer with The Nashville Scene made the comparison between Woody’s folk work and John’s song, it definitely got his attention.

"For me to say there's anything folk about me...I've never had that adjective used towards my music," he replied. "But I'll take it as a big compliment because some of the greatest American poets out there, you know, they were folk artists."

The Scene piece also notes the presence of Rodney Atkins’ latest single, "It’s America," in the country landscape. One of the lines in the chorus makes a cheery reference to a Chevrolet — an interesting coincidence when Rodney gets played back-to-back with "Shuttin’ Detroit Down." John might be the first country artist to make a harsh statement about the current economy, but that wasn’t really the point.

"I didn't write this song because I saw that no one else had written it," he said. "I wrote the song because I was straight-up pissed off."

"Shuttin’ Detroit Down" is included on John’s new album, Son Of A Preacher Man, released this week. On April 6, he’ll be in Las Vegas as CBS shoots the special "George Strait: ACM Artist Of The Decade, An All Star Concert Special." Among others slated to appear: Alan Jackson, Sugarland, Brooks & Dunn, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, LeAnn Rimes, Lee Ann Womack, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Jack Ingram and Jamie Foxx.