- cross-posted to:
- music@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- music@beehaw.org
Emerging stars are starting to critique Trump’s immigration crackdown – defying the genre’s legacy of conservatism
Ray himself waded into the topic of immigration in 2023 with Jesus at the Taco Truck, written and performed with Shy Carter, about a man named Jesus with scars on his feet and hands from crossing the Rio Grande.
Did you hear it on the radio? Probably not. That’s because anything considered mainstream in the genre shies away from social commentary that doesn’t pass the sniff test of conservatism.


I liked The Dixie Chicks then, and like them now. Her statement has aged well, and the response to it hasn’t. But their music wasn’t particularly woke or progressive in the way Guthrie’s was or Hellas’ is.
There is something satisfying about critique coming from what conservatives would consider ‘their music.’