by Sheldon Birnie
Oh man, seems like a while since I’ve properly posted here on Hillbilly Highway. I’ve been neck deep in home renovations lately, and all my records and CDs have been boxed up and in storage. Same with my stereo I hook my phone to in order to blast those sweet, icy MP3s.
While my house has been a mess of lathe, plaster, and drywall dust — not to mention paint, asbestos, and plain old dirt — I haven’t been short on tunes. I’ve dialed into CKUW and UMFM plenty of times, but no matter how committed a radio listener you might be, sometimes you just don’t dig what’s on the airwaves.
Luckily, the tape deck in the +15 year old boombox that’s going through a beating over here in reno land is still rocking strong. And what would you think we found on our second lathe & plaster run to the beautiful Brady Landfill but a stack of rejected yard sale beauties. Yes, friends, we struck gold with a big ol’ stack of Dump Tapes.
We got some Stones, some Prince, a little David Lee Roth. Perfect tunes to keep the party rocking. But not only did the Dump Tapes continue kicking ass through the demolition process, but they inspired some pals to pick up some thrift store bargains on the cassette front as well.
My pal Woodtick brought over the best of the lot one evening, including a classic early 80s Country Hits compilation featuring Willie, Johnny Paycheck, and a couple beauties from The Possum himself. This was a good start, but the real treasure was yet to come.
Two sides of Alabama‘s 40 Hour Week have been spun endlessly over here. The rocking, blue collar title track and “Can’t Keep a Good Man Down” kick things off, and the party only ever really lags on the first track of the second side. Otherwise, it’s pure Alabama gold. The Very Best of Conway Twitty has probably gotten the absolute most play over here in Renoville — especially this heartbreaker — though Ian Tyson’s absolute classic Cowboyology has never been too far from the player either.
The fact that these cassettes have been enjoyed and rejected, only to be enjoyed yet again further down the line at least once — if not multiple times already — speaks volumes to the medium. Sure, sometimes you might lose one to the gears, and they’re quiet as hell compared to even FM radio, but heck, these puppies have been around the block more than once, and they’re still ready to giver at the drop of a PLAY button.
We’ve already seen a resurgence in tape culture throughout the independent scene, and particularly here in Winnipeg with Dub Ditch Picnic and Prairie Fire tapes regularly releasing interesting stuff for all those who still rock a WalkMan. Maybe it’s time some roots artists started pumping out cheap cassettes for all of those out here on the Highway who still have a tape deck up on the console of our respective rides? Might just take off…