When Country Came Back to Town

I was there when Shooter Jennings rewound the sound like a cassette I watched Jamey Johnson cut "You Can't Cash My Checks" Back then Rowdy Jason Cope was running shine sunset to vine Picking songs with Leroy Powell making redneck isms rhyme I guess now everyone knows Cousin Dave but he been around awhile Proving simple truth and music they just don't go out of style It's hard to tell when you're in it sometimes the moment's too profound But if I had to bet my money that's when country came back to town Right after that I moved to Nashville and most the Broadways stars Wanted to be Cody Canada, Ryan Bingham or Hayes Carll They seemed too cautious to commit, so they surrendered to the game But nobody sang like Brandy Carlile or wrote like Nikki Lane But you couldn't deny that it was lost or how it would be found But when Sturgill climbed High Top Mountain country came back to town Beyond the pickups and the backroads, you could almost hear it play Though it was softer than a whisper through the pines Some say it never left, some say that it got saved Some say, like everything, it changes over time Well all I know for certain Is i'm glad I was around When country came back to town Oh, when country came back to town As the divide grew even greater between commerce and art Folks like Miranda Lambert kept the beat inside its heart Right along with Chris and Morgane and Kacey Musgraves too What took the world so long to catch on, for us was nothing new But by the time the torch was passed and the hatchet was laid down Music Row had nearly burned to ash When country came back to town Beyond the pickups and the backroads, you could almost hear it play Though it was softer than a whisper through the pines Some say it never left, some say that it got saved Some say, like everything, it changes over time Well all I know for certain Is i'm glad I was around When country came back to town Oh, when country came back to town Now here we are eighteen years later with a list a mile long Of names like Childers, Jinks, Price, and Whitey, Hood, Shook, Cook, Cauthen and Combs Lord knows it's hard to name them all, but hell, right off the top of my head Isbell, Eady, Patton, Moonpies, Turnpike, Colter, and Crockett And won't be stopping, no name dropping till history books echo the sound Of all the folks who saddled up and drove country Back to town Oh, back to town