Country music has long been viewed as a politically conservative music genre, but there are a handful of artists that have been challenging traditional views. This does include the occasional mainstream artists who have faced backlash for speaking up (most notably The Chicks). But most of these artists operate on the fringes.
One notable example is Pink Williams who describes himself as a “Queer Leftist Cowboy“. His music is a very traditional form of Country and Western, but the lyrics are radically political and address modern-day issues. This is demonstrated in his latest album Country Songs For a Broken Country. The album addresses homophobia, racism, religious hypocrisy, and attacks capitalistic corporations such as Amazon.
He also recently released the single “Pour! Pour! Pour!” The tune is in support of current efforts to unionize Starbucks. This has currently resulted in over 200 Starbucks in becoming unionized. But there has also been chain-wide resistance to these efforts which includes attempts to union bust (“Don’t let the greedy bosses bust their Union Strike again!”). The song may be about Starbucks but could also apply to other fast-food restaurants and any companies that resist the efforts of their employees to fight for fair labor practices.
All Bandcamp proceeds from the single support Starbucks Workers United.