Every now and then it happens: the Truth rises from its slumbers, dusts itself off, and once again walks among us.  Sometimes we wait for many years.  But when the Truth comes, never does it walk alone.  It comes in the company of a chosen few—and it lives in the words they share with us. 

Most recently, the Truth has arrived with two (slightly overweight) men as its agents, men who have lived hard to find their way to a higher moral plane, a place of greater weight, men whose intelligence and clear-sighted view of the world around them are born not of graduate degrees from Northern universities or some trust fund purchase of insight.  No, these men come to us from the soil, from the package store where good people gather, from the last place we can truly call “the real world”: the American South.  They are Jackie Broyles and Dunlap, the Red State Update.

As Henry David Thoreau could well have said of the American South: “It’s the source of what is best in us as a people.  It is our poetry and, yes, the well of our passion.  And I’m thinking of Tennessee in particular.”  Jackie and Dunlap are the latest reminder of the South’s special place in the American tapestry.  And they come to us in a time of need, for no other reason than to tell us who we are as a people, to shine a spotlight on the “us” in USA. 

This election year has marked a crucial moment in the story of American society.  Voters found themselves confused, unsure what the country needed in order to rediscover itself.  In just such a moment Red State Update arrived like an answer from on high.  CNN, responding to audience demands, has featured RedState’s cutting analysis on a regular basis.  Over six million YouTube viewers have found solace in RedState’s everyman-style assessment of the political process.  As must be clear to many, RedState’s commentaries have changed the direction of every single Presidential candidate’s program.  Two key candidates—we can’t name names—very nearly named RedState as their running mates, stopping short only when they realized you can’t have two Vice Presidents, even if they share one mind.  There is no overstating what these two individuals, a breath of (very) fresh air, have meant to the nation this election year. 

But now, just after Jackie and Dunlap have given the country the balm for which it was aching, the concern is that these men-of-the-soil, having (in so many words) soiled the nation, will go away, will abandon us to their lives of deep thought and occasional action.  It is with this widespread concern in mind that Dualtone Records issues the press release you hold in your hands. 

Hear Ye!  Hear Ye!  Red State Update is not only remaining in the business of public service, where they can help and guide a people, they are also releasing a new recording in celebration of the life they lead and the land in which they lead it, the American South.  If you like honest (somewhat overweight) men who are not afraid to look at life’s realities, who are prepared to remind us all of our roots, who were born singing the Song of the South—you are ready for the music of Red State Update.  Their melodies will bring you back to simpler times when simpler people demanded less of the world.  And, just so you know, that’s good!  Their lyrics will remind you of the homespun wisdom that didn’t make a lot of sense the first time around.  But, most of all, the same thing that animated their political insights makes this collection a must for every music lover: these men are the Truth. 

Featuring the single “Red State State of Mind,” Jackie and Dunlap’s Dualtone debut is poised to dominate country radio and shatter the country charts.  A song such as “Get Your Ass Outta My Store, Hippie” speaks to something universal in us.  This is music that will cross cultures and bring out that bit of America in every country.  Unafraid to tackle big issues, this is also a decidedly political music, in the vein of Steve Earle but without the “tough guy” act that makes Earle’s music a problem for many.  In “Iraq (I Don’t Wanna Go)” Jackie and Dunlap speak openly of what so many of us feel: “I’d be scared as hell / I don’t care who knows / Sounds like y’all got it under control / I don’t want to go to Iraq.”

Let the celebration begin.  Jackie and Dunlap are taking their good works to the next level.  Play this loud while these good ole boys make us proud!