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Three Great Bands Named After States for American Independence Day
A different 4th of July Rate-A-Record
It’s the 4th of July in the United States (well, it’s the 4th of July everywhere, but we’re the only ones who make a big deal about it) and in honor of the birthdays of both America and Captain America, I wanted to do a special Rate-A-Record. Unfortunately, I did an America-themed music story just a few days ago and used all the best Independence Day songs for that one, so I was stumped.
Then yesterday, as I was shoving some amazing barbecue into my face at a joint with a smiling pig as their logo, the music they were playing in the restaurant inspired me. As you can imagine, they weren’t blasting metal or pop punk; it was all country, all the time. To make it even better, just as I threw back a cup of barbecue sauce like it was a shot of tequila, a song came on that completed my inspiration.
The song was by a band named Alabama, and if you weren’t a country music fan from the 1980s let me assure you these guys were huge. Thinking about their name reminded me that while my homeland isn’t always united, we are indeed a collection of states. And several really great bands, in the longtime tradition of Americans stealing stuff they like, used the names of states for their band names.
