The first 're-entry' center opens in the Flathead.

By DARRELL EHRLICK | Editor-in-Chief

"We're going to name a town in Montana called ‘Burgumville’ if we get this done." — U.S. Sen. Steve Daines in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, speaking to Assistant Secretary William Kirkland from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs about the importance of settling the Fort Belknap water compact.

Columnist George Ochenski writes that Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte is mixing too much of church with our state. Recently, the Republican governor called for a day of prayer for the parched state. Ochenski said that’s not just breaching the church-state wall, but also is a dereliction of his duties.

Even though voters have significantly pushed back on the SAVE America Act, and questions remained unresolved on how much the legislation would affect married women voters, President Donald Trump remains adamant that Congress should pass the measure. However, that appears as if it is getting harder to do, not easier, as even Republicans say they’re not sure if there’s enough support within the party to get the measure passed.

It’s always difficult to say which genre of music I like the most. I think it depends on the day or the mood. Or whichever rabbit hole I’ve fallen down most recently.

Recently, when thinking about all the challenges of ranching, farming and agriculture, especially with much of the state facing drought conditions and predictions of a terrible wildfire season, a song that was triggered was one deep in the recesses of my mind, Chris Knight’s “House and 90 Acres.”

A fun sidenote to this album: Knight had recorded the songs on the “Trailer Sessions” album in his trailer home, before he got famous.

As I listened to it, I thought: This is sort of country. Or rock.

And there are so many songs and artists that seem to fit that definition. Take, for example, one of the singers that we’ve talked a lot about recently, John Prine. Now, he might be identified as a “folk” singer — but that’s way too narrow. Sometimes when we can’t neatly define an artist, we refer to them as a “singer-songwriter” just to avoid the classification conundrum. I have the problem categorizing folks like John Hiatt, Todd Snider or even The Avett Brothers. They borrow so heavily — and more importantly — so effortlessly from different genres that they defy neatly fitting into one and yet paradoxically, fitting into all of them.

That’s why the term “Americana” seems to fit more and more with what kind of music I love and what music speaks in a profound way. The Americana Music Association defines Americana music as, "contemporary music that incorporates elements of various American roots music styles... resulting in a distinctive roots-oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw."  

That made me wonder: What artists do you have a hard time defining? And what artists do you admire just because they seem to drift from genre to genre, borrowing from many, in order to define their own unique style? You know the kind that is instantly recognizable as soon as you hear it — the kind that sounds phony if someone else would attempt the same thing?

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