((PKG)) COUNTRY SINGER
((Banner: A Musician’s Life))
((Reporter/Camera: Gabrielle Weiss))
((Map: United States / Texas / Austin))
((NATS / singing))
There’s a southern accent
Where I come from
The young’uns call it country
The old Yankees call it dumb
There you go, dude. That’s good, yeah!
((Corey Baum, Songwriter and Singer of Croy and the Boys))
Howdy doozy, my name is Corey Baum, and I am the songwriter, singer and frontman for the band Croy and the Boys.
((NATS))
Ok, cool, that’s good. Love y’all.
Amitiss Mahvash, Wife
I love you
Corey
Bye, Johnny
Amitiss Mahvash, Wife
Say bye, papa
((Corey Baum, Songwriter and Singer of Croy and the Boys))
The music that I’m making right now, I’m just trying to talk about what I think are some of the most pressing issues for working people in America today. So that’s downtown Austin, Texas in front of us, which has gone through a lot of changes since I’ve been living on the East Side. Almost unrecognizable.
This is what I’m talking about, like the Arnold, whatever the hell this is. Who knows, like, yuppies sitting on a patio. It’s insane. And it goes all the way down. Basically, it’s like, this was all low buildings. Now it’s, like, condos up and down the street, on all sides.
This is Hotel Vegas right here. You see the sign blinking.
Ok, we’re going to do kind of a thinking song now, so put your little thinking caps on. This song has some big words in it. It was hard for me to even fit them in a damn country song, so I just spelled them out instead. So we’re going to spell out the words ‘gentrification’, ‘cultural elitism’, ‘hegemony’, and ‘coded racism’.
((NATS / singing))
G-E-N-T-R-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N,
C-U-L-T-U-R-A-L E-L-I-T-I-S-M,
H-E-G-E-M-O-N-Y,
White washing society
Words like safety and development
That’s coded R-A-C-I-S-M
((Corey Baum, Songwriter and Singer of Croy and the Boys))
Even when I’m dealing with serious concepts, I try to have some humor about it, and it’s danceable. So, I want people to enjoy themselves while they listen to it, and I want to restore dignity to working people. I think that a lot of people work really hard and they don’t have a lot to show for it, and, they’ve kind of been made to feel that that’s their fault. And I try to draw stories and show examples in ways of which it’s not their fault, that they’re being taken advantage of, and that they deserve what they think they deserve, which is just a healthy, middle class, American life.
((NATS / singing))
It used to be you didn't need a lot to enjoy life,
Just load up the family into the car and head out to see the sights,
But second jobs and part time gigs means no vacation days,
Can't get enough hours for benefits or to qualify for a raise,
Oh it seems like you can't just be poor anymore
((Corey Baum, Songwriter and Singer of Croy and the Boys))
You know, I come from the Midwest originally, and I come from a working class background, and I am recently retired to become a stay-at-home dad. My wife just went back to work. And I love it so far. I think it’s really great. I’m really enjoying spending all this time with my son. I’m also actually finding that I already have more time to write now, because when he goes down for a nap, I can pick up the guitar, and work on that. So, I was worried about how I was going to balance the two and I’m already finding that there’s a really great balance there. It’s really nice.
((NATS))
Wife
Mom and dad are here, taking care of Johnny. One of my first nights out, since I had the baby. Tonight, I’m here to see Croy and the Boys play.
((Amitiss Mahvash, Corey’s wife))
Being married to Corey of Croy and the Boys, bad boy Corey, is incredible. I love what he writes about. Since the first night we met, we bonded over music, so it’s like been a big part of both of our lives before we met, and it continues to be a big part of our lives. So, I love being married to a musician.
((Corey Baum, Songwriter and Singer of Croy and the Boys))
My wife is an Iranian-American, she’s a first generation American. Her parents moved to America in the early to mid 70s, and then she was born here. I didn’t know much about Persian culture, Iranian people, before we got together, and it has been an absolute pleasure getting to experience the wealth of Persian culture.
((NATS))
((Corey Baum, Songwriter and Singer of Croy and the Boys))
My mother-in-law is an incredible, like, world class Persian cook, so when she comes to visit us, she comes in always with a cooler full of food that she’s made for us.
((Lili Nosrat, Corey’s Mother-in-law))
I brought rice and green beans and meat.
Corey
That’s the best. I’m really lucky.
Lili Nosrat
Green beans and rice. You’ve had it before.
Corey
Best cook in America. And Iran, probably.
at 26:20 fix chyron
((Corey Baum, Songwriter and Singer of Croy and the Boys))
It’s been a cool experience becoming a father, because I think my goals and aspirations as a musician and as an artist have never really centered that much around money. There’s never been a time limit on it. It’s like, yeah, hopefully someday this works out. And so then, basically, the moment that my son was born, that all became a lot more like, oh, this has to become a sustainable thing for me or it has to become just a hobby that I really like, fairly soon.
((NATS))
If we work on this more, it should be more, like, not just me leading it with you playing piano, but like, you leading sometimes.
((Corey Baum, Songwriter and Singer of Croy and the Boys))
We got nominated for best country band in Austin this year. I feel like I had an idea of what to do locally, and I feel like I’ve accomplished those things. But I don’t know how to take it next. I just had a kid. It’s make it or break it right now. It’s got to happen this year or I’m out of the game.
((Corey Baum, Songwriter and Singer of Croy and the Boys))
I think country music has always reflected the views and the desires of working Americans. You know, we go into country dance halls around Texas, and we go into working class places and people respond to what we’re saying. I don’t think I’m doing anything new with country music by expressing more leftist ideas. I’m just doing something that hasn’t been done in a while in country music.
Let’s do “Your friends, not mine” real quick. This is a more class conscious one.
((NATS / singing))
Nine hundred thousand dollar home
With a bigger one in mind,
That's your friends, not mine.
Four car garage with four new cars
And I bet you can guess what kind (BMW),
That's your friends, not mine.
Your friends, not mine.
