Politics on Music Row

The Nashville Tennessean took a look at politics in the music industry, especially country music.
Should Singers Strike a Political Note? includes interviews with Merle Haggard, Nancy Griffith, Sara Evans, Martina McBride, and others.

It's more dangerous now,'' said Merle Haggard, whose hippie-baiting, Vietnam-era songs Okie From Muskogee and Fightin' Side of Me still rank with his most popular works. ''It seems to be more damaging to the females: Seems like people don't want them to say anything.''

Don't stereotype,

Toby Keith, whose Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue song became a military rallying cry, is often assumed to be a Republican, though in a recent Tennessean interview he expressed mixed feelings about the Iraq war and said he was actually a registered Democrat

.