Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Merle Haggard Communes With UFO Enthusiasts
For the second year in a row, honky tonk singer Merle Haggard will be entertaining conspiracy theorists and extraterrestrial fans at the UFO Music Fest, set for Saturday (July 3) in Roswell, N.M. Some believe the area was the site of a UFO crash in 1947. Joining the 67-year-old country music legend is longtime friend Willie Nelson, along with openers Michael D. and Lacy J. Dalton.
"I live on the West Coast and unlike people in Nashville, I can't just go out and cherry-pick my dates," Haggard tells Billboard.com. "I have to put them in a little train mode and Roswell sits halfway across the United States. It is interesting about what happened there in 1947. I thought it might be nice to build an annual UFO fest around that, and have a place to play every July on my trip to the east. If that thing came down out there, in Roswell, then it is the biggest thing to happen since Christ. So, it is turning out to be a little bit more successful every year."
Haggard hints that a few surprises of the non-alien kind could fall out of the sky, citing recent interest by the Eagles, but nothing is confirmed.
Always known for speaking his mind, Haggard stirred up political controversy last year with his lead single "That's the News," which pondered that if the war in Iraq was over, why were more soldiers dying every day?
"I hoped, if nothing else, it would cause the [news] editors to look at the clock and say, 'Should we run Laci Peterson's story or should we run about the boys that got killed today?'" asks Haggard. "It seems to me that when we are fighting for freedom all over the world, we should have a sense of duty to give the news on the troops instead of worrying if somebody is going to get off [in] a murder case."
While the song was on many top 10 lists for 2003, its lack of airplay disturbs Haggard "Clear Channel pretty well has everything locked up. It is disgusting a little bit, and somewhat deflating to realize that no matter what quality of music you may be writing, they are not going to entertain it. Because if it has any subject matter to it, they are certainly not going to play it."
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