Party time: Playing politics with music

Country superstar Toby Keith doesn't mince words, but he's uncharacteristically staying on the fence when it comes to the presidential race.

"We have two wonderful candidates," said the usually outspoken singer, who has been courted by both campaigns. John McCain "is not more of the same" while Barack Obama "is pushing all my buttons right," he said. However, Keith won't announce his vote until he casts it.

"It shouldn't matter who I vote for. I'm just a songwriter," said Keith, a pro-troops, lifelong Democrat who says he voted twice for Bill Clinton and twice for George W. Bush.

Like Keith, many musicians are gun-shy about this election -- for good reason, following the Dixie Chicks' Bush-bashing debacle in 2003 and the failed effort by Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and others to unseat the president in 2004. Such old-line liberals as John Mellencamp and Neil Young paid a price -- in album and ticket sales -- for their outspokenness.

Keith, who performs at the Minnesota State Fair on Monday -- the day the Republican National Convention starts in St. Paul -- said he's reluctant to get involved in politics after the controversy over his rabble-rousing post-9/11 song "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue."

"I'm not their guy anymore. It comes with too much baggage," he said. "The media keeps it so right wing/left wing, red state/blue state. All of a sudden, you're the enemy. It's just not worth it to me."

The Bush campaigns actively recruited country stars, but so far the only high-profile music figure in McCain's camp is John Rich, of Big & Rich fame.

Rascal Flatts is equally reticent about mixing politics with music. "We've got fans that are Republicans, Democrats and we're all Americans," said Flatts' Jay DeMarcus.

"We don't want to alienate anybody -- ever," added Flatts' Joe Don Rooney.

Pop stars are shying away, too. "I don't like putting my political views out there," said Neil Diamond. "I don't think it's got to do with the work I do." Donna Summer agrees, though she doesn't hesitate to perform at the White House, "whether I put [the president] there or not."

The cost of convictions

Having the courage of your convictions can be costly for music stars. The most obvious case is the Dixie Chicks, whose reputation, radio play and sales took a nosedive five years ago after lead singer Natalie Maines dissed Bush at a London concert as the United States was going to war in Iraq.

It's easier for performers in the rock and pop genres to speak out, he said: "Rock always has been about questioning authority."

Mellencamp, for one, has built his career on fighting authority. In 2003, his anti-Bush song "To Washington" turned off some fans. "People were pissed at me -- and they probably still are," he told Rolling Stone. "My ticket sales, everything I do -- I'm paying a price for that."

But, as the Indiana rocker explained in an e-mail, "Box office business doesn't enter into my songwriting. ... I must be true to myself and my beliefs in what this country can be."

He and Young have announced their support of Obama, along with Spring-steen, Bob Dylan, rappers Ludacris and Will.i.am, and several lesser known Nashville names.

On Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's scathingly anti-Bush Freedom of Speech Tour in 2006, they not only saw concertgoers walk out in disgust after the song "Let's Impeach the President," but the quartet of hippie protest singers received death threats.

Despite their singers' high profiles, the protest pieces of Young and Mellencamp weren't widely heard. Green Day's "American Idiot" in 2004 probably resonated more successfully than any other anti-administration music.

Ultimately, of course, it's more about changing people's consciousness than having a hit song. Activist singer Zack de la Rocha, whose Rage Against the Machine will play a rare concert Wednesday at Target Center, knows that from personal experience.

"I think back to when I was going to hard-core shows and I saw the Bad Brains -- those moments resonate and are life-altering moments," De la Rocha told the Los Angeles Times this month. "Those people who were at those shows have become artists or activists as a result of having their perspective shifted."

Musicians who are not household names have been politically active in this election year. Rage's Tom Morello will join Steve Earle, Billy Bragg, Mos Def and others for a Labor Day rally Monday at Harriet Island in St. Paul. Several Minnesota musicians, including Dan Wilson, Haley Bonar, the New Standards and the Honeydogs, will team up Tuesday at the Fitzgerald Theater for ProVention, an alternative to the nearby Republican Convention.

"I don't want to make mayhem," said Honeydogs frontman Adam Levy. "It's about ideas. I want to do something productive."

The idea of doing something positive is what inspired Rich to write and record "Raising McCain," a rockin' rally cry for the Republican candidate that Rich sings at political events (though not his own concerts).

"At some point, you have to be willing to be a part of something that's bigger than yourself," said Rich, who will attend and perform at the Republican Convention. "There might be some people out there that go, 'I like John Rich's music but I don't like him anymore; he's really getting on my nerves after promoting John McCain,' and they might not buy my record anymore. Well, that's a risk you've got to take when you're doing something that hopefully has impact on your kids and your kids' kids."

Fans, like the stars, have mixed views about mixing politics and music.

"If I like the music, the politics wouldn't affect me," said Morgan Roe, 16, of Edina. "I think the Dixie Chicks should have kept their opinion to themselves. But I like their music so much. They are still my favorite."

As an avid music fan and a public-affairs consultant, Nate Dybvig, 34, of St. Paul, understands the nuances of both areas. "Do I pick my politicians by what my favorite musicians say? It's not in my top 10 qualifications for office," he said. "But an endorsement from [Pearl Jam singer] Eddie Vedder never hurts."