Joe Stevens Strikes a Bad Nerve with “Home Sweet Idahome”

Photo of Joe Stevens playing guitar and harmonica

Idahome album cover

Joe Stevens releases single “Home Sweet Idahome” and album Idahome.

BOISE, IDAHO, UNITED STATES, September 10, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — “I just wanted to write songs about my home.” Joe Stevens – a previously unheard of, independent musician from Idaho – is getting more attention, now. It’s good and bad.

“I wrote ‘Home Sweet Idahome’ for my state. The place where I grew up, got married and have a family,” says Joe. “Like all songwriters, I write about what I know and personal experience. So, for ‘Home Sweet Idahome’, I wrote about things that Idaho is known for. Potatoes, beautiful outdoors, Boise State blue turf, red politics.”

At first, ‘Home Sweet Idahome’ sounds like a typical alt-country-folk radio song. It’s quite catchy with a classic pop chord progression. It has acoustic guitars, harmonica and a rustic feel. It’s a stark contrast from the second half of the album Idahome – which becomes more punk, groove metal and even a twist on rap-metal.

Some of the lyrics in Idahome, and ‘Home Sweet Idahome’ specifically, might cause problems for Joe. There’s crude references to the large Mormon population in the state and Hollywood celebrities at Idaho’s vacation destinations. Mr. Stevens says the lyrics are hyperbolic, but as often as he repeats these themes in Idahome, that is questionable.

One lyric from the title song, in particular, is especially controversial:

“You couldn’t ask for a greater Idaho

You’re going to get Ruby Ridge instead”

The Greater Idaho movement seeks to have the eastern counties of Oregon succeed their current state and join more conservative Idaho. It is an unprecedented and far-fetched goal that would be a major headache for both state governments and the US government, if it were even agreed on. The Ruby Ridge standoff was a controversial, botched arrest in northern Idaho that escalated into a tragic siege and made national headlines in 1992.

“All I’m saying is that a standoff like Ruby Ridge is probably more likely to happen than Idaho getting more land. I’m biased, but Idaho is the greatest state in all of history. No one is going to let us become greater!” laughs Joe. “Come to think of it, the Malheur standoff in Oregon a few years ago was in Greater Idaho. So Greater Idaho is 0-2 against the government. 0-3, since they will never let the greater Idaho thing happen.”

Against the post-COVID, hyper-sensitive landscape, Joe Stevens’ Idahome leaves a bad taste. Joe Stevens claims that he was trying to create “a 90s sounding album that Beavis and Butt-Head would have liked.” Even if it is a poor attempt to reminisce about pre-2020, the timing of the album release is another questionable choice, right before November elections. Idahome is available to stream and on CD/Cassette/Vinyl Tuesday, September 24, 2024.

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Joe Stevens – Home Sweet Idahome

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