Thomas Stajcer, Nova Scotia’s great country troubadour, is keeping up the good fight on behalf of analog folks everywhere. His tongue-in-cheek protest song, “Who Will Listen To Country Music When Trucks Drive Themselves?” champions the need for ear-having peoples to hold their place behind the wheel. It calls for bartenders to remain tender. It insists that John Deere lawn tractors are maintained at their current IQ levels.
Directed by Jeff Miller, “Who Will Listen to Country Music When Trucks Drive Themselves?” has Stajcer addressing the digital state of a quickly changing world. From self-driving cars to automated bartenders, Stajcer makes the point that the world of artificial intelligence is lacking a certain charm and has failed to indulge in the Midwest mainstay.
Over the course of the video, Stajcer expresses his growing distrust of our future robotic overlords, evening lashing out in violence.
“We had to sweep up shattered glass and electronics from the gravel parking lot that Leanne of Seaforth General Store had so kindly closed early for us,” says Stajcer, after doing a pair of robotenders that had been donated by Zach Crawford and Ian Janes.
While Elon Musk wasn’t on hand to contribute a self-driving big rig, Stajcer scoured Kijiji to find a suitable star for the video, cold-calling local trucking companies asking if anyone would be willing to help.
“The response was incredible, I was overwhelmed by willing parties,” says Stajcer. “Luckily, I landed with Tim Dolliver, an owner-operator out of Shelburne, who stopped over in Dartmouth on his way to Windsor for the night before further out into Atlantic Canada the following day. That ’70s blue Kenworth was a serious machine and he was so proud to show it off!”
It turns out Stajcer’s skills extend well beyond that of a musician and studio engineer. He might have just as must luck working as a producer, or perhaps sourcing car parts…
“I actually hit up a Peterbilt truck for sale on Kijiji and asked if the guy would sell me a badge off the truck,” laughs Stajcer. “He said ‘Yeah, for $53000 and I’ll throw in the truck.’.”
“Who Will Listen To Country Music When Trucks Drive Themselves?” forms the A-Side to a 45″ single due that Stajcer has out later this year, with the record’s B-Side, “If I Had One Bottle More,” set for release on Friday, November 27.