Just let me hear some of that... er, oil drillin' music

— I spent a few years of my sullied youth singing in a country-rock band. In that time I noticed that a lot of country songs revolved around Texas.

In fact, I recently saw an Internet list of several hundred songs whose titles invoke Texas, such as: "El Paso," "Houston," "Abilene," "San Antonio Rose," "All My Exes Live In Texas," "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind?" "Amarillo By Morning," "Luckenbach, Texas," and so on.

Since the Lone Star State has such a large geography and varied topography, it's not surprising that it's been sung about so much. What is striking is how few country music songs mention oil, exploration and production or drilling -- which is a large part of the economy of not only Texas but other nearby states that country-western music tends to favor, musically speaking. Instead, C&W songs revolve around cheatin' hearts, thwarted love, bars, beer and alcohol, pickup trucks, being financially broke and to a lesser extent, time spent behind bars -- the prison variety.

So why is drilling left out of country music lore? The industry touches the lives of hundreds of thousands of not only Texans but others throughout the US, accounts for millions of working hours each week and those it employs are largely decently-paid and thus are supplied with the promise of a good life.

Last week, a whopping 816 land rigs worked in Texas, according to the Baker Hughes rig count--about 45% of all active land rigs in the US. With an estimated 125 full-time jobs supported by each land rig, according to the rule of thumb given by North Dakota's Department of Mineral Resources, that amounts to about 102,000 Texas dudes (and a sprinkling of ladies) that work directly in the state's drilling and oilfield services industry.

Of course, Texas has a population of 25 million, but when you consider related kinds of work, such as inspectors, engineers, accountants, lawyers, researchers, and other oil and gas jobs related to local and state governments, a sizeable chunk of the drilling industry layers into the state's economy. And this doesn't even take into account the refining or midstream sectors or other energy industry activities such as power, LNG or alternative energies.

Moreover, the other large western or nearby producing states of Oklahoma (180 rigs), North Dakota (162 rigs), Louisiana (142 rigs), New Mexico (75 rigs) and Colorado (72 rigs) encompass another 631 total rigs and thus support another roughly 78,875 jobs.

Not only that, but those six states all have big rural expanses, and rigs can be seen along the back roads or from the highways. Make no mistake, drilling touches nearly everyone in some way, if only because the oil and gas it yields is a big and growing part of everyone's life and it's becoming more evident and visible all the time.

All this doesn't even take into account Pennsylvania, with its 102 rigs, or California (41 rigs). Or Wyoming, Utah and Kansas (42, 29 and 24 rigs respectively), since none of these states is historically fodder for country-music tunes. But together they account for another 238 rigs and therefore nearly 30,000 jobs.

In all, the 1,797 land rigs now working in the US add up to something like 224,625 US jobs directly. But that doesn't consider the 33 rigs offshore--including one in Alaska and 32 in the Gulf of Mexico, some of them working on 23 deepwater projects. Offshore rigs can support as many as 200 or even 300 jobs apiece, so that's potentially another 6,600 to nearly 10,000 people.

All this translates into nearly a quarter of a million jobs that provide livelihoods for workers and their families. Yet at least to my knowledge, not a single verse of popular music is dedicated to drilling. All I found on an Internet search was the first few lines of "Missing You," by former rig worker-turned- country-star Trace Adkins, which begins:

An hour into my shift
I'm covered from head to toe
Drilling oil from the bottom
Of the Gulf of Mexico

During my days as a country musician I wrote a composition that was memorable only for its name: "I've Never Been To Las Vegas, Baby, But I Sure Hit the Jackpot With You." That dusty little number, heard just a few times by patrons of establishments where my band played, was mostly appreciated around closing time when the audience tended toward impaired memories and had more important concerns (like how to get home in one piece and who might accompany them). The song deservedly became a has-been soon after its debut.

But maybe now, with oil and gas activity brisk and expanding, and pump prices so high and painful, the time may be ripe for a new music genre: drillin' music. Imagine a repertory with titles like: "Rhinestone Roughneck," "Cold, Cold Drill Bit," "Shale House Rock," "On The Rig Again," "Stand By Your Derrick," "If You've Got the Coiled Tubing, I've Got the Time," or "Tool Pusher's Daughter."

Okay, okay. Don't say it. I have no intention of quitting my day job.