Jeff Daniels swaps comedy for country, drawing praise and doubt

Jeff Daniels, country music and the long shadow of Johnny Cash

Jeff Daniels' performance on a television show has once again raised an uncomfortable question: can a comedy actor be taken seriously when he sings? The star of “Dumb and Dumber” picked up a guitar and achieved the hardest thing of all: getting some to compare him to Johnny Cash and others to send him straight back to his dressing room.

The Cash reference is no accident. Among the comments circulating, “Folsom Prison Blues” has come up, the 1968 recording made inside Folsom Prison itself. For a certain school of fans, that song separates those who sing from memory from those who have lived what they sing. And there, they say, Jeff Daniels remains stuck at the gate.

Talent or artifice?

Some argue that Daniels plays and sings more than well enough, and that the purists' demands are pure snobbery. The actor has spent years juggling film with music, a side of him that goes unnoticed by many until a riff starts playing. But the other camp won't budge: he lacks what is known as artistry, that spark that can't be manufactured in a rehearsal room. And in the background looms the shadow of Clint Eastwood, who already cast him as a serial killer in a film that flopped at the box office.

The Cordell Jackson alternative

Among the comparisons that surface, Cordell Jackson comes up, a pioneer of rockabilly and country with a longer career and a less polished style. For those who mention her, it's not a question of technique but of substance. The debate remains open, and Daniels has at least managed to get people talking about his music and not just his funny faces.

The question remains: what does it take to make it in country music? The actor has earned the right to be debated, but he will lose people's interest if he doesn't turn the discussion into something more than a TV anecdote.