The dismal ‘evolution’ of country is forcing fans to look outside Nashville

You know 'pop country' need not be the enemy. Here is an example of poppy country duo (from England of all places) who actually say something intelligent and honest in their music.



And they actually sound more country than a lot of what comes out of Nashville these days.

 

If Garth Brooks ego and where he sells his records has changed the course of country music, he must be the most powerful musical artist who has ever lived.

 

I think the biggest demise in country music is that in the old days (Hank, Patsy, Cash, etc.) the artists sang country music because that's what was in their souls. It's the music they knew, they felt and they had to sing. There are still genuine country artists today (I think Sara Watkins is a good example) but the majority of things on the radio are artists in for the money grab. Hootie is now a country singer? Riiiiiight.

I first noticed the fake drawl thing with Nicolette Larson. When she was a pop star there was no drawl. As soon as she started making country records, she started talking like a coal miner's daughter.

I believe this all started with Garth. Garth really blended pop with country so skillfully that he was able to pull the cowboy hat over the eyes of the music buying public. I don't think he's all that talented, a decent singer, but nothing great. His skill was marketing his music and selling his brand. He sold MILLIONS of units, so everybody else wanting to have a successful career donned a cowboy hat and started doing the same thing.

When it comes down to it, it's the same thing, no matter the genre. It's gotta have soul. Music without soul (and I'm not talking R&B here) is worthless product. Music is art - not a commodity. Art has feeling, emotion and realness. Commodities are plastic. It's like the record itself is the commodity, but what it contains is beyond a dollar value.

 

Bro country draws 20,000 people to arenas and 50,000 people to stadiums routinely in America now. As much as we may knock the genre, it is very popular.

 

Well if sales = p0wer, and ego = greatness, and at least in Garth's mind it does, then yes he is.

 

I will say that I have seen Garth live in the last year, and have also seen all of the popular touring bro country artists in concert, and Garth is head and shoulders above the rest as a live performer and singer. He has a lot better songs too. I was actually quite impressed with Garth's energy, intensity and musicianship live.

 

The Texas Music Scene TV »

we have over 150 + episodes of what most would call "country" or americana/red dirt.

guys like william clark green are closer to what people are looking for I believe.

 

Garth is sort of like one of his idol bands, (Queen). He puts his heart and soul into his live performances and it shows.

 

Of course having a platoon of fiddlers sawing away in your stage show for SURE makes it country. What else could it be?

 

"Thing Thing Called Wantin' And Having It All" is a great record. It's about the only thing of theirs I can stomach.

 

Actually Darius Rucker has done Country/Folk for a very long time. I've heard him interviews way back in the early Hootie days referencing old school country music. He also cameos with Nanci Griffith on The Dust Bowl Symphony in 1999. Personally I think his country debut ("Learn to Live") is one of the best country albums of the last decade. I find nothing forced or phony about it at all. FWIW, I've never seen him in a hat.

Not surprising that I would like Darius. I was one that had very little use for most of the 80's music. then the 90's brought us bands like Hootie, Gin Blossoms, Refreshments, Better Than Ezra, and others that brought us good old fashioned toe tapping, guitar centric singable rock and roll. For some reason bands playing such music seem to have short lifespans, yet there is always a fanbase that still loves that brand of music. Much of modern country has stepped into that role. Nothing wrong with that since few others have.

 

Reminds me of wrestling matches and monster truck shows. Which I imagine may have the same people attending.

 

I live in rural Georgia, in the same little town as Brantley Gilbert. I know him and all his family, so he is bigger than big here. I teach public school, mostly kids with mild learning disabilities, and when I made fun of "This is how we roll" by Florida-Georgia Line, they started taunting me by saying "I betchu like old stuff by ___" (I'm 62). Funny thing is that they named over 20 country artists back to Hank Williams Sr. so while they listen to Bro-Country, they know differently.

 

Unless we know the artists personally, I don't think we have a clue about what is in the soul of Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Sara Watkins, Darius Rucker, Nicolette Larson or Garth Brooks. I respect them all as musical artists.

Plenty of country artists before Garth Brooks have donned cowboy hats and assumed the role. There are very very few country singers who have ever actually been cowboys.

Having lived in Oklahoma cow country for 30 years, I've has the privilege of actually knowing some real cowboys. They generally wear baseball caps.

 

Roy Rogers was one who wore a cowboy hat and actually lived on a ranch.

 

Better on a stage than on my roof...

 

George Strait would be the most successful cowboy of the bunch.

This "fad" is nothing new. I remember being on leave from Germany in 1980 and my Dad and I decided to go have a beer at the Hired Hand Saloon and we thought it was pretty hilarious that we were the only two in the place without a hat and boots, and pretty sure that we were the only ones in the place that owned a horse much less a cow! lol

 

Well said. It's embarrassing when I ask the record store clerk to check for a title on the computer and when he asks what genre, I have to say country. Now and more than every before, the word "country" has become a turnoff to consumers. I remember in the 70s and 80s when country music was appreciated by a large variety of people who appreciated many different genres.

Classic country music represents a relatively small market compared to other genres and the only advantage I've noticed is that used vinyl prices have remained much lower. For example, you could buy several Waylon Jennings LPs in good condition from the country used bin for what it would cost to buy a Pink Floyd LP in the rock section.

I wish more people knew that not all country music is about redneck lifestyles and being rowdy. Most modern country music is not honest because it's manufactured and there's very little awareness for the historical importance and tradition of this great music and its legacy.

Modern artists such as Blake Shelton are packaged to be the perfect all-American country-bred good old boy, but in real life, it doesn't seem as though he's very much like the character they originally wanted consumers to perceive.

 

The difference is pro-wrestling has a huge international audience. Modern country music does not.

 

Lucius
cover Buddy Holly's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" (written by Paul Anka)


LUCIUS with JD McPHERSON & JIMMY SUTTON

 

You know what is a huge part of the problem with mainstream country music lacking honesty? Look at the list of song writers on any mainstream album, they are being written by committee. When that's the case, of course the songs will sound formulaic.

Sadly far too much these days is done by committee so it's not just country music.

 

Yes they do

 

I haven't read through this thread religiously, but I think "the dismal evolution of country" has been ongoing for years and years, "forcing fans to look outside Nashville" for years and years: during the late-70's and early-80's when country was leaning way pop, fans turned to the West Coast (Dwight Yoakam, Rosie Flores, etc.) and Texas (Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, Steve Earle, etc.) for "authentic" country music, which then became "the mainstream" for a short while!