The State Of Country Music Right Now

[Minimalism]

I stumbled upon this article at the9513.com and found it very interesting. What do you guys think?

COUNTRY MUSIC'S BIGGEST NIGHT WASN'T COUNTRY

If you tuned in last night to ABC’s broadcast of the 42nd annual CMA Awards expecting to see country music in even its most mainstream form, you were sorely disappointed. And if you are reading this website now, on the morning after, not because you’re looking for pictures of Kellie Pickler’s boobs but because you love country music, or because you like country music, or even because you have just a passing interest in one of the few contemporary art forms that can be said to be truly and uniquely American, you should feel both insulted and outraged by what you witnessed last night.

I most certainly am.

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The rest of the article: www.the9513.com/the-malec-minute-country-musics-biggest-night-wasnt-country/

[Minimalism]

I personally think he is right on the money. Country music right now, for the most part, are too concerned with being accessible, and thus are sacrificing musical integrity for simple, catchy, mindless hooks. I long for the days when country songs actually have meanings, and the performers actually have talents, authenticity, and love for the genre. Country music shouldn't try to compromise too much for the sake of being accepted by the public, instead it should let the public embrace it for what it is. The examples being raised by the writer, the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Alison Krauss are good ones.

[kasey8810]

Somewhere between Kid Rock not-rocking and rapper Lil Wayne pretending to play the guitar, between the Wailers wailing and the Eagles (who have never been country, despite what Brad Paisley or anyone else says) performing in business suits, I had a moment of realization—this was not about celebrating country music at all; it was about moving past country music. It was about redefining “country music,” the term, as being not tied to a specific sound or even a specific artistic aesthetic, but rather to an ideology.

That's where he hit the nail on the head, and that's always been my biggest peeve with the industry. Of course now there's always going to be a gap between traditional and mainstream ...but then there's the artists who don't fit into it AT ALL and are still some how categorized into the genre of country. It's like "well, they're not really pop or rock ...so, country it is!"

It's really started to get sickening.

[WotUNeed]

Nov 18, 2008 21:42:00 GMT -5 Minimalism said:

I personally think he is right on the money. Country music right now, for the most part, are too concerned with being accessible, and thus are sacrificing musical integrity for simple, catchy, mindless hooks. I long for the days when country songs actually have meanings, and the performers actually have talents, authenticity, and love for the genre. Country music shouldn't try to compromise too much for the sake of being accepted by the public, instead it should let the public embrace it for what it is. The examples being raised by the writer, the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Alison Krauss are good ones.

I very much agree. I've probably been bringing this up somewhat more than I should recently, but I tend to resent the complete lack of respect that the current country scene pays to its roots. After all, for a genre of music that has very much been rooted in tradition and family (as in, it used to be passed down within the family and that sort of thing, not talking about "family values" associations), it seems that at some point ties were just cut. I'm overstating things, of course, and perhaps even saying "resent" before is too strong. It's just, for me, somewhat sad that more new country which is sonically identifiable as country finds a home at AAA radio than it does at country right now.