Country Music

[C.N.Hathcock]

So I been sittin here listening to Jamey Johnson. Man does he bring the "old Outlaw Country Sound" back to mainstream country.

If any of you gentlemen listen to country music what is your outlook on "New" mainstream country vs. country music of the decades past?

 

[VonMises1881]

I don't want to sound old fogey'ish but I've been listening strictly to Alt Country the last ten years plus classic stuff (Haggard, Jones, Frizzell, Williams I, etc. ) and when I hear "Country" on commericial radio nowadays it all pretty much sounds like pop with some country-type inflections in the voice of the singer and maybe the obligatory mention of country themes in the lyrics. But it's pop music. Or "hat" music as some call it. Take a pop singer, put a cowboy hat on him, voila! It's country!

 

[Beast]

I'm certainly no country music aficionado, new or old, but I, too have been drawn to the "Alt" Country sound.

If you get a chance, give Whiskeytown a listen. The singer/songwriter, Ryan Adams, has a stupid amount of talent, and his solo and group stuff (with The Cardinals) is all excellent as well.

I'll listen to old stuff all day, but any sort of mainstream or pop-radio-country is unbearable.

 

[VonMises1881]

Yes, Ryan Adams. Very, very good. A bit crazy as an individual but isn't that par for the course?

 

[C.N.Hathcock]

I to enjoy the older country. Merle, Conway, Kris, Loretta, Tammy, WAYLON IS MY HERO. And as far as the new stuff goes I agree completley. Southern or Nashville Pop. Check out Outlaw Country magazine @ www.outlawmagazine.com

I don't want to sound old fogey'ish but I've been listening strictly to Alt Country the last ten years plus classic stuff (Haggard, Jones, Frizzell, Williams I, etc. ) and when I hear "Country" on commericial radio nowadays it all pretty much sounds like pop with some country-type inflections in the voice of the singer and maybe the obligatory mention of country themes in the lyrics. But it's pop music. Or "hat" music as some call it. Take a pop singer, put a cowboy hat on him, voila! It's country!

 

[DolimiteB]

If you want some legit alt country then Gary Allan's your man.

He's got a little more edge than others. He grew up in SoCal and isn't your typical country guy. Just take a look at "Get Off on the Pain".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAcstCYcZzQ

Learning How to Bend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvfJb10oc0M

Watching Airplanes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJMeENk3t74

Gary's got some hard hitting stuff. His second wife took her own life and he has some sad ones out there too.

 

[Walker]

I don't listen to a whole lot of modern country but i do like Brad Paisley, Keith Urban ( for there guitar skills) i listen to alot of older country like The Outlaws ( Johnny, Willie, Waylon, Kris,) George Jones, etc. I have been reading in a few music mags about Jamey Johnson. I'll have to check him out.

 

[Schick_Fan]

If you want some good, new country check out Hank III (grandson of Hank Williams). His early CD's are great old outlaw country, and his new stuff is more a mix of country and heavy metal.

 

[David in Boston]

I started listening to Country music about 10 years ago.

Still listen to it but only select artists from the past and present.

The majority of the Country music I hear on the radio is now what I call "Country Pop".

Just awful!

 

[auk1124]

Grew up listening to Willie and Waylon. Still love them both.

 

[Phog Allen]

Wow. I thought maybe I was just getting old. You know how it is . When your parents stopped listening to anything contemporary of almost any genre. I am at the same point.

I was listening to the tail end of Cosmopolitan Country when I was little in the late sixties. Because that is what my parents had on the radio. Think Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline(yes, their songs were released for years after their deaths) Eddie Arnold, David Houston, and others. They were all backed up with orchestras and had big time production qualities. This came to an end as the sixties closed. The Outlaw Sound became dominant. While I like some of the outlaw stuff it was never just an overt favourite. Then came the Urban Cowboy era and that stuff made me puke. I hated almost all of it. Particularly the designer jeans. Ugh. By the early eighties I had not listened to much country for years. Like most teenage boys I was into hard rock.

Then a curious thing happened. In the mid eighties we saw the "new traditionalists". George Strait, Clint Black, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, and many others. Production qualities went back up, the sounds were a mix of honkytonk/cosmo/touch of cowboy. It was pretty good stuff. I gravitated back to the fold. Then the phenomenon known as "Garth" took over. Things were not quite the same. And haven't been since. And not in a good way I think.

We now have a radio dial full of the same sound all the time. A southern rock type beat combined with...I don't know what. But the single MOST IRRITATING thing about new country are the phony southern accents. Particularly amongst the men. It is an almost nasal, lisping kind of "accent" that is well rehearsed amongst some of these guys. I call it the Tim McGraw Effect. After he burst on the scene all of a sudden these guys all came up with that slightly lisping accent. And it is funny because McGraw is from Louisiana and you can tell he has made himself get rid of the bayou accent. I think this is where the odd sound comes from. Think of the word "beans". They all put a 'sh' sound on the end of it. Sounds like "beenjsh". Fake, fake, fake.

I am not a huge fan of McGraw's music because it is what I called bubble gum pop country for guys. And since it is a copycat industry like the NFL all the labels had their version of the sound. It just about drove me nuts. And the women now. Do they all sound like Taylor Swift? Because that is what hits me when I listen to "country" radio anymore. I knew Mindy McCready was sort of sponsored by McGraw. She was a one or two hit wonder in the nineties with a song called "Guys Do it". Find that song from at least 15 years ago and then compare it to the sound of todays women singers. I cannot tell the difference in them.

Sorry to rag on but the genre is just not what it was. I was never a a fan of the pure honkytonk sound like Kitty Wells or Webb Pierce or Loretta Lynn. Much to nasally for me. However, their sound was their own and they still get requested for play fifty and sixty years later. I don't know where "country" is headed but so far, I am not on the bus. BTW, big +1 for Gary Allan. Here's a lad who knows his music. I really like "Smoke Rings In The Dark".

Regards, Todd

 

[Phog Allen]

Hey chaps. I don't know if it still exists but when I had Dish Network they had their own CD channels in addition to the Sirius music stations. There was one channel called "new country". I avoided it for years because I suspected it to be you know, this new country stuff I do not much care for. I was so wrong. It was new country acts. Names I had never heard of like the Derailers. It was so different to radio country that it became a sort of default station when we listened through satellite. I don't know if it still in the lineup since all these music providers seem to think their stations need people's names. It was well worth checking out.

Regards, Todd

 

[winston61]

Check out the Marty Stuart show every Saturday on RFD TV. He knows how it is done.

 

[Phog Allen]

Absolutely. Marty is a very under appreciated talent in my opinion. I will have to try to catch his show. One of the disadvantages of shutting off the satellite!

Regards, Todd

 

[Beast]

I know we've avoided links to videos and audio (til now) but here's the songs I use to convert folks to Ryan Adams/Whiskeytown fans. Good stuff, but it may throw you off a bit to hear no twang in the vocals...or very little.

Links go to the Youtubes.

Dancing With the Women at the Bar

Jacksonville Skyline

 

[kwk285]

I like country music a lot. I just don't like the twangy country music.

 

[Edcculus]

I really like what Ray Charles did with his take on Country.