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Country Pop is killing off regional country music

stereofanboy said:
Trying to find gold nuggets in a pile of dirt is fun in direct proportion to the number of nuggets per square yard of dirt. Not enough nuggets for my definition of fun, although it might be more correct to say too many yards of dirt per nugget.
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That's not dirt you sticking your hands in trying to find gold [emoji2]
 
Jailtime said:
I wish something, anything would kill country pop, bro country, whatever it is. How many more songs about lifted trucks, kegs, and tight blue jeans can be written? I'd be just thrilled if I never heard Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, etc. again. :puke:
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There were plenty of "real" country artists I didn't like much (Buck Owens) or pretty much hated (Tammy Wynette), but I have liked, loved, admired, revered to varying degrees many I thought had a deeper authenticity, originality, and artistry: Hank Williams, The Carter Family, Johnny Cash, Bobby Gentry, Willie Nelson. And that doesn't include some bluegrass and oldtime artists, including great instrumentalists, like Jethro Burns (of Homer and Jethro) I love to listen to. But when you hear these current "country music" awards shows (that's another thing how many @#$%^& award shows does this modern "country" crap deserve in a year? CRIMINY!), it looks more like bad glitter rock and ranges in sound from drunken bar brawl music to bad lite-rock.

I was actually a fan of very, very early country-influenced rock, such as Poco's first album in the early 70s--they were in fact an off-shoot of Buffalo Springfield--and to some extent The Flying Burrito Brothers, but those bands have no relationship to this current so-called "country music" that mainly makes me think that country is dead.
 
1973BuickGS said:
I absolutely loathe pop country. I live in a far NW suburb of Chicago, McHenry, IL, which is one of the last cities you'll see before you hit farm fields of corn. Because of that, it's filled with suburban cowboys and their brodozer trucks blasting "country". These are the same people who will tell you top 40 rap and pop music is crap, but yet they are just playing the redneck equivalent. It's the same thing with a little bit of twang and a southern accent. .... .
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I agree that it is a totally fake lifestyle affect, though there are a fair number of people in northeastern Illinois with southern roots, left over from mid-20th century migration for jobs in the Chicago area. Actually, if you spoke to some of the 80 year old farmers who grew up in McHenry County, few of them would have a Southern Accent, though there might be some rural pronunciations different from the city. The same would be true of Adams County, 240 miles SW of you, where my mother grew up on a farm. You don't hear an authentic Southern Upland accent in Illinois until you get south of Springfield, unless its from people whose people came north in the last 100 years. My Mom's family was a big fan of an Indiana-born novelty band that played regularly on WLS radio's "The Barn Dance" in the 1930's and also toured county fairs throughout the Midwest: The Hoosier Hot Shots, who had a big hit poking fun at the country music craze of their day, titled "Them Hillbillies are Mountain Williams Now."
 
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ducati_EL34 said:
I am not politically correct, so I am free to make fun of anyone. :D


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But we are not, unless you agree? That may not be your intention but that can be a legitimate way of understanding your aurgument.

Music like most industries is about making money. Artists can proclaim it's about entertaining people but then they don't do it for free and in fact usually charge ever increasing ticket prices and merchandising fees. That's a general statement... that is generally true. It may not apply to everyone.

As an industry/money making concern, they try to get the most profit from the least expenditure which means one conclusion is they are moving all music genres to a homoginous sameness. It increases your market and thus your profit potential (read Taylor Swift here as an example, though not the only).

But there are "nuggets" in every genre that try to stay true to their choices. They are just getting hard to find. Country may go back to its roots at some point. Who knows? But probably only of someone sees profit in it.

Just an opinion. YMMV
 
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Falstaff said:
But we are not, unless you agree? That may not be your intention but that can be a legitimate way of understanding your aurgument.



V
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Huh? You are not what?

Yes everyone knows performers and labels are out to make a profit. No news there.


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Gentrification of a genre for monetary gain is nothing new. As soon as something gains momentum, all the major labels scramble to put their money behind it and ride the wave. Sure it's manufactured, and the artists are just pretty looking faces that can sing. But, image and appearance is half of what sells popular music. There has never been as much exposure to the artist than there is now. It takes a buttload of talent to get the masses to accept a less than perfect -to put it nicely- looking artist. Who knows if "country" has staying power in popular music? Does it really matter?

"Pop country" is not killing "real regional country music". "Pop Country" is just killing regular old "pop" music. All casual music fans have ever done is listen to what been provided for them to hear. The drift with the trends, and if it's drifting towards country these days, that's what they'll "like".

The people that listened to the regional country probably aren't casual music fans. They aren't all that likely to jump ship, and listen to whatever's being jammed down their throats by the radio stations. The regional artists are still going to write their music, and tour. And the fans are still going to listen to it, and go see them play.

Commercial rock got pretty stagnant about 15 years ago (and 10 years before that, etc.). Then we got the "indie" movement. The majors all tried to capitalize on this to; albeit to a lesser extent. Commercial rock still sucks, but the underground scene that almost made it big is still around. It will be no different for country.
 
finnbow said:
Interesting article about the impact of modern-day country pop music on regional country music.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/poste...larity-is-threatening-to-kill-regional-music/

I'll admit to loving real country music (e.g., Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, bluegrass) and Alt-Country/Americana (Gillian Welch, Wilco, Lucinda Williams ...), but I can't stomach modern-day Nashville country pop (the line between them may be blurred sometimes, but the difference between what I like and don't like is pretty clear to me).
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Dear Cod!! Shania Twain driving off those classic inuet love songs of our ancestors!
JK ...
I'm with you on the preferring the real deal instead of that country-Rock-hokum that passes as pop on all the Syndicated Country feeds ...
I certainly like a bit o' Buck Owens and the Bakersfield sound now and then!~ Emmylou, Ray Price and Willie too!~
(some of you folks who have heard my demo tracks for checking audio gear know that!) ...

I blame it all on Elton John and his Tumbleweed Connection -=
Good old Country Comfort indeed! :banana:
 
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I think one of the major points of the author's article is valid. Namely, the more popular that country pop becomes, it shoves aside regional country music, from Texas twang to bluegrass to the Bakersfield sound in favor of modern-day homogenized Nashville pop. Namely, kids growing up in Luckenbach, Bakersfield or Galax, VA are more likely to know Carrie Underwood or Rascal Flatts than the music the grew out of their own towns.
 
I guess the argument from the other side would be that country music is inevitably evolving, for better or for worse.

But I'm with most of you - what passes today for country is basically pop Top 40 at best, bubblegum at worst. They just put a cowboy hat and some twang on it. I think I'll fire up some good "young country" tonight - Alan Jackson and the incomparable Patty Loveless. They're both about my age.
 
finnbow said:
I think one of the major points of the author's article is valid. Namely, the more popular that country pop becomes, it shoves aside regional country music, from Texas twang to bluegrass to the Bakersfield sound in favor of modern-day homogenized Nashville pop. Namely, kids growing up in Luckenbach, Bakersfield or Galax, VA are more likely to know Carrie Underwood or Rascal Flatts than the music the grew out of their own towns.
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Can't really argue with this.
That being said,with the internet, these same local artists are probably reaching far more people with their music than ever before. They may not have success strictly in their region anymore, but if they're good enough to succeed locally, they'll probably do alright elsewhere. And word spreads quickly and easily online.

Also, kids listening to Carrie Underwood, and Rascal Flatts probably weren't likely to be seeking out the local talent in the first place.
 
finnbow said:
I think one of the major points of the author's article is valid. Namely, the more popular that country pop becomes, it shoves aside regional country music, from Texas twang to bluegrass to the Bakersfield sound in favor of modern-day homogenized Nashville pop. Namely, kids growing up in Luckenbach, Bakersfield or Galax, VA are more likely to know Carrie Underwood or Rascal Flatts than the music the grew out of their own towns.
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While I am sure it is having an impact, don't you think,"killing off regional music" is a bit over the top?


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While I stoically put up with the weekend Top Country countdown during breakfast on weekends (SO listen to country most of the time and I am with “If I hear one more tailgate in the moonlight, daisy duke song, I’m gonna throw up,” as Zac Brown famously said) I continue to find gems in current country music; I still prefer the older generations such as Randy Travis, Toby Keith, Trisha Yearwood, Johny Cash, Alan Jackson, George Jones, Tammy Wynette and so many others, but also like Josh Turner - Your Man - Your Man, Kenny Chesney - be as you are - Old Blue Chair, Billy Currington - Best of Billy Currington - People Are Crazy, Little Big Town - The Road To Here - Boondocks, Blake Shelton - Red River Blue - Honey Bee, Jason Aldean - Night Train - This Nothin' Town, Dierks Bentley - Riser - Drunk On The Plane, Chris Young - A.M. - Text Me Texas, and many others, don't mind if some are popsy, after all, country cliche's have been around for a long time.
 
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rudyg said:
While I stoically put up with the weekend Top Country countdown during breakfast on weekends (SO listen to country most of the time and I am with “If I hear one more tailgate in the moonlight, daisy duke song, I’m gonna throw up,” as Zac Brown famously said) I continue to find gems in current country music; I still prefer the older generations such as Randy Travis, Toby Keith, Trisha Yearwood, Johny Cash, Alan Jackson, George Jones, Tammy Wynette and so many others, but also like Josh Turner - Your Man - Your Man, Kenny Chesney - be as you are - Old Blue Chair, Billy Currington - Best of Billy Currington - People Are Crazy, Little Big Town - The Road To Here - Boondocks, Blake Shelton - Red River Blue - Honey Bee, Jason Aldean - Night Train - This Nothin' Town, Dierks Bentley - Riser - Drunk On The Plane and many others, don't mind if some are popsy, after all, country cliche's have been around for a long time.
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Haha I forgot about that, maybe that's why I like Zac Brown so much. Here's the article :

http://tasteofcountry.com/zac-brown-ashamed-country-music/
 
Seems to me when the heavy drinkin' and pill poppin' disappeared from the scene country music lost a lot of its soul. Not that that has a direct correlation to the article's observation necessarily, but I think there's more to the character change in country music (regionally or not) than the proliferation of one particular style of the genre.

And I don't know if this has much to do with anything but I do know a good number of the county stars back in the day were just regular folks with regular jobs before they hit it.....right? Seems like the norm these days is grooming for the Nashville role rather than letting life experience influence the artist and Nashville embracing whatever comes from that.
 
Most music lovers tend to heap scorn on what is popular in most any genre. With good reason I believe, because what drives the industry for the most part is the money of people not really into music. Let me give an example of my young girls, early 20's. They are really into Country Pop, the stuff that you hear on the radio. Before that it was Hip-Hop. They go to the big shows to see the latest stars, but you will not find them searching out bands or going to honky-tonks to hear obscure acts. The reality is they would of never heard of any artist from any genre unless it was being, dare I say it "forced down their throats". I would also dare say the average person has no desire to educate themselves, even knowing they are being indoctrinated to consume a lesser product.
 
Tom Brennan said:
So what? Neither did Elvis, Sinatra, Callas, Vaughn, Crosby...
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I think these artists were able to make up for the lack of writing with actual unique vocal talent. Although I dislike Elvis, even he at least had a unique voice and singing style. These pop country artists can't even make up for their vocal and instrumental mediocrity with a shred of creativity.

jimfet said:
I can't take it myself. All the voices and songs sound the same. They are looking for models to sell CD covers.
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Exactly. It's about who can play the part.
 
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