The state of Country Music

[Barry Blackwood]

Well said Joe.

[Richard Sinkler]

I must be living in some sort of Twilight Zone, but around here, traditional country is alive and well. Most of my steel playing friends are playing in very steel friendly bands. There are at least a half dozen bands in my immediate area that are fronted by guys who are around the age of 30 or under, who are doing Buck, George, Vern, Waylon. It just seems to me that if you do that music and take it to the people, you will find an audience, maybe not in the numbers you'd like, but there is growth potential. One of the factors here is the Ice House in Selma and all of these bands go thru there in rotation. People DO like this kind of music. I'll relate a story that happened just last night. It was a thrown together band to play a singles club dance. The guy running the dance saw my steel on stage and came up and asked if we played "beach music". I told him no and he said "well, this crowd isn't going to like you". After one set, they loved us.
One of the most popular bands on the critter club circuit is Don Whaley and Southern Storm, who play almost nothing but hard core country. I had one manager tell me, "I don't get it, they're my most popular band, and all they play is country". He hit the nail on the head when he said "I DON'T GET IT."

You mentioned many bands that circulate through 1 venue. How many real classic country venues do you have that consistently have real classic country bands ALL THE TIME?

[Richard Sinkler]

Are you saying that an older audience is not a valid one? Do their $20 bills not have the same value? Any musical form that had it's origins fifty years ago is going to draw people who remember and cherish it. But the younger guys I play with are drawing their peer group also.

I see the older audiences not spending much money. Most I see drink water or nurse 1 soda all night. The venue doesn't make money off of them. The older gigs I play, I would be surprised if 1/4 of them actually spend as much (or more )than $20. Just having a 100 butts in a seat, doesn't mean the venue is making any money.

Most classic country around here is only found in the critter clubs. And even there, it is becoming scarce. They don't make enough money to keep hiring bands because the old herd doesn't spend money drinking. We used to get 2 night in a row at a local Moose club once a month, now it's down to one night. Another Moose Lodge quit live music altogether. Couldn't break even. And both those critter clubs charge to get in, either for dinner and dancing, or just dancing. They try to keep prices low so the older retired members can afford to go and hope to make the rest on drink sales. The drink sales just don't happen much.

[Richard Sinkler]

I usually don't jump into this pool, but I was driving between gigs last Saturday night and I turned on the local "new country" station, something I do about twice a year. Can't say I'd ever heard anything by Blake Shelton, but here comes this tune, mostly him talking, or rapping, or whatever you want to call it. One of the main hook lines of the song is "chew tobacca, chew tobacca, chew tobacca, spit." As I could barely listen to the rest of the song, this is the hook that stuck with me. Oy vey indeed.

I like some of Blake's stuff, but this one makes me want to puke. And Jason Aldean had "Red Dirt Road Anthem", or something like that. Started out to be a really nice song with a decent melody, BUT THEN --- RAP CRAP.

[Clyde Mattocks]

Richard, the point about most of the classic country bands going thru one venue is right. But other clubs in the area are taking notice. One club that traditionally has featured blues/rock is now regularly having country with a packed house, a younger audience. Granted the country bands have to have a cetain "attitude", a good bit of outlaw stuff, but a lot of Jones, Haggard and Vern. As I stated, my area may be in a time warp, but country is in a growth mode here. I play a lot (3-4 nights a week) and it's all hard country. One thing I readily concede is that you can get no more money now than you could get in 1985, but we don't have to play those 5 hour marathons like back then. It's anywhere from an hour and a half to a max of 3 hours.

[Theresa Galbraith]

I think Blake puts out enough good tracks on a CD to get fans to buy it!

[Niels Andrews]

Just remember one thing, Money makes the World go around. Blake does what he does because that is what the money spending public wants. I think he is using his talents to not only be commercially successful, but to keep "Old Style" Country fresh. It would be a bit disturbing if everyone liked everything anybody did.
Personally I think Blake is a great musician and a good guy.
Cheers

[Paul Redmond]

Clyde - When I moved back to IL in 2002, I found an entire region literally begging for traditional country. These people are flat-out PO'ed because they can't hear the music they want to hear on the radio. So in protest, they turn off the radio. End of story. I bet the advertisers love that!!! When playing gigs, I find people telling me that they refuse to listen to that s___ anymore....they want to hear the "good" stuff.
The industry has conspired against the public for the sake of the almighty $$$$, so REAL country music can now go squat. And as far as Blake Shelton and Carrie Underwood and all these other "stars" are concerned, they wouldn't make a pimple on Hank Williams' butt on a good day.
PRR

[chris ivey]

why would you call blake a 'great musician'? does he play an instrument? i think i saw him hold a guitar once.

[Joe Casey]

Lots of guitar Owners more so than Musicians.