| Author |
Topic: Where should country music have gone? |
Bob Watson
From:
Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
|
Posted 20 Jan 2018 8:20 pm |
|
| Curt, you have introduced an interesting perspective into the conversation. I agree on the authenticity aspect of your comment, but I don't put as much weight on the age factor as you do. I started listening to C&W music when I was around 14 years old. What drew me to it was the authenticity of the lyrics. I started listening to the Beatles when I was 7 years old, and I had wondered, even at that young of an age, how guys as young as the Beatles could write such sophisticated songs without having the life experiences one would think a person would need to create songs like they wrote. Great songwriters seem to write in a way that paints a picture that lots of people can relate to. |
|
|
|
Godfrey Arthur
From:
3rd Rock
|
Posted 15 Feb 2018 8:36 am
|
|
Classic country like many things has its roots in socio-economic background beginnings.
As that background changes so will the music style.
As evidenced by the Walker Hayes song although a mutation of hip hop, it is precisely because hip hop has been social engineered into the heads of the youth today. The Eminem effect.
https://www.facebook.com/RealPoliticalCowboy/videos/1502958309799071/
It is a saving grace that musicians (art) for the most part endeavor to record their work. So that we have samples of it as time progresses, helping the future reconnect with the good 'ole days to enjoy and emulate.
From an economic POV it would be hard to sell music to new buyers who have nothing in common with the environment in which the song was based.
There's a C&W song in this story.
S01E22 - Dude Planet
break out the milk and cereal...
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2yvmw6
You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille...
I get a kick out of watching producers try and stretch the bounds of modern music within country.
As long as there exists the thread of the basic country formula and those producers hit on that vein, there's gold in them thar hills.
East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet
That said, making money and social engineering are not necessarily moving in the same directions.
| Quote: |
how guys as young as the Beatles could write such sophisticated songs without having the life experiences
Bob |
I think they had help Bob. After they did the Cavern Club tours, all of a sudden, the bionic beatles appeared.
Soylent Green is people..
Circle the wagons
I do agree that there is some good country coming from Canada.
Thanks for posting the music clips.
| Quote: |
"Real" country music does not provide you an escape from your day-to-day reality - instead it turns you inward to feel it more acutely.
Curt
remember this is a grown #ss adult man singing this.
Dustin
What drew me to it was the authenticity of the lyrics.
Bob
|
Nobody sings about cars no more..
| Quote: |
For the record, I've encountered bluegrass snobs and tradition-be-damned progressives and everything in-between.
Bill |
It stands to reason if you want to keep your music, you have to keep your culture intact.
Got's to be a maverick.
Let's mix it in mono...
_________________
ShoBud The Pro 1
YES it's my REAL NAME!
Ezekiel 33:7 |
|
|
|
Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
|
Posted 15 Feb 2018 10:56 am social engeneering
|
|
I will not ever forget the moment when one of the Willburn Bros touched Loretta Lynn and how she turned away. That's how the older generation was. Today it's all about being sex and money. The social engineers want people to be dumb.
_________________
Fender Kingman, Sierra Crown D-10, Evans Amplifier, Soup Cube. |
|
|
|
Barry Blackwood
|
|
|
|
Godfrey Arthur
From:
3rd Rock
|
Posted 16 Feb 2018 10:00 am
|
|
Hehe..we's ah-pickin'... but is we ah-grinnin'?
We'll leave the grinnin' to those two stars.
They's so good at it.
_________________
ShoBud The Pro 1
YES it's my REAL NAME!
Ezekiel 33:7 |
|
|
|
Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
|
Posted 16 Feb 2018 10:29 am
|
|
| Dustin wrote: |
| Bluegrass like blues (another genre that has a huge following) has a big community aspect where there are regular jams and festivals. Lots of involving kids and keeping the music alive with both genres. |
Agreed. I think part of what keeps these styles (and other modern variations of what is now generally considered Americana) vibrant is that they have never exactly been mainstream commercial styles primarily focused on huge numbers, and have been openly welcoming to new players and audience. Jazz, rockabilly, western swing, surf, and other stylistic instrumental music also. There are lots of good players who do these styles primarily for the love of it, and are accessible to audiences and new players. You can go see performers in small/medium rooms, festivals, and jam sessions for reasonable money in many, many parts of the country and world. I think the personal touch is still hugely important. The emphasis also tends to be heavily on music and not so much on trappings, although it's tough to completely escape hipsterism these days. To me, the worst part of trying to be mainstream is being forced to cater to hipsterism. Nothing new, I guess - schtick is and has always been part of the mainstream circus.
As mentioned earlier, I don't think it helps that what is called "country" has been a mainstream commercial style for a pretty long time. Every mainstream commercial style must move with the times to stay relevant to new generations. Non-mainstream styles, not so much - many if not most do it primarily for the love, and can afford to just do it their way and let people come to them, or not.
| Curt wrote: |
| So I think the future of country music isn't in artists who are retro, stylistically speaking. That stuff may sound and look charming, but it's not satisfying. Instead, it's in the artists who can draw from the same artistic "well" as the classic stuff, but make it relatable to its equivalent audience today. ... |
I also think Curt is correct that there is a generation gap with this. We live in a divide-and-conquer cultural/political world, so it's not too surprising to me that this manifests itself in music (and other) cultural preferences. These preferences become markers of one's identity, which are oh-so-important in the constant-connection world we live in. A large part of the culture is so tied to each other via cell phones, text, and social media that many act as if every statement and action is constantly being scrutinized, and they need to keep up appearances 24x7.
I still think the best thing musicians that give a damn about certain styles of music can do is to somehow find a way to make a reasonable and satisfying living in a way that leaves a reasonable amount of time to do something useful in the styles they prefer. I think that is what many of us here do. Bitching definitely isn't gonna help, only constructive action will. As long as there are solid players who will play for the love of it and even a tiny minority of public who will listen, the mainstream is not capable of silencing it. And there's always a chance that a larger chunk of the mainstream will ultimately grow weary of the BS and embrace something authentic. |
|
|
|
Roy Carroll
From:
North of a Round Rock
|
Posted 28 Feb 2018 9:28 am
|
|
After spending 50 years in the Music Business and 22 years of that in the Business of Music, I want to pass on a few points.
Most everyone here is in the Music Business is some form or fashion. You may be a professional sideman or a weekend warrior, if you receive compensation, you are in the Music Business. Most professionals play for a living, but not all. You can be a professional and not play with a recognized artist. Maybe that person is a regional guy or girl. It doesn't mean it is not a professional act and it does not mean that you as a player can't conduct yourself as a professional. That's why we call it "Show Business". There are many of these around. However, even though you work with a recognized act or not, most players are not in the Business of Music.
The Business of Music is left to the Record Execs, A&R men, Producers, Accountants, ect. Basically, the people that control the business of revenue within the record company. At that level, it is not about art or talent it is about running a business that will end up with the bottom line profitable for the Board of Directors and Stockholders. These folks would all say it is about the art and talent. As musicians with trained ears, we all know that isn't true. (Taylor Swift comes to mind) not the best singer, but a super money maker! They use that excuse to sell it to the general public.
The question is "Where should have Country Music gone?" It went exactly where the buying public took it! 50-60 year olds will not fill up a stadium or even a club now days. They have mostly stopped drinking and go home at 9:30 for bedtime. They are smart enough not to be caught drinking and driving. 21 year olds come out at 10:30 to start their evening and stay until closing time. The business model has changed and if you owned a business that depended on you reaching a different audience, You would go where the money is! It is sold to the people that will spend their money on a whim, and not the folks on a protected fixed income.
We may not like where Country Music has gone and it will never go back to the old crying in your beer, my dog left with my wife and best friend type music. There will always be the classic country that we all love, there just will not be as many fans. We can play it all we want, that's the good part. We are losing more of those fans every day.
Remember, there is a huge difference in the Music Business and the Business of Music.
Sorry for the long winded dissertation…. Pick on!
_________________
Just north of the Weird place, south of Georgetown |
|
|
|
