Patsy Cline, the CMA and Johnny Cash

[Haole Jim]

'Couple of days ago, 'passed through while spouse was watching the Country music awards. As a non-TV person, it was sluffed off with the usual disgust and life returned to.

Last night, late, listening to Patsy Cline on CD and tape, mental comparison was made to how pure and beautiful Patsy Cline was, five decades ago, with simple accompaniment, no huge stage with fog machines, programmed lights, mega-EQ...

...and how today's hyper-overproduced Stetson-sequin "country"-pop sadly, even pathetically pales like an ant beside and elephant, compared with Patsy's natural musical purity, or perhaps THE height of country-western music...

...the day Johnny Cash walked onto the stage at Folsom Prison.

[Sarah93003]

Yep, it's a whole different ear to be sure. Marketing is the priority with talent trailing somewhere far, far, behind.

[connie_mack]

if there is anything worth listening to in the "new country" market, i can't sit through enough of the total and utter crap to find it. it's just pop music sung with a southern accent(if that). there is a rebellion brewing.

a friend pointed out last year after watching a bit of one of those shows that there was a fiddle player, steel player and banjo player on the stage during the performance of some crappy radio song but you couldn't hear any of those instruments in the mix. they were there as props.

[Sarah93003]

That is just SO wrong.

I think the short answer is that Recording Labels and artists will do whatever it takes to make money. I also think music genres are going to evolve and change over time and maybe not for the better. Some artists try to be more traditional such as George Strait, Billy Currington, Dierks Bentley, among others. I think you almost need to find specific songs from an artist that you like and not expect all of them to fit the mold. Many new artists are more concerned with cross over appeal as that equals more money, such as Taylor Swift.

I think the bottom line is if an artist doesn't sell then they will not survive. I remember when Rock and Roll suffered a familiar fate when artists such as Rod Stewart, the Bee Gees, and others were becoming more disco-like. I've heard it said that Bruce Springsteen saved Rock and Roll, but I also know he was under tremendous pressure from the record labels to change his style and he refused. He almsot got dropped a number of times.

Another thought is that originally Country music was a reflection of life in the South and it's Appalacian roots. Well, over the last 60+ years life in the South has changed dramatically. So, do you write songs about life as it is today or life as it was "back in the day"? I don't know the right answer but it sure is an interesting study.

[Haole Jim]

Thank you for the thoughts.

Yes, the American South has changed, especially in the big cities and overall tolerance.

However, there still are a gob of folks with first...and second and third loves, found and lost, and pickup trucks and recollections of deeds one should not oughta done, for example, in their pasts.

Metro Chicago is arguably different than the great 30s through 50s of the original blues players, but there is still s serious, genuine blues scene, here.

May the (music of the non-commercial) South, rise again!

[Sarah93003]

If it helps at all, I still write "true" Country songs. I write primarily Country and Rockabilly songs. A lot of the Country songs I write are about my family and the stories that I was told growing up about my ancestors. We have a long history in Arkansas and Missouri and back to North Carolina before that. One of these when I figure out how to use GarageBand I'll get these things recorded. I think at this time I've written well over 100 songs.