Current Times

Basically I've tried to give a brief and it's very brief history of how I've come full circle back to my Country Music Roots. The twang is something that I now crave. Something about the moan and wail of the steel guitar along with the sad sounds of the fiddle mixed with the crooning twang of the singers that really strike a chord with me.

One of the things that draws so many to what is considered Country Music these days is the words of the song. The words or story of the song got lost somewhere along the way with Rock and Roll. In the late 80s and into the 90s Heavy Metal seemed to take up the mantel of Rock.

Some of the Metal is pretty cool, but the lyrics are just lost to me. I love the hard driving guitar work and drum work....but the lyrics are so hard to understand. One thing I never got into was the whole kill the puppies screaming lyrics....to me they just didn't translate. Nirvana was genius and Pearl Jam okay....probably because of the moody edge of Eddie Vetter. Nickelback, Shinedown, and Daughtry are all very cool...but I was lacking something.

Listening to "Pop Country" today is a strange experience. It seems like pop rock music with a southern accent and usually a fake accent at that. The country of old or as I like to call it Legacy Country is a soulful way of telling a story. It's the white man's blues in my opinion, and believe me the blues is cool....I'm a sucker for guitar what can I say.

There is a big movement going on that "Hates Pop Country".....hate is a pretty strong word. There are some that have stronger feelings than that. Whitey Morgan for example has t-shirts that say "Fuck Pop Country", I can relate to his sentiments because country radio will never play his music.

Even in the 90's George Jones wasn't getting the air play he deserved. Everything is run by matrix numbers which are computer generated and based on demographics. It's all about the numbers and sales. Eddie Arnold in the 60's was accused of not doing country music, to which his reply was he didn't care if it was country or not he was selling records.

At the latest CMT awards they had artists like PitBull and other rappers in the line-up....really....what they hell do they have to do with country music and who gives a shit if they are there or not....only the number crunchers and producers that turn out the mindless dribble like Florida Georgia Line and Sam Hunt.....they are pop artists at best. Even Taylor Swift had enough respect to say that her music is really "pop" and not even "pop-country" and she got out and catered to the "pop" crowd......at least she showed some respect.

Glen Campbell was the first highly successful cross-over artist from country to pop and paved the way for hundreds of others along the way......but there seems to be a resurgance of interest in "true" Country Music.....and the only outlet seems to be XM/Sirrus satellite radio.....there are plenty of "Classic Rock" stations but no "Classic Country" stations that I'm aware of.

.Blake Shelton and his ex Miranda are about the only ones I have any respect for on country radio. They seem to have some allegiance to those who went before them for the roots that are making them rich. We'll see which way they go.