Play something country?
Ever since Garth Brooks arrived in Nashville, I've been hearing about how the "new country" sound was killing country music. Alan Jackson and George Strait even had a song called "Murder on Music Row" about the new acts that were killing country music.
That song always pissed me off.
Many artists have been called sell-outs and accused of not playing "real" country music. From Garth and Kenny Chesney to the Dixie Chicks. The Dixie Chicks wouldn't go pop when they were approached. You can hear the steel guitar, dobro and fiddle in every song they sing. I've never understood that one.
If you read my blog, you know that I listen to just about everything, but I love country music. And I love all country music. I don't like Rascal Flatts, but that's partly because they aren't "country enough" for me, but mostly because they have no talent. I know they have fans, but I'm not positive the lead singer is not tone-deaf. From Johnny, Merle and Willie to Kenny, Brad and Dierks -- I love all country music. I love all your "neo-traditional" artists like Brad Paisley, Joe Nichols and Chris Young. I love all your old-timers like Jones, Haggard and Kristofferson. I like your new country sound like Kenny and Keith Urban.
I grew up on country music. Both Hanks, Boxcar Willie, Vern Gosdin, Willie Nelson: Traditional country music ruled my household. My dad listened to it all. I think he had every Johnny Cash album on eight-track. When I got to junior-high age, it was really not cool to pull up at school with my dad in his Chevy Silverado listening to Lefty Frizzell. Boy bands were all the rage, and I decided that New Kids on the Block were much cooler than Chet Atkins.
So, I abandoned Patsy, Reba and Loretta and started listening to not only NKOTB, but Bon Jovi, Poison and just about every other hairband in America.
That is until one day in high school. I flipped on my favorite rock station and I heard this guy singing some song about going back to the bar and kissing his ass. My station had become country. Young Country, they called it. And their first song was the live version of "Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks. That song wasn't my daddy's country music. I kept that station turned on. There were great things happening in Nashville.
I haven't changed the dial yet, more than 15 years later. Country music is in my blood. It always has been. And the artists I shunned in my adolescent angst? Patsy? Hank? Johnny? They're all on my iPod. I just bought Vern Gosdin's greatest hits yesterday.
When people started dogging all the new country artists about sounding too much like rockers, they should've remembered the music we were raised on. Yes, we listened to Keith Whitley, but we listened to Bon Jovi and Poison, too. Garth Brooks' favorite band was Kiss, and that's where he came up with the idea to do his high-energy live show. When you go to a Kenny Chesney concert, you can see the influences of the Van Halen shows he attended in high school. We were children of the 80s, and our musical influences are all over the charts.
And, you know what? I think that's great.
Garth Brooks brought me back to the party. He reminded me that country music was cool. It's the music of the blue-collar working man. It's the music my grandpa and my daddy listened to. It's real. There's nothing better than the sound of the steel guitar or mandolin. If it weren't for Garth Brooks, I wouldn't know who Alan Jackson was.
Jon Bon Jovi sang at CRS last week. He's been in town working on a country CD. That's awesome. I liked Bon Jovi's music because it's real too. It speaks to the working man. He's just from New Jersey instead of North Carolina, but that's OK. The life-stories that make up the fabric of county music don't have to happen in the South.
Country music is America's music. And it's about-damn-time that everyone in America knew how great it was. And maybe Jon Bon Jovi will be to some kid today what Garth Brooks was to me all those years ago.
I hope they all turn the dial to country and never turn it back. It's good stuff. I can't say that about the music on a lot of the other stations today.
Oh, and by the way. Johnny Cash's Ultimate Gospel CD came out last week. It's definitely a must-have for everyone's collection.
That song always pissed me off.
Many artists have been called sell-outs and accused of not playing "real" country music. From Garth and Kenny Chesney to the Dixie Chicks. The Dixie Chicks wouldn't go pop when they were approached. You can hear the steel guitar, dobro and fiddle in every song they sing. I've never understood that one.
If you read my blog, you know that I listen to just about everything, but I love country music. And I love all country music. I don't like Rascal Flatts, but that's partly because they aren't "country enough" for me, but mostly because they have no talent. I know they have fans, but I'm not positive the lead singer is not tone-deaf. From Johnny, Merle and Willie to Kenny, Brad and Dierks -- I love all country music. I love all your "neo-traditional" artists like Brad Paisley, Joe Nichols and Chris Young. I love all your old-timers like Jones, Haggard and Kristofferson. I like your new country sound like Kenny and Keith Urban.
I grew up on country music. Both Hanks, Boxcar Willie, Vern Gosdin, Willie Nelson: Traditional country music ruled my household. My dad listened to it all. I think he had every Johnny Cash album on eight-track. When I got to junior-high age, it was really not cool to pull up at school with my dad in his Chevy Silverado listening to Lefty Frizzell. Boy bands were all the rage, and I decided that New Kids on the Block were much cooler than Chet Atkins.
So, I abandoned Patsy, Reba and Loretta and started listening to not only NKOTB, but Bon Jovi, Poison and just about every other hairband in America.
That is until one day in high school. I flipped on my favorite rock station and I heard this guy singing some song about going back to the bar and kissing his ass. My station had become country. Young Country, they called it. And their first song was the live version of "Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks. That song wasn't my daddy's country music. I kept that station turned on. There were great things happening in Nashville.
I haven't changed the dial yet, more than 15 years later. Country music is in my blood. It always has been. And the artists I shunned in my adolescent angst? Patsy? Hank? Johnny? They're all on my iPod. I just bought Vern Gosdin's greatest hits yesterday.
When people started dogging all the new country artists about sounding too much like rockers, they should've remembered the music we were raised on. Yes, we listened to Keith Whitley, but we listened to Bon Jovi and Poison, too. Garth Brooks' favorite band was Kiss, and that's where he came up with the idea to do his high-energy live show. When you go to a Kenny Chesney concert, you can see the influences of the Van Halen shows he attended in high school. We were children of the 80s, and our musical influences are all over the charts.
And, you know what? I think that's great.
Garth Brooks brought me back to the party. He reminded me that country music was cool. It's the music of the blue-collar working man. It's the music my grandpa and my daddy listened to. It's real. There's nothing better than the sound of the steel guitar or mandolin. If it weren't for Garth Brooks, I wouldn't know who Alan Jackson was.
Jon Bon Jovi sang at CRS last week. He's been in town working on a country CD. That's awesome. I liked Bon Jovi's music because it's real too. It speaks to the working man. He's just from New Jersey instead of North Carolina, but that's OK. The life-stories that make up the fabric of county music don't have to happen in the South.
Country music is America's music. And it's about-damn-time that everyone in America knew how great it was. And maybe Jon Bon Jovi will be to some kid today what Garth Brooks was to me all those years ago.
I hope they all turn the dial to country and never turn it back. It's good stuff. I can't say that about the music on a lot of the other stations today.
Oh, and by the way. Johnny Cash's Ultimate Gospel CD came out last week. It's definitely a must-have for everyone's collection.
posted by Laura at 9:50 AM
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