Quote:
Originally Posted by DriveYourCarDownToTheSea
It's become almost indistinguishable from generic pop. Throw on a cowboy hat, sing with a bit of a twang, maybe throw in a slide guitar here and there, and - kazam! - your ordinary pop tune has become a country song.
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I completely agree with you. Nearly all country music recorded in the past 25 years is completely indistinguishable from middle of the road pop music.
So when someone asks me,"Do you like country music?", it's hard to me to give an answer without knowing what sort of country music they're referring to.
Yes I love Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, Hank Williams, John Hartford, Ernest Tubb, Norman Blake, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Patsy Cline, Kitty Wells, Doc Watson, Lucinda Williams, Bill Monroe, Gillian Welch, Townes Van Zandt & Eddy Arnold
BUT I hate nearly all of the music that has been recorded in Nashville since 1990 because it's not country music but a pop oriented mutation of country music.
I think the downfall of real country music began when Billy Ray Cyrus recorded
Achy Breaky Heart in 1992. Then Garth Brooks came along with his hideous pop music and guitar smashing rock show antics. Then every female country singer began to imitate Madonna's MTV oriented pop and that pretty much signaled the end of real country music. I really hate how all of the "nu-country" pop stars give lip service to the country music tradition but still sound like a bunch middle of the road pop singers. If they like country music so much, why don't they play it?
At least Steve Earle has the courage to never stray too far from his country music roots... but everybody in Nashville hates him because he's a constant reminder of their lack of musical integrity.
I'd go so far as to say that Austin Texas has replaced Nashville as the capital of country music because there's a lot more authentic country music coming out of Austin these days than in Nashville. I hate to sound like a purist but there are some aspects of our musical culture that are worth preserving and old time country music is one of them.