The Steel Guitar Forum

Another thing that has is different between real country music and what is called country today is the writing,In a post a good while back someone said the old classic country songs were too grapic,They sang about murder,cheating,drinking,love of God,country,and mama,even made a reference to [shot a man in Reno,just to watch him die]Jeepers creepers that was totally politically incorrect or so they thought.The songs written back then were real songs about real issues,that real people could relate to,Belive it or not,some people are faithful to each other,some cheat on each other,some ruin there lives with alcohol or drugs,some are heart broken,some find true love,some love their country,some love their mamas,they were real songs about real people,How often do you hear a new song that says that better than,Your Cheating Heart,I can't help it,Mama tried,I'll hold you in my heart,Crazy,I can't stop loving you,etc.Now a days it's crap like Bo-donk-a donk,Batter,Batter,or Ride a cowboy,that are million sellers,go figure,DYKBC.

IMHO there was a bunch of crap in the old days too and not everything was good. Today's the same way! There are good things out there if you look for them. Artists are out there to make a living for whatever time they have in the spotlight. I personally like Trace Adkins since I first heard "There's a Girl in Texas" and "Every Light in the House is On". He's cut some I didn't care for such as "Honkytonk Badonkadonk" along the way but his new one about "You're Gonna Miss This" is an A One country song in my opinon........

Then there's Alan Jackson who keeps on crankin' 'em out. I don't think he's ever really released anything I didn't like. "A Small Town Southern Man" was pure good old country in a two steppin' dance beat........

Brad Paisley? One of the best pickers I've ever heard in any style of music with great "country" lyrics in his tunes with great lines like "You see a deer you see Bambi, I see antlers hangin' on a wall". Most guys can identify with that, or the great "I'm Gonna Miss Her". One of his older tunes called "We Danced" is one of the best country things I've heard as well as "He Didn't Have to Be" about a stepfather. How many of us have been there?

Carrie Underwood? She's no screamer and can sing, have you ever heard her version of "Stand By Your Man"? It's pretty impressives. But I don't understand about her getting inducted into the Opry, I guess it shows that it's not as prestidious an honor as it used to be......Thank you Pete Fisher for that.........

Kenny Chesney? A lot of folks rag on him but if you check out some of his CDs and not just the cuts that made the radio you'll actually find some nice tunes on them. We had him here in concert opening for Alabama some years back before he was so big and it was one of the best classic country shows I'd seen, he was right on the money.........

Lastly, what I've said in other posts along these lines is "Country music is continually evolving, it "always" has and "always" will! In the thirties you had Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, the Delmore Brothers, etc. followed by Roy Acuff and the like, followed by Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, followed by Ray Price, Jim Reeves, etc. followed by my favorite Buck Owens, then Merle Haggard, and so on. I didn't like all of the old ones and I damn sure don't like all the new ones but there are those that are good, if you look for 'em.......JH in Va.

Listen to Carrie Underwood's
"I don't even know my last name"
it might not be the name of the song but that is one of the lines - she is screaming !! REALLY !!
I'd rather listen and look at Jewel than Underwood anyday.
I'm surprised no one defended Taylor Swift, no 15 year old steelers out there to do so ???

I'm not saying that there are not good artists out there now but it seems the ones that really aren't worth all the air time, get it.

Gay Allen, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley are great, talented and have paid their dues, but these overnight lucky "Idol" talent show winners are not in the same category what so ever with such artists.
I don't think I'll get an argument on that.

I have been involved with country, and bluegrass, since the late 50's. Start with country. Great songs and artists appeared, and had wonderful songs. I'll admit some were pure trash, but the good songs prevailed. I was driving to work one morning, and heard for the first time on a Cleveland radio station, that is "country", Murder on music row. I think they played it maybe 2 times before it was yanked from the DJ's programs. That was about the last time I tuned in on country radio. All you hear now is yelling, noise, and loud distorted electric guitars. It seems the so called artists have to out yell, dress sleazy, try to look more scuzzy than the next one, to sell their songs. And very few bands use steel guitars, and fiddles. Follow the rock, and rap groups. Now in bluegrass. There are very few new acts that produce good hard driving grass songs. The banjo parts sound like mixmatched midi noise. And on the 24/7 radio, you get 1 or 2 decent songs, and noise the rest of the time. I just play my CD's of good traditional country and grass. And what I read here, my steel playing might only be accepted in the great state of Texas.

I've been in Dallas, Texas area about 2 years now
(I'm a yankee !) and the first steel player I met here asked me what kind of style do I play and if I like the swing/older country or top 40 new country.
Being 47 I said the newer and his reply was for me to look and find work in Dallas.
If it was the other (swing and older country) you'd have to go to Ft Worth.
Strange, huh ??
I honestly doubted that till I went out a few more weekends clubbing and holy cow - he was right !!
I'm lost in the ozone still I guess, I'm still hung up on POCO and Rusty Young !!!
These guys are more like the Eagles or what use to be called Southern Rock. What is that ??

To me Joe nailed it in point 3 - their hearts aren't in it nowadays - it's rather a matter of pushing out songs as fast as possible, so the big bucks can come in faster. You can play any song by George Jones and you get the impression that he really means what he's singing. You share the song with him emotionally. Then you look at a video where he's doing the same song and find that he does it with a big smile on his face! But it doesn't matter - the perception is that his whole heart is in it and that is why I will listen to his songs all day long.

Maybe all of the good stories have already been told too, so the modern world is battling to write songs that really 'talks to you'?

Tobie,that's not a smile on George's face,that's a POSSOM grin.DYKBC.

Charles Davidson wrote:that's a POSSOM grin.DYKBC.

You're right!

I'm going to dip in here one time.

Richard Marko wrote:Carrie Underwood is a screamer NOT A SINGER

Many people actually said the same thing about Martina. They both give me chills.

Richard Marko wrote:Taylor Swift, where the heck did she come from ?? !!!
Her pitch is all over, can't stay in tune with her own material ?? !! No experience !!

The people in her machine are betting on her writing ability for the future, not her singing ability. You've never seen other flashes in the pan?

Richard Marko wrote:How is Toby Keith so popular.
He writes good songs but he also can not sing if you listen very closely.
I noticed on some of his recordings the splicing together of his tracks, why is this accepted ?? !!

I defy you to try to find the splices in Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me." This was in the tape days, don't forget. There are 16 of them. Talent? Whose? The singer? Or the engineer?

Knock it off. Times change. Don't get so bitter. Grow with it, or wither in the corner. I see what choice you've made. I hope I never get there.

Carrie is screaming on this new single. I don't care for it. One single does not make a bad singer on the other hand. She can sing, I've seen her live on the GOO. She was the best singer on American Idol!

It's hard for me to believe the comment about Toby. I like most of his material!
The Christmas Special was awesome too!

Im not bitter, nor am I nostalgic.
I only justy recently started listening to country music, so whatever the music of my youth was has no bearing on my current view of "new" country. Bottom line, I listen to the music I hear on country radio, see the vids on CMT, and make a personal assesment of it based solely on that and not on some childhood dream of the "good ole days" and IMHO it is pure unmitagated turd batter. Now are there people making good "country" music today? Yes, again IMHO, there are. Wayne Hancock, Dale Watson, Hank III a few others. My feeling is that its about the same as any other genre. The worst stuff is always the most popular and gets the most radio play, while the good stuff sells to a few hardcore fans. so in that snese...I AM over it because its business as usual for me and not at all surprising. perhaps IM a snob or an elitist or whatever...i dont care about that...I just like good music and dislike bad music (all of which is subjective and based on my personal opinions and cannot really be argued against). If you enjoy "new" country...more power to you. enjoy!

It's hard for me to believe the comment about Toby.

A lot of people don't like Toby for non-musical reasons. Not saying that's the motivation here, but I hear this kinda' stuff a lot from musicians I know.

I think the problem is rooted in cultural and generational conflict. There have always been good and bad music, good and bad performances. That still holds today - the big difference now is the lack of diversity in what's heard on mainstream radio and on TV. But the root of that is a whole 'nother discussion.

This discussion plays itself out over and over and over again here, another of Dave Van Allen's 20 "canonical" SGF topics. I really think the anger at the performers is misplaced - much better to just do what we like and ignore the background noise. My opinion, of course.

Ben, you've got a way with words in this thread!

I happen to agree with you, BTW. I'm 57 and didn't "grow up with" country music either. I never heard a country radio station till I was 32.

Once a year or so, nowadays, I tune in the local commercial country station to, as it were, give it a chance, see what's out there. In the last week I've tuned it in several times, for maybe half an hour apiece--I can't take any more than that. IMO, it's even worse now than it was a year ago, and that's really saying something.

Gregg Galbraith wrote:Carrie is screaming on this new single. I don't care for it.

I haven't heard it, so I have no comment.

Carrie is a screamer on that new tune about not even knowing her last name or whatever but a lot of her stuff is good. I hardly ever buy a CD anymore because of the crap that's on a lot of 'em but there's usually some good stuff too if you look! I wish you could listen to a CD and just buy the cuts that you like, it'd be much better in my opinion.

As far as Toby Keith, I really like him a lot and even if I didn't like his music who can dispute a lyric like "We'll put a boot in your @$$ it's the American way!".... He's the real deal IMO and is sort of like a modern day Hank Williams Jr. in his approach to music. He's got some good stories and humor in a lot of his music along with some serious topics. He keeps crankin' 'em out but you never see his name on any awards shows and I can't recall anything he's ever won but he's still out there workin' and keeping some musicians employed so good for him.........

Taylor Swift? Oh well, she's just a teen ager but I'll have to admit, I kinda liked seeing her in that wet dress with that water coming down all over her, it made my old hillbilly heart beat a little faster.........JH in Va.

A lyric from a song I wrote with a friend a few years back:

Well I can see you coming from a half a mile
Dinner plate belt buckle, Elvis smile
Jeans so tight you can hardly breathe
Geometric patterns up and down your sleeve
Got a record deal with an 8 x 10
You've been talking in a southern drawl since then

Well ya got the boots and the cowboy hat
But you ain't been there and ya ain't done that.

Toby has won CMA & ACM Awards.
He is a rebel, like Hank & Waylon. I do like that, he is the highest paid Country Artist todate!


About Taylor, I like her first couple singles. I do like the new single she wrote, but I'd like to understand every word sung! She has great writing ability, she'll do well with record sells.
I do prefer Miley 's singing better! : ) They are so young, they have such a career ahead to grow.

p.s.
Chris, I'd like to hear the lyric with music!

supply and demand

Steve Norman wrote:supply and demand

sums it up nicely for me.

I guess fans are liking what they hear on the radio today!

And that IS the bottom line...

They are liking it 'cuz they never hear anything else. Fans pay big big bux to go watch a band lip sync and pickers pretend. The girls stand up on their seats with their 145 PSI britches on and SCREAM during the whole show. Anyone sitting down or who really wants to hear is SOL. It's not about talent or ability, it's about sex and money. If that don't work for ya, it's about money and sex. Fake accents, a total wardrobe obtained from a dumpster behind the goodwill, a hair cut that looks like it was done with hedge shears, does little to cover the inability to perform the songs they recorded when faced with a live situation. I don't like the "modern country", don't listen to it, and refuse to play it. At my age, I don't really care who does or doesn't like my choices. I told a woman the other day that I play TWO kinds of music. Country and Western. The only variation being some faster than others. The new artists and their "music" will have to wait a long time to get a buck from me.

I don't think live shows lip sync anymore? I give everyone the benefit of doubt.
Alot of artist out there are really good. You guys need to listen more.

I'm not a big fan of new country either, but there was a lot more lip-sync'ing going on in the 60s and 70s than there is now, at least from a television perspective.

The country genre in general always suffered from the stereotype of "cheesy" or "hokey", when in fact much of it was pretty dead serious music. Now the powers that be seem to want to buy into that stereotype and profit from it. New country is almost a comedic genre of music now.

"fans" like what they hear on the radio
the radio plays the music "fans" like

who chooses whats played on the radio? the fans? nope sorry.

you are a kid living in podunk Nebraska. Everyday 106.7 "The River!" plays the new Biggs and Barfs (sorry i dont know any of these new acts real names so i made that one up)song, "My pickup has fleas", three times an hour. Biggs and Barf perform during the superbowl halftime , and their music is featured in a Ford Truck commercial that airs twenty times an hour. You've never even heard of Dale Watson let alone heard one of his songs. Which artist are you gonna be a "fan" of? The pepsi selling girl-gettin ripped jeans guitar smashing antics of Biggs and Barf thats on your tv and radio every other minute? or the troo rotgut country of Dale Watson, being perfomred in some dusty little honky tonk hundreds of miles away?