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Edited on Sat Jan-03-04 07:28 PM by leftofthedial
We have become an urban nation. It is debatable whether there is a mainstream country music market anymore. Virtually no one lives on a farm and those of us whose parents or grandparents lived on farms are getting older. America's rural population and their immediate descendants have alsways been the heart of the Country music market.
Country also has suffered from the same corporate-media, programmed mentality that is killing other popular music today.
Country had a big boom in the 90's appealing to a suburban audience, but in so doing, it pretty much became the lame slightly twangy pop-rock music you hear now.
Most of the country themes lampooned in this thread are very scarce commodities in contemporary Country music. Barns don't burn down, dogs don't get killed and trucks don't break down in today's country songs. Instead, the powers that be have constrained the music to a very few, very narrow themes mostly intended to not anger anyone. Love, nostalgia, and patriotism are about it. Despite a wealth of phenomenally talented songwriters in Nashville, it has also consciously become very dumbed down. There are a plethora of very clever, well-crafted songs that don't say anything.
There is some amazing music being made in Nashville, but it is almost all independent, "alternative" Americana.
Mainstream Country has struggled to find a way to make itself relevant to contemporary culture. It has historically ridden a cyclical pattern of traditionalism, followed by increasing pop influence, followed by "neo-traditionalism," and then another wave of neo-traditionalism, etc.
The problem today is, the corporate media has no real roots in the traditional form and precious little background in music at all. The "O Brother" soundtrack's success seemed to herald a new wave of traditional influence, but so far it just seems to have spawned a wave of the same old pop dreck played on acoustic country instruments instead of amplified ones.
Look for something outside of Nashville (the alt country, neotwang movements) to "save" Nashville from itself, just as Texas "outlaw" country saved it in the 70's when it had gone Mantovani. Alt Country has been threatening for twenty years now, but no one can break big. If someone from Alt Country or another roots niche does break big, Nashville will copy it. Until then, the industry people are all too afraid to take a chance on anything except another new flavor of the month.
I think they are painting the deck chairs on the Titanic. Personally, I believe the death of the major labels may take Country out altogether as a genre as we have known it. In its place we will have a huge variety of excellent independent music that calls to the same traditional American musical roots--those roots that are now starting to show embarassingly as the conventional Country music industry's bleached blonde grows out.
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