Bro-Country Is Just The Symptom. Here Are The Causes
Florida Georgia Line & Luke Bryan celebrate after detonating any last shred of dignity in country.
Yeah, yeah, bro-country sucks. As satisfying as it is to finally see the rest of the American media waking up to a problem that had actually been gripping country music for half a decade before Vulture’s Jody Rosen unilaterally coined the ill-begotten “bro-country” term, it’s only because it has been festering now for so long and rising like spasmic bile up the charts that the stench has finally reached the noses of the country music and culture-wide literati that it can no longer be ignored.
READ: As Predicted, “Bro-Country” Is Now a Term of Endearment
Saving Country Music has been showing concern about laundry list /country checklist songs (the precursors to the “bro-country” term) for years. People say, “Complaints about country music, and what country music is have been happening ever since the beginning of the genre.” You’re damn right they have been, and they always will. Why? Because these complaints are predictable and inane? No, because country music is too damn important to the fabric of the American culture to just let it get trounced and run into the ground by anyone who decides to slap “country” on whatever musical concoction they’ve cooked up and want to peddle to the masses. The complaining about country music isn’t shrill commonplace whining that should be cast off as superfluous, it is vital, healthy dialogue about an American institution that an effort must be extended to care about and preserve to ensure its value and enjoyment for future generations.
And don’t tell me “Well there’s still great stuff out there. Let’s just focus on that.” That sentiment is elitist and selfish. Sure, we should focus on good stuff too, but everyone has a right to good music, and good music sounds better when it’s shared, so the fans of bro-country shouldn’t be ignored but converted, especially when so much good music doesn’t enjoy the support it needs to be sustainable, and needs more patrons if it is going to continue.
As for bro-country, it’s just the bad flavor of the month when you look at country music from a more broad perspective. It is just the boil indicative of more serious underlying issues that have set country music on a precarious course that yes, warrant all of the additional concern and hand-wringing about the direction of the genre and its potential demise.
Bro-country won’t be defeated by bitching about it or by trying to fight bro-country itself. There were fundamental issues with how country music and the rest of American culture was being governed that led to the phenomenon. So even if you clear up the boil of bro-country, it will only return or be replaced by something even more unwanted if you don’t fix the fundamental problems. That is why off-the-stage issues facing country music are so important to pay attention to and tackle.
Here are some of the causes of bro-country:
Billboard Chart Rules Changes
When Billboard changed its chart rules in October of 2012, especially concerning the rule that allowed “crossover” songs to be given extra credit by being played on pop radio, it put country music, and every non pop genre on poor footing for dealing with songs with pop radio potential. As Saving Country Music said at the time:
If Billboard’s rules stay in place,the effects could be somewhere between dramatic and historic. The first and most obvious effect will be the new Billboard charts drastically favoring “crossover” country stars and other country stars with pop appeal …. A&R personnel at record labels big and small decide what singles get released to radio, what songs to promote, what artists to sign based on very close attention to charts such as Billboard. If “crossover” artists and songs are given a new advantage on the Billboard charts, its only a matter of time before labels and artists begin to produce more songs that will attain the crossover appeal to gain more chart traction.
This is exactly what we have seen by big bro-country acts like Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan. Bro-country singles rocket straight to the top of the charts and stay there, boosted by plays on pop radio, and downloads by pop consumers. This was evidenced most especially when Florida Georgia Line’s song “Cruise” became the longest-charting #1 song in the history of country music.
Label managers and artists see this success, and they start looking for similar songs, and starting signing comparable artists, and next thing you know you have artists like Cole Swindell and Chase Rice bolstering the bro-country ranks until bro-country positively dominates the entire format.
Lack of Education Funding
What are the earmarks of bro-country? A lack of depth in lyricism and melody. Since many Americans are no longer being educated not only in the fundamentals of the musical language, but for what to listen for in music, the growing appeal of mundane and culturally-deprived music should come as no surprise. But the benefits of music and fine art education go much farther than art itself. Study after study proves that music and art education helps students in other subjects, encourages the study and openness to new ideas and other cultures, and generally boosts intelligence. The lack of music education speaks to the root of why consumers find appeal in less complex, and less diverse music, but why they also don’t recognize the lack of diversity and choice the bro-country trend is creating.
Radio Consolidation
Since 80% of all radio playlists in the United States match thanks to rabid radio consolidation into the hands of a few select companies, it has made country music and all American music susceptible to hyper-trends like bro-country. One or two big companies like Clear Channel and Cumulus flipping a switch can cause an entire cultural phenomenon. This was illustrated perfectly by the HereIt Blog .
Lack Of Female Representation in Positions of Power
Sheryl Crow was one of the first to broach this subject when she said to The Hollywood Reporter, “I’d just like to see more than three women get played at radio. And that’s not just because I’m a woman. I just feel like, gosh, a huge population of record buyers are women. Why aren’t there women getting played at radio? Why aren’t there more female program directors? There’s, like, two! I don’t understand it.”
As Billboard later pointed out, “While in reality there are slightly more than two female programmers at country reporting stations, her point is valid. Women PDs represent just a tiny fraction of the whole. And the leadership issue extends well beyond radio: Women comprise just 15% of the CMA board of directors and 19% of the Academy of Country Music board. Only slightly better is the Country Radio Seminar board of directors, whose seven female members represent 21% of the overall board.”
The lack of female representation in the seats of power in country music have facilitated the sexist and condescending notions that bro-country symbolizes both in song and in cultural significance will little to no resistance.
Other Causes of Bro Country
” The Lack of a Country Music Talent Farm System
” The Myopic Focus of Country Music on Youth
” An Abandoning of Country Music Traditional Artists
” Tight Cut Male Jeans & The Mythical “Cuteness” of Luke Bryan’s Ass
June 6, 2014 @ 11:22 am
I was raised on Outlaw country. My fam. went to the US Festivals. Can see them in front of Hank Jr. in 83.
I gew up on Waylon’s “Hank done it this way”. Cash, Alabama, Charlie Daniels”Long Haired Country Boy” etc. etc.
My step-dad is in a Cover band of classic rock, country, & blues. He will be playing in July at the Riverside Harley Davidson biker run again. When younger audiences hear good rock & country they love it, even if cover band & not the real artists. Led Zep, Skynard, ZZ Top, Stones,Dwight, Bob Seger,Petty,CCR, Etc. etc.
The prob. is that I was raised on this, it was always on our T.V., Radio, Home Stereo, etc. etc. Today U just can’t find it.
Most kids or teenagers have no real music other than rap or pop to listen to. No real alternatives. Seeing alot of Metallica stickers lately.
I have been able 2 turn alot of non-country music fans to Zac Brown Band pretty easily. & they seem to like it ALOT better than “Bro-Country”. Just introduce people to them.
My 2cents anyhoo.
June 6, 2014 @ 2:29 pm
yeah I was playing at a bar in burbank, ca the last friday, a lot of young people, and I did a lot of buck, hank, George Jones.. etc, a lot of George Strait and neo-traditional songs too. anyway the important part is, they all dug it, it probably helps that I’m their age or younger, but they were all digging it, so maybe, its like field of dreams “if you play it they will come”? I dunno.
June 6, 2014 @ 3:14 pm
“No real alternatives.”
Sure they do. They just have to search the Internet.
June 6, 2014 @ 11:32 am
I strongly believe that the biggest reason are the chart rules changes because they have entirely changed the kind of act that can achieve the highest ranking. This leads as you say to the labels emphasizing certain kinds of acts or releasing certain kinds of singles. Then it just becomes a perpetual thing building and building on top of itself.
These are the songs which have hit #1 since the rules changes on 10/22/2012:
10 weeks ‘We Are Never Getting Back Together’ Taylor Swift
21 weeks ‘Cruise’ Florida Georgia Line
2 weeks ‘Better Dig Two’ The Band Perry
1 week ‘Every Storm’ Gary Allan
2 weeks ‘Wanted’ Hunter Hayes
5 weeks ‘Sure Be Cool If You Did’ Blake Shelton
1 week ‘Wagon Wheel’ Darius Rucker
12 weeks ‘That’s My Kind Of Night’ Luke Bryan
3 weeks ‘We Were Us’ K. Urban/M. Lambert
6 weeks ‘Stay’ Florida Georgia Line
5 weeks ‘Drink A Beer’ Luke Bryan
2 weeks ‘Chillin’ It’ Cole Swindell
2 weeks ‘Bottoms Up’ Brantley Gilbert
3 weeks ‘This Is How We Roll’ Florida Georgia Line
8 weeks (and counting) ‘Play It Again’ Luke Bryan
Almost every one of these songs are by acts that have some type of crossover appeal either by pop radio (Swift, Hayes, FGL) or reality show hosting (Urban, Shelton) or simply appealing to the youth market (Swindell, Bryan, Gilbert). In fact I would say that Gary Allan is the only act on this list that has none of these things.
These changes have led to the trend that was already coming to be exaggerated beyond belief.
June 7, 2014 @ 10:54 am
And the only good #1 song on there, Gary Allan’s song, only spent 1 week at #1.
June 6, 2014 @ 11:44 am
Not to mention the fact that Luke Bryan is just plain creepy. The dude is almost 40, yet still singing about spring break? He’s like one of those frat bros who dropped out of college after sophomore year but still goes back to the college parties to hit on girls who are almost old enough to be his daughters just to relive the dream over and over.
June 6, 2014 @ 12:14 pm
That’s what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age. All right, all right, all right.
( . . . It’d be a lot cooler if you did. ;- )
June 6, 2014 @ 12:26 pm
“We’re proud to be YOUNG, we stick to our guns…
…and we’re proud to have JASON DERULO in the hizzouse!!!!! Yeah boiiiiii!”
June 7, 2014 @ 10:49 am
I think Luke is like a male Shania Twain. When she was in her mid to late 30s she was recording bouncy pop songs that appealed to teenage girls. Some of the songs sounded more like advertisements to sell “the product” whose main feature was sex appeal. Both had limited vocal ranges and were popular because of their appearance. Both had well known marketing gimmicks, she showcased her navel and he has his twerking. I’m surprised Nashville didn’t think of this sooner.
June 17, 2018 @ 10:35 pm
This is HILARIOUS!!! WOW! You sure DON’T like Luke Bryan!! Ha, ha ha ha ha!!
June 6, 2014 @ 11:49 am
I feel your pain but nobody is holding a gun to anybody’s head and making fans buy this crap. In fact it would appear that people love crap. And funding for education? Are you mad man? People love stupid. It relieves accountability. How else can you explain things like bro country, creationism, the Kardashians, and on and on and on and on… Makes one think that maybe that perhaps the buying public is just one big retarded human centipede and loves it.
June 6, 2014 @ 1:11 pm
You could make a case that radio is holding guns to heads in a sense by not really playing any other options making people believe that this is what country is supposed to be. Up here in Rochester the music director of our country station is so fascinated by Luke Bryan he talks non stop about him. It is basically non stop bro-country on the station with the exception of the occasional Miranda Lambert or Carrie Underwood song. They aren’t even talking about the Willie Nelson/Allison Krauss/Kacey Musgraves concert coming to town. But it is bells and whistles when Luke or Aldean on Shelton come to town.
June 6, 2014 @ 1:42 pm
Oh, radio. That’s just as much a part of the problem as anything else. A true story follows:
This morning, I was in downtown San Antonio and I decided to stop for coffee at one of the restaurants down there. They had the local “country” station on, and the deejay led into Luke Bryan’s latest by talking about a comment someone made on the station’s Facebook page about what Luke Bryan was wearing at the CMT Awards earlier this week. I shit you not.
I drowned them both out with Jason Boland and Billy Joe Shaver’s duet on “Thunderbird Wine.” 😀
June 6, 2014 @ 2:03 pm
At least down in Texas people know what real country is and have options there. Up here in Western New York we have people that think they are country by blasting Luke Bryan out of their F-150s. His concert up here set a record for a fastest sell out.
June 6, 2014 @ 3:21 pm
“….Luke Bryan. …..fastest sell out. .” Good sentence! mmc (made me chuckle)
June 6, 2014 @ 3:40 pm
At least down in Texas people know what real country is and have options there.
This is true and one of the myriad reasons I am thankful daily for the fact that I live here. 😀 Radio is actually what got me into the Texas-red dirt music. KORA in Bryan-College Station, KPLX 99.5 the Wolf in Dallas when it was still good, KFWR 95.9 the Ranch in Fort Worth, and the list goes on. I think I actually discovered Boland on the Ranch on one of my trips up to North Texas.
June 7, 2014 @ 5:34 am
Never lived a day in Texas but I sure do appreciate me some Texas music!
June 6, 2014 @ 8:37 pm
What he said right above this is DEAD on ..
Many people will buy/support whatever they think they are SUPPOSED to buy/support. Kids have ALWAYS been about ‘fitting in’ …especially females ….that ain’t gonna change …ever. Most fans of the music on mainstream ‘country ‘ radio today are not fans of the music , I don’t believe , as much as they are fans of the ‘scene’ ….the magazines , the overblown concert productions , the male singers .( Remember , the record -buying/downloading radio-listening demographic is female between 14-40 ) . That is partly the answer to why there aren’t more female ‘artists’ played . Guys aren’t the ones standing and wiggling in the front rows tweetin’ and texting and taking pictures to send to someone and they AREN’T downmloading Luke Bryan’s latest fluff cuz c’mon …LUKE is the competition for the guys . It’s ALL young girls …granted sometimes with guys in tow ….but the young girls are ALL about the bro-boys and their shiny white teeth and tight jeans and guns . Although I hear a few of them are into Taylor Swift as well .
June 6, 2014 @ 11:53 am
Great point about why country music should be preserved. The fact is that some people just simply don’t place an intrinsic value on “tradition” anymore. If that’s the premise they’re starting with, then I’m afraid we’re not going to convince them that it’s important to preserve country music. Not that we shouldn’t try, however.
What do you think about the proliferation of hip-hop culture contributing to the popularity and blind acceptance of bro-country? I’m in my early 30s, so I’ve experienced the hip-hop boom that started in the 90s and has slowly crept into almost every facet of modern day American culture. Now, this is not meant as an indictment of hip-hop at all. Just like all cultures, there are things to be celebrated and things to criticize. But from something as simple as the hand gestures FGL make while performing to the more general concept of idealizing women and their body parts, it’s pretty easy to see where modern day country takes its flavor from. And FGL and the like have not invented the “mono-genre,” they have simply recognized that it’s ripe for acceptance in the mainstream. Because hip-hop became such a “cool” part of American culture no matter where you lived, even rural kids began, yes, making mix tapes with a “little Hank and a little Drake.” That practice has been going on a long time. But now Colt Ford and Brantley Gilbert are considered to be authentic country by rural country kids because they’ve been culturally brainwashed for so long. So those country and rap mix tapes that, when I was in high school in 2000, had old Hank Jr., Charlie Daniels or DAC representing the country part, now instead they have some dumb Chase Rice song or Brantley or some other bro-country artist heavily influenced by hip hop culture. Maybe the mix tape example is dumb, but it makes sense to me.
June 6, 2014 @ 1:04 pm
The same exact discussions that are happening in country music right now are happening in hop-hop music, just take the term “country” and replace it with “hip-hop”. They’re infuriated with Billboard’s new chart rules, they’re tired of their music being watered down by influences from other genres, and the founding principles of the genre being disrespected while garbage rises to the top. These issues are universal. You solve the underlying issues causing bro-country, it will make hip-hop music better by proxy.
Think about bro-country like a staph infection. Staph is on our skin all the time, but it never infects us unless there is a cut on our skin or our immune system is compromised. The above problems have made American music weak, and susceptible to diseases like bro-country.
Read this, it will blow your mind:
http://grantland.com/features/rap-and-the-influence-of-other-genres/
I think one of the reasons hip-hop in country has become so prolific is because few people see the value of diversity in music anymore. It’s because they never learned where music came from. They learned about music from Top 40 radio, which is a hodge podge of popular music all thrown together. The diversity is what makes music vibrant, challenging, healthy, and a true expression of diverse cultures.
June 7, 2014 @ 3:26 pm
That rap article and the one’s you’ve been writing are eerily similar, both in tone and message. It’s interesting that both decry the influence (or should we say “watering down”) of the other. Opposite ends of the spectrum both coming to same conclusion.
June 6, 2014 @ 11:55 am
I agree with this. I specifically agree with country music being one of the founding genres of all modern music (along with blues, jazz, and bluegrass). And so to disregard the traditions and roots is insulting to American culture. Though thankfully country music is still having a dialogue about where it is going. The mainstream ditched jazz and blues YEARS ago and jazz slipped and feel in “smooth jazz” and never recovered. Country music is headed a similar route. And that is sad because music was not born from what came out 5 or ten years ago the line goes way back and I always say if you don’t know the history of your art and craft you’ll produce art that’s crap.
But I am preaching to the choir here. At any rate, I hopeful because even as one man I play the “good stuff”, old and new stuff and occasionally a young person will ask me what song that is. Or I’ll have a DJ at a dance club play something like Sturgill or Lindi and the club goes crazy for the sound and for a song that haven’t heard 1,000 times with a REAL two-step two it. So we must have the dialogue in all genres and if you like something play it, not just for yourself but others, out in public; at parties, at a cafe if you own one, at work… This is not the end there is WAY too much good music around! My love of music is akin to Roger Ebert’s love of movies and I am just so bloody excited and happy when I discover great new artists and sounds whatever the genre.
June 7, 2014 @ 8:48 am
Bear …you make a lot of terrific points here.
I have had the ‘jazz’ discussion with many people lately . Imagine traditional jazz instruments ,( for example piano , sax , guitar , double bass) being taken out of the arrangements the way steel guitar , fiddle and …oh I don’t know …. harmonica- has been taken out of country music , because ‘radio doesn’t like them ‘ . Imagine radio trying to market jazz to a demographic barely out of diapers cuz they have a few more disposable dollars or parents and grandparents buying whatever music those children want . Imagine the media telling REAL music fans that these kids are dictating what instruments and singers will be on a jazz record like it or not . Yes …perhaps a far-fetched example but not to dissimilar to what’s happened with traditional country music . Imagine Marilyn and Allan Bergman ..two of the greatest lyricists of all time , being told to just write nursery rhymes from now on-ignore melody or substance . How many Jimmy Webbs or Marilyn and Alan Bergmans or Hugh Prestwoods are we denying our culture of when we cater to youth based only on sex appeal and marketability and not artistic vision , skills , craft and , experience ? How often , I wonder, has a talent like Trisha Yearwood shaken her head and said ” What’s the point of looking for the BEST music I can find from the best songwriters around when the doors are being closed one after the next to all of those gifted people who’ve devoted their lives to doing GREAT work only to have it undermined by a Taylor Swift or a Brantley whoever or a FGL . I think the onus more and more is on us to seek out these truly talented writers and artists ( Sturgill , Brandy Clark , Adam Wright …how bout greats like Paul Overstreet , Don Schlitz .? ) and educate friends and other music appreciators while these amazing options are still available to all of us . I wouldn’t buy a car just because the car commercial told me to .I’d explore the options. I wouldn’t buy a bloody weedeater just because the guy at the store said it was good . I’d explore the options . There are still unlimited musical options for REAL fans and lovers of country music ……..for now .
June 9, 2014 @ 9:01 pm
This is very true… And in terms of evolving genres Jazz really showed how one can evolve a genre and stay true to the roots. From dixieland/ragtime to swing/big band, bop, hard-bop, jazz-fusion ect. Even the jazz vocalists evolved but stayed true to the roots. And I can’t think of any jazz vocalist new act or old that I’ve discovered that doesn’t know who Cole Porter is.
I just imagine music row taking on jazz and saying you can have a saxophone and upright just don’t improvise for three minutes on end, the kids don’t have the attention span, and could please have a distinct melodic line for the remix. Or saying we like your Latin sound but can you loose the timabales focus groups say it sounds tinny. LOL!
For me personally while I promote acts I admire to any who will listen more so I’ve been encouraging young people around me to just be curious and discover for themselves “new” music. One great way I’ve discovered is through listening to interviews of older musicians. I just heard Benmont Tench in an interview and he was discussing all these old kats he admired growing up and how that led to him discovering even older kats. A few names I had never heard of from the blues scene not mention some ace session players. Other name like Allen Toussaint and Professor Longhair I knew but had forgotten about in all my music binging. The same with listening to Booker T., Iggy Pop… These older acts have the knowledge and is a great way to discover sounds that may be new to you.
I know when I first heard some band I grew up with say Queen was a huge influence I sought out Queen records and then tried to find out who influenced them and on down the line.
Another thing Benmont brought up that I hadn’t thought of was respecting the traditions is noble and knowing the history of your field should be part of the eight our of practice but also you need to genuinely like playing the music. He was referring to John Mayall and Paul Butterfield and how intensely they LOVED playing the blues. They also loved the old blues acts and reviving their music but the love of playing it was equally important.
Alan Jackson, Vince Gil, Trish Yearwood I can see that they LOVE playing and singing country music, with or without an audience. I imagine they’ve put in 8 hours days honing their craft. With all the TV spot, magazine shoots, awards show etc… how much time do these new acts actually spend honing their chops, I have to wonder?
August 18, 2014 @ 11:59 pm
I dissagree with jazz staying the same at all. Look at Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train” and then Take 5, and then some modern smooth jazz. There’s really not much connecting them IMO. Also Duke had how many people in his band, 20? and take 5 is a quartet, lost alot of instruments there. I just listen to the old stuff and try to forget about jazz past the 50s (unless it’s done in the old style, of course!)
June 6, 2014 @ 11:58 am
Isn’t claiming that the general populace is ignorant of “quality” in music a bit elitist in and of itself. No matter how much I might agree with criticism of a particular song or artist, I just can’t get behind the idea that if people like something that we or another group thinks is “bad,” that somehow means that these people just don’t know any better. That’s the same type of logic that politicians use: if you don’t agree with us you’re ignorant because it’s so “obvious” we’re right. Bull. I hate this music just as much as other country music fans but I don’t begrudge anyone the right to like it and think it’s art.
June 6, 2014 @ 1:12 pm
The first rule of art appreciation is that if you like it, that’s all that matters. If someone tells you they don’t recognize why people like Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” for example, they’re lying. It is catchy as hell, and for that it has won wide appeal.
However the point is that people will like good music better (https://savingcountrymusic.com/the-science-behind-why-pop-music-sucks), and that a lack of choice in the marketplace makes it more tough for consumers to find music that will speak to them in a more personal way. I don’t personally look down my nose at anyone that likes “bro-country”, I see them as people who need to be introduced to better choices. Most all of us were drinking from the Clear Channel fountain at one point because we didn’t know there was anything different.
The other issue here is a moral one. This isn’t just about taste. What message is bro-country sending to the public? Materialism, ultra-consumerism, the denigration of women. Why is bro-country dominating the charts? Because it preaches that women are second-class in many of the songs, so no wonder women are getting pushed down the charts.
June 6, 2014 @ 3:31 pm
Was gonna say amen in full caps but then I looked at the word.
Keep it up please, you’re doing it right.
June 7, 2014 @ 7:08 am
“If someone tells you they don”™t recognize why people like Florida Georgia Line”™s “Cruise” for example, they”™re lying. It is catchy as hell, and for that it has won wide appeal.”
It sounds to me that you’re saying you like that song, but you pretend you don’t, to uphold your image or something. I don’t understand. Other than my belief that the human race is devolving, I have no idea why people like that song; and that’s no lie.
“However the point is that people will like good music better, and that a lack of choice in the marketplace makes it more tough for consumers to find music that will speak to them in a more personal way.”
Bullshit. These people are incapable of liking good music better. The radio stations didn’t just randomly quit playing Country music for no reason. They did it because most people don’t want to hear it.
“I don”™t personally look down my nose at anyone that likes “bro-country”, I see them as people who need to be introduced to better choices. Most all of us were drinking from the Clear Channel fountain at one point because we didn”™t know there was anything different.”
There is no way on God’s green earth that,
“Most all of us were drinking from the Clear Channel fountain at one point because we didn’t know there was anything different.”
Unless “us” means the visitors of this site. But if you meant all traditional Country fans, there’s no way that’s true. I realize that there are a lot of good people from the outside who have discovered Country music later in life, but most of us are people like me: people who grew up on Country music and have had to watch it die right before our eyes. So, I DO look down on bro fans; and I do it with pride in my heart.
June 7, 2014 @ 12:06 pm
First off Clint, completely autonomous from this comment, if you continue to be aggressive with other commenters like calling them “cocksuckers” and then purposely trying to circumvent my moderating of your comments, I am going to completely blacklist you from being able to comment on this site entirely. The only reason I haven’t done that up to this point despite numerous issues you’ve caused is because I want this to be an open forum for people like you to express their opinions. But if you abuse this by abusing other commenters, I have to put an end to it.
Now as for your comment specifically, assume whatever you want about my like-dislike of “Cruise”. It is my job as a critic to identify what appeals to people about music, and if for no other reason than the song became the longest-running #1 in the history of the genre, I think we can identify that at least some people find it appealing.
You and others may want to throw in the towel when it comes to the American consumer, but I refuse. I remain positive that inroads can be made in changing public sentiment about country music, and that it is a silent majority that feel like it has lost it’s direction and they simply need a voice. Pop country will never, NEVER be defeated, but with positive and pragmatic approaches, we may be able to restore some balance to the format.
June 6, 2014 @ 12:12 pm
Another factor: the devaluing of music.
It strikes me anymore that people don’t really care about music as a form of artistic expression so much as they see it as so much background music ”” stuff that plays while they’re doing other stuff ”” or as something to dance to. Given that, why would they care about what the “artists” are singing about?
June 6, 2014 @ 12:52 pm
I couldn’t agree more. I always compare music to food, as both are disciplines of mine and I am passionate about making both: We have a nation of people who prefer junk food over an involved meal, musically. Something quick, goes down easy, provides quick pleasure, but doesn’t have any real nutritional value. The average listener, especially in the younger crowd, doesn’t want to think and also wants everything spelled out for them. Metaphors and underlying meanings are totally lost on a lot of listeners anymore. There is also the usage of music in painting a fantasy realm where everything is all fun and a good time all the time – a lot of classic country sheds light on the realities of life, not hiding from them
Just like in the culinary world, a little bit of junk can be pleasurable.. a lot of it can kill you. In this case, culturally.
June 6, 2014 @ 2:58 pm
Oh, and Robb Flynn of Machine Head posted an EPIC rant a few weeks ago where he just nailed the ever-loving shit out of the problem too. A snippet:
There’s nothing dangerous about music these days, there’s nothing surprising about it either. There can’t be. Other than PEARL JAM, the only ‘band’ that doesn’t seem to really give a flying fuck and plays by their own rules isn’t really a band at all, are they? Axl and the ROSES are known for bending the rules and telling the powers that be to ‘fuck off,’ but because their band is so confusing they come across as a joke. But people don’t see this. People don’t see any of this!
And the reason you don’t care is because it’s too easy to get sucked into your phone, or your Facebook, or your Twitter, or your Tumblr, or your Instagram, or your games, or your TV shows.
Music isn’t important anymore. Say it is all you want, but the fact is, the 2 biggest rock records of last year only sold 400,000 copies, neither even went gold.
June 6, 2014 @ 1:25 pm
Agreed.
I do think there’s a place in society for simple, danceable music. Just like there’s probably a place for food that you can eat quickly in the midst of a busy day. The problem is the way it is right now you have two choices: McDonald’s or Taco Bell.
Similarly to how we’re seeing the “slow food” and “buy local” revolution in food, I think we’re headed that way eventually in music, where people will crave more variety, and demand healthier choices.
June 6, 2014 @ 1:59 pm
Very well put, Matt. That’s exactly what I was getting at.
June 6, 2014 @ 3:11 pm
Taco Bell is not necessarily unhealthy. The fat and cholesterol content in a chicken burrito is quite low, especially if you forgo the sour cream.
June 6, 2014 @ 3:51 pm
Hey Trigger,
I think the analogy with the “slow food” deal is already happening. Most of us old rednecks in the music bidness (such as it is) go out and find those people that love the good, traditional stuff but also will listen to artists that they like playing other kinds of good stuff. “Country Music” has been so polluted by the jive-ass geniuses of Music Row that it has lost its meaning. So, we just call the good stuff something else. What
I see happening in Nashville among the people who love really good playing based
on traditional country is a move to calling the good stuff “”Americana”. I just put on an Americana Festival up here in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and we had a great variety of music (Piedmont Blues, Bluegrass, Old Timey String Music, Nashville singer/songwriters) and it sounded to me and everybody else like great country music in the traditional sense of that word. Next weekend we’re doing a tribute to Sun Records in Nashville with a lot of the original artists like Sonny Burgess, Fluke Holland,
J.M. Van Eaton, and Sleepy LaBeef. The joint will be filled with people who think of this as great country music. Or Americana.
“Bro-Country” could just as easily be called “Unadulterated Shit Country” for all the relationship it has to the real deal.
I get all your points about why we are in the shape we are in: Billboard, Music Row
Lizards, Clear Channel,CMT, and Cumulus, and the simple fact that young ears aren’t hearing the pure stuff. Its like they are drinking “near-beer” rather than white lightning.
But the great musicians are conceding that “Bro-Country Clod-Hop Teenybopper Doodah” has over-run “Country” and they are starting to move the bigger tent of Americana. Far as I can tell, that’s where the really good stuff is.
I always call what my band does “Southern Music”.
By the way, I did a gig up in Wisconsin a year or so ago and Florida/Georgia Line was on the bill. They struck me as having their heads up their asses, and their music sucked. But what the hell, they are laughing all the way to the bank.
This is a great forum, Trigger. And I think the word is getting around. Maybe the truth is just going to sneak up and kick these big-shots right in the cojones. I hope so.
Ben
June 6, 2014 @ 5:06 pm
As always, good insight Ben.
June 7, 2014 @ 7:39 am
Mr. Jones-
Scholarly as always. Long a hero of mine, as always happy to see you post. Your deep rooted love of all things southern culture is inspiring. As a ‘Yankee’ of southern bloodline Dukes of Hazzard and traditional country was my way of connecting with my family heritage. Keep it up Mr. Jones, and your too Trig, we are on the edge of a musical revolution and with a little more fighting we’re gonna make it happen. Long live the South, long live Ben Jones and long live Country Music.
Your brother behind the lines stuck up here with Dixie on his mind,
Dan ‘Rubber City Cowboy’ Tomasch
June 7, 2014 @ 8:41 am
Hey Dan,
Thanks man, but another great compliment like that and I’ll become deranged with
ego. I hope you are right, that we are approaching a tipping point or at least a point where the apparent unanimity about what is happening to “our” music will get through to the bean counters. (They, of course, are the most famously self-assured idiots on the planet…)
I appreciate your comment so much I think I’ll hit “like” about 47 times….
Again, thank you Dan.
June 6, 2014 @ 12:15 pm
I’d still like to understand how the money moves, semi-specifically.
June 6, 2014 @ 12:27 pm
Outstanding stuff, thanks.
June 6, 2014 @ 12:28 pm
Luke Bryan’s teeth look like two rows of chiclets gum.
June 6, 2014 @ 12:41 pm
Man, that picture at the top just says it all, doesn’t it?
June 6, 2014 @ 1:29 pm
Do you think the masses could be weaned off of bro-country through emerging artists who are right on the fringe of bro-country? An artist that comes to mind is Jon Pardi who has his laundry list song “Up All Night” but has a very solid album otherwise. Lyrically, his songs are not super deep (deeper than most of whats on the radio) but they have a pretty good country sound, heavy on the pedal steel and fiddle. I use him as an example because he has a growing fan base and puts on a show that both sides of the fence can enjoy. If he was the most “bro-country” thing in country music, country music would be in a good spot. In my mind, that is the sound that can make for a smooth transition back to traditional country.
June 6, 2014 @ 3:03 pm
Haven’t listened to Jon Pardi other than that song. From what I’ve heard, I think Charlie Worsham would be a great fit for that niche. I certainly wouldn’t have complaints if country radio took a liking to him.
June 6, 2014 @ 8:10 pm
I have not listed to Worsham much but I know he is not bad (may actually see him at taste of Country Fest next weekend). If these were the mainstream guys, you could say it sure is not country like it used to be, but at least they would fit into the linear progression/evolution in country music, where bro-country is a whole new timeline. These guys on the fringe who are still making good music need to be pushed into the mainstream before they turn to the dark side in order to gain more popularity.
June 6, 2014 @ 1:48 pm
I’m 20 years old and go to Indiana University (White, middle class, outer suburban dweller). I AM the target demographic for country radio. The problem isn’t lack of options. I played Good Lord Lorrie by the Turnpike Troubadours to my bro-country loving roommate. The response? “That guy sounds like a pussy, I only like music I can party to”. Not kidding. People can find alternatives. It’s easier to find alternatives now than ever before with all of the internet music options available. The fact of the matter is that my generation; specifically the target audience of country mass media, is full of self-loving, shallow, emotional eighth graders who will never appreciate real country music. The only hope we have is that the fad wears out, and country isn’t cool again. I could live with that.
June 6, 2014 @ 1:52 pm
Some people just
want to watch the world burnneed to be fed into woodchippers.June 6, 2014 @ 2:05 pm
“The target audience of country mass media, is full of self-loving, shallow, emotional eighth graders who will never appreciate real country music.”
This goes back to education. Some people are just not going to not like certain types of music, and that’s understandable. Of course people have more options than they ever have, but they still have to be inclined to seek them out, and that’s not easy. The enticing part about corporate culture is it makes all the choices in your life for you. They tell you what to listen to, how to dress, what to watch, what to drive, where to eat, etc. etc. As I said above, art appreciation and education doesn’t just exist in a bubble, it is part of the maturation and awareness process in human behavioral development.
There are always going to be people that are unreachable. But there are also many people just waiting to be reached out to. The reason some people may say it’s “stupid” is because they’ve been trained by culture to believe that about anything out of the mainstream. Our job (or my job, at least) is to find creative ways to shake them out of that reality.
June 6, 2014 @ 6:42 pm
We can blame education all we want, but it comes down to the bottom line that people aren’t paying attention to their kids these days, and they push them towards easy, lowest common denominator entertainment early in life, which helps lead to this stuff. I really do think that a lot of it is that for whatever reason, country is “cool” at the moment to a lot of people. When the fad dies out, I think the old “three chords and the truth” could take over.
June 7, 2014 @ 9:02 am
Matt . I appreciate you weighing in with your thoughts . I wish more younger people would do so . I have two 16 year old female music students breaking into the recording end this year ….terrific singers and fledgling pickers ( guitar and mandolin ) and songwriters who absolutely abhor most of what’s on mainstream country radio . They are always looking for alternatives and bringing them to my attention, always asking me what’s new and interesting for a writer to listen to …for a player to be inspired by etc. They ‘outgrew ‘ Taylor ( their own words ) . These kids inspire ME , for goodness sakes …..they GET it ! At 16 they see right through the Luke Bryan thing and realize there’s nothing going on there musically , lyrically or otherwise . They want to be better , to offer more and to be inspired . As you say , I encourage them to dig a little deeper and get steeped in the good stuff .
I hope you will continue to post here Matt ….very refreshing .
June 6, 2014 @ 1:53 pm
This is a good analysis with some salient points.
I particularly like Trig’s focusing on the lack of educational funding issue.
I think the matter goes a little deeper, though, when it comes to education, entertainment and the arts.
When I was young, weekly TV shows were either patently funny (e.g. the Beverly Hillbillies, making good natured fun of people from my home state) or entertaining shows which usually contained a moral message (the Andy Griffith Show).
Today children grow up watching Naked Survivor, WWE, WWF, Biggest Loser, American Idol and other intellectually bankrupt garbage (the idiotic shows where every laugh has something to do with sex) which passes for entertainment.
When I was young, we listened to Broadway musicals as soon as they came out, we went to plays, we read literature, and we went to concerts.
We also went to car races, we shot guns, we rode mini-bikes and go-karts and we spent most of our time outside playing sports.
There were no joy sticks and play stations.
Children now lead a virtual life, where computer games are substituted for learning and culture, so it makes perfect sense that they would embrace banal music with shallow and predictable lyrics.
I was at Charlotte Motor Speedway a couple of weeks ago and heard a lot of bro-country emanating from speakers at people’s tailgates, tents and motor homes.
And Brantley Gilbert put on a free concert before the race, which I mercifully missed.
This sub-genre is, regrettably, very popular.
June 6, 2014 @ 2:13 pm
I’m enjoying reading the discussions on this article. All great stuff that gets my wheels turning in my head. It’s really amazing how the landscape of country music has changed over the last five years. It feels like it happened in a blink of an eye, like somebody just flipped a switch. I’ve tried asking my bro country fan brother what is it about bro country he likes and he can’t even put a finger on it. One interesting thing is he hates the remixes of Jerrod Niemann’s “Drink to that All Night” and Florida Georgia Line’s “This is How We Roll.” But he loves the originals of the songs. Go to iTunes reviews and many other bro country fans feel the same way. It’s almost as if there’s a fine line and if the bro country artists deviate from it, the fans hate it. This perplexes me and I just can’t figure it out. How are the remixes that much worse than the originals? Both suck and yet they clearly hate the remixes (other than the “Cruise” one).
June 6, 2014 @ 2:19 pm
One more interesting note about my bro country brother: He heard Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn’s “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man” on Grand Theft Auto 5 and loved it. In fact he bought it and listens to it. So maybe some bro country fans would take to real country? I don’t know. It’s very difficult to gauge these group of listeners.
June 6, 2014 @ 2:16 pm
I am going to put this out there and I know I’ll get shit for it because he is not overly popular with this site. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Eric Church can help fight bro-country. I will use myself as an example. I did not listen to country much until a few years ago in college when a friend kept playing “Carolina” all the time, the song was my sole reason for plugging Eric Church into pandora and becoming a country fan. Then Eric had his feud with other country singers, and since Eric brought me into country, I took his side. I thought, if Eric said boy bands and bro-country are not what country is all about, then Eric Church and his fans must be what country is all about. He made a dividing line and I believed I was on the right side. So, I figured I would keep digging into what was on “my side” of the spectrum and found Alan Jackson and Garth, then dug more and found Clint Black and Dwight Yoakam, and then Hank Jr. and Merle started sounding alright. Now, I do not know what direction Eric is going in, but because he pinned me against the other side, I keep digging to find those meaningful country songs.
June 6, 2014 @ 3:21 pm
Yes, Eric Church is not bro-country, but that doesn’t necessarily make him good. I see it both ways with Eric Church. If he turned you on to true country music, excellent. He and Lzzy Hale arguably turned in the best performance on the CMT Awards Wednesday night, but guess what, it was a rock song and a rock performance. Great performance, but completely inappropriate. To me, that pretty much symbolizes what Eric Church is to country music. Better than most in the mainstream? Probably. But still misguided.
June 6, 2014 @ 7:42 pm
You know, Trig, I feel most of the genre issues with guys like Church would be resolved if they would just label them as “southern rock”, which they are. Aldean, Eli Young Band, Jake Owen (although much poppier on a lot of tunes), Brantley Gilbert, etc. fit this bill.
I like Eric Church, I really do.. as a fun ROCK act. Check out any live footage or recordings – that’s rock and roll. And that’s okay.. except is shouldn’t be marketed as country.
The electronic rap stuff.. well, I have no idea where to put that! Pop, at best.
June 6, 2014 @ 7:56 pm
I think I did not make my point clear enough. I am not trying to debate Church’s place in country music. Like was covered throughout this thread, the 20-something y/o target audience just likes what they are told to like. Eric Church fans are typically not bro-country fans because Eric basically tells them not to be. They may be misguided to follow Eric Church, but Eric does lead to good country music (ex. inviting Dwight Yoakam to join his tour). It does not have to be Eric Church, just any artist who is different, opinionated and willing to speak out and promote other good country artists. Say what you will about Church, I agree his new stuff is off the mark, but he does lead his fans to other good music. I am just saying more people like that could eventually lead to a better industry. Consider it a necessary evil.
June 6, 2014 @ 8:41 pm
Eric Church taking Brandy Clark and Dwight Yoakam out with him out tour is directly exposing them to both classic country and current female country. This is a very important move. And though I’m not a huge Halestrom fan, it is big for that band as well.
June 6, 2014 @ 2:33 pm
I strongly disagree with the idea that a lack of musical education is causing a decline in the quality of music.
If we look at the musical greats of the 20th century, a large number of them had no formal education at all, let alone formal musical education. Furthermore, do you have actual data showing that musical education funding has declined in the last 50 years?
Finally, musical education is important for the appreciation of classical music, but not country music. Country was originally played entirely on guitar and did not involve significant musical complexity compared to other genres.
June 6, 2014 @ 3:17 pm
You’re mixing two completely different issues Eric. Being professionally trained to be a musician and teaching people in public school about the bass and treble clef, rhythm and melody, and maybe exposing them to different types of music from around the world to show them how music is indicative with culture are two completely different things.
And yes, arts funding is being slashed left in right in public schools along with school funding in general, and a simple check through Google will tell you that. That is why it is falling on celebrities like Taylor Swift to help fund music education in communities.
June 6, 2014 @ 3:32 pm
Maybe 50 years was the wrong benchmark, but I am pretty sure that musical education funding is higher than it was a century ago, when classical music was popular.
Furthermore, pop is also replacing traditional musical cultures in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. In most of these places, education funding (including musical education funding) has increased dramatically in the last several generations.
Having taken music theory classes in the past, I can say from personal experience that it did nothing for me in the appreciation of music. It simply taught me how to view music from an analytical perspective, not from the emotional view that truly matters.
Finally, what use is there in teaching people about how music is connected with traditional culture if people do not care about traditions in the first place?
I will conclude this by saying that coming off as an artistic elitist might turn off potential new readers of this site.
June 6, 2014 @ 5:10 pm
No doubt music funding is higher than a Century ago, but a Century ago we were also staving off totalitarian dictators and polio.
I’m certainly not saying music education is the only problem. I’m saying it has lent to a general decline in quality.
Not sure where I came across as a artistic elitist, either in the piece or in my response to your comment. That certainly wasn’t my intent.
June 6, 2014 @ 9:07 pm
In my opinion, there is no such thing as objectively good music or bad music, just different tastes. Personally, I can’t stand rap, death metal, or bro-country but I do not look down on the fans of those genres.
The best way to bring in fans of other genres is to expose them to our own favorite music while still respecting their tastes. Arguing that their musical tastes are rooted in poor musical education is the quickest way to alienate these potential fans. That would be analogous to a Buddhist missionary trying to convert Christians by arguing that Christians lack spiritual education.
June 7, 2014 @ 12:26 am
Eric,
I can’t see how saying that someone had a poor musical education is somehow an insult to them, or has really anything to do with people’s preference with genre. I had a poor musical education experience. I remember budget cuts coming to both my elementary and middle schools and our music class hours getting cut. I remember in 4th grade we went from having music class once a week for an hour, to once a month. Public music education is just one of many factors that might lead to an individual’s musical experience, but I can’t see in any way how that would be taken as an insult if someone had a better or worse experience. Education is what you make of it, right? And as you grow, you can choose to pursue music in whatever capacity with or without the help of schooling.
June 7, 2014 @ 3:40 am
“Since many Americans are no longer being educated not only in the fundamentals of the musical language, but for what to listen for in music, the growing appeal of mundane and culturally-deprived music should come as no surprise.”
The argument here seems to be that Americans increasingly prefer “mundane” and “culturally-deprived” music (with the additional implication that those terms can be defined objectively and applied to bro-country in an objective sense) because of a lack of musical education. I understand that it may not have been intended as an insult, but many (or most) bro-country fans will clearly see it as such, thus reducing the likelihood that they will give SCM a chance to begin with.
June 7, 2014 @ 6:21 am
It seems to me Eric, that maybe the question here is about excellence and about choices. Given a choice, people who love music will gravitate to the best stuff, and a musical education, formal or home-made, will lead one to it.
The music industry (as opposed to musicians) has a monopolistic control over what can be heard in a wholesale way, with national exposure and support, and the opportunity for excellence to be rewarded for both performer and audience. Unfortunately, like much of media, they seek the “lowest common denominator”,most often the easiest formularized slop, and that with a short shelf life, so that the next piece of slop can find its place into the “charts”.
They create a narrow, “flavor-of-the day” niche and then put millions behind it and give you no other choices. Except to turn it off. And try to let them know it sucks and why.
So, if you can’t hear say, Willie Nelson or Sturgill Simpson on AM/FM radio, you are being deprived of a cholce and denied what is almost always an attempt at excellence, i.e., an artist trying to do their very best work free from the decisions of people with entirely mercenary motives. Yeah, you can go and find it in alternative ways, but you have to know about it first.
You seem to have a concern about people who enjoy “bro-country” being offended and turned off if we find that stuff to be mindless garbage. Screw ’em, sez I. If they like that stuff they are heading down a long, stupid road and they will buy into whatever the suits want them to buy into next.
You also imply that there is no such thing as good music or bad music, just different tastes. By extending that logic, you could get up in the morning, eat an uncooked potato, brush your teeth with turpentine, put on one green shoe and one orange one, and go off looking for work whistling your favorite Buddhist chant. And that would be fine. You just have different tastes. But you shouldn’t be surprised if you don’t get the gig.
Yeah, I know, I stretched the point a bit. No offense intended. At least, not much….
The best education teaches a love of learning and aspiring to excellence.
Country music has been co-opted by a very “un-Country” mob with very “un-Country’ motivations and sensibilities. And that is a good reason to raise Hell about it.
June 6, 2014 @ 3:24 pm
Not Bro-Country. Not even Country!!! This is Honky Rappers singing Honky Rap.
June 6, 2014 @ 5:54 pm
Excellent points. This article should be required reading.
I know that since the dawn of time, older generations have complained about the younger and talk about the “good old days” so much it’s become cliche. But the thing is, we’ve become more corporatized and homogenized as a society than ever before, and things really are vastly different in not-good ways because of it. We have fewer choices on the radio. Fewer independent/small chain stores to shop at. etc. Internet radio and youtube definitely help balance this out BUT, in order to seek out alternatives you need the perspective to know that what you’re being spoon fed is crap in the first place. At my age, I have that perspective. Most teenagers don’t; this world is all they know.
There’s also the rebellion factor. Young people generally don’t want to listen to what their parents listen to. My folks played bluegrass and that’s the music I grew up with (and sang). But I started listening to rock n roll and neo-traditional country as soon as I discovered it. I was well into my 20s when I finally realized, my parents were right, bluegrass is great!
I have no doubt people who primarily listen to bro country could appreciate good music (old and new) if it was presented to them in the proper context. This is what I WISH people like Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan would do, use their influence to introduce their fans to good country music instead of doing the hip hop thing. (I don’t think FLGA Line would know the difference between good music and their ass, or a hole in the ground.)
And those billboard chart changes are the freaking devil. All they seem to do is reward the most mediocre garbage, and help it to reproduce. I wouldn’t even mind bro country so much if it was one of many different styles played on country radio. (I wouldn’t listen to it, but it wouldn’t anger me so much.) But when it’s 7/10 of the top 10 songs, that’s a problem.
Ha. That rambled a bit. But this subject is dear to my heart, and I appreciate this blog for fighting the good fight.
June 6, 2014 @ 5:58 pm
“And don”™t tell me “Well there”™s still great stuff out there. Let”™s just focus on that.” That sentiment is elitist and selfish. Sure, we should focus on good stuff too, but everyone has a right to good music…”
This is the view Peter Cooper takes, that there is no point in worrying about what is going on in country radio, because mainstream radio listeners are lazy anyway, and anybody who wants to listen to the good stuff can find it on the internet.
I used to think that way too, but I have come around to seeing things more like the way the article describes. Not everybody is a music obsessive, or necessarily has the time or resources to know where they can go to find out about great music. Probably the majority of music listeners are passive consumers, but they do still like music, and they want to be able to turn on their radios and hear great songs. Those people deserve good music too: they deserve to have a reasonable number of options to choose from in finding music that really suits them. This is America, got dang it! Great, quality music should be an endless resource. Good music should be as easy to obtain as oxygen.
By the way, I noticed indie rock website Stereogum recently posted a review of the CMT Awards, examining the state of modern country music. They claim the unprecedented influence of other pop music genres is ultimately going to lead to a cool, progressive new future for the genre. How exciting. XD
http://www.stereogum.com/1684790/the-week-in-pop-miranda-lambert-lucy-hale-and-countrys-strange-state-of-flux/franchises/the-week-in-pop/
June 6, 2014 @ 6:15 pm
Great article. As I was reading this Larry Cordle’s MOMR crossed my mind. The song was written around 1999, way before bro-country. I know the song is pretty much aimed at music row but I wonder which artists was he thinking about when he wrote it.
I remember when George and Alan sang MOMR and the audience loved it but I also wondered how many artists in the crowd thought “is this song about me?”
Artist that come to mind.
Toby Keith
Shania
Garth maybe (the almighty dollar and the lust for world wide fame)
Billy Ray
June 6, 2014 @ 7:10 pm
I love this article and love coming to this site everyday. I’m heading to the whitey Morgan, hellhound glory, and doop & the inside outlaws concert next Saturday in downtown detroit. I’m trying to convince friends and family one at a time what good country music is like. Many I’ve found are simply too passive with their music and would rather just listen to what’s on radio or what plays on their favorite pandora station. I’ve found myself in the minority when it comes to seeking out new music and being proactive on going beyond the radio
June 7, 2014 @ 3:21 pm
I’m making the drive all the way from Akron, gonna be a great show
June 6, 2014 @ 7:59 pm
I believe that another cause of, not necessarily bro-country, but a lack of traditional country on mainstream outlets is the huge void of guitar driven rock music in pop. And this has been going on for quite some time.
I know a lot of classic and southern rock fans started migrating towards country music in the late 90’s, early 2000’s.
That’s the reason you artists like Darius Rucker and the aforementioned Sheryl Crow rebranding themselves as country. There’s no place for them in pop.
June 6, 2014 @ 8:29 pm
That’s a good point. When I was growing up top 40 stations played guitar-driven rock like Foreigner and Dire Straits and .38 Special alongside the more pop and new wave stuff. I don’t know when that stopped, I haven’t listened to pop radio since the late 80s, but last time I was subjected to a top 40 pop station it was all hip hop and electronic stuff. I don’t think I heard a single instrument and maybe not even a human voice, it’s hard to tell.
June 7, 2014 @ 3:13 am
The number 1 country song this week in 1963: Lonesome 7-7203.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUHqM3j7n5Y
Bumped off next week by: Act Naturally.
We’re too far gone I think.
June 7, 2014 @ 11:01 am
Most of what is going on in the country even is driven by the record labels. They find one thing that works and then they beat it into the ground, like the whole country-rap surge over the last two years. You have FGL/Luke Bryan with “This Is How We Roll”, Jason Aldean’s “1994”, Brantley Gilbert/ Jason Aldean with “Dirt Road Anthem”, etc. The is sure that has become overpowering in today’s country music is that the labels want to control what the artists produce, instead of letting the artists be artists. They want to sell what is hot, and then when it does out, they find the next big seller. The perfect example of artists who don’t conform to the new standard of country labels are Toby Keith, Big & Rich, and Zac Brown Band.
Toby Keith has his own label, puts out the music that he wants to put out, and let’s his artists have control of their music. Toby’s albums may not be the #1 selling album every year, but he puts on a live show like you’ve never seen, and he clearly enjoys playing all of the songs he plays. Big & Rich just started their own label as well. Most country music fans don’t understand just how big of an influence these two guys have had on country music over the last 30 years. John Rich has had so many cuts on albums all over the genre, starting in the 90s when he was with Diamond Rio. B&R want to make the music how they want to make it, not the way a guy in a suit tells them to make it. Zac Brown Band is another example of outside of the mainstream country realm that should get more respect in the modern country world but doesn’t. If you know anything about music, and have ever seen these guys play a live show, you know that these are some of the most talented musicians in music today. Their ears for harmonies, their instrumental knowledge is astounding, and the arrangement of the songs are incredible. The arrangement that really sticks out to me is a song called “It’s Not OK”, which, in the extended instrumental part of the song, they go from a full 4 measures of fiddle, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and drums, then after each instrument plays it’s 4 bars, it drops to 2, then to 1, then to half a measure, then one beat per instrument. It’s incredible arrangements like this that seems to be nonexistent in today’s music. It’s all about being bumped underneath by heavy bass tracks and electronic, computerized instruments that take very little talent to use. The artists need more control over their music, let them make the music they want to make and the labels can shove it.
June 7, 2014 @ 11:04 am
It’s really a pain when typing on a phone, so there are a few things that got changed, but you can catch my drift. And an edit that I need to make, John Rich was with Lonestar, not Diamond Rio. My apologies.
June 7, 2014 @ 11:46 am
You make some good points above , LT . One of the things that gets overlooked when discussing the ‘biz’ side of country music is the songwriting . Gone are the days when artists/labels/producers went to the best writers for the best tunes they could find for a release. Labels today want writers who write or co-write their own music ( more money in that ) ….so they are often teamed with a REAL writer or two . ( Labels even suggest to us writers to keep the co-writes down to one or two because the piece of the pie is so much smaller than it once was ). The artist may be an amazing singer or picker , but it isn’t a ‘given’ that they can write . This , according to many industry folks , is why there are so many mediocre songs and so few standards written over the past 15 years or so .If you go to a jam or a karaoke night , you will hear MOST of the singers doing songs that are between 20-50 years old and very few new songs …. The new songs are forgettable , mostly ….ear candy and not much more Its style over substance . A timeless lyric or strong melody take a backseat to the style of a song and the similarity of it to something that has sold well . Also , many artists crank out albums too quickly in order to keep their presence intact . Zac Brown , in its short life have cranked out a lot of music ….most of it forgettable regardless of how talented the band may be. Their songs lack a professional polish lyrically and melodically and often sound only half complete because of that. Again …GREAT talent there but I’d argue that none of their material , as unique and fresh as it is compared to other mainstream stuff , will not stand the test of time …will not produce a standard . The industry has turned its back on the role of the skilled songwriter . Listen to how a Dolly Parton or an Erin Enderlin or a Dean Dillon or Hank Cochran write something meaningful , fresh AND timeless – standards . Of course , if the labels and artist/writers are making money from the mediocre songs being cranked out , they ain’t gonna fix what , in their eyes , ain’t broke .
June 7, 2014 @ 1:01 pm
I agree, and there are so many songwriters out there with killer songs that never get the opportunity because the labels want the singers to write all their own material, or co-write with someone on every song. Songs that could become standards are left in the dust because it doesn’t fit the “Nashville Sound” or the way the label wants the artist to portray themselves. That being said, as an artist I think you should have a hand in writing or helping to produce and arrange your own material, because otherwise you’re a glorified karaoke singer, like Jason Aldean. He’s only written 3-4 songs that were put on his albums in the, what, 8 years he’s been on the scene? I guess that’s a case of “your writing sucks, leave it to the writers and you just perform.” It’s hard to write hit songs when you have to crank out a new album every 10-12 months, plus touring and everything else. But if, as a professional singer, you write mediocre songs, you are supporting the songwriters behind many of the great songs that deserve to be on the radio, so you should leave it to them, and just stick to singing.
June 7, 2014 @ 6:26 pm
I used to love what you call “pop” or “bro-country music”. Thank you Trig for helping me see through what it really is!
June 7, 2014 @ 8:57 pm
The awful prevailing belief that all these bro-country artists are “so hot”, perpetuated somehow by their too-tight jeans, is one of the most aggravating of these causes to me because I see so many friends fall for it. That’s a terrible reason to like music, and the fact that most of these artists look and act more like jerks than gentlemen is just another problem with the sexist connotations in the songs and that many women (really, girls mainly) actually seem ok with this is just sad.
June 7, 2014 @ 9:54 pm
I agree with this article but I would also like to add this. Bro country is a direct representation of our youth today….lack of depth, laziness, and small time thinking (not all, but many). No kicking out the footlights, its by golly backflips off the drumset and paint splashing the audience. Whiskey drinking heart broke juke box songs have been traded in for beer drinking tailgating daisy duke ass shaking in a jacked up truck songs. I guess the best comparison of what country music has become even since the early 90s would be to compare the two songs I’ll take the dirt road by Sawyer Brown vs Dirt Road Anthem Jason Aldean. “daddy worked hard for his dollar he said some folks dont but thats okay..” or “chilling on a dirt road, laid back swirving like Im George Jones” that basically says it all.
June 8, 2014 @ 6:24 am
I would like to take a slightly different tack here. First, Trig, thanks for trying to fight the good fight. I am pessimistic about your ability to effect any change, but I am optimistic in that I just know in my heart that there will be a rebellion against bro country (or just the current state of music in general).
First, there is plenty of good, real country, southern, alt country, americana, red dirt and so forth music out there. My ipod is filled with thousands of songs from the last 25 years (using Uncle Tupelo as a starting point) that I listen to on a playlist.
The issue is that the vast majority of the public does not like that stuff for whatever reason and “alt country” really played itself out to a dead end commercially. Most people don’t really like to be challenged by music; don’t like honest lyrics; don’t like real guitar licks or non-processed voices. I don’t know why; they are shallow and they generally suck. Music education is not going to change it. It’s is deeper culturally than that.
Many of the songs you rail against on this site are actually pretty good in a bubble gum pop sort of way. Confession: When I am out on the boat, for example, I play that crap way more than my own music. Cruise and Luke Bryan and Bottoms Up and Thomas Rhett and their kin are good “summer” music if you are not really “listening”. It just fits better, and it appeals to a broader audience than, say, American Aquarium or Chris Knight.
Here is where I am: This bro country will eventually run its course, just like Countrypolitan got steamrolled by Waylon and Willie, or AOR blew up AM pop, or punk and rock killed disco, or Nirvana blew up hair metal. We will look back and giggle at acts like Brantley Gilbert. Just hang in there.
Now, I do admit that the significant media and radio consolidation and itunes actually makes it harder for the smaller acts to emerge and thrive. My fear is that the market has become impossible to crack financially. How many times do we find a new, authentic band we love, and then just as soon they break up due to economic pressures and despair. But tastes change and evolve, and there always seems to be a back to basics revolt against overly processed and formulaic music, so I am hopeful.
You keep up the vanguard fight, but don’t sweat it too much. In the meantime, we should just continue to support the artists doing it the right way, by going to their shows and buying their merch and music directly from them, as well as trying to tell our friends or at least giving them exposure to “real” music. For example, in the above party boat music example, I sneak in a few nuggets from, say, Randy Rogers, Drive-by Truckers, Leroy Powell or Blackberry Smoke (most of those are more southern rock and you are talking country, but you get my point) in the hope that someone says “who is that?”, and off we go…
Keep the faith and be good.
From Austin
June 8, 2014 @ 9:05 am
Thanks AusTXHorn.
June 8, 2014 @ 7:09 pm
Great read here! You are right on the money as always. One thing that catches my attention is the rock scene. The southern rock such as the allman brothers and Marshall tucker band and many others that many country fans dig is gone now. Not that I know anything about the rock scene now, but what I’ve heard doesn’t sound like rock and roll to me. There is no other major scene on the radio and tv that country listeners can go to (besides all of the sub genres). I think that is one cause for a lot of the country artists to feel like they have a void to fill, but not the ridiculous bro-country crap. It’s bad when the only stations I listen to are either classic country or classic rock, and I’m only 26! Lol
June 11, 2014 @ 11:29 am
Zach,
There is still Southern Rock being made, it just can’t be found on the radio.
Bands like Blackberry Smoke, Whiskey Myers and Preacher Stone, just to name three, are doing justice to that brand of music. If that’s the kind of music you like, it’s still out there, just takes work to find it sometimes.
June 11, 2014 @ 10:23 am
I wanted to pick up on something Matt said. His roommate just wants to party. That is not a rare thing for a college student, but part of the problem is not education but the prolonging of childhood and youth. Only a stupid boy would regard a true effort as sounding like a “pussy”. The childish, misogyny in that word speaks volumes about ” bro-country”‘s influence.
I am 49. When I was 18 I went to college, and after college I went onto to be an adult with a job and a place of my own. But now people, for various reasons, stay home. They are coddled in numerous ways. So childhood, on some level, continues into adulthood- pushing it further away. When you aren’t experiencing life as a real adult the music you pick is going to mirror that status. Adult experiences are for later. Let us party now! Add to that soup the Oprah mother set, who like a good piece of meat to listen to, and you can see why country music is slowly drowning in bad music. And why the Elmer Gantry set is filling up the radio and television with this trash. Poor parenting, poor learners, and endless summers all add up to noise. Only an adult, which Matt appears to be at 20, can really understand and connect to a Jones, a Lynn, a Willie or a Cash. Luke Bryan speaks to children. And children rule the airwaves, for a great deal longer than they did before.
June 11, 2014 @ 9:20 pm
I do have to note though that Dwight Yoakam was king of Tight Cut Male Jeans and a cute ass.
June 20, 2014 @ 9:17 am
True, but Dwight can SANG and play.
June 20, 2014 @ 8:52 am
The problem is this bro-country crap is all that’s allowed on the radio. To me, it’s hard to tell the difference between the so-called singers anymore. There’s absolutely zero variety.
Someone mentioned countrypolitan and how Waylon and Willie smashed it. Of course countrypolitan/Nashville Sound was an attempt to somewhat “de-countrify” country music but it was still decent music. There were still traditional acts to be found like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, acts that didn’t want to touch Nashville with a ten foot pole and did their own thing.
Even if a lot of the same studio musicians were used for different artists (even some of Jimmy Swaggart’s early albums appear to be using Nashville musicians by the sound of it) the music was still distinct and didn’t appear cookie cutter.
Another difference was that even into the 60’s and 70’s an artist like Hank Snow or Carl Smith could still be commercially viable even though they had been around since the 30’s or 40’s. Heck, Roy Acuff had a hit in the 80’s with Bill Anderson on the song “I Wonder if God Likes Country Music.”
Things changed drastically in early 90’s even getting to a point Hee Haw abandoned its countryfied format. Older artists suddenly couldn’t find playtime on radio stations even though they were producing quality albums. It became “what have you done for me lately?”
Eventually the fad of bro-country will fade……hopefully.
July 26, 2014 @ 7:49 pm
Country is just country so there is no such thing as Bro-Country, Alternative Country, Rock-Country, Rap-Country, Hick-Hop-Country, and whatever country there is it’s just plain Country music the only reason these genre are called these stupid ass names is because bunch of Jackass scientist decided to call these different fuions a name but believe it or not the reason why it’s very different now is because all people pay attention to is the instruments but the proper term for this type of Country music should be called is Classic Country (1920-2006) & Modern Country (2006-present) plus there’s Electric Instruments but again this is my opinion 🙂
September 3, 2014 @ 10:15 am
I think it’s a great point about how the charts are run to favor artists who do crossover music. It makes business sense to get into more than one genre if you can. I really have to say that the biggest thing keeping this going is the fact that females are the biggest demographic in our society as far as pop culture goes. They are routinely the demographic to get in music. I swear if I hear another tanning or hair removal commercial on the radio I am gonna lose it. At any rate, while I can’t completely blame females for our societies woes, I can say that young females are perpetuating this bro-country phase. As mentioned in the comments earlier, young girls are the ones going to concerts and freaking out over Luke Bryan. Until they move on to the next big thing, the country music industry will continue to cater to what they want. They are driving popular culture and right now.
January 26, 2015 @ 3:14 am
Don’t despair!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PErjhEOuyoo
April 6, 2018 @ 7:33 am
Anna,the reson these good ol’ bros are so popular is that they’re handsome,and a lot of boppers don’t care that they’re cruddy singers and/or musicians!!!!(Do you think Travis Tritt would even chart in 2018?)
January 28, 2020 @ 4:42 pm
“Bro-Country” is also a symptom of rock’s seeming demise,as these handsome “bro-Country” cowboys would have been rockers in the 80’s,90’s or even the aughts !!!!!
March 16, 2022 @ 7:51 am
Shania Twain,like Yours Truly,was born in Windsor,Ont.,across the Detroit River from Detroit.
April 7, 2022 @ 3:11 pm
Music generally, not just Country, has been getting less complex, less sophisticated, shallower, etc. for decades. IMO, that happened because the culture has been declining for all that time. A main contributor to that is government run “schools”, which have focused on socialization rather than actual education, and hence each succeeding generation is less able to think than the previous.
Less able to think means less able to value, and good music, particularly Country, is all about values – not just any values but timeless values.
Instead of songs exploring love (won, lost, betrayed, in the moment etc.), family relationships, the changes we go through in life and many other subjects, we get songs about drinking, trucks, girls in tight jeans and the like.
Shallow music is a result of shallow minds – not just among station managers, but among the record buying public too.
May 3, 2022 @ 6:37 am
See Jan.6,2021 about being “less able to think,” Matt,and the rot has hit all aspects of life,including Country (and all other music genres. Heck,I would be surprised if the Kartrashians don’t try to put out a Country album.)
July 25, 2022 @ 3:04 pm
Well,I listened to Motown,the British Invasion,the Beach and Car Sound,various international instrumentals,etc. Anything good,in other words but about a half-century ago,radio became formatted,with no music not corresponding to the playlist making the airwavs.Add the consolidation of radio stations and,yes,the gutting of music programs and you have Bro-Country,(c)rap,electronica and yes,Rip-Off Robert Ritchie . (“Kid Rockhead.”)
November 15, 2023 @ 8:29 am
I know schools focus on socialization,not education.I was (and at 70,still am) cover boy handsome with a 160 IQ in school,but because I’m black,today I would be guided away from Country or rock and into rap,90% of which I loathe. Also,because it seems to be almost criminal to be bright-to say nothing of good-looking today (especially in my lifelong residence,Windsor,Ont.,Can.,one mile SOUTH of the border from Detroit,Mich.,because Windsor and Detroit are auto industry-defined,blue-collar cities whose men are largely rough-edged),I likely would have been steered away from gifted courses and into the pedagogy which spits out dull-normal,plain-looking folk who can be easily slotted according to race,ethnicity,religion,etc. to please the powers-that-be.