Many of Today’s Country Artists Find Actual Country Music “Boring”
I believe it was the Buddha who once said “life is suffering.” And though you would think mainstream country artists who make their living playing music to massive audiences, with untold riches bestowed upon them through their fame, beautiful women (or men) at their beckoned call, and getting jet setted to and fro in the lap of luxury would have little to complain about, they have problems too apparently, and recently the biggest one appears to be having to play music that fits within the confines of the country music genre. Oh, the horror.
These poor, poor bastards. To hear them talk about the rigors and limitations of the country format, you would think they signed up for indentured servitude when they decided to pursue becoming a country music star. “We’re constantly trying to evolve, mainly because we’re musicians and we get bored really easily,” said Mike Ely of the Eli Young Band recently.
Mike Eli’s bored? Try telling that to the millions of folks who get up every morning to face eight hours at a factory or a cubicle farm to get by. Or you know, folks with any bit of musical taste who attempt to listen to Eli Young Band’s recent output. Willie Nelson has been making country music for 60-something years, did he ever get bored?
After years of being a band that relied on its grassroots fans cultivated in Texas to help it reach toward some mainstream exposure and success, the Eli Young Band has done a complete 180 and is now following the disco/EDM country craze with very mixed results. A recently-launched EP is full of non-country stylings, and a recent appearance on a remix from pop star Andy Grammer on his hit “Honey I’m Good” has the band feeling like it’s finally out from under country music’s repressive regime. However the style move has done little more than make Eli Young Band one of many chasing the latest craze, looking for attention in a crowded field, trying to survive in the post-Bro, Sam Hunt environment.
– – – – – – – – –
Faced with increasing criticism from many sectors of society about the current direction of mainstream country, including criticisms that stretch into other venues of the entertainment industry and even the sports realm, the country artists who are looking to push the envelope, especially the male artists, have gone on the offensive recently to paint their critics as closed-minded, living-in-the-past, oppressive mouth breathers who don’t want music to evolve and only want music to sound like classic country until eternity.
The problem with this rhetoric (beyond it being patently false) is that it is painting country music—meaning music that actually sounds like country—as this boring, outmoded, limiting medium where there is no possibility that creativity can thrive within its borders. It’s one thing to say you don’t want to play classic country. It’s another to portray it as inherently boring and unimaginative just because you want to unapologetically chase the latest trend to make a buck.
“I mean, ‘cause that there’s this whole fashion of people who want to take back country music and make it old school and country music to those people is the only kind of music that’s not allowed to evolve,” Darius Rucker was quoted as saying recently.
Darius Rucker is the worst of the “evolution” preachers. He flees the dying rock world to become a country music carpetbagger, and now deems himself worthy enough to pontificate about where the genre should go. And there is nobody, nobody creating an incorrect and damaging stereotype of the classic country fan and artist at the moment than Darius. Behold the absolutism he spews as he continues to speak about country music’s “evolution.”
“I mean, rock ‘n’ roll, there’s nobody sounds like The Beatles. There’s nobody sounds like Bill Haley and The Comets right now. Pop music has changed drastically over the years and keeps changing. And, you know, everybody wants country music to be the same. All the country music fans only want to listen to classic country music and the umbrella’s just much bigger now.”
Wait, what and what?
“And, you know, everybody wants country music to be the same.” Darius says.
So that would mean that every single human being in the entire world planet wants country music to not evolve, Darius.
Then he says,
“All the country music fans only want to listen to classic country music and the umbrella’s just much bigger now.”
Well if all the country music fans only want to listen to classic country, then there is pure universal consensus behind country music not evolving, right?
Darius has no idea what the hell he’s talking about, but what he is trying to say is that anybody that has a problem with Sam Hunt releasing a straight up EDM single to country radio, despite it not have a single damn thing to do with country music, must also believe that all country music must sound like Johnny Cash forever and ever, amen.
But of course this is not the case, and that point has been so exhaustively refuted that it makes me sick to my stomach to have to think of rehashing those same tired arguments once again.
Beyond the insults and fallacies is the growing concern that by constantly characterizing country music as boring, limiting, and non-evolving, we are eroding the foundation of country music for future generations. What if you were a fanboy or fangirl of one of these performers, lapping up everything they put out there in the media? You would think classic country sounds like the the most repressive and backwards-thinking cultural movement since Apartheid.
Try telling fans of Sturgill Simpson that he can’t be creative within the traditional borders of country music. Being able to work within limited sonic parameters and still be innovative is a sign of creativity, while relying on technological crutches and catchy pop elements is a sign of laziness and lack of inspiration. In the end the whole country or non-country argument is mute. The real question should be is the music any good, or of quality?
Johnny Cash ran off and worked with Bob Dylan. Willie Nelson released multiple albums of pop standards. Waylon Jennings once played on the Lollapalooza tour. The difference was they were still making music with meaning that remains relevant today, despite what Darius Rucker and others say. That’s why so many would like to see a return to those days when music made you feel something deep inside, and wasn’t just background noise for your tailgate party. This isn’t even about style or taste or generational gaps or steel guitars and fiddles. It’s about making music of substance.
Country music must evolve. I repeat, COUNTRY MUSIC MUST EVOLVE. But the direction Darius Rucker, Mike Eli, and many others are taking it is in the exact opposite direction of evolution.
It’s bad enough these artists are ruining the country music of today. Let’s not go back and impugn the country music of the past too just to try and justify their trespasses.
August 18, 2015 @ 11:46 am
When you’re true to yourself and where you come from it’s hard to find anything boring – or wrong about what you’re doing.
August 18, 2015 @ 12:05 pm
That’s the thing. These artists aren’t making music with heart. If they were, they’d be doing it no matter how popular or financially lucrative it was, especially in the case of a band like Eli Young where they’ve made plenty of money in their careers and have a strong following.
August 18, 2015 @ 5:35 pm
I’d be doing the same thing these artists are if I had the chance. Go get the money man. Money makes the world go round. You would be insane to not just follow the line and collect your 15 or 20 mil a year. Regardless of whether that music was of quality or not.
August 18, 2015 @ 5:47 pm
But Eli Young Band’s new direction has failed. So had Gary Allan’s, and about a dozen other artists who are trying to be Sam Hunt right now. Their singles couldn’t crack the Top 40. If you sell out, you better make a boatload of money, because you can’t expect your long-term fans to be there for you anymore.
August 18, 2015 @ 6:51 pm
Yes. I can never support Gary Allan again after the last single of his i heard. Funny thing is that single failed and now he doesn’t have a lot of his old fans to fall back on. Honestly its like a slap in the face to his real fans when an artist who did make music with substance goes money chasing with pop hits.
August 18, 2015 @ 7:22 pm
In most cases except for Jason Aldean
August 18, 2015 @ 10:37 pm
“If you sell out, you better make a boatload of money, because you can”™t expect your long-term fans to be there for you anymore.”
These artists might be trying to follow the example of Taylor Swift. She not only maintained most of her fan base, but even soared in popularity, after selling out to pop.
August 18, 2015 @ 10:53 pm
“sorry guys I didn’t realize that I needed you so much. Thought Id get a new audience, but I forgot that disco sucks. Then I was left with nobody and started feeling dumb.”
Weezer
August 19, 2015 @ 6:03 am
To be fair on Gary Allan, he DID try to release an insanely good country song with “It Ain’t The Whiskey”. It failed because it didn’t mention a hot girl or beer or shit like that. Plus, Gary is on the exact same label as Hunt, so he probably faced more pressure than anybody (as did Josh Turner probably, not that his song was a sellout moment). It doesn’t excuse what Gary did, but I definitely don’t feel the need to panic over 1 song, I think Gary will fall back on his good graces. It’s not like he released a whole album full of sellout material (looking at you Zac Brown)
August 19, 2015 @ 8:57 am
Honestly as much as Gary’s last single stunk, he hasnt been putting great singles outside of “It Ain’t The Whiskey” for awhile now. His last album did have quite a few damn good album cuts though, so I’m still a fan.
August 18, 2015 @ 8:01 pm
That’s fine they can go do just that. Just so long they keep their filthy goddamn mouths shut when it comes to the direction and “evolution” of their version of “country” music.
August 19, 2015 @ 7:06 am
That’s where something called “personal integrity” comes in. Maybe you haven’t heard of it?
August 19, 2015 @ 6:00 pm
Try lisytening to my cd “Both Barrels”. If you like REAL country music I think you will like it.
May 29, 2016 @ 5:44 am
Most of today’s so-called country is nothing more than hi-hop/rap with no melody. I have no problem with the new music (although I don’t like it) or performers…….what I have a problem with is their calling it “Country”!!!!!
August 18, 2015 @ 11:53 am
Most people thinks that as long as there’s a truck or a dirt road, that means it’s country. Thing is, Sam Hunt doesn’t even mention those things in his EDM songs, so how can anyone consider him a country singer? Anyway, these Bro-Country songs are why most non-country fans think country music is all stupid redneck shit. They think ALL country music has always been stupid, not just pop country, and it’s all because Bro-Country ruined it. By the way, why do these people think “Whoaoaoah!!!” should be in country songs? It’s just stupid and lazy. That, along with EDM, is the absolute most uncountry thing of all. Not only is this stuff not country, EDM IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF COUNTRY! Let me reiterate: MODERN “COUNTRY” IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF COUNTRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 18, 2015 @ 11:56 am
Makes sense. Let Darius Rucker, one of the guys who ruined rock, also ruin country music. When he’s wreaked his havoc in country, what other genre will he move on to ruin? Salsa? Afrobeat? Deathcore?
August 18, 2015 @ 12:13 pm
I wouldn’t say that Rucker ruined rock. His 90s songs were among the better soft rock tracks of that decade.
Even in the country genre, he has been better than the vast majority of his mainstream colleagues, until his recent sellout to bro-country.
August 18, 2015 @ 1:10 pm
I have to interject that “Homegrown Honey” is the outlier on his current album.
It doesn’t diminish how atrocious “Homegrown Honey” and Rucker’s judgement there were. All the same, it isn’t indicative of “Southern Style” as a whole. It is an album reminiscent of the mainstream country sound from the mid-to-late 00s when the lyricism was marred by laundry list cliches, but the instrumentation was unmistakably rife with genuine country flavors.
As a personality, some of his most recent comments have been among the most insufferable. But as an entertainer, I would hardly consider him among the worst the mainstream has to offer.
August 18, 2015 @ 2:40 pm
LolDeathcore. Hootie and BREEHBREEHBREEHfish!
August 18, 2015 @ 11:58 am
This shit’s getting old. But I’ll just say here what I said elsewhere:
With this new talking point he’s advancing, Darius Rucker shows himself to be at least as big a fraud as Ryan Adams. Why? Because Rucker, just like Ryan Adams, has in a way been lying to his fans and country music fans in general. Rucker has been saying, from the beginning of his career, that he”™s a fan of Real Country Music and that he wanted to do more of it, but the label wouldn”™t let him do it because it ostensibly wasn”™t commercial enough ”” which implies that he believed that country music should still sound, well, country, as it evolves. This new talking point suggests that he didn”™t believe any of that, and in a way, that”™s even more disappointing than his actual music.
August 18, 2015 @ 11:59 am
Guys like this have never had an original thought in their heads.
August 18, 2015 @ 12:54 pm
Darius Rucker has never seemed like much of a legit artist to me. Just everything about him, to me at least, comes off as him just being a dude who will record whatever the hell he and his producers think is popular at that time at Country radio and roll with it. He came out with some pretty heavy “Soccer Mom” songs and now has transitioned to generic FGL, Aldean, Bryan, etc. songs. Dude has always felt like a follower of trends more than a true artist.
Eli Young Band is much the same way, I know they were beloved in Texas, but as a Red Dirt fan I can say they were always pretty crappy. They just hopped on the Rogers/Boland/Bowen train and rode that to a Nashville deal. They have never felt overly original and it shows in their music.
August 19, 2015 @ 5:59 am
I really dig the original version of “When It Rains,” but beyond that I thought they were pretty meh. CCR, Randy Rogers, Boland, and the like have always been more up my alley.
August 18, 2015 @ 12:07 pm
Ya know what’s really sad? Hootie’s music is more country than Bryan, Aldean, FGL, and Sam Hunt put together.
August 18, 2015 @ 12:12 pm
If these guys find country music boring, then why do they continue to release their songs to country radio?
August 18, 2015 @ 12:31 pm
Because country radio will play anything, and they would be ridiculed by any other format.
August 18, 2015 @ 12:51 pm
It also doesn’t help that the DJ’s and radio programmers often have zero clue or interest in Country music. Just the other day I briefly tuned into a mainstream Country station in my area and someone called in to request Gary Allan’s “Songs About Rain”, but the DJ thought she was talking about “Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain” and played that instead.
I laughed and then turned the station, but it’s just another example of the people playing the freaking songs, not having any idea about what came from the genre more than a few years ago.
August 18, 2015 @ 4:48 pm
I.E. Bobby Bones
August 18, 2015 @ 5:41 pm
Anything except country* @Kale
August 18, 2015 @ 5:58 pm
(Gasp!) My 1st name is Brandon too! We’re twinkies;)
August 18, 2015 @ 12:38 pm
Maybe, just maybe, Dance/Pop music will begin ‘evolving’ to a point where it sounds just like traditional country music. We’ll then have country that sounds like disco, rap that sounds like country, death metal that sounds like bluegrass, etc…It’ll be the Bruce Jenner age of music!
August 19, 2015 @ 7:28 pm
Death metal that sounds like bluegrass…I’m pretty sure that’s what I’ve been listening to lately. And it’s excellent.
August 18, 2015 @ 1:07 pm
It would have been even more poetic if instead of Johnny Cash, your statement read “… must also believe that all country music must sound like Randy Travis forever and ever, amen.” Of course, that would require these people to actually know who Randy Travis is and something about his music if they were to ever happen upon this article.
August 18, 2015 @ 3:32 pm
Grabbed my thunder with the RT reference ~ and more elegantly than I’d’ve done it…
🙂
August 18, 2015 @ 1:09 pm
Whenever I hear one of these mainstream “artist” say country music must evolve, I can’t help but wonder if they are saying that not only to convince the fans but to convince themselves that what they are doing musically is okay when they know it’s not. You can tell yourself something over and over and pretty soon you will start to believe it. I imagine there is some psychological term for that. It’s like a woman who tells herself “He doesn’t mean it when he hits me. It’s okay and he always apologizes”. They basically brainwash themselves into believing it’s okay when it’s not.
August 18, 2015 @ 1:59 pm
^ yes exactly! I always picture these guys after an interview where they reiterate that same point AGAIN huddling up in a corner sucking their thumbs and quietly repeating to themselves “it’s okay country music must evolve it MUST!!!” trying to hold back the tears and shame
August 18, 2015 @ 1:14 pm
Damn right on point article. What a bunch of airheaded, defensive, pukey pablum these guys are spewing. Darius Rucker has a great voice but he sure doesn’t have a damn thing interesting to say.
August 18, 2015 @ 1:30 pm
I understand what Mike Ely is saying. Music always needs to evolve. While I don’t care for today’s mainstream country, I also don’t like traditional artists who try to take the music back in time by sounding exactly like music from 50 or 60 years ago.The challenge of making music is trying to come up with new ideas to add to the mix, which is why some musicians get bored with doing the same old thing.
August 19, 2015 @ 6:00 am
Well yeah…but who does that? Not being snarky. I’d really like to know.
August 18, 2015 @ 1:35 pm
Out of boredom, I decided to use my Countrymometer to discern the amount of country within popular country songs. The Countrymometer considers aspects like instrumentation, vocals, lyrics, and the strength of what I call “The Stupid Factor.”
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
The results are in:
“Country” by Mo Pitney: 95%
“Wagon Wheel” covered by Darius Rucker: 80% unfortunately his others aren’t that high
“Fly” by Maddie and Tae: 75%
“Ain’t Worth the Whiskey” by… Who?: 15%
“Games” by Luke Bryan: 10% highest he has
“Like a Wrecking Ball” by Eric Church: 7%
“Anything Goes” by FGL: 2%
“Burnin’ it Down” by Jason Aldean: 1%
“Love Me Like You Mean It” by Kelsea Whatshername: 0.5%
Anything by Sam Hunt: 0%
As you can see, Mo Pitney really does sing country music, Darius is sadly more country than most, Maddie and Tae are more country than Bro-Country and Metrosexual-Country, and EVERYONE is more country than Sam Hunt.
August 18, 2015 @ 2:36 pm
I’d like to point out something: a song’s rating on the Countrymometer doesn’t always correspond to its substance. For example, Carrie Underwood’s “Something in the Water” rests at 25% on the Countrymometer, but that one carries a lot of meaning. “Little Toy Guns” achieved a mere 5% on the Countrymometer, but it is a far better song than any Bro-Country trash. It is also ironically more country than any of Florida Georgis Line’s “Girl, Truck, Beer, This Is Kuntry” monstrosities.
August 18, 2015 @ 7:30 pm
We need to devise an algorithm for which we can input lyrics, melody, vocals, and instrumentals as variables, and receive the “countriness” of the song as the output.
By the way, how would you rate the countriness of Luke Bryan’s “We Rode In Trucks”?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eIntnHarCg
August 18, 2015 @ 8:38 pm
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
ERROR ERROR ERROR
CANNOT COMPUTE
(BOOOOOOOOOOM!)
My Countrymometer was not meant to handle such a paradox. It’s only a prototype. It couldn’t comprehend Luke Bryan not sucking. I’ll make modifications to compensate for such anomalies. Meanwhile, I will rate this song myself:
1. Rational lyrics? +20%
2. Country instrumentation? +10%
3. Country vocals? +10% Note: this is not the Countrymometer, so I may be biased.
4. Country themes without sounding like Bro-Country? +20%
5. No “Whoahs,” EDM, or rapping? +20%
Grade: 80%
About as country as Wagon Wheel. I could’ve come up with more categories and a more thorough grading scale, but I have to go carry out my next evil scheme. Doom bids you farewell.
August 19, 2015 @ 7:41 pm
Like a Wrecking Ball is a great song bud, figure it out. Eric Church is one of the good guys out there. At least he’s not a pussy and only sings about girls cough Luke Bryan cough
August 19, 2015 @ 8:44 pm
I said a song’s amount of countryness doesn’t correspond to its goodness. “Like a Wrecking Ball” is an okay song, but it isn’t very country. His voice is heavily altered by autotune, so much that it sounds almost EDM. Honestly, before I heard it, a thought it would be a bad country version of the Miley Cyrus song… But like I said, it’s not that bad, just not very country. Pay closer attention to Doom!
August 18, 2015 @ 2:39 pm
In other words, Young and Rucker (to name just two) are chasing the almighty dollar, fuck actual creativity or self respect.
Nothing wrong with money at all but be honest about it.
August 18, 2015 @ 2:48 pm
Why does country music have to “evolve” to something else? Why cant it just “evolve” in its own right? Just change in styles and such. It doesnt HAVE to sound like pop or rock or anything. There has been several different STYLES of country music since the 50s yet it STAYED country in its roots. Mo Pitney is a great example,, a 23 year old that while has traditional country as the base of his songs, its still fresh and new. And yes, Darius IS correct,, MORE and more people are wanting Classic Country as more and more stations are turning toward the format. Reason, MOST of the current crop are putting out songs that wont be remembered even 6 months from now. Stop and name ANY song in the last 5+ years that will be thought of as “classic” 20+ years from now??? Really not one right off,, What made a classic song? A well written song matched with the right voice!!!
August 18, 2015 @ 3:55 pm
How about “House That Built Me”? That was released a bit more than 5 years ago, though.
August 19, 2015 @ 8:29 am
Bingo! This is one of the reasons I keep saying that the apologists for country radio don’t really know what the words “evolve” and “evolution” mean.
They also need to be aware that evolution is a testing process; some evolutionary changes fail and are thus weeded out of the species. If the fans of real country music reject their attempts to turn country into a cheesy version of some other form of music, the “evolutionists” should just accept it rather than getting on their high horses and talking down to us the way they’ve been doing.
August 18, 2015 @ 3:01 pm
Just back from Sturgill Simpson gig in Edinburgh.You can tell he doesn’t find country music boring.He and the band cut loose at every opportunity.If other artists find Country music boring fuck them we have many acts that are proper musicians and know how to keep it real and interesting.
August 18, 2015 @ 3:17 pm
I think when an artist plays from the heart and for the love of the music then it evolves naturally over time. However, these clowns mean boredom and evolution in the sense of lets sound like all the popular shit on the radio so our fake asses can make mucho dinero…
August 18, 2015 @ 3:21 pm
I remember picking up a Rolling Stone magazine at the dentist’s office a couple of years ago and reading through their Best of 2013 articles. Peppered throughout the magazine were blurbs with top-selling artists discussing their favorite new albums of the year. Keith Urban’s was “Cupid Deluxe” by indie band Blood Orange. On the one hand, I was impressed to see that a mainstream country singer had decent taste in music. On the other hand, I thought if guys like him don’t even listen to their own genre, why should anyone else?
August 18, 2015 @ 3:57 pm
So if classic country fans want every song to “sound the same”, it’s wrong and ignorant… But if every mainstream song sounds the same, that’s ok, because it’s evolution? Makes sense.
August 23, 2015 @ 3:50 pm
We don’t want everything to sound the same, we just want music that has substance. Willie, Merle, and George never sounded like Hank, but their music stayed true to country roots and had substance. Country music can evolve, just not into a whole different genre.
August 23, 2015 @ 5:19 pm
I know that, I was making note of the hypocrisy in these mainstream artists saying we want all music to sound the same, yet they make music that all sounds the same.
August 18, 2015 @ 4:36 pm
I could not care less what any of these tools think about my country music.
August 18, 2015 @ 4:42 pm
I guess these dipshits have never heard the saying “Don’t SHIT where you eat”.If it wasn’t for “country”radio’s willingness to play everything except you know actual country music no one would even know who they are.The current crap wouldn’t even exist in the pop world .So if the format is so repressive ,then by all means LEAVE!!
Maybe it would make room for some traditional artists & I know it would work wonders for my blood pressure .
August 18, 2015 @ 10:00 pm
” I guess these dipshits have never heard the saying “Don”™t SHIT where you eat”.If it wasn”™t for “country”radio”™s willingness to play everything except you know actual country music no one would even know who they are.The current crap wouldn”™t even exist in the pop world .So if the format is so repressive ,then by all means LEAVE!!
Maybe it would make room for some traditional artists & I know it would work wonders for my blood pressure .”
Amen , Joco .
August 18, 2015 @ 4:44 pm
Then how come I’m having fun with Wade and Randy’s “Hold My Beer” album? I find it very insulting that cuntry artists on the radio think that people like me at 26 years old want our Country Music to be stupid. I got three words to say to those people: FUCK THAT SHIT!!!
August 18, 2015 @ 6:02 pm
I hear ya EO. I’m driving a few hundred miles tomorrow to see Randy and Wade’s show in little rock tomorrow night. So pumped. I’m sure a lot of the mainstream music fans would think how boring that would be. But, bet my ass ain’t bored tomorrow night.
August 18, 2015 @ 4:44 pm
I have long believed that a lot of these artists don’t really like country music; if they did, they would play and record it. I mean, does anyone really buy the idea that folks like Taylor Swift or The Band Perry really ever listened to or enjoyed real country? Nashville was just an easy path to getting noticed, and they took it.
Even some who I believe genuinely have some respect for the genre, like Brad Paisley, quickly shift away from the structure and foundation of country music as soon as they get famous.
I remember hearing Brad and Carrie sing a brief snippet of “Once a Day” on an awards show a few years back. They sounded awesome. It was proof to me that a lot of these artists could be creating excellent, modern country music … but they would rather play rock star or rapper.
And if Nashville record labels and country radio were run by people who actually loved country music, these poseurs would be heading to LA to record and country music would be safe. But instead, Nashville opens its arms wide.
The whole situation is sad.
August 18, 2015 @ 10:05 pm
“I have long believed that a lot of these artists don”™t really like country music; if they did, they would play and record it. I mean, does anyone really buy the idea that folks like Taylor Swift or The Band Perry really ever listened to or enjoyed real country? Nashville was just an easy path to getting noticed, and they took it.
And Amen JW. Its apparent that most of the contemporary acts have no desire to play REAL country music or they’d DO it once they’d made enough money for the labels and themselves . How the hell do you claim to love country but not play it …and yet consider yourself a ‘ country’ artist ? Either you AREN’T a fan of real country music or you ARE a fan and just don’t care about its fate .
August 18, 2015 @ 5:18 pm
A lot of people listening to Country Radio and buying Country Albums today don’t really like country music either. I see it all the time on twitter and such “OMG Y’all, I hate country music but I LOOOVE (insert lame Modern Country artist name here)”.
Trigger wrote the piece about the “Gatekeepers” recently, but the fact is that in today’s music, with youtube, spotify, etc…all available to EVERYONE, there are none. It’s a no-brainer that greed would get in the way of taste…it always has. Money. That’s what business is about. As much as we want to hem and haw about protecting the integrity of music, that’s not what built this industry. What built this industry was selling records and selling tickets to live shows. What did that? People being moved by music in new and interesting ways.
Sadly, that doesn’t mean lyrical content. Florida Georgia Line has some seriously awesome music underneath it. That’s what gets people moving, and that’s what they buy.
The state of Country Music today? It sucks. But then again, it would kinda HAVE to in order for this site to exist.
August 18, 2015 @ 8:53 pm
Awesome music behind FGL? You must be a huge Nickelback fan
August 18, 2015 @ 9:59 pm
yes, yes we all know they have the same producer…yadda yadda … get off the high horse for a minute and admit that there’s some good music underlying the horseshit they’re trying to pass off as Country. Hell, the Dobro in “Sun Daze”, an otherwise DEPLORABLE bunch of dreck, is just plain nasty.
August 19, 2015 @ 7:29 am
Awesome gets overused, but it might apply here. The musicianship of the Nashville ‘machine’ should never be questioned. Most of the best players in the world play on their sessions. If anything ever made you want to actually slap yo momma, it might be hearing those guys play in person and understanding how much better they are at what they do than you are at the best thing you do.
August 19, 2015 @ 8:54 am
I had no idea they had the same producer..but FGLs white boy music is of the same blandness that killed rock n roll
August 19, 2015 @ 8:55 am
Charlie…best in the world??? Take it you’ve never been to New Orleans or Europe for that matter
August 19, 2015 @ 8:00 am
“OMG Y”™all, I hate country music but I LOOOVE (insert lame Modern Country artist name here)”.
Well, of course you’ve been hearing that. 😀 That’s what mainstream “country” is: country music for people who don’t like country music. I know I’ve probably been saying that at least since Shania Twain’s The Woman In Me came out.
August 19, 2015 @ 9:19 pm
Guys like Jason Isbell and the Earles are also country music for people who don’t like country music.
That’s what the entire Americana genre is.
August 19, 2015 @ 10:28 pm
I’m not sure I agree with that statement. Americana is also one of the bastions for true country these days.
August 20, 2015 @ 12:35 pm
I should have clarified that I mean current country music.
That obviously includes people who like real country, haha.
August 18, 2015 @ 5:55 pm
Yeah, I mean, just look at Keith Urban’s John song. It’s a country song about being Baptized by rock n roll, and being brought up on John Cougar. That’s pure country right there!
They sing about and name drop other genres more than their own:
FGL/LB: Mixed tapes got a little Hank, little Drake…
Luke: …country rock/ hip hop mixed tape. A little Conway a little T-Pain…
FGL: Rock a little bit of hip hop, and Haggard, and Jagger.
Lady A: Whatever shit they spew about Mackelmore.
How can this be country when the artists are not only more strongly influenced by foreign genres than their own, but sing songs about listening to hip hop? Some of them even admit their favorite artists are hip hop or something. They’re supposed to be country singers, yet they like other genres more. There’s nothing wrong with being a fan of multiple genres, but if you’re going to be a singer, it should be in your favorite genre. Favoring other genres over your own while making millions off of album sales is disrespectful to the genre, but most of these current stars do that. It’s sick.
August 19, 2015 @ 8:12 am
That whole multi-genre mixtape thing is probably the most overused trope in mainstream country music anymore. And it’s just so staggeringly inauthentic on top of that. I’ve said it before and will say it again: If you really believe FGL listens to Merle Haggard and NWA and the Rolling Stones back-to-back, then I have a bridge to sell you. Or perhaps some ocean front property in Arizona. I bet you dollars to doughnuts neither one of those douchepukes even knows of the existence of “Country Honk.”
August 19, 2015 @ 9:16 pm
Dead Flowers is a great fucking country song.
And the average pre-In Da Club hip hop song has a hell of a lot more truth in it than any given country song on the radio these days.
I wish the current crop was influenced by hip hop, rather than Nickelback and Poison.
August 18, 2015 @ 6:00 pm
FUCK the Eli Young Band
August 18, 2015 @ 6:03 pm
So I’m standing, right now, in the beer line. Old Crow Medicine Show just played. Willie Nelson up next. Place is packed. It’s not dead yet!
August 18, 2015 @ 6:07 pm
I always hate these kind of articles because somebody is going to say how popular eli young band was in Texas. I remember them as being second tier at best and always sucking badly.
August 18, 2015 @ 6:55 pm
So Darius didn’t read or learn anything from your June 25th article? I don’t know anyone who only listens to classic country or thinks country isn’t allowed to evolve. We just don’t buy the bad songs or pop equals country bullshit sales pitch and don’t want country to lose its unique identity so it sounds nothing like country. Country sounds so good it’s in Hootie’s pop rock music that sold millions so why would anyone want to lose that?
“Oh, I think the thing with Hootie is we were ”¦ if you really listen to our albums, we had such a country flair to it. We used mandolin all the time and we were listening to Doc Watson and [progressive bluegrass band] Newgrass Revival and all of that stuff. You saw that in our music.”
“There”™s some stuff out there that you hear and you really have to go, ”˜There”™s nothing country about that.”
True.
“But you know, it gets played on the radio and country fans are buying it, so there must be something country about it.”
If there’s nothing country about it they are pop fans buying pop posing as country.
There’s nothing more bland and boring than the generic, emotionless, phoned in the writing and performance pop and bro-country that copied the last 100 boring, generic pop and bro-country songs. Listening to too much of anything can get boring and the last few years of country radio takes the cake.
October 15, 2015 @ 11:25 am
Chris-me. I only listen to classic country and I don’t want it to evolve, as evolution seems to be currently defined. I’ve tried listening to some newer traditionally-styled country, and even when I can accept the sound of it, I can’t get with the sensibilities of the song lyrics, or something. Life just isn’t what it was when the kernel of country was an acorn which grew into an oak tree. The oak tree has been blasted by lightning and it’s dying, and the new shoots coming up are some other kind of tree, from a different soil. I guess the short-lived “neo-traditional” movement was the last gasp of people who had even a remote connection to the life and people from whose lifeblood country music was born. Life is too homogenous, politically correct, something, now, I really can’t pinpoint why it’ll never be the same, but it won’t. I mean, even the people who sang and produced the “countrypolitan” sound grew up picking cotton, in homes without electricity or phones, etc. They didn’t have access to mass media, and still had their regional distinctions-the distinctions which made a rural music distinctive-they’re gone. Country music knew it wasn’t cool or hip, and it wasn’t supposed to be, it was for a people who were far from the centers of cool and hip, and had no choice but to take pride in who they were, their differences. That’ll never be the case again. So fuddy-duddy me will hang onto the classic country until me and mine are all gone from this earth. Thank God for one modern innovation-the technology that enables me to have access to more of the old music than I ever did in all my life. Maybe, just maybe, not likely but maybe, I can instill in some of my younger relatives a real love for my music and a desire to keep it alive some way. I have small hope-one young nephew has learned to love Tammy and George through the sheer repetitiveness of hearing them at my home-this is a boy who grew up with and is a child of rap. I just don’t know if he’s just humoring me or really likes them, he’s a good kid 🙂
August 18, 2015 @ 7:22 pm
There is a huge disconnect between country radio/charts and country music right now. There is a very healthy evolution that is happening in country music with many younger artists that don’t exist. On the other hand country radio is at its lowest point ever, having nothing whatsoever to do with country music.
I read some radio industry stuff, and their main focus is on how to engage the audience to keep listeners, which is great. But they are missing the bigger picture in that if they played better music, they wouldn’t be so worried about retaining listeners. Radio claims that it reaches 13% more people than Pandora and 17% more people than Spotify. While I don’t think those stats are untrue, I would contend that a higher percentage of radio listeners are passive. Background noise at work, in the store, short trips in the car, etc. Sure, the reach is better, but is the impact as great?
August 19, 2015 @ 7:44 pm
I listened to country radio for hours at a time until I perceived the material as sharply dropping in quality a few years ago (Yeah, there were already problems, but FGL didn’t exist and the brotard shit was barely starting to appear, let alone whatever the hell this EDM is).
Now, I’ll occasionally listen to one of the Clear Channel whatsits for a few minutes to laugh at whatever dreck was on, then go back to listening to Rush, Hannity, or Hank 3, with 16 Horsepower and Highlonesome mixed in. I feel that the mainstream content makes a mockery of a culture I was at least partially raised in, and sure as hell don’t give it a dime of my money.
(Did I mention that I’m only nineteen? Nobody I know recognized Hank 3 as country, let alone anything else I played, and figured it was white supremacist music– I only wish I were joking. Just a few of the idiots I had to deal with before I got out of there.)
Your comment has it right. Even in 2009, 2010, there was a good proportion of lyrically good content on the radio. Mixed in with the occasional proto-brotard party song or some Lady Antebellum shit, but generally good content with a bit of depth.
August 18, 2015 @ 7:22 pm
I think the problem is that radio country artists have a very shallow knowledge of country music. It’s like some A&R guy handed a model/singer a Garth Brooks album & said lets do this but more modern. So they have a very limited pool of inspiration to pull from. Of course they are bored. They are standing on the shoulders of other pop country artists & not doing their genre homework. This also explains the rise of the Americana genre.
August 18, 2015 @ 10:57 pm
“I think the problem is that radio country artists have a very shallow knowledge of country music. It”™s like some A&R guy handed a model/singer a Garth Brooks album & said lets do this but more modern. So they have a very limited pool of inspiration to pull from. Of course they are bored. They are standing on the shoulders of other pop country artists & not doing their genre homework. This also explains the rise of the Americana genre.”
Right on Wicket
If you are an Artist ( capital A ) you dig into the roots of your art , whether you are a new movie director studying Alfred Hitchcock or a young painting student studying everyone from Rembrandt to Pollack . You learn the craft and build on the tried and true with your passion and creativity while never losing sight of what makes it connect .
Do you think Tony Bennett is bored ? Anything I read or watch with regards to his approach to performing or recording indicates the complete opposite . As he approaches 90 years of age , passion for music oozes out of him . He’s finding something new in his art each time he comes to bat . And WE are the bene(t)factors. He’s been true to his art for a lifetime and counting . As musicians/singers , if we connect with the music passionately , it will ALWAYS show . We don’t know how to ” phone it in ” …boredom is never a factor . If you are Jason Aldean , Luke Bryan singing yet another song that sounds like all the other songs ..same interpretations , same players , arrangements , same demographic …then of course you’ll get bored . If you are IN LOVE with your art , you will always find a way to connect and serve it with new interpretations , creative vigor and PASSION …but you will NEVER turn your back on it . These modern radio guys cannot possibly connect with the trite , fluffy lyrics they are peddling ….not now and they certainly won’t when THEY are approaching 90 .
August 18, 2015 @ 7:57 pm
I DO want Country Music to stop evolving. It sounded fine when it was the Louvin Brothers, and Patsy, and it didn’t NEED to change because it was good enough the way it was. That’s why Bluegrass doesn’t evolve. Songs about trains? check, five piece band EXACTLY like Bill Monroe had? check. Banjo players imitating Earl? Bluegrass hasn’t evolved hardly at all, and that’s because it was good enough the way it was. AS WAS COUNTRY.
August 18, 2015 @ 8:17 pm
Bluegrass didn’t evolve? John Hartford, The Punch Brothers, and Bela Fleck would disagree.
August 18, 2015 @ 8:19 pm
As far as I know, most bluegrass tracks still use the same set of instruments, more or less, as they always have.
August 18, 2015 @ 10:35 pm
Yes, and it has still been able to evolve. This is a lesson country could learn.
August 19, 2015 @ 6:29 am
I don’t think Fleck OR Hartford are truly Bluegrass artists.
August 19, 2015 @ 8:31 am
I’m not getting into that argument. My point is, you can evolve without having to trade in organic instruments.
August 18, 2015 @ 9:36 pm
Train songs aren’t very relevant today.
August 19, 2015 @ 6:31 am
I still ride trains… Don’t go a whole lot of places anymore since the closest passenger trains that go across state lines are a few hours away… Freighters come within an hour of my house. Short distance passenger trains stop around here, just took a round trip within the past week.
August 19, 2015 @ 7:31 am
People still get run’d over by damned old trains all the time.
August 19, 2015 @ 7:47 am
Really they do? Any way we can get the bro-country artists to sign up for that?
August 19, 2015 @ 8:09 am
Yes. Rural areas are disappearing, most train travel is obsolete, there aren’t too many smoky old barrooms anymore, very few people grow up on a farm, its cheaper to buy whiskey than make it, its too expensive have a few beers and cruise around a dirt road, etc. A lot of the classic themes of country music are gone or on life support….
August 19, 2015 @ 8:55 am
No shortage of heartbreak though.
August 19, 2015 @ 8:07 pm
There’s still a few of us left. I didn’t grow up on much of a farm, there were some vegetables and chickens and that was it. I’ve played dark and dreary bars before, there’s at least one in every small town. Train travel as an excursion or a tourist attraction is big, and freight trains still move massive amounts of products, BUT passenger trains as a societal symbol are pretty well dried up. Honestly I don’t even like Amtrak now that they use p42 locomotive over the f-40.
August 20, 2015 @ 9:15 am
Not since “Save Me, San Francisco,” anyway.
August 18, 2015 @ 9:12 pm
This might piss off a few people, but don’t underestimate the effect line dancing has had on country music!
When it first hit the country bars, the traditional dancers would two step to traditional music around the perimeter of the dance floor, with line dancers in the center. The line dancing craze grew quickly, and most couples dancers eventually tired of being crowded off the floor and quit coming out. So, the bars were left primary with line dancers as their main source of income.
Couple that with dance instructors obsessed with winning European dance contests, and the music in the clubs starting becoming more pop and electronic. Many of the clubs eliminated bands and went with DJ’s, who introduced the “change of pace”. For 15 minutes an hour, country was replaced with hip hop and remixes of rock songs, with the bass and the drums dominant.
20+ years later, the influence has contributed to country songs having the drums and bass in front of the mix, and the same, repetitive beat on many songs. And a second and third generation of folks who sometimes will admit they don’t pay as much attention to the lyrics as they do to the beat: essentially, they “listen with their feet”!
If you have doubts about this, research “Achy Breaky Heart”! See how many units of that song were sold. You’ll see that a line dance was created to drive the song in country bars, , which lead to it becoming a monster radio hit. And a copycat industry hungry for sales took notice!
It’s not the sole reason for the state of today’s country, but it contributed greatly.
August 18, 2015 @ 10:17 pm
Ironically , and sadly as I’ve stated here more than once , modern county music is pretty much undance-able ( unless you are Taylor Swift dancing BY HERSELF front row at an awards show . BTW I’m not sure what that’s all about but its one of the more perversely endearing things about TS for me. I love that she just HAS to MOVE – standing or seated . I’m inclined to believe that its an escape in the truest sense for her . I could be wrong and its just another way of getting attention but I think I’ll believe the former ) .
No one is even recording anything line-danceable anymore …its all half-time southern rock. Wiggling by yourself is about all you can do with it . Forget dancing a two step or a waltz with your partner . We cannot play any new country ( thank God ) in dance clubs where we work . People sit on their hands…no matter their age . We play Boot Scootin Boogie , anything by AJ , Merle , George Strait and we have a full dance floor .
October 15, 2015 @ 11:36 am
Albert-not to mention the diminshment of country swing dancing!
My stars I’m taking it all too seriously I’m sure, but really, it brings tears to my eyes to know there’s slim to no chance of ever hearing a voice as distinctive as Tammy Wynette’s ever again! You can’t mistake her, or Loretta’s, or Jean Shepard’s, not from the very second they open their mouths.
August 18, 2015 @ 10:04 pm
Country music is in a sad state of mind. We need to take the country back because it’s in hibernation right now with pop/rap/rock(EDM) crap in it. I don’t volunteer listen to the radio in my room anymore and even my mom don’t play in her car anymore since it is so bad right now.
August 19, 2015 @ 8:31 am
I love Darius telling us that pop music has changed drastically. That’s true. Pop radio plays the popular music of the time, the flavor of the month. So when Hootie went out of style they quit playing him on pop radio. Just because you’re not popular enough to be on pop radio doesn’t mean you should invade a true genre. Blues, jazz, bluegrass, rock and country are genres that have common threads running through they’re particular music. How much airplay would a bluegrass song played with bluegrass instruments get on a blues radio station? Or better yet on a rap station?
The ONLY reason they invaded country radio is during the Garth era they were outselling pop big time. Advertisers were buying up time on country radio and not on pop radio. I actually applaud Taylor Swift for taking her music to pop radio where it belongs. Of course the majority of these so-called country act’s pop music isn’t good enough to compete, but McDonalds is always hiring.
Advertisers hold all of the cards here. The new Texas movement started when a 100,000+ watt radio station snuck under the radar and started playing their local country acts and the advertisers went with them. Soon the so-called contemporary country radio stations had to jump on board or go under. If the advertisers start telling these country stations to play country music or they’re taking their dollars to the local pop stations guess what’s going to happen? These record execs and D.J.’s think they make the decisions about what is played, well they don’t. Money talks. If we stop supporting the local businesses that advertise on these pop country stations and make no bones about it, we WILL get our genre back.
August 19, 2015 @ 6:30 pm
” Money talks. If we stop supporting the local businesses that advertise on these pop country stations and make no bones about it, we WILL get our genre back. ”
See Don ….this makes so much sense to me. WE , as consumers , have more control than we realize. .
If we held off on buying a new house until the prices made sense, the prices would come down in a hurry . The Realtors would have no choice but to cater to the lack of demand . But instead , we insist on trying to keep up with the market allowing ourselves to be scared into believing we’ll be left behind if we don’t mortgage to the hilt NOW .
If there hadn’t been an option called ” car leasing” , most people would drive a vehicle for the 15 years or more that its meant to last -or they’d stop buying a brand that didn’t last . You would quickly see better built vehicles across the board ( -most Japanese vehicles , of course , are known for quality and incredible backing ).
Whenever I’m offered an extended warranty on a product , my reply is ABSOLUTELY NOT. If I have ANY issues with this product it will be the LAST product by this company I will ever buy and my family and friends will know about it . A well – made product should last more than 1 year and the customer shouldn’t be charged to ensure it does . That is just nonsense.
We have far more say than we think …. IF we all understand that and act accordingly . If people phoned , e-mailed or snail-mailed a local ‘ network ‘ radio station on a regular basis…even once a week , and voiced complaints about the shitty playlist , they’d get the message in a hurry . I have done that with our local country station for quite some time . My comments are always diplomatic with the end goal of better music being the focus .I always get a reply . I ‘m always asked how the station could improve . If we did that in significant numbers they’d have no choice but to listen Unfortunately , for a lot of people , music is just wallpaper …its in the background and they don’t care enough about the quality or substance to speak up . Yes , its easy to say ” Maybe they actually like the music on the radio ” but MAYBE they don’t know or care about options and just accept what the radio is spewing at them . Maybe even MORE people would tune in if the music improved . We need to understand that we DO have a say , as you point out.
August 19, 2015 @ 3:07 pm
To be honest, 2010s music don’t seem to care about 2010s country like The Band Perry. 2010s music only appeal country music-less 2010s music like Taylor Swift. 2010s is a bad decade for country. Even modern country hits like Kelsea Ballerini did not help. 2010s country music like Florida Georgia Line did not survive the 2010s music curse. When I hear Taylor Swift on country radio, I hear Mean and I think Mean should be pop. All Taylor Swift’s country songs like Red are NOT country, they’re pop and yet pop radio only plays Taylor Swift’s most popular songs like Bad Blood. Why can’t Taylor Swift’s country songs like Picture be pop songs? They’re suppose to be pop songs. But no, pop radio only play repeats, not country Taylor Swift tunes like Red. All All Taylor Swift’s country songs like Ours should be pop songs, not country songs. Internet got it right. Why GP do the same thing? Pop music needs to play country songs by Taylor Swift like The Best Day. Plain and simple. Taylor Swift is a pop artist now and all her country songs are suppose to be pop because she is pop.
August 19, 2015 @ 8:46 pm
Well-said as always, Trigger.
August 19, 2015 @ 9:08 pm
Eh…I actually think Sturgill would say the exact same thing that Mike Ely did if someone asked him why he abandoned the classic honky tonk sound of High Top Mountain.
Rucker’s ridiculous, though.
August 19, 2015 @ 10:29 pm
Trigger, I would think some of these groups/artists that have made a name for themselves would leave their current situation and pay for, record, produce, release and promote their own music. The way they want to. From top to bottom. I am, like you and everyone who posts here, tired of listening to artists who try and convince us that “I’ve really grown as a songwriter with this album” and “I feel like I’ve made a complete album” and “Screw those people who have a problem with the ‘evolution’ of country”. This isn’t an “evolution’ of country music. It’s a mutation. Which isn’t always a positive thing.
October 15, 2015 @ 11:39 am
I don’t even see it as a mutation. I see it as people taking an axe to the pretty-much already dead country music oak tree and trying to convince me that the huge weeds all around are also an oak.
August 31, 2015 @ 12:41 pm
Todays ”STARS”
Headed for a Fair Ground Tour soon… but not soon enough
January 14, 2017 @ 9:46 am
Listen to Kenny Chesney sing songs about the beach and paradise on an island. Now listen to the Carter Family (the first family of Country Music) even they have a small handful of songs that mention the ocean, the beach. The Carter Family also sings songs about death, now listen to Tim McGraw, Live like You are Dying. The same themes are there. Carrie Underwood, Jesus take the Wheel, now back to the Carters. They too have songs of a gospel/spiritual nature. Visit the Birth place of Country Music museum in Bristol, Tennessee and learn the history of Country Music. They had the same themes. The music of the movie O Brother Where Art Thou is very reminiscent of the themes of early Country Music. The same themes are there. And yes, I forget the name of the song, but Johnny Cash recorded one song that mentioned pickup trucks in his later career before he died. Same themes among old Country Music artist just a slight difference in sound.
October 18, 2018 @ 7:22 pm
Every song now is pretty much the same theme/message. “Sit around a bonfire, get drunk, have a one night stand with some slut in cut-off shorts and a bikini top dancing in clay”. It’s all the same crap. Whatever happened to the story tellers and love songs? The songs about being faithful to your wife or husband? The songs that touched the hearts and souls of not only southerners, but all of America. George Jones said it best. “Who’s gonna fill their shoes”. And besides, if I want to listen to hip hop or pop, I’ll turn the station. Please keep it out of country music!!!
April 9, 2019 @ 5:13 pm
Country Music hasn’t existed since the 80s…with a few later releases by already established artists from before that time…I’m 47 and grew up listening to Merle..George…Hank Sr..Tammy Loretta…These young glamour girls and boys trying to pass off as Country from the 90s on would be unable to live and make their start like the legends above,,,Its also a damned shame that the grandkids…great-grandkids of some of em try to sell their famous name to make $ and get women…HW3 and all those tats comes to mind…What would Hank Sr. think of the standard today?…I can imagine he would be pissed off…
May 18, 2019 @ 9:42 am
Yeah…where is the real good country music, the music with good lyrics and good goitarsolos, steel guitars etc. Are all entertainers of that kind dead and gone…it must be new ones taking over!!???