The war of words concerning the state of country music continues, with Jason Aldean being the latest to enter the fray. Responding to comments by Zac Brown in a recent radio interview, Jason Aldean took to his Instagram account to call out Zac Brown. “To those people runnin their mouths, trust me when i tell u that nobody gives a shit what u think.”
The parade of country artists coming out to criticize the direction of country music continues, with Gary Allan now coming out in an interview with Larry King, decrying country music’s move towards pop, and specifically Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood. “I would say they’re pop artists making a living in the country genre. I also feel like we lost our genre.”
Ahead of his performance at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Baltimore, Alan Jackson had some discouraging words about the current state of country music in an interview with the Baltimore Sun. Jackson’s last album, 2012’s Thirty Miles West sold moderately well, but did not produce the type of radio hits Jackson enjoyed earlier in his career.
When looking at the historical timeline of country music, many times it is big events that set the wheels of change in motion, for the good and the bad. Whether it is intrusion of pop or rap into country, or the ill-treatment of country music greats, here are some of the most embarrassing moments in country music history.
2012 was a high profile year for Halls of Fame. From the kilted screecher Axl Rose pulling like a Sex Pistol and telling the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to kiss off, to the Baseball Hall of Fame not inducting a single member as the steroid era falls like a shadow on the eligibility timeline. The Country Music Hall of Fame has kept its legitimacy and honor over the years by being an exclusive get…
Anti-Nashville, anti-Music Row, and anti-pop country songs have a long and proud tradition in country music that stretches almost all the way back to the beginning of the genre. As long as there’s been country music, there’s been folks arguing about how to define it, what it should sound like, and speaking out when they think it’s going in the wrong direction.
When Billboard announced new rules on how the songs on their “Hot 100” country chart would be tabulated, it caused a tizzy amongst folks who pay attention to these sorts of things. But the average Joe fans out there may have a little trouble understanding why the issue is something they should care about, and how it could negatively effect the music they enjoy.
For years, the principals of the Hank Williams estate (Hank Jr. and Jett) were warring back and forth, and this kept the treasure trove of Hank Williams’ legacy recordings relegated to bootlegs and listening parties for the select few with access to the Acuff/Rose archive. But the last couple of years have seen a dizzying dump of previously-unheard material from country’s first superstar.
If 90% of the stuff they play on country radio these days is crap, then Alan represents the 10%. He’s the one respite when the Mrs. or kiddos flip over to 98.1 you don’t want to reach for a 9mm and point it at either your audio interface or your own pie hole. And unlike George Strait, Alan has the skins on the wall of writing a lot of his own material and other memorable achievements for real country fans.
Wow. I’m not exactly sure where this came from, and I don’t care who it came from. The simple fact is that it came, and country music is better off for it. Ahead of Shooter Jennings’ January release of his new album Family Man, he has released the song an accompanying video for the composition “Outlaw You”. Simply put, this is a shot right to the gut of Music Row, and specifically, this crop of “New Outlaws”.
The Rolling Stone has just reported that a long-rumored project pairing Bob Dylan and Jack White together to oversee the recording of an album of Hank Williams songs that were found without music in a briefcase will be released on October 4th. The title is The Lost Notebook of Hank Williams . It is being released on Dylan’s Egyptian Records imprint…
Jimmy Carter (no, not the peanut-farming ex-prez) on 96.9 “The Kat” from North Carolina in his “Wednesday Dirt Alert” segment called the recently-released Academy of Country Music awards nominations “super-political” and asserts that he was specifically told that Carrie Underwood got snubbed for nominations from her label so that fellow label-mate Miranda Lambert would get some much needed press.
When I wrote my review of Hellbound Glory’s new album Old Highs and New Lows I forgot to mention the other great players on the album besides the frontman Leroy Virgil, especially the drummer “Chico,” whose the other member of the band that has been there since the beginning. But as their recent album gets […]
We love to paint pop country with a broad brush around here, which may not always be fair. Think about it: sure we might consider two artists like Taylor Swift and Brad Paisley pop country, but the degree of how much pop compared to country they are, or even their overall talent level can be […]
Well, if you liked Part 1 of ‘Down with the CMA’, this part is gonna blow your doors off. In the last part we learned from Waylon Jennings about the backroom deals that go on when the CMA decides who to give awards to. Waylon also talked about how he and Ricky van Shelton were […]
This blog may not be for everybody, because it’s gonna be a very long and very involved one. But for a while people have been asking for info and my comments on the subject. It’s taken a while for me to put it out because I want to get what facts there are straight, and […]
So a couple of times when I’ve posted a roasting of a some pop country blowhard, I’ll get someone to send me a message similar to this: Hey Dumbass, (or whatever) So you talk shit about pop country, but you admit you never listen to it. So how would you know if it sucks or […]