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Wow, this is harsh - Country Music

121,312 Views | 695 Replies | Last: 8 yr ago by AggieSouth06
rbtexan
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Absolutely agree, I've said for years that radio was the real culprit here. Until large numbers of country music fans effectively say "hell no, we won't settle for that", it's not going to change. I would liken it to McDonalds. Their food was basically the same for decades, until people finally started realizing how unhealthy it is, and that company is struggling because of it. Until the public demands that the bar be raised, it will stay pretty much status quo.

The thing that worries me is, the attrition of professional songwriters has hit critical mass, and I worry that when it finally does change, there won't be any of us who are actually capable of digging deep left (85% of the professional writers in the US have quit the business in the past decade and a half). It's a very sad way to see my chosen profession heading.
Professor Frick
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I may be off here, but it seems to me that there are a couple of overarching factors at play here:

teenage-to-college-aged girls like 2 things:
Partying, and BUYING music about partying.

Meanwhile, teenage-to-college-aged boys like just one thing:
Teenage-to-college-aged girls.

Macarthur
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Agree.

To me, it all goes back to substance and/or some level of 'genuine'.

My music tastes vary from country to rock to rap (a little), and more than anything, what attracts me to music is that it has a genuine feel and it has something unique. It doesn't sound like anything else. I know it's going to sound pretentious of me, but I guess most consumers of music don't really want to be challenged and find comfort in listenting to things that are familiar.

The folks that have caught my attention the last decade or so:
Sturgill
Stapleton
My Morning Jacket
Kings of Leon
Leon Bridges
Muse

There's probably a couple others I'm forgetting right now, but the thing that draws me to these is that there is a real authenticity and uniqueness to their music. I mean, who sounds like Muse or Sturgill or MMJ? And Leon Bridges, while retro to some extent, is bringing back real R&B, IMO.
rbtexan
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quote:
I may be off here, but it seems to me that there are a couple of overarching factors at play here:

teenage-to-college-aged girls like 2 things:
Partying, and BUYING music about partying.

Meanwhile, teenage-to-college-aged boys like just one thing:
Teenage-to-college-aged girls.


Entirely accurate, and that's the exact demographic they are marketing to.

I was on a panel just last week and a record label guy tried to make the argument that those are the only people who are buying music, and that's why that's the only type of acts they are interested in signing. My counter argument that was the reason other demographics weren't buying music was because virtually nothing was being released that they have any interest in whatsoever. I asked him how many of his target demographic was buying Chris Stapleton and he conceded that it wasn't very many - and yet Stapleton's CD has gone platinum.

Point being that if all you sell is Big Macs, it gets pretty easy to convince yourself that the public doesn't want anything else - when the truth is that they're just hungry and even a Big Mac is better than nothing. They only buy the crap they're being served because there aren't better options that they can easily find.
FincAg
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Is that to say Cumulus has ruined music in general? Having a monopoly of the airwaves means a homogenous product blanketing the nation. Drive a major highway between cities and it's the same music every 40 miles just different call letters but all the same playlists.
rbtexan
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Pretty much. When radio was deregulated in the 90s it was the beginning of the end. Now you've got a guy somewhere like Orlando, FL programming music for Tempe, AZ. The days of local disc jockeys being able to play whatever they wanted (and break new songs and artists) are over. Welcome to corporate radio.
Definitely Not A Cop
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Band of Heathens (Jason isbel early band)
Steel drivers
Jompson Brothers (both Chris Stapleton early bands)
Turnpike troubadours
Sturgill
Ryan Bingham
Parker McCollum
Charlie Robison.

All those are my go to country/blue grassy bands right now.

If you like red dirt country like Cross Canadian Ragweed I can name some of my favorites of those guys too.
Elmo Lincoln
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quote:
Band of Heathens (Jason isbel early band)
Steel drivers
Jompson Brothers (both Chris Stapleton early bands)
Turnpike troubadours
Sturgill
Ryan Bingham
Parker McCollum
Charlie Robison.

All those are my go to country/blue grassy bands right now.

If you like red dirt country like Cross Canadian Ragweed I can name some of my favorites of those guys too.


I'm a fan of big Jason Isbell and Band of Heathens, but those two have nothing to do with each other. You may be thinking of Drive By Truckers (who I absolutely love). Isbell was with them for years. Some of their best years too.
Definitely Not A Cop
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Yeah you are right. I'm going senile.
Citizen Reign
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quote:
The folks that have caught my attention the last decade or so:
Sturgill
Stapleton
My Morning Jacket
Kings of Leon
Leon Bridges
Muse

There's probably a couple others I'm forgetting right now, but the thing that draws me to these is that there is a real authenticity and uniqueness to their music. I mean, who sounds like Muse or Sturgill or MMJ? And Leon Bridges, while retro to some extent, is bringing back real R&B, IMO.

Loved KOL's first two or three albums. Their more recent stuff is over produced and completely void of the
raw garage, Southern Rock, Blues, punkish sound that fit so perfectly with Caleb's vocals. Same **** happened with DMB, it just happened much faster with Dave's band.

If it happens with Sturgill, may last remaining hope for the industry will be gone.
Citizen Reign
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quote:
quote:
quote:
"Got on my smell good.
Got a bottle of feel good.
Shined up my wheels good.
You're looking real good."




They rhyme real good
That's the kind of crap that drives me crazy.
Yep,

They rhyme so well, the words even look the same.

Marshall Mathers could help them out with their vocabulary.
rbtexan
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An example of how different it is now vs. when I moved here.

I remember on several occasions bringing a song idea, or even a song I had finished, to my first publisher (a veteran songwriter named Frank Dycus - wrote Unwound, Marina Del Ray, I'm Gonna Get A Life and a lot of others). I ran my idea or my song by him, and he said something like "oh yeah, that's been written...it was the B side of a George Jones single in 1963" or something similar. I always wondered how the hell I was supposed to know the B sides of ever song that Jones et al had recorded, but the point was that in his mind the song and/or idea weren't original.

Fast forward to now, where not only does everything sound the same, it has virtually the same lyrics...insert "dirt road" here, cut and paste "daisy dukes" there, and ta da! you have a song. Same titles written over and over. Same cliches used over and over. It's taken formulaic writing to an entirely new level, and I hate it.
Professor Frick
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Citizen Reign
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quote:
An example of how different it is now vs. when I moved here.

I remember on several occasions bringing a song idea, or even a song I had finished, to my first publisher (a veteran songwriter named Frank Dycus - wrote Unwound, Marina Del Ray, I'm Gonna Get A Life and a lot of others). I ran my idea or my song by him, and he said something like "oh yeah, that's been written...it was the B side of a George Jones single in 1963" or something similar. I always wondered how the hell I was supposed to know the B sides of ever song that Jones et al had recorded, but the point was that in his mind the song and/or idea weren't original.

Fast forward to now, where not only does everything sound the same, it has virtually the same lyrics...insert "dirt road" here, cut and paste "daisy dukes" there, and ta da! you have a song. Same titles written over and over. Same cliches used over and over. It's taken formulaic writing to an entirely new level, and I hate it.
Rap and R&B may be even worse that Country. I have reached the point that I will only listen to talk radio when in my truck. There is literally nothing on the radio worth the effort of searching stations.

My kid has taught herself guitar and piano and loves writing. She is always concerned that she's subconsciously copying other songs. She even sent me the video Frick posted above after here songwriting teacher shared it with the class. At 15, she is already looking for internships at local studios here in Austin. Seems like she is more interested in writing music than becoming a star, which is music to my ears.
FincAg
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That makes me so sad for the future of music.
JCRiley09
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During the time when "outlaw country" was closer to the mainstream and profitable, did that genre ever jump the shark?

For example, when Jason Aldean makes a ton of money, we get spin-offs of his success that saturate the market with the same crap. Did the outlaw country movement ever go too far?
rbtexan
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quote:
During the time when "outlaw country" was closer to the mainstream and profitable, did that genre ever jump the shark?

For example, when Jason Aldean makes a ton of money, we get spin-offs of his success that saturate the market with the same crap. Did the outlaw country movement ever go too far?
It was a different time, and it's almost impossible to draw comparisons.

There has always been a tendency in the music industry to "recreate" rather than "create". If you look back at the early 60s, when the Beatles hit, every label was looking for bands from England, or bands that sounded like they were from England.

Country is no different. When I got to Nashville, Alabama was hot and every label was looking for a band. There were a lot that got signed, but not many that were successful. When Garth hit, labels were all looking for "another Garth Brooks". My recollection of the outlaw era was that there a lot of "outlaw" artists, but only a handful that really did well.

The main difference I see now is that the copycat acts are having a lot more success than the ones in the past did. But the tendency to try to capitalize on the success of others has always been around. It just seems to have more legs now than it ever did before.
Gigem314
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It's just comical at this point. I want to say this brand of country has jumped the shark...but I feel like I'll be proven wrong in another month.
Presley OBannons Sword
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quote:


It's just comical at this point. I want to say this brand of country has jumped the shark...but I feel like I'll be proven wrong in another month.

wow. that's a new low.
Presley OBannons Sword
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that song weirdly reminds me of the opening theme to one tree hill.
FincAg
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Creed would have done it better.
FtBendTxAg
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That's easily one of the worst songs I've ever heard. I wish those dudes would get lost somewhere in North Korea along with Jason Aldean.
Gigem314
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quote:
Creed would have done it better.
Yep.

That video has elements of Creed, GNR (November Rain), and cheesy 80's and early 90's arena ballads.
Presley OBannons Sword
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quote:
Rap and R&B may be even worse that Country.
actually, it seems like mainstream rap, rock, r&b, and country are all converging on the same exact song.
Presley OBannons Sword
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that florida Georgia line song doesn't even make any ****ing sense. so "h.o.l.y." stands for "high on loving you", but in the song he says "you're holy". so what he's saying is "you're high on loving you". is it a song about a narcissistic woman? because it's sure not presented that way.

sorry, it's a slow day at work.
FincAg
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From the same group that brought you "Sun Daze" cute play on Sundays.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/floridageorgialine/sundaze.html

quote:
All I wanna do today is wear my favorite shades and get stoned
Work a little less, play a little more
That's what this day is for
And all I wanna do is lace my J's and lay some Jack in my Coke
Work on my lay back, ain't nothin' wrong with
Gettin' my sun daze on, gettin' my sun daze on, gettin' my sun daze on
Macarthur
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quote:
quote:
Creed would have done it better.
Yep.

That video has elements of Creed, GNR (November Rain), and cheesy 80's and early 90's arena ballads.


I couldn't make it through half of that garbage.

One thing I would say about your above comparisons - at least those groups actually wrote and played music.
JCRiley09
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Y'all just need to be prepared to hear that ****ty song 20 times a day. You know the nascar states love songs like that. I know that's the whole point of this thread, but that is another crappy song that y'all hate, yet still prints money.
Definitely Not A Cop
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quote:


It's just comical at this point. I want to say this brand of country has jumped the shark...but I feel like I'll be proven wrong in another month.






Which one is the real country song?
watty
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Regarding the new FGL song above, it's actually not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It doesn't necessarily make sense, but to me it didn't seem like bad bro country. It didn't have the same features as all the other stuff that (rightly) gets mocked. I'm not defending them at all as I have pretty much given up on country the last few years because of the bro movement, but this song didn't bother me and I even thought it was really pretty, musically.
Macarthur
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quote:


It's just comical at this point. I want to say this brand of country has jumped the shark...but I feel like I'll be proven wrong in another month.




quote:


Which one is the real country song?

So this guy is doing satire, right? I mean if this and it's fans are legit, do they not realize they are doing some sort of self-satire?
Macarthur
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rbtexan, I've been meaning to ask your "professional" opinion on something.

To me, "I'm so lonesome I could cry" is such a fantastically written song. Simple yet haunting. I'm particularly fond of the version Johnny cash does w nick cave.

I'd like your thoughts on that song.
dv0478
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unrelated, but when did it become ok to rhyme words with the same word?
rbtexan
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quote:
rbtexan, I've been meaning to ask your "professional" opinion on something.

To me, "I'm so lonesome I could cry" is such a fantastically written song. Simple yet haunting. I'm particularly fond of the version Johnny cash does w nick cave.

I'd like your thoughts on that song.
By far my favorite Hank Williams song. Hank Sr. wasn't the influence on me that he was on many, but that one always struck a chord with me (no pun intended).

I wrote for Acuff-Rose Music for a time, and had the opportunity to listen to a lot of the demos of his songs. The story I was told was that Hank would routinely bring songs in 1/2 or in some way partially finished, and that Fred Rose would occasionally ghost-write and fix them up. Not hard to believe, as Fred was an amazing songwriter in his own right (wrote a bunch of Bob Wills songs including Deep Water, Hang Your Head In Shame, Home In San Antone, and I Can't Go On This Way to name a few). I don't believe "I'm So Lonesome" falls into that category however, and I share your opinion that it's a great song.

Another favorite old country song of mine is "How's The World Treating You", written by Boudleaux Bryant and Chet Atkins. It's my understanding that they wrote that song and one other big hit (believe it was "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind" but I could be wrong) on the same day. The A-B-A-B rhyme scheme in that one is hard to pull off and they did it brilliantly.

Great version of it here...

How's The World Treating You
PatAg
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quote:
unrelated, but when did it become ok to rhyme words with the same word?
this new garbage "rap"
 
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