So I was listening to a country song tonight

[rokdog49]

Man, this sure reads a lot like a "grumpy old men" thread.
I have no quarrel with anyone's personal definitions of true country music past, present or future. The fact is there is lots of legitimate, raw and honest varieties of country music being made today...one just has to dig a little deeper to find most of it.
Pop sells. It always has. "Country Pop" has always be around in one form or another
As far as defining "genuine country" goes...for me, I know it when I hear it.
The story or lyric are the driving force. Folks like Sturgill Simpson or Jason Isbell reach people because they strike a chord that touches real life.
To me, real life isn't just about dirt roads, pickup trucks and a drunk hot girl with holes in her jeans. Generally speaking, it fits for the twenty-somethings. That's where the $$$ is.

[donlyn]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

A really heavy country accent goes a long way in country music. A country good old boy/girl persona helps allot also. Often it's more image than structure. It's purpose is to market a retail product to the most people. So fads of the times are made and broken in the quest for new and fresh sounding music marketed to young people with little or no musical knowledge or experience before their time.

Works the same in other music fields, and also in any field in life. 'Dress for Success' anyone?

Don
.

[RussL30]

Good Country (not the current pop radio garbage) is my favorite type of music right now, and it’s about telling a story and being relatable.

When guys like Merle, Waylon, Hank Sr. and Hank Jr. etc are singing about their life stories I relate to that and feel something real there. When Chris Ledoux is singing about his experiences of life on a ranch in the West or his rodeo career that’s something real. Loretta Lynn singing about life growing up as the daughter of a coal miner in rural Kentucky, that’s real.

When Luke Bryan is singing about “knock goes the diesel”, “blue jeans painted on tight”, or Sam Hunt is doing that awful creepy talk thing with every other word being “girl”, that stuff is fake and contrived and marketed to sell to teenage and 20 something girls. They’re doing a good job of making money off of that, so more power to them, but it’s not country and while the studio musicians are really talented, it’s not meaningful music.

There are good newer country artists out there, they just aren’t on the radio. If you like George Strait and Randy Travis type of late 80’s or early 90’s country, a talented young guy I’ve been listening to a lot lately is Randall King.

[jaymarsch]

I tend to like the country artists that are more on the indie side of the country music industry like Mary Gauthier and Verlon Thompson among others.

Best,
Jayne

[JKA]

Originally Posted by donlyn

Works the same in other music fields, and also in any field in life. 'Dress for Success' anyone?

Don
.

Definitely! When we gig (there can be up to eight of us) the boys wear black suits, white shirts and black ties (my wife thinks we look like undertakers) and the girls wear fancy frocks and petticoats.

The last gig we did I was approached afterwards and a guy said to me...I knew you were going to be good just by looking at you. Actually, we're still developing as a band but if you look good that's half the battle. Makes you feel good too and gives you loads of confidence.

[mercy]

Its been said above so I suppose I dont need to but country stations where I live play junk. Its like every song is a clone of the one before it and always about drinking. Im going to extend that too. I hate the music called popular now as well. There is nothing on the radio now. Same problem when I go to the gym. They have on of those select a genre things and they are alway either playing rap or what is called Contemporary popular I think they said. One saturday I asked them to play classic rock and they changed the channel, it was great but when I went back the following week it was back to junk. What is good about country is that they are playing instruments and singing songs. CP and rap dont use instruments, its all digital. Maybe that makes sense in our digital age but it isnt musical to me. Ah...that feels better to get it out.

[lowrider]

Now let's talk about great country music;



George Strait singing ''A Showman's Life'' by Jesse Winchester

[DukeX]

I like Country music but not all of it or even most of it.

But I can say the same thing about Classical, Jazz, Rock, Blues, R&B...

[Pitar]

I tend to put country in a category of cliched music. It's a carousel of the same old theme of love won, lost, desired, admired, painful, joyful, etc. and etc. spinning round and round. I would not describe it as an art as much as it is a blueprint construct, much like in blues, where originality is hard to be found if the 1st listen is important to anyone.

[The Growler]

Originally Posted by DukeX

I like Country music but not all of it or even most of it.

But I can say the same thing about Classical, Jazz, Rock, Blues, R&B...

I can relate to and agree wth this. I listen to everything and like some, but not all of it.

[golfreggie]

Interesting conversation. I recently downloaded an album by a fellow named Mo Pitney. Great deep voice, and some pretty good songs. Have any of you heard of him?

[TBman]

Originally Posted by rokdog49

Man, this sure reads a lot like a "grumpy old men" thread.
I have no quarrel with anyone's personal definitions of true country music past, present or future. The fact is there is lots of legitimate, raw and honest varieties of country music being made today...one just has to dig a little deeper to find most of it.
Pop sells. It always has. "Country Pop" has always be around in one form or another
As far as defining "genuine country" goes...for me, I know it when I hear it.
The story or lyric are the driving force. Folks like Sturgill Simpson or Jason Isbell reach people because they strike a chord that touches real life.
To me, real life isn't just about dirt roads, pickup trucks and a drunk hot girl with holes in her jeans. Generally speaking, it fits for the twenty-somethings. That's where the $$$ is.

Somehow the thread deviated from melody formulas....

[KevWind]

That's because "Real" Country Music was and still is, a state of mind not a formula.

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by TBman

Somehow the thread deviated from melody formulas....

I used to write for publishing companies in Nashville many, many years ago. If you want a formula the closest I can come with would be to listen to what's hot today and write a song like it only allot better. The rest of it is pretty much like other music. You can get away with anything as long as it works. Melody formulas are just music theory made into a song. A good song is gold. There's allot of crap being sold though.

[lowrider]

Country musicians love Harlen County, Kentucky.

Here's another great country song;



''You'll Never Leave Harlen Alive''