Murder On Music Row

People all over are starting to make some noise about the way they feel country music has taken a nose dive. I tend to agree but then again I was raised on REAL country music. In fact, I write and record it too! My name is Ben Gonsioroski and I grew up listening to Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves, Hank Williams Sr, etc... I don't even listen to modern country music anymore. It just doesn't move me like the old proven classic country sound. If you love and miss that old traditional sound, check out my music... http://www.bengonsioroski.com

"Today's producers are just giving people what they want, navigating the market as best they can. It's a business, after all. "

A good article until that cop-out. No, they're giving teen girls & suburban women with young kids what they THINK they want, while totally ignoring country's traditional fan base: rural men.

As for the many traditional country classics already out there: so what? Why should today's artists who want to make the real thing be forced by hook-nosed record company suits to sing about sippy cups and changing s--tty diapers?

I've always loved good pop music, from the Beatles to the Gin Blossoms. But the *thang* is, COUNTRY IS NOT POP, nor should it ever be. There's a ghost hanging over this discussion, a ghost that used to be a young man who tried with all that his addictive parents left him with to desperately bring Country into the 21st century. He is anathema to the CMA and the Country Music Hall of Fame--even though over 2,600 so far from around the world have signed a petition to induct him (www.gramparsonspetition.com). Please lend your name to true country in our time, and then join us at The 5 Spot in Nashville on Sept. 19 (36 years after his death) for the 2nd Annual Gram Parsons Petition Party. We'll have some REAL Country, ten bands from Seattle to Ireland. Gram's protege, Emmylou Harris, made it to the Hall last year; it's time to give him credit for what he did and the spark he provided to us all when the last embers faded with the cool desert night air. And in process perhaps what Mr. Tuttle writes so well about will begin to change to what Gram envisioned and what we all know is right.

All music has changed through time - country is no exception. I grew up with country music, moved on to rock, then hard rock and eventually broadened my tastes to include just about every genre of music - so long as the song was (what I considered) good. Over the past few years my work in radio and artist development has put a focus back on country music and it is definitely not the same music I was tuning in on a transistor radio when I dropped a fishing line in Lake Chickamauga.

Music is, and always will be, a reflection of ourselves - who we are, where we've been and where we're going. The fact that country music is now populated with minor trivialities of life as opposed to gut wrenching heartaches is just a symptom of our society. Life is easier, we are softer, most everything is spoon fed to us and we have a lot of extra time wonder what's going to happen next on "Flava of Love" or who is going to win Brett Michael's hand in marriage. This is the unfortunate "reality" of our world.

Country music was always a reality check. That's not to say it was always depressing or oppressive, it was just visceral; it was real. So when we look at country music today and turn our nose up at glossy overproduced antics or mundane nuances that are the subjects of the songs - it's not the music we don't like, it's what that music is reflecting about ourselves.

In the meantime, if you're looking for a little more substance in your musical diet, you can always find a nice shady spot, pour a tall jar of brown party liquor and throw a little Jamey Johnson on your iPod.

All music has changed through time - country is no exception. I grew up with country music, moved on to rock, then hard rock and eventually broadened my tastes to include just about every genre of music - so long as the song was (what I considered) good. Over the past few years my work in radio and artist development has put a focus back on country music and it is definitely not the same music I was tuning in on a transistor radio when I dropped a fishing line in Lake Chickamauga.

Music is, and always will be, a reflection of ourselves - who we are, where we've been and where we're going. The fact that country music is now populated with minor trivialities of life as opposed to gut wrenching heartaches is just a symptom of our society. Life is easier, we are softer, most everything is spoon fed to us and we have a lot of extra time wonder what's going to happen next on "Flava of Love" or who is going to win Brett Micheal's hand in marriage. This is the unfortunate "reality" of our world.

Country music was always a reality check. That's not to say it was always depressing or oppressive, it was just visceral; it was real. So when we look at country music today and turn our nose up at glossy overproduced antics or mundane nuances that are the subjects of the songs - it's not the music we don't like, it's what that music is reflecting about ourselves.

In the meantime, if you're looking for a little more substance in your musical diet, you can always find a nice shady spot, pour a tall jar of brown party liquor and throw a little Jamey Johnson on your iPod.

All genres of music has changed over the centuries. If y'all want to stick to the past- we would still be singing gregorian chants in parallel octaves! (I know 98% of you do not even get that). Not all that many people are alive since the inception of country music, but if you listen to old recordings- it is insanely different from country in the 40s and 50s- likewise 60s and 70s on up are different from the previous decades.. . and each decade of older artists and fans pronounces the end of country music as it was.

All genres of music has changed over the centuries. If y'all want to stick to the past- we would still be singing gregorian chants in parallel octaves! (I know 98% of you do not even get that). Not all that many people are alive since the inception of country music, but if you listen to old recordings- it is insanely different from country in the 40s and 50s- likewise 60s and 70s on up are different from the previous decades.. . and each decade of older artists and fans pronounces the end of country music as it was.

Life is change, and music will, of course, change with the times. My issue is not with country music's subject matter, or the abilities of those who play and sing it. To reach the holy grail of a wider audience (and more money), country, like many other kinds of music before it (i.e. the blues), has been watered down and made more bland, to accommodate a greater range of musical tastes. It has, in essence, been turned into a new kind of POPular music, which by nature, seeks the lowest common denominator, in order to appeal to the largest audience. In this process, much of the essence of the music is bound to be lost, which is very sad indeed.

I am a steel guitar player who has been playing and listening to country music since the sixties, and I have witnessed country music's many attempts to "move uptown" over the years. This time, it looks like they have finally succeeded. A vastly larger audience has been brought to the table, but the fare has changed almost beyond recognition, so it becomes questionable whether this audience has been introduced to country music, or to something that just uses the name.

It appears to me that, unlike earlier roots music to pop crossovers, someone has come up with a perfect formula for maximizing sales and profitability, and succeeded in finding and developing those artists, and only those artists who fit the formula. I agree that most of them are prodigiously talented. My problem is that they sound too similar to each other. Think about it. Who could fail to recognize the voices of Hank Williams, George Jones, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Marty Robbins, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline, or many others from that earlier era? The greatness of those voices is, at least in part, due to their distinctiveness, and that is what I think we have lost in today???s country music.

When I hear an unfamiliar country song on the radio these days, I truly have difficulty recognizing the singer, even if I know some of their other songs. This could be partly due to my advancing age, but I really think something has changed. The strength of art always lies in diversity, without which it would surely stagnate. I have no problem with the business side of music, but these days, it appears that short term bottom lines have become more important than the long term health of the industry, as has been the case in many other kinds of business, with disastrous results. Could they be killing the goose that laid the golden egg? Do they expect to keep things going by introducing the same stuff to a new group of teenagers each year? I wonder how long the country music audience can listen to just more of the same, before becoming totally sick of it. Maybe that audience will eventually vote with their feet and pocketbooks, but then again, maybe not.

Were you by any chance one of those people who went ballistic when Dylan went electric?
What happened to country? Life. Decades. TIME! This kind of article infuriates me with its insistence on pigeon-holing a genre that, by definition, evolves with the times. Sure, some of the basics are the same???broken hearts, cheating men and women, gui-tars n??? Cadillacs???but the nation has changed and, in order to survive, so did the music. There are different problems today, and a whole new set of lyrics has to be written to deal with them. Some of today???s lyrics are cheesy, but, forgive me, there are few cheesier than ???there???s a tear in my beer,??? with all due respects to Hank. And what???s wrong with cheesy, anyway? This world is so screwed up, I occasionally need a dose of Velveeta! Pick on Rodney Atkins all you want, but ???If You???re Going Through Hell??? has been my theme song for years. One of these days, I???m hoping I???ll get out of Hell and move on to another tune, but I???m not there yet, and blasting that song on the radio still gets me through tough, tough days.
No one can call my knowledge or love of country shallow. I have a collection of music that ranges from Carl Perkins, Chet Atkins, Johnny Cash and his whole clan, including the Carter side of the family, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Bob Willis, Eddie Arnold, Jim Reeves, Buck Owens, Little Jimmy Dickens, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, the Bellamy Brothers, Conway Twitty and Dan Seals (whose death I still mourn) all the way to the one-named ???hat acts??? of the 90s???Garth, George (not exactly 90s, but he???s in the one-name wonders group) Reba, Martina, Kenny, Randy, Wynona, Alan, Billy Ray, Patty, Clint, Alison, Shania, Brooks & Dunn and co. Now I listen to all of the above, along with Swift (her 90s era equivalents were Lila McCann and LeAnn Rimes),Pickler, Underwood, Urban, Emerson Drive, Rascal Flatts, Darius Rucker, Brad Paisley, etc., etc. Why is it so wrong that each of these distinct eras speaks to me?
So turn bright red all you want when a song you deem stupid comes on the radio. Or, better yet, flip the station. But that might not work for you either. After all, other styles of music have radically departed from their origins as well. See: Rap. Jazz. Punk. Rock. Blues. Classical.

Were you by any chance one of those people who went ballistic when Dylan went electric?
What happened to country? Life. Decades. TIME! This kind of article infuriates me with its insistence on pigeon-holing a genre that, by definition, evolves with the times. Sure, some of the basics are the same???broken hearts, cheating men and women, gui-tars n??? Cadillacs???but the nation has changed and, in order to survive, so did the music. There are different problems today, and a whole new set of lyrics has to be written to deal with them. Some of today???s lyrics are cheesy, but, forgive me, there are few cheesier than ???there???s a tear in my beer,??? with all due respects to Hank. And what???s wrong with cheesy, anyway? This world is so screwed up, I occasionally need a dose of Velveeta! Pick on Rodney Atkins all you want, but ???If You???re Going Through Hell??? has been my theme song for years. One of these days, I???m hoping I???ll get out of Hell and move on to another tune, but I???m not there yet, and blasting that song on the radio still gets me through tough, tough days.
No one can call my knowledge or love of country shallow. I have a collection of music that ranges from Carl Perkins, Chet Atkins, Johnny Cash and his whole clan, including the Carter side of the family, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Bob Willis, Eddie Arnold, Jim Reeves, Buck Owens, Little Jimmy Dickens, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, the Bellamy Brothers, Conway Twitty and Dan Seals (whose death I still mourn) all the way to the one-named ???hat acts??? of the 90s???Garth, George (not exactly 90s, but he???s in the one-name wonders group) Reba, Martina, Kenny, Randy, Wynona, Alan, Billy Ray, Patty, Clint, Alison, Shania, Brooks & Dunn and co. Now I listen to all of the above, along with Swift (her 90s era equivalents were Lila McCann and LeAnn Rimes),Pickler, Underwood, Urban, Emerson Drive, Rascal Flatts, Darius Rucker, Brad Paisley, etc., etc. Why is it so wrong that each of these distinct eras speaks to me?
So turn bright red all you want when a song you deem stupid comes on the radio. Or, better yet, flip the station. But that might not work for you either. After all, other styles of music have radically departed from their origins as well. See: Rap. Jazz. Punk. Rock. Blues.

Country music ain't what it used to be?
While Johnny Cash, George Jones and Merle Haggard roared about how the other half live, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton were setting standards in pomp and show.
Country musicians have always been torn between keeping their feet on the ground and reaching for the stars. This is kind of fun; the roughs amid the diamonds don't need to be over glorified. The best bet is to sit back and enjoy the duality of the beast.

There is no mystery here.

Hank Williams is dead, and Rascal Flatts is not.

Like it or not, both of those artists are an undeniably real and true reflection of the American culture of their time.

The truth is out there, right in front of our eyes - the only way to get around it is to pretend not to notice it.

America used to be Hank Williams, and it turned into Rascal Flatts.

We are getting what we deserve... and it's arriving in the form of what we have allowed.

Bluegrass was a coined term 20 years before the folk explosion of the 60's by Bill Monroe but it has been around a lot longer it was brought to the states by scottish immigrants

There is nothing wrong in giving new singers a chance, but they should have to earn what they get like the older singers as you put it, instead of giving them awards just because they are young and pretty. In the past country singers had to work hard and sometimes for years before they made a name for themselve and were given awards. Now singers, who have almost no talent as performers are given not one, but many awards, just because they are young.
Some of these young singers today don't have a clue on how to sing a song with feeling and perform. Most of them are either glued to one spot or straining to hit the notes and seem to be in pain. Some of these singers will be gone and forgotten in a year or two, because people will see they didn't have real talent, they were just cute and young.
Country singers like TANYA TUCKER, were young and pretty when they started out, but even if Tanya hadn't been young and pretty, she had true talent that has lasted for years and she is one of the best country singers around today. She has the talent to captivate an audience and she can make them believe and feel every word she is singing and that proves that she is truly a great performer. But she and others are passed over for awards, not because, they are not talented and deserve the awards, but because they are no longer young.
It's true that time changes everything, but it shouldn't punish the older singers and not give them awards that they deserve, just because they are older. Some of the true country singers that are older have more talent than all of these younger singers put together.
We should be fair when we judge singers, country, pop, and etc. and judge them for their talent, not for youth and beauty. Kathytanya

It's true Country music ain't Country music like it used to be. What's good about that is it opens up the gate for other non country listeners to join in on the fun.

Country music used to have a bad rap with all the stereotyping but now a days, it's much more than that. I feel it's a good thing we have the Taylor Swifts, the Carrie Underwoods, the Rascal Flatts and so forth. Why? Because someone who doesn't normally listen to country music may be scanning the dial and they hear a Taylor Swift song, which may have them stay on a little longer and then they get to hear the traditional country and they may like it.

So to me, if the new country artists can bring in other people who don't usually listen to country music, I say let them. Also, there are many other non country artists who have come over to this genre (Darius Rucker, Jewel, Kid Rock, Bon Jovi) just to name a few.

Trust me in 5 years time Country Music will become one big melting pot for a lot more genres of music. Until then...Thanks For Keepin' It Country!

Perhaps it's time to stop clinging to the past. All genres of music evolve (remember the uproar over Dylan playing a, gasp, electric guitar?). And that's a good thing. And people like George Jones had their time in the spotlight. It's time to give over to the next generation. We live in different times now, and music reflects the cultural changes, be it country or hard rock or heavy metal. What I do take exception to is the packaging and massaging of mediocre talent into mega stars. Taylor Swift seems like a nice gal, and she puts her full heart into every performance. She's also turning a whole new younger generation on to country music, which is terrific. But vocally, she's not particularly talented. But she's so slickly packaged, the weak vocals get overlooked. Then there's the opposite end of the spectrum. Those artists with amazing vocal ability but poor performance ability. Like Carrie Underwood. She's a truly gifted vocalist who has put out one great song after the other, but live, she's sometimes painful to watch. I was really angered when she won entertainer of the year this year. Are you kidding me? It was an outright insult to truly *great* live performers, who prove that ability year after year, artists like Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney. I've lost some faith in the country music awards because of her win. The Grammys have always been a popularity contest, flavor-of-the-month award show, full of one-hit wonders you never hear from again. But country music awards, you could generally count on true performers being rewarded. The truly talented. Carrie's win this year in that category tarnishes that category in general. An entertainer of the year award should be earned, not handed out to the person who just currently happens to be the belle of the ball. Like Miley Cyrus. Just how average she is, as both a singer and an entertainer, was painfully obvious on last week's American Idol. At least 3 of the current Idol contestants can out-perform and out-sing this so-called superstar. Maybe we need a new category in country music - tween country.

When country artists are now being played on MTV, it's quite a shocker... (and remember when Faith Hill got slammed for her "pop" hits?) These new girls (let???s not even talk about Miley Cyrus) are huge crossover hits as well. Not everyone has been happy with change but it???s not exactly new. There's debate about what makes a true artist, but in Country music songwriting has always been vastly important. I don't think we'll see artists with the caliber of Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynne, Patsy Cline or George Jones (to name only a few of many) for a long time. However, new artists who are developing, namely Miranda Lambert or Taylor Swift (unlike our new Entertainer of the Year, who I absolutely adore but don't think she's at that particular level yet) at least write their own songs. Martina McBride is making a huge comeback, and she???s got a better voice than all of the new girls! Not to mention- she now writes her own songs. Kenny Chesney is reminiscent of those old songwriters- he has wrote about a lot of the difficulties in his life (see the recent Better as a Memory or Demons from the Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates album or Way Down Here, and Spirit of a Storm from the Lucky Old Sun album) as well as those party-hard songs that he has definitely admitted to living out in real life. As for "what's happened to Country", we should be more concerned with the disgrace of CMT becoming a ???countrified??? (lame) version of MTV- a very real and terrifying symbol of what could happen to the actual music and artists if gone unchecked. Music will grow and develop, and Country is going through another big change. In an interview on GAC, Keith Urban said he believes country is developing so much and is so broad that one day soon there will be people who will ask him and other artists what music they play, and when he says ???Country??? they will respond ???oh really, what kind????