Usually you'll find the song I'm posting about at the top of the entry, and text will follow. In this case, I'm gong about things a little different. I'm afraid that I'm gonna offend a few people out there, and I don't mind doing that at all; I just want to make sure I don't offend the wrong people or the right people for the wrong reasons. So, consider these opening words a bit of a disclaimer.
The first song I ever performed on the drums in front of an audience was "Brand New Man" by Brooks and Dunn. I honestly don't remember why I picked that song specifically, but I was lead to it by my love of country music, the music of my youth, the music that I still feel the strongest connection with today. New country, old country, semi-old country, alternative country, traditional country, pop-country, it doesn't matter what kind of country, so long as it's actually country music. I've posted on this topic before, but I didn't put a lot of thought into it, and previous posts were more about a particular song.
In order to understand where I'm coming from, you have to understand what country music is, and that's a subjective topic if there ever was one. People are different, so, their definitions of what is country music will be different. To me, steel guitars, twang, fiddles, banjos, and mandolins are are elements of a particular sound of a particular style of country, and to be honest, this argument/debate has been going on for years within the industry. That is where country started, with those instruments in a very traditional style, but music, all music, is a fusion of all the sounds that have come before it. Country has evolved in its sound, demographic reach, and tone. That last part, not the literal tone, but the figurative one, is where the real change occurs.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_KxM4rU38Q]
Paisley does a great job of summing up what IS country music.
Country music to me is more about content than any other part of its whole. Country music tells a story, deals with a life event, or talks about a particular way of life that no other genre covers quite the same way. The sound of the music is important, too. I can't always describe to you what country music is, but I can 100% tell you what isn't country music when I hear it.
The song linked to right there is "Kick It in the Sticks" by Brantley Gilbert. I like a lot of Gilbert's stuff, and some of it is absolutely what I'd call country, but "Kick It" is not. That's a rock tune if I ever heard one. Now, is there anything wrong with that? Not at all! Traditional country artists have cut their fair share of songs that weren't country tunes. Don't believe me? How bout George Strait singing a Sinatra tune...with Sinatra no less. How about Alan Jackson singing a rock n' roll tune...one that was quite a rebellious song during its original release, too? There are countless other examples. In lots of cases, the artists made them their own. Yes, I understand the way you perform a song can change the genre many people would put it under, and maybe that's something more people should consider when judging a song as "country enough" or not, and it's also why I think content is so important.
Now, with that all out of the way, today's post isn't one song. It's a collage of sorts one of the writer's over at Entertainment Weekly put together. He's attempting to show "why country music was awful in 2013". Some of the songs on this list are ones I like. Some of them are ones I hate. Regardless, a lot of them sound an awfully lot alike and seem to be so empty. They don't hit you at a personal level like country music is supposed to hit you.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WySgNm8qH-I]
The most important thing to take away from this is that there's nothing wrong with a fun song about partying and drinking beer and getting down with your girl. If you're gonna do one of those songs, remember two things. One, please don't make it sound so much like every other song on the topic out there. Two, these songs should not be the vast majority of what dominates country music. They've always been around; the problem is that now there are more of them than there are of the ones that really makes country music country music: the ones that establish a deep connection to the people that listen to it.
No comments:
Post a Comment