Teaching an Alt.country dog New Country tricks

[sevenharkey]

Okay...so I've been trying to break into the New Country writing circle, but everything's coming back with comments like "this is great for alt.country, but not for contemporary country audiences". I grew up on George Jones, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, and the rest, and while I definitely get the huge differences in "new" and "classic" country (as well as the differences between "new" and "alt" country), I guess I'm not fully understanding two widely-used TAXI terms: "Conversational Lyrics" and "Neo-Traditional". Could anyone here offer up a clear definition or examples of what these two terms mean? Does "Conversational Lyrics" mean your lyrics can't be poetic at all, and instead have to be totally blatant? Does "Neo-Traditional" speak only to more traditional instrumentation (mandos, brushes, dobros), though the pop-leaning song structures stay in tact? Seven

[rick]

As far as conversational lyrics go the way I understand it is if you wouldn't say it don't write it.I think you kinda have the idea when you talked about poetry verses something more literal and down to earth.Try to google some new country lyrics.Good Luck

[jchitty]

Quote:Okay...so I've been trying to break into the New Country writing circle, but everything's coming back with comments like "this is great for alt.country, but not for contemporary country audiences". I grew up on George Jones, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, and the rest, and while I definitely get the huge differences in "new" and "classic" country (as well as the differences between "new" and "alt" country), I guess I'm not fully understanding two widely-used TAXI terms: "Conversational Lyrics" and "Neo-Traditional". Could anyone here offer up a clear definition or examples of what these two terms mean? Does "Conversational Lyrics" mean your lyrics can't be poetic at all, and instead have to be totally blatant? Does "Neo-Traditional" speak only to more traditional instrumentation (mandos, brushes, dobros), though the pop-leaning song structures stay in tact? SevenDon't know if this will help, but do you ever watch CMT (country music television)? I find this helps me get a feel for what the country music listings are asking for today....you see those videos, and you'll know what they want....not that's it some of my favorite music, hehe.Then you can figure out what they mean by Neo-Traditional or Conversational lyrics.But if you're getting alt-country marked on your stuff....I'd go with that! You may have your own unique style.

[sevenharkey]

Trust, I've done my research and totally get the "more poetic" versus "more literal" aspect of country/alt.country versus new country. My friends think I've lost it by letting Sara Evans and Sugarland slip into my strictly Classic Country/Americana/Alt.Country playlists.And as far as Conversational Lyrics, Rick summed it up with "if you wouldn't say it don't write it". I'd love to hear (read) if anyone has anything extra to add to that...Neo-Traditional isn't as clear, even after diving into piles of examples. MY TAKE is that the poppy song structures and literal lyricism stays the same, but the instrumentation moves away from the "Flashville" accessibility and more uses more "classic country" instrumentation (getting out the mandolins, dobros, fiddles & slide without coupling them with rocking guitars and overly pitch corrected vocals. Am I right about that one, folks?Sev

[jchitty]

Quote:Trust, I've done my research and totally get the "more poetic" versus "more literal" aspect of country/alt.country versus new country. My friends think I've lost it by letting Sara Evans and Sugarland slip into my strictly Classic Country/Americana/Alt.Country playlists.And as far as Conversational Lyrics, Rick summed it up with "if you wouldn't say it don't write it". I'd love to hear (read) if anyone has anything extra to add to that...Neo-Traditional isn't as clear, even after diving into piles of examples. MY TAKE is that the poppy song structures and literal lyricism stays the same, but the instrumentation moves away from the "Flashville" accessibility and more uses more "classic country" instrumentation (getting out the mandolins, dobros, fiddles & slide without coupling them with rocking guitars and overly pitch corrected vocals. Am I right about that one, folks?SevHey, Seven, this might be a related thread you'd be interested in.....lots of discussion going on there lately:http://taxi.proboards27.com/index.cgi?b ... 116&page=1