Everybody wants to go country

[toddt]

Aug 10, 2009, 4:53am, adrienne wrote:...It seems everybody wants to go country nowadays...even songwriters...For the record, I don't. I think I'll try and master my own genres first...

[mojobone]

I don't think you can just decide to "go country". It's more of a 'you are or you ain't' kinda deal, far as I'm concerned. There's a minimum amount of manure you have to shovel (or at least step in) before you can wear boots and a hat without the slightest trace of irony. It ain't jes' playin' dress-up, you have to mean it.

[markjsmith]

I don't consider a lot of what is popular country these days actually country, but thats life. I love vintage country through 70's country rock, but after that I think it is all pop or pop/rock. This is the same with rock-I don't think someone that sounded like Buddy Holly would expect to sell a ton of records today where NIN or KORN might be considered rock( although I might buy one)! The people making these records is the point. They were from LA with a pop background. The label guys were from LA with a pop or pop/rock background. They moved to Nashville to make pop records and call it country! Dan Huff is a great guitarist/producer but he is not a country guy, he's a pop/rock guy( anyone remember Giant). That being said, a great song is a great song no matter what genre and I've heard songs that I thought were great by contemporary "country' artists.

[sgs4u]

Aug 10, 2009, 9:57pm, mojobone wrote:I don't think you can just decide to "go country". It's more of a 'you are or you ain't' kinda deal, far as I'm concerned. There's a minimum amount of manure you have to shovel (or at least step in) before you can wear boots and a hat without the slightest trace of irony. It ain't jes' playin' dress-up, you have to mean it.Mojo, I don't like disagreeing with you, but in this case I will. Every career and life come with manure we have to shovel, step in and clean off People who love to be on stage entertaining, have every right to change genres at the drop of a hat. You might think it's not about playing dress up, but the suits that run the business, the suits that make the playlists, all those people, are not all that concerned with "meaning it." They are concerned with the bottom line. Country playlists are smaller than ever, it's all about what sells, smae as every other market. If an artist brings the right stuff to the table, and labels and managers can bet on that person being stable enough to survive, they will back who they think is going to give them the best return on their investment. I also have to agree with Glenn. Country fans still buy product, more so than any other genre. Singer songwriters are smart enough to recognize who is selling and Nashville still sells more than most. And acoustic guitar players who sing cool tunes can find homes in Nashville. Ask Janis Ian. You don't have to be a cowboy to sell product, and yes there's always a backlash if you don't fit the mold. However all the people who have moved into country over the last 20 years have already set the precedent. Dan Huff is now a country producer, because that's what he does, and he's selling lots of units. What we wish, is not the same as what exists. I love Hank Sr and Patsy Cline, but they weren't all that well received early on as "true country." Either was Alan Jackson or Garth Brooks. Change happens. I'm Ok with it.

[simonparker]

FYI - anyone talking about Dann Huff. He was a Nashville guy way before he became a pop guy and then back to a country guy.http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_dann_huf ... --------If you want someone a little "cleaner" for an example, go with Mutt Lange.

[frayedknot2b]

Adriene, you have nothing to worry about. You are FANTASTIC

[markjsmith]

Dan Huff's records that he plays on and produces are not what "I" call country is all I'm saying! And yes, his dad did christian music in Nashville, but he will always sound like an LA guy (listen to the guitar sounds on the records he and Tom Bukovac do). I dig Dan Huff-he makes GREAT records-GREAT POP records, and I believe if he wanted to take a more traditional approach that he has more than enough talent to pull it off. I bought the Giant CD (back in the day) and own several that he has produced and I don't mean any slight on the guy whatsoever, he makes incredible sounding records, but it is not a country aesthetic, approach, or sound. He makes very modern sounding records that sound great, but the production aesthetic is not what I would expect to hear on a country record by say Buddy Miller, Allison Krauss, Etc...I know everybody is concerned about titles, so let me just say it-CONTEMPORARY COUNTRY is not COUNTRY! I'm sorry, but to me there is a HUGE difference between Country & Contemporary Country! I don't think Willie, Waylon, Hank (1&2), Johnny, Marty, Buck,etc... Would have guys playing thru amps with lots of gain, or guys layering guitar parts with tons of effects! I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying its not really country, it is CONTEMPORARY COUNTRY! I'm sure you would not think Metallica and Elvis are both "Rock" and leave it at that! Which brings back to the article.If the country music scene was not as crossover pop as it is, you would not be seeing R&B people co-writing country songs. I'm just waitng for Kanye West to educate us all with a "REAL" country song!EEK!

[heinsite]

as i've suggested a few times, i am convinced that the meld of pop with country will be the next HUGE thing, and we are seeing it (well, hearing it...) already. The "Crossover" is here to stay, and will be the norm more than the occasional thing. JMHO. but it will still take great music--and of course the irrelevent copycat crap as well. wh

[mojobone]

Steve, I think you missed something in my post, the 'as far as I'm concerned' part. I'm not saying anyone's less of a fan or less of a musician for appreciating or making a pop-country record. Heck, 'pop' is short for popular, means people like it; there's never anything wrong with that, at least from a business standpoint. At least a part of the Nashville migration is understandable; country's just about the last market where you can still hear intelligible lyrics that make some kind of sense. (I know I'm generalizing a bit here) Buck Owens is one of my heroes, but they didn't let him play the Opry for years because he had a drummer, and he took a lotta crap over being too modern. (he had a fuzz-tone guitar on "Who's gonna Mow Your Grass") I think there are some parallels between artists of the fifties and seventies-Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Conway Twitty, Carl Perkins and many other artists you'd probably categorize as country were marketed as rock and roll performers in their early careers, and while Nashville woulda had nuthin' to do with Charlie Daniels in the seventies, a lot of records coming out of Nashville are indistinguishable from seventies-style Southern Rock.

[sgs4u]

Aug 11, 2009, 1:16pm, mojobone wrote:Steve, I think you missed something in my post, the 'as far as I'm concerned' part. I've been know to screw up... Usually I love everything you write. Last nite I played hockey, & then when I logged on this morning I still had a hockey hangover... It's all good man. People are supposed to disagree once in a while.