Virtually every other aspect of my existence is very countryfied. I drive a pickup, I have a bunch of guns, a bunch of dogs, and honestly more land than I really even need. I'm an outdoorsman, I love fishing, I prefer cheap 12 packs of beer over some fancy micro-brew, and I live very close to most of my family members. I am not ashamed of any of these things and if this makes me a lessor person in someone else's eyes than so be it.
There are a lot of misconceptions about the redneck community and one of them is that we all love country music. Now, I'm not gonna lie, there are a lot of people that do love country music in my community but there are also a lot of people that don't. I think a lot of it, just like most things in life, kind of depends on what you were exposed to when you were a teenager and in your early 20's. For me, I was listening to grunge and metal and these two types of music are still my favorites to this day.
I don't HATE country music. Some of it and particularly the classics like Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash are things that I think basically anyone would like if they gave it a chance. On the other hand, I have a general disdain for the pop country that was basically a hybrid of rock and country that was designed to reach a wider audience. We even kind of have country boy bands, one of which is from North Carolina and I can't stand them.
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I have been told by a friend of mine that two of these guys were attending the same university that I did at around the same time. I'm pretty sure that I kind of knew one of them but it's not like we were pals or anything. That doesn't change the fact that their songs, the few that I have heard, are just awful in my mind. It's just songs about crappy love stories and drinking beer and what not. I kind of question whether or not these guys are actually country at all. In my mind they kind of seem like they are faking it for the paycheck. Is it working? I don't know but some of my friends feel obligated to buy their stuff just because they are from Eastern North Carolina. I'm not gonna do that. It doesn't even look like they are really standing in that field for one thing.
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When I go down to the Elk's lodge it is extremely likely that country music will be on and I don't demand they turn it off or anything like that but to me all of the modern country music sounds the same and as a metal fan, this is something that I feel doesn't apply to the genre that I prefer. If all of the music sounded the same I would get tired of it as well. The greats of country like Dolly were storytellers and very good ones at that. These days every country song is basically about the same thing.
Someone showed me a video of a comedian who feels the same way that I do about this and it basically sums up how I feel about modern country music
His name is Bo Burnham and he is far more entertaining that a vast majority of country music is.
It is possible to be a redneck and not like country music is what I'm trying to say. There are a lot of things about me and members of the redneck community that might surprise a few people out there. This is just one of them. I don't have a single country music song in my MP3's on purpose. A few Kenny Rogers songs crept in there but I honestly don't even know how they go there - They were probably part of a "best of something" compilation and snuck in through the back door :)
What about you? Do you like modern-day country? I'd love to know how and why if you do!
Seems to me that most songs, good and bad, are
I am learning to sing. Country is very difficult to sell a story and make sound good! Knowing this makes me love a lot of it, especially those tunes that almost anyone can appreciate. But some of the lyrics are too trite, some of the musical arrangements and melodies as well.
It's really hard to make a good song in any genre.
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I wish I could find the video but some music scholar picked apart about a dozen popular country music songs and showed on a program that they were all essentially the same song from a chord progression standpoint. Lyrics are tough for sure, you need someone with a lot of real life stories for those to have any sort of meaning and this is probably why I appreciate the greats of country like Johnny Cash and Kenny Rogers. The stories they tell are pretty amazing.
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The value of predictable chord progressions is that almost anyone can play along. This is community music, a different kind of art.
I myself like to sing more complex stuff, I like the challenges, but in a brand new setting, being able to recognize simple progressions allows me to sit in on songs I have never heard before. That has enormous value, and is true of most folk music I believe.
Lyrics are a whole other thing. The best lyrics are usually very simple, and simple is very hard to write. I can't write lyrics at all, even though I am a poet.
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When I drove Uber, I heard similar things from country-loving passengers. 21st century country isn't as interesting
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I think it is a very lucrative market though and that is why those fake-ass bands like the guys that went to the same university as I did got into it. Word on the street is that they are not country fans either but got involved in the industry in the mid 2000's because it was the only genre where people were still paying for music.
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Yes!! I do love ALL country music ; though I am not a red neck , not even American .
Country music is very soothing , nerve relaxing . The message , often by stories conveys apt wisdom necessary to navigate certain unpleasant circumstances!
Don Williams , Kenny Rogers, James Last which you didn't acknowledge comes before Dolly Paton as my favourites !
Metal music is ok by me as well , but I gravitate more towards Afro Pop !!
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Never even heard of him. I'll go ahead and look him up now. Thanks!
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Some info about him here by Wikipedia
Thanks for reaching out !!
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I hadn't heard of this guy either. Lots of flute. A very different style. This has given me some relaxing music to have in the background during Covid lockdown.
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I dig into some old country here and there. I wouldn't say I go out of my way to find it though. You might be surprised to hear how popular country is overseas buddy. The Thais and the Vietnamese have a lot of love for the "oldies" and you frequently hear them played at certain country-western themed bars over here. I would say they are quite enamored with the country music culture over here.
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Yeah; Country music is very much appreciated , I think much more in other climes than in the Americas. But unfortunately, the young generations aren't appreciating this genre of music as much as the receding generation !
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