What is Real Country?

I should probably wait until I go to the mountains next week, but I'm going to ask anyway. With the amount of interference on the radio in my car, I'm unlikely to get many answers.

For the past several years WMNC-AM Morganton, NC and WAME Statesville NC have aired Classic Hit Country. With the Westwood One merger I have been concerned about the possible demise of that format. And on WAME's local morning show, while my usual station was doing an interview instead of playing music, I heard someone say WAME is now calling itself "Real Country".

WSTP Salisbury NC recently switched to a country format which it calls "Real Country" (though I checked WAME when I could hear it and it was not playing the same songs). I haven't heard the names of any DJs yet, and they don't talk a lot (and they're too professional not to be satellite, and there's no way this station can afford local talent). When I first sampled the station there were only recorded station IDs and no DJs when I was listening. WPTL Canton NC, also "Real Country" (and I'm pretty sure that does refer to the ,ABC/Citadel/Cumulus format) doesn't even seem to have DJs other than on the local morning show, but when I last went to the mountains, before the merger, there was a storm that must have knocked them off the air and they never did come back even by the time I returned home.

To me, real country music is music that is filled with meaning when it speaks to a person.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

Real Country is a satellite-delivered format owned by Westwood One. They have a classic bent, focused on the 80s and 90s but they play a few currents that fit in.

Some artists you'd expect to hear on Real Country are George Strait, Alabama, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, and Brooks & Dunn.

Real Country was a format created by Buck Owens Enterprises many years ago when Buck owned KNIX. It may have actually been run on KNIX-AM.

I don't expect to have the problems I was afraid I would. When I turned on the air conditioning yesterday, the squealing I have heard for several weeks stopped. It would occasionally start again but stop quickly. There seems to be some relationship to speeding up, but it's not a direct relationship because now I will speed up and hear nothing happen most of the time.

WAME, which was classic hit country, is 500 watts at 550 but that's actually pretty strong. I'll report back on what DJs I hear there and on WMNC-AM, which is at 1430 and has a terrible signal. It was once 5000 watts but now says 2700.

WPTL is 500 watts and pathetic, though it is at 920 and that's not that far to the right. It is called Real Country. And the music mix is not as good to me.

PTBoardOp94 said:

Real Country is a satellite-delivered format owned by Westwood One. They have a classic bent, focused on the 80s and 90s but they play a few currents that fit in.

Some artists you'd expect to hear on Real Country are George Strait, Alabama, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, and Brooks & Dunn.

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ABC, Citadel and Cumulus, actually. Maybe Westwood One took it over after the merger.

You're right about the chain of ownership, and yes Westwood One absorbed or discontinued all syndicated offerings previously offered by Cumulus Media Networks.

PTBoardOp94 said:

You're right about the chain of ownership, and yes Westwood One absorbed or discontinued all syndicated offerings previously offered by Cumulus Media Networks.

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So later this week, assuming nothing has changed, the musc I hear on WPTL will be from Westwood One.

I still have to find out who I'm hearing on WAME.

I got a very good signal from WAME as I started having trouble with my usual station. I stayed with it until Morganton, but shouldn't have because I could have gotten a listenable signal on WMNC a long way from Morganton.

The DJ sounded national but the music was good. Not nearly as bad as what I have heard on "Real Country". His station IDs reminded me of Westwood One America's Best Music back years ago. The DJ would do the ID and then would finish with the name and artist for the last song. It sounded kind of clumsy but it worked. This sounded seamless. Later, the man knew about an event at the VFW. Okay, so they got him to record something special for WAME. We still haven't hear his name. Then he knew about an event where food was being given out for the hungry. On 21 South. Okay, that's weird. But if he was local he would have told us who he was.

I emailed WAME and was told Billy Buck's morning show lasts until noon. But I was also told they do everything themselves. On the way home I was pleasantly surprised to hear country music because this station usually had religious programming on Sunday. The DJ sounded really professional and said her name (and now I can't remember it but it will surely be on the web site). And yet she knew about a local event. On Sunday? How can they afford all these people?

WMNC had a woman but I never heard her name. They were calling their music "classic country" and "classic hit country". On the way home it was a man. Both times, there was a reference to a country music cruise and even a web site which might have been countrymusiccruise.com.

Only 20 miles west of Morganton I couldn't hear well enough to do more than identify familiar songs. I tried Rush Limbaugh but couldn't understand a word even though I was 30 miles east of Asheville and the station was 5000 watts on 570. There was another country station but I had never tried it since it wasn't guaranteed to be the good stuff and there might be other programming. It sounded good but I never found out who it was.

The Prmitive Quartet sounded great on another station I tried, which was trying to raise money. Rush was clear by this time.

WPTL didn't have a good signal for quite a while. And Eric Church was singing about Jesus. Not my idea of good country music. The DJ mentioned "God Blessed Texas". A song I despised in the 90s. There was some good stuff. The words "Real Country" were used. Then another bad song. I was distressed to learn it was by Billy Currington, who has usually been reliable. Honestly, when you have so much good material that can be heard on WAME and WMNC, why add the junk?

After the first day, my former neighbor took me everywhere I needed to go and we listened to 40s on 4. When I was driving again I had NPR.

I heard a lot of Alan Jackson during my trip.

frankberry said:

WSM anyone?

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I may have picked it up but didn't stay around to identify the station.

In fact, I couldn't hear much of anything on the left end of the AM dial, and another time I tried and didn't hear anything.

I was, however, pleasantly surprised to hear "ESPN 1530" as a station ID because this radio hasn't picked up anything actually on AM above 1400 or so in years. It went back to that and I think most of what I heard was Japanese. What was really weird was the person speaking Spanish who said "Tokyo" in what sounded like a station ID. I also heard an oldies station but got tired of waiting for a station ID.

"Tonight Looks Good on You" does NOT look good.

The DJ said he was Gary Reynolds, so I assume he's actually with the ABC/Citadel/Cumulus format.

And he said Jason Aldean. How do these people not understand that those of us who want "real" country don't want HIM?

vchimpanzee said:

How do these people not understand that those of us who want "real" country don't want HIM?

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Have you told them? How would they know?

TheBigA said:

Have you told them? How would they know?

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I do need to tell them.

So what I need is some kind of confirmation of where this Gary Reynolds person works. The various web sites make it impossible to tell these people don't actually work at the station.

I sent my complaint to Westwood One, or at least I think so. I didn't get any kind of message indicating the message was sent and I have gotten no response so far. It's a poor way to do things if you don't indicate in some way that the message was sent.

I also didn't see that DJ's name.

Also, I didn't look for the site at home. When I did, I got a virus message, so I'm glad I waited. I have corrected Wikipedia.

Confirming... Real Country is a branded format from Westwood One, originally from ABC, surviving through the multiple mergers. Whether it survives the latest shakeup remains to be seen. WWO Classic Country is a better product.

bossbill said:

Confirming... Real Country is a branded format from Westwood One, originally from ABC, surviving through the multiple mergers. Whether it survives the latest shakeup remains to be seen. WWO Classic Country is a better product.

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I definitely agree. I don't know why WAME decided to go local but it sounds good. WMNC was the other "Classic Hit Country" affiliate and it still sounds good, whatever they're doing.

WBRF has a wide variety compared to the satellite formats. I wasn't too happy to hear "Red Dirt Road" by Brooks and Dunn, but it's not really that bad compared to some songs. It's just not as country as most of what the station does. I also heard "Wheels", which really doesn't sound country. No wonder. It's Restless Heart. I always regarded them as crossover. Actually, it's not all that different from The Eagles. Without the guitar solo it would sound perfectly fine. Certainly the crystal Gayle song I heard wouldn't really pass for country, but she's always been regarded as crossover and I never had a problem with her.

The DJs on WBRF really tell us a lot about the artists. I don't know what that would be like if I listened often, but it's enjoyable when I am only an occasional listener. At home a Hot AC and a hip hop station pretty much guarantee I won't hear much.

I can say all this because on a commercial for one of their programs they reminded us they were "real country", which is a term they rarely use.

If they're playing it on a country station, then it by definition "passes for country." Otherwise they wouldn't play it.

The Eagles had a Top 10 country hit in 1975 with "Lyin' Eyes." Of course Conway Twitty recorded their hit "Heartache Tonight." His version wasn't much different from theirs.