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New Poll: What Is Country?

DavidEduardo said:
And that show was certainly well done, with a quick pace, lots of past and present stars and many good songs.

Yet another example of how the best events and show will be on subscription channels. My concern is that this makes so much entertainment inaccessible to a significant percentage of Americans due to the cost..
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Performances from the other country awards shows (CMA, CMT) are always posted to YouTube soon after the live broadcast. I hope the ACM is allowed to do the same under the terms of the contract it signed with Amazon. I agree that subscription services lock out a huge number of people who'd absolutely be watching if the show were on OTA TV or basic cable. Even those who have no problem affording subscriptions are having to decide which services to buy and which to forgo, so as not to wind up paying for a dozen services that carry only a few bits of content that interest them.

As a sports fan, I've made the decision to subscribe only to MLB TV, ESPN+ and boxing-oriented DAZN. Would I like to see the baseball or football games on Apple+ and Amazon Prime? The Premier League games on Peacock? Sure, but the line has to be drawn somewhere.
 
TomásEstefan said:
Even though I like a lot of Country, when I first heard Chris Stapleton my opinion was that his music is some of the best Rock/Blues that I have heard in years! I think his music fits both genres perfectly...
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I feel the same way. I was also emotionally blown away by War & Treaty's country with a gospel feel.
 
Barry said:
Not to mention Americana, and Alt Country.
It is interesting that Morgan Wallen's very Country sounding current, Last Night, has crossed over to pop radio.
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The country purists don't consider Last Night country-sounding at all. They deplore "snap tracks" like that, consider it a symptom of creeping hip-hop. I think there's a solid country song, especially lyrically, underneath that arrangement, but I can see its appeal to pop audiences.

For the record, I love traditional country and a lot of alt-country as well. But I'm also blown away by Jelly Roll and the War and Treaty, and appreciate the well-crafted light pop-country of Old Dominion. That I can drive around and hear Hailey Whitters' charming "Everything She Ain't" and Jelly Roll's primal, raw "Need a Favor" on the same station is a very good thing.
 
CTListener said:
...and appreciate the well-crafted light pop-country of Old Dominion.
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We were very impressed with Old Dominion in the Stagecoach 2023 show just a few days ago, too.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Yet another example of how the best events and show will be on subscription channels. My concern is that this makes so much entertainment inaccessible to a significant percentage of Americans due to the cost..
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Amazon is expected to offer a free on demand version of the ACM Awards, with commercials, later today.
 
It was nice to walk into Dairy Queen today and hear "Some Beach". They were fast because I only heard one other song, "Independence Day". Since the restrooms are in the gas station, I didn't make the connection right away, but the same music was playing in DQ.

I have heard station IDs for Sirius/XM 80s. As much as I dislike 80s music, what played when I was there those other times was good. I also have reason to believe I hard Sirius/XM Love once. Also good. I don't recall whether I asked or heard a station ID. But this means the DQ and its gas station are probably still on Sirius/XM.
 
Kelly A said:
You know it's real country when you play it backwards and your wife comes home, your dog is back from the dead, and your can of beer refills itself.
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And... your pickup truck has a full tank, your gun rack is loaded and you have live worms and a new tackle box. And all "parts of no" are fully understood.
 
I know lots of folks, including me, who are very eclectic when it comes to music, but people tell me when it comes to Country (and I agree) it seems that about every third time they tune in there's some "twangy" dude singing about his TRUCK !! Now I realize when it comes to writing songs not every tune of course has to be about "love" or "social relevancy". But what is the fascination with one's truck? Could it be a Freudian substitute for something else ?
 
TomásEstefan said:
I know lots of folks, including me, who are very eclectic when it comes to music, but people tell me when it comes to Country (and I agree) it seems that about every third time they tune in there's some "twangy" dude singing about his TRUCK !! Now I realize when it comes to writing songs not every tune of course has to be about "love" or "social relevancy". But what is the fascination with one's truck? Could it be a Freudian substitute for something else ?
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One needs to realize the genre's guardrails when you look at examples like the Dixie Chicks, or more recently, Jason Aldean. Safe topics are limited to pickup trucks, beer, men/women relationships, farming, small towns, and the flag.
 
Kelly A said:
One needs to realize the genre's guardrails when you look at examples like the Dixie Chicks, or more recently, Jason Aldean. Safe topics are limited to pickup trucks, beer, men/women relationships, farming, small towns, and the flag.
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You can make an appeal for tolerance and understanding, but it has to be done in a total feel-good manner. Kenny Chesney's "Get Along" is a good example. It says everyone should understand where everyone else is coming from, and once we all understand each other, let's have a beer. Result: Big hit.

Tim McGraw and Tyler Hubbard's "Undivided" was only partially successful. It suggested we put aside our political differences, look neither left nor right but "up." No truck, no beer, no flag, no farm, but a God reference. Result: The message still implied that folks on the "right" were somehow misguided, and that was probably the reason for the song never went top 10.
 
CTListener said:
Tim McGraw and Tyler Hubbard's "Undivided" was only partially successful. It suggested we put aside our political differences, look neither left nor right but "up." No truck, no beer, no flag, no farm, but a God reference. Result: The message still implied that folks on the "right" were somehow misguided, and that was probably the reason for the song never went top 10.
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Probably too cerebrally nuanced for the folks on the right to pick up on the reference.
 
As an aside but related: Watched the Ken Burns film about country music last weekend on PBS. What a great history, including for radio nerds, the history of WSM Nashville. One thing I didn't realize, was Pat Sajak used to do PM drive on WSM back in the 70's.
Now Cumulus owns WSM-FM, but WSM-AM is still owned by the Grand Ol Opry.
 
Kelly A said:
One needs to realize the genre's guardrails when you look at examples like the Dixie Chicks, or more recently, Jason Aldean. Safe topics are limited to pickup trucks, beer, men/women relationships, farming, small towns, and the flag.
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That's the thing. "Safe" often makes it bland. Not always, but...

I thought of Maddie and Tae's "Girl In A Country Song," which was a response to the cliche's prevalent at the time (and beyond), but even that was kinda "safe" in it's own way. Pretty formulaic song now that I go back and listen.

A more pointed (and honest) critique about the industry would be Kacey Musgraves' "Good Ol' Boys Club." As a song, it's a helluva lot more "traditional" country, with steel guitars and twang. But even steel guitars, fiddles, and too much twang aren't "safe" anymore. You can sing about 'em, just don't make the song too country!
 
Kelly A said:
As an aside but related: Watched the Ken Burns film about country music last weekend on PBS. What a great history, including for radio nerds, the history of WSM Nashville. One thing I didn't realize, was Pat Sajak used to do PM drive on WSM back in the 70's.
Now Cumulus owns WSM-FM, but WSM-AM is still owned by the Grand Ol Opry.
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It took years to produce this stellar series, which I believe is among Ken Burns’ best work. That is a nice factoid concerning Pat Sajak as well. My wife and I checked out the WSM studio last December as part of our Nashville trip.
 
Deus Ex Machiato said:
That's the thing. "Safe" often makes it bland. Not always, but...

I thought of Maddie and Tae's "Girl In A Country Song," which was a response to the cliche's prevalent at the time (and beyond), but even that was kinda "safe" in it's own way. Pretty formulaic song now that I go back and listen.

A more pointed (and honest) critique about the industry would be Kacey Musgraves' "Good Ol' Boys Club." As a song, it's a helluva lot more "traditional" country, with steel guitars and twang. But even steel guitars, fiddles, and too much twang aren't "safe" anymore. You can sing about 'em, just don't make the song too country!
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Scotty McCreery would beg to differ. Twangy and steely to the nth degree. Just sent to radio, likely headed to No. 1, as his last two singles have done so.
 
On "Beat Shazam" three country songs were played for the contestants. The concept is that most of each episode involves first three teams of two players, and then two teams, have to choose from four song titles, sort of like with "Name That Tune". When one team wins, they hear seven songs and have to guess the exact title before Shazam does. The first country song played for the teams was "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson. The other two to me weren't even identifiable as country. The second song was "Meant to Be' by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line. How did things get that bad?
 
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