But I just saw the so-called entertainer of the year. Some doofus named Luke Bryan, I think. Good God, it's worse than I thought. There wasn't a shred of real country in his performance.
But, is he cute (as a man, I have no opinion)??? All the new country stars: Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, etc., have to first and foremost be good looking, so that teenagers will develop crushes on them and buy their songs.
Another "things aren't as good as they used to be post?" Yes, Patsy Cline was good - get over it. The irony is in your day you didn't have the internet to aid in this bitching.
Chango, No need to snipe at me because of my age. There are a lot of things that are better now than when I was young: special effects in movies and on TV; telephone service; recycling; video games; the internet, which was non-existent when I was young. And plenty more. If contemporary country were good, I'd be the first to say so.
No type of music is better now than it used to be. The crap coming out now shows a complete lack of talent, tone deafness, and audiences that can't tell the difference.
_______________________________________________________________________________________ All the new country stars: Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, etc., have to first and foremost be good looking, so that teenagers will develop crushes on them and buy their songs. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ It wasn't a bad formula in the 1970s, when I bought albums and had something like a crush on Olivia Newton John and Linda Ronstadt, who at the time were VERY nice looking. Looking back, Olivia's country stuff was junk. Linda though, did some songs with serious artistic merit.
Chango, did you Google Luke Bryan and watch a video or two? Regrettably, I did. Texanne, as usual, is right on the money.
nothing is static, everything evolves. Country started out catering to one audience and then the audience aged and changed and we get this stuff. Country audiences now are city people and most have never even lived in rural areas, which was the original audience. When was the last time anybody went to a rural dance hall? There used to be community halls all over the countryside; I first saw Willie Nelson at the Roundup Club in Skidmore, population a couple of hundred. I saw RAy Price at SChroeder Hall, population maybe ten. Charlie Pride at the Roundup for $2 and Waylon at a dump outside of Lubbock. The rural audiences moved to town and things changed. I don't listen to the stuff anymore because it is mainstream and oriented towards women; Nothing wrong with that if that's the audience. I'm old so I like the older music. If you like the old stuff, go to a second hand store and buy some old LPs. JiIllions of them out there for nothing.
Nobody with taste listens to contemporary country. Find an "americana" radio station online (itunes radio, cable tv, XM/serius) and get that goodness.
Totally agree TexAnne.....was just telling my Grandkids that their country loving grandfather did not like the stuff today - not Luke Bryan or that Florida Georgia Line stuff. But I will always like George S. Now its the Wade Bowen types that I'll still listen to, and more of the old stuff. Now and then a song comes around, like some of Currington's stuff, but basically all the new types suck. Wife gets a kick out of teasing me about my listening to the old, what I consider real, country. I tell her it is simply in my blood lines coming from a long line of Texas hillbillies. Hookem
You should give classical music a try. A few years ago, "Free Bird" came on the radio and I thought, if I hear this song one more time, I may loose it. There was a free concert at the Myerson in Dallas, so I went and enjoyed it very much. Pretty much guaranteed to hear something I have never heard before every time I go, which I really enjoy.
You're not the only one Texanne - The Link There is a Luke Bryan song that makes me want to punch him in the face. Something about begging a girl to "crash his party" after she's been out all night and couldn't get laid by someone else. He'll just sit in house and hope. Panzy. on a positive note, there's always Jamey Johnson The Link One of the best country tunes of the decade.
Im in a rut. Any hipsters out there that can recommend some new Alt-country that is less than two years old?
Not giving us much to work with, hook. Stream The Link and you should soon find something you like. Not a new artist, but if you also like Americana, "Still Fighting the War" (2013 release from Slaid Cleaves) is probably his best album yet.
Texanne, you have ****** taste in puppies, but you're absolutely right about music. "new" country sucks ***. My "favorites" are "Little Big Town". I'm willing to wager that they know the words to every Bon Jovi and Journey song, but couldn't hum a George Jones tune if you held a gun to their heads.
The Link Yes, real country still exists, but it plays in front of small audiences. Check out the song that autoplays on James Hand's website and tell me that's not real country. He sometimes plays with Austin luminaries like Redd Volkaert and Cindy Cashdollar, and if you can catch him live you'll be glad you did.
