"Everything But Country"

[DroppinScience]

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/40330/Everything_But_Country

Here's a (mostly) good article on the conundrum of those who say they like "everything" except for "country."

I'll show you the good bits.

For several years I've been taking a highly informal poll of friends, family members, coworkers, and random passersby, and I've discovered that the most popular answer to the question "What kind of music do you like?" is "I like everything," qualified with "except rap and country." This is unsettling. Let's set aside the possible race and class implications of that appending phrase; anyone who closes themselves off to these two genres is missing out on vast and exciting worlds of music in which territory is being explored that's foreign to indie guitar bands, squeaky clean pop acts, and dead rock idols.

Mainstream hip-hop has been filtering into indie culture for a few years, but contemporary country music has been slow to take root beyond safe alt- holdovers. Perhaps it's because the music as played by corporate radio stations is perceived to be simplistic, jingoistic, and sentimental-- which is true to an extent-- or simply because Arcade Fire fans don't want to be associated with NASCAR fans and Wal-Mart shoppers. As a result, indie faves Neko Case and Jenny Lewis are considered to be merely dabbling in country, and Tim McGraw covering "Stars Go Blue" doesn't mean Ryan Adams is the new Kris Kristofferson. Instead, older country music gets a pass, and artists like the Carter Family, Dock Boggs, and Bob Wills are perfectly acceptable to indie ears, perhaps because there was no rock'n'roll to compete with at that time or because they're so far removed from our current music climate that they don't register as country anymore. Even the next few generations of country artists have found an audience among younger listeners: Willie Nelson is a favorite due to his ceaseless experimenting, Loretta Lynn found a new audience working with Jack White, and Johnny Cash is more popular with the indie (and every other) crowd dead than he was alive.

Fifteen years ago, alt-country must have seemed like such a righteous undertaking, a means of reclaiming country traditions that had been forsaken by the mainstream. After all, it wasn't Nashville that made Johnny Cash an icon or helped the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack sell millions of copies and win multiple Grammys. But these days it's hard to imagine Neko Case or Victoria Williams being played alongside Shania Twain, Lee Ann Womack, or even Miranda Lambert. Nashville has so firmly delineated the terms and definitions of country music (along business as well as musical lines) that anyone who doesn't fit the camera-ready criteria doesn't stand much of a chance of getting heard on mainstream outlets. But the blame goes both ways: alt-country artists seem to have ceded the popular audience to the hat acts, remaining content to work the smaller alt-circuits and build modest cult audiences. Their fans have in turn established an us-vs.-them attitude that at worst cuts off all dialogue with the mainstream and at best just makes it a one-way street. McGraw has covered Adams, but it's doubtful Adams will reciprocate (although, who knows? He might just to spite me).

So yeah, evil corporate Nashville establishment = bad

Indie neo-traditionalists = good

Discuss

[TAL]

I've always thought it was "I like everything except opera and country".

[saz]

i like what the author was getting at in this article. it seems that he's targeting that same old indie elitist b.s. attitude. i'm really sick of it too. i find that attitude, and indie elitists more annoying than emo, goth, and middle-class white kids who think they're gangstas.

[abcdefz]

Country music is one of those things where I can recognize talent when I hear it, but I don't want to hear that form very often.

[QueenAdrock]

Country sucks, discussion over.

And don't try giving your definition of "country" again to me Droppin cuz you know what I'm talking about. :mad:

[b-grrrlie]

I had a boyfriend once (yeah those have existed!!!) who said that, and I was playing some Andy White and he was like yeuch! that's country so I said well then I like country! I already had a few Dwight Yoakam albums so I teased him a bit more, and then I even saw him (DY) a few times and boy did he have a sexy ass at Roskilde!!!

Only things that I don't like is opera and speed/deathmetal. And what is here known as schlager, not the German type, but more like glammy poppy MOR crap. Oh yeah and I ain't that keen on techno either, especially the Scooter type of thing.

[kleptomaniac]

"I like everything except opera and country".


that's how i feel. except for country mike, i don't touch really enjoy those kinds of music. then there was that gretchen wilson song that everyone was singing and it was hard to run away from it. and opera....opera's just boring.

[Caribou]

Country music is one of those things where I can recognize talent when I hear it, but I don't want to hear that form very often.

Yeah something like that. I can enjoy some good Country music when I hear it, but I don't exactly go looking for it. And I don't go round telling people I like everything except Country or whatever.
How can you say you love music, yet write off one or more whole genres?
Too many kids focus on whats cool and what isn't. It shouldn't matter.
If you happen to like a song that's Country, Emo, blingbling-rap, German Schlager, Christian Choir music or 80's New Romantic, why would you hide it?
It's just to keep up a stupid elitist image, and images suck ass.

So there. Did I mention I listen to Hanson btw?

[TurdBerglar]

i pretty much say the same thing. i hate country and rap for the most part because it's so extremely poppy.

[kleptomaniac]

i believe country rap could become HUUUUGE. like that uh nelly song, kinda? you know...

[Caribou]

Yeeeha, muthafuckas.

[kleptomaniac]

it would be funny at least! :D

[ET]

Hick-Hop (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1794557) coutesy of NPR.

http://www.kuntrykillaz.com/

[Drederick Tatum]

people who say they like everything really mean Jamiroquai and Jack Johnson so fuck them.

[Bob]

Country music is one of those things where I can recognize talent when I hear it, but I don't want to hear that form very often.

yeah, same

i like some of the stuff i hear, but i strongly dislike a lot of the rest of it and i really just don't have the energy to wade through the genre to find more stuff that i do like.

merle haggard's ok

edit: i just realized i made a different point than the one az made in my quote. so uh...yeah, different

[yeahwho]

There are a few gems in the rough out there.

My C&W tastes pretty much fall along the same lines as the guy who runs the excellent "Big Rock Candy Mountain (http://www.bigrockcandymountain.blogspot.com/)" blog.

I check it out at least once a week.

[DroppinScience]

i like what the author was getting at in this article. it seems that he's targeting that same old indie elitist b.s. attitude. i'm really sick of it too. i find that attitude, and indie elitists more annoying than emo, goth, and middle-class white kids who think they're gangstas.

Well, it IS Pitchfork, so the "indie elitist" thing is always present.

But no matter what, it's still annoying that country music gets the bad rap that it gets due to the Toby Keith variety and other such stuff.

Anyways, surely I'm not alone in being an alt-country fan, right? Right?

[saz]

yes it is annoying. i've dabbled in old bluegrass, like bill monroe and ernest tubb. but i listen to more country blues, such as big joe williams, blind lemon jefferson, charley patton, and mississippi john hurt, who all kicked ass. although blind lemon jefferson and patton's stuff can be difficult to listen to, due to the poor quality of a lot of their recordings. it's really interesting, authentic and heartfelt music, especially when you consider the vocal harmonies and what not. i'd take american roots music over any indie hipster band in a second.

[SobaViolence]

i like both kinds of music - country and western.

[hitmonlee]

well that article isn't going to make me change my statement. i still hate country music. i think i don't mind one dixie chicks song, and i like one dolly parton song. i don't even like johnny cash, so i'm pretty content in saying i hate country music, american or australian. i can't stand the tone they sing in. i don't like what they sing about.

[Documad]

I've always thought it was "I like everything except opera and country".
Whenever anyone says they love all music but country, I ask them a question about opera -- "who's your favorite baritone?" :)

I like opera, but I couldn't answer "everything but country." I don't think I like a single broadway musical written after 1980, for instance.


Droppin: XM has an alternative country station that I've tried now and then. It's not the overproduced crap that I associate with big hair. It's also not the shitty "country and western" of my youth. It's fairly pleasant. But I'm not into it enough to pay attention to who the artists are.

[Knuckles]

Anyways, surely I'm not alone in being an alt-country fan, right? Right?


Nope, you are not alone Cannon Boy.

Have you checked out Drive By Truckers yet? There's quite a bit of rock in their country but I have a feeling you would dig it.

[Drederick Tatum]

Dolly Parton is cool.

[DroppinScience]

Nope, you are not alone Cannon Boy.

Have you checked out Drive By Truckers yet? There's quite a bit of rock in their country but I have a feeling you would dig it.

Yes, I'm quite fond of Drive-By Truckers. THAT'S the stuff.

And I know this whole forum is into Wilco, so y'all can STFU with the "I hate country" posturing.

[SobaViolence]

alt-country is just a label for certain indie rock acts, to seem either less or more pretentious.





labels are lame, anyway.

[QueenAdrock]

And I know this whole forum is into Wilco, so y'all can STFU with the "I hate country" posturing.

I don't like their "True Love Will Find You in the End" song because it DOES have that country-twang to it. I like "I'm Trying to Break Your Heart" because it's kick-ass and doesn't have country stylings. None that I can detect and hate, at least.

[abcdefz]

merle haggard's ok




I just made a Merle Haggard thread the other day. Great, great singer, but the sort of production behind his stuff... It's like Owen what's-his-name, who did Patsy Cline's stuff. Which is fine, but... I dunno. I can't imagine throwing it on at the office, you know?

I listen to Hank Sr., Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Buck Owens, Johnny Cash (country or not), and then some real oldie stuff from the '20's and 30's. Country gospel, stuff like that. Real hillbilly music. But regular old country doesn't speak to me too often. It sounds about as unvarying and simplistic to me as some people say blues sounds to them, I guess.

[abcdefz]

And I know this whole forum is into Wilco, so y'all can STFU with the "I hate country" posturing.



I actually start off with Wilco at Summerteeth, so there.

[M.C. Guevera]

When I was 8, I went through a brief country music phase (I guess I was subconsciously rebelling against all the rich white kids in my neighborhood or something, I don't know), so I liked quite a few country music songs. I used to watch CMT everyday, go to sleep listening to 103.5 WYNY in New York (back when it was the country music station, right before it turned into dance then Top 40. I think I was the only person heartbroken when they made the switch.) All I listened to was country which puzzled everybody I know.

Anyway, that was during a really sweet time in my life, so I still like those songs because of nostalgia. But I haven't sought out new country in over 10 years. I think the most recent country I've heard is that "Redneck Woman" song and "Rap Is Crap" from the WCW pro wrestling organazation back in 1999! It's not that I hate country, it's just that I have no interest in following it or listening to it regulary.

And indie-elitists piss me off too. Like this one guy I know. God, how he irks me.

[Knuckles]

Mr. Lambert, have you checked out Old 97's yet?

[FunkyHiFi]

Let's set aside the possible race and class implications of that appending phrase;Arrrrgh - why is it when someone says they don't like something, so many people nowadays immediately jump to the conclusion that the other person is a rascist or elitist?? Gee, ever consider the possiblity that maybe the story being told is not something the person can relate to? Or maybe he just doesn't want to hear stories about rusty pick up trucks or drive by shootings. So take your politically-correct crap elsewhere and shut your cake hole.

sorry for the rant

Anyhoo.................

I really just wanted to add an FYI about C&W music, particularly the "W" part: other than guitars, pianos and some other instruments, western music doesn't share that much with country. Here are three of six western albums I own:

Cowboyography (http://www.amazon.com/Cowboyography-Ian-Tyson/dp/B000000EMY/sr=1-1/qid=1168485979/ref=sr_1_1/102-8330650-2076140?ie=UTF8&s=music) by Ian Tyson

Songs of Rodeo Life (http://www.amazon.com/Songs-Rodeo-Life-Chris-LeDoux/dp/B000002UYX/sr=1-26/qid=1168487703/ref=sr_1_26/102-8330650-2076140?ie=UTF8&s=music) by Chris LeDoux

Cowboy Songs (http://www.amazon.com/Cowboy-Songs-Michael-Martin-Murphey/dp/B000002LME/ref=pd_bxgy_m_img_b/102-8330650-2076140) by Michael Martin Murphy (though sometimes this one sounds uncomfortably close to mass-market C&W)

[DroppinScience]

Mr. Lambert, have you checked out Old 97's yet?

I'm not familiar with them. Indulge me, Mr. Knucks.

[Knuckles]

I'm not familiar with them. Indulge me, Mr. Knucks.
Here (http://www.old97s.com/discography/index.html#wreck) you go. I recommend you start with Wreck Your Life. It's my favorite.

[icy manipulator]

people who say they like everything really mean Jamiroquai and Jack Johnson so fuck them.
ha. that's so true for so many ppl i know. cept i love jamiroquai and hate jack johnson