Steve Earle on the state of popular country music:
"Most country nowadays, country by men, is hip-hop for people that are afraid of black people."
http://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/steve-earle-interview
With such easy access to the world of alt-country and Americana these days, I can't imagine why anyone would listen to cliche ridden nonsense that is pop country...other than that appeal to white supremacy, I guess. We've all seen how far that will take you in today's America.
@conradcole I liked #SteveEarle's early stuff: Guitar Town, Exit 0, & Copperhead Road. I like *some* of his stuff after that, but not much. Either too heavy or too Folk for me.
He does have a point, but his way of saying it is too harsh (I haven't read the article, just the quote). He's left of the Left, & his #music has become too preachy with his politics.
@SlowRain I think his music is always pretty hit and miss. I enjoy his more rollicking country tunes.
I tend to think of him as an embedded participant and informal documentarian of a scene I enjoy. From his youth hanging around with Townes Van Zandt and Guy Glark to his mentoring of early Alt-Country acts, up through his work with David Simon. He expresses what it is like to be there without it feeling like a form of career angling on his part.
I appreciate that.
@SlowRain And I don't mind his politics coming out in his songs. Especially given all the dog whistle politics pop country is slathered in, I think it is important that the genre not be conceded to those who'd use it to condone the nation's current direction.
He's no Pete Seeger, but he does keep the man's work alive.
@conradcole That's a pretty fair summation (except I don't know who Pete Seeger is).
@SlowRain Who are your go-to country music acts?
@conradcole You tryin' to trigger another bout of nostalgia? 😁
#DwightYoakam
#GarthBrooks
#GeorgeStrait
#DanSeals (RIP)
#AlanJackson
#TheOakRidgeBoys
#RonnieMilsap
#JuiceNewton
#Alabama
some #TimMcGraw
some #RebaMcEntire
some #VinceGill
some #MartinaMcBride
some #RandyTravis
some #BellamyBrothers
Don't get offended, but #LeeGreenwood has a good voice, & I like a couple #TobyKeith songs (my Chinese wife *loves* his music. 🤔 ).
You?
@SlowRain My first purchased album as an eight-year-old was Johnny Cash's greatest hits. I grew up with plenty of him, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson on A.M. radio. I didn't know #OutlawCountry was a thing, but that was what stuck with me.
I moved away from #CountryMusic about the time most of the acts in your list came to the fore, though The Oak Ridge Boys were the first concert I went to.
I started returning to it with the rise of alt-country acts like...
@SlowRain I like plenty of old stuff, but I'm definitely not somebody who feels like there's nothing good being made anymore. Appeals to false golden ages feels lazy to me. There's a ton of good stuff being made, and access to it has never been easier.
@SlowRain One thing I really love about the current era of music consumption is a consequence of the cost of high quality sound and video equipment coming down. Now there are dozens of radio stations and magazines creating these really stellar musical performance videos. Genre's other than country are probably better represented among those, but there are good country ones too.
Here's a Josh Ritter one I really like:
@conradcole Ah, yes. The Highwaymen. Slightly before my time, but enjoyable nonetheless.
I'll have to look up some of those others the next time I have a few minutes. I haven't heard of any of them, save for Van Zandt--and even then I just know his name. Pretty sure my tastes are too mainstream, though.
@conradcole I actually stopped following music in any meaningful way when I came to Taiwan--not that it was a big thing in my life back in Canada anyway. Mostly, I just needed something to listen to, on AM radio, driving the tractor up & down the field.
@SlowRain One of the many things I like about living abroad is that I'm disconnected from much of the ambient American media culture. Many of the most famous acts there I may know by name having encountered them adjacently online, but I couldn't pick them out of a lineup or identify any of their work. I usually let things linger in the public consciousness for a while and see what filters through to the various channels I maintain, be they written online media or acquaintances. It works well.
@conradcole That's a good way to handle pop culture. Now if we could just get people living *in* North America to do that, too.
@SlowRain ...Uncle Tupelo, Old 97s, Yonder Mountain String Band, Whiskeytown, The Gourds, Freakwater, Richard Buckner, etc.
I like a lot of current acts, like Devil Makes Three, Blitzen Trapper, Bob Forrest, Gillian Welch, Greg Brown, Gurf Morlix, Howe Gelb, Trampled by Turtles, Ivas John, Old Crow Medicine Show, and the like.
It also led me to look back and see who was there bridging the gap that I didn't pay attention to, so I got into Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Jimmie Dale Gilmore.