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New Country Vs. Old Country and the “Murder on Music Row” by EZ-Tracks

Country music, like any musical format, has had its fair share of controversies over the years. In recent times, there have been a number of so called traditional country music artists who have made disparaging comments in regard to the current state of country music. Complaints of the sellout mentality have been rampant since country started enjoying true mainstream popularity in the 90’s, but reached a fever pitch at the turn of the century when artists such as Shania Twain and Faith Hill bared their midriffs and crossed over to the pop charts thanks to smooth production and bubblegum sensibilities. Since that time, country has been categorized as either new or old country, though even the stars on the old side of the equation were once “new”, as it turns out.

To get a better perspective on the issue, it’s important to look at the history of country music as a whole, although the last quarter century will do just fine.

In 1980, country saw the birth of the “Urban Cowboy” movement, popularized by the John Travolta movie of the same name. Many in the industry regard this period as a black mark on country music, with pop inspired country songs that couldn’t make it as country, and were equally abysmal at being pop. Even popular and unquestionably talented acts of the time such as Alabama were virtually ignored by the country establishment, though the number of hits they had certainly spoke volumes of their popularity with the public. Additionally, many country music fixtures of the previous era (and eras) continued to enjoy some level of success during this time. Johnny Cash was a legend of country music well before this period and enjoyed moderate success through it, until 1986, that is, when his label dropped him for not fitting into what country had become at the time.

What country had become at the time was a supposed return to traditionalism. Country regained it’s “countrified” sound, and Cash’s music didn’t fit in. Artist such as Reba McEntire, Dwight Yoakam , Randy Travis and Ricky Skaggs now defined country, as did George Straight, who began his career in the “Urban Cowboy” era.

This short period was abruptly halted by the “hat brigade”, led by Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and others. At this point, country became wildly popular, though there was some dissention in the ranks, mostly from artists of the previous eras.

And today, of course, we have artists from more than one era complaining about the current crop of country music stars. Loretta Lynn can’t get 5 seconds on modern country radio, but thankfully has found an audience through her association with Jack White, a rock music icon.

So what do we make of all this? The simple truth is that music was meant to evolve, and that holds true for country just as well as it does for any other genre. Even the legendary Hank Williams, who died at the young age of 29, changed his style during his all too short career. If that’s not enough to convince you, take a look at the career of Chet Atkins, possibly the greatest guitar player to ever pick up the instrument (with all due respect to Andres Segovia). Atkins did more for country music than just about any artist in the history of the genre.

By the 1980’s, he was bored with country and began releasing some of the most brilliant jazz guitar records ever produced.

Jazz...imagine that.


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