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  Nashville's Thinking Problem (Page 1)

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Author Topic:   Nashville's Thinking Problem
Walter Stettner
Member

From: Vienna, Austria

posted 05 June 2006 06:58 AM     profile     
Our good friend Wayne Appleby from Australia (Wayne has contributed a lot to the succes of Jean Stafford, the great singer from Australia!) has drawn my attention to this website which all country music fans should be aware of:
http://www.takecountryback.com/main.htm

Lots of interesting reading material, like this one:


quote:

EDITORIAL:
Nashville's Thinkin' Problem

Mainstream country music appears to be on life support. The past month brought nothing but more bad news. Although country music sales were up slightly, it’s still sitting in the cellar. The rankings came out, and country music which once held the # 2 spot for decades and slipped to the #4 spot a couple of years ago, still sits there- behind rock, rap and R&B. The only genre that fared worse is pop, which fell from #3 to #5. Selling a paltry (by post-Garth standards) 10,000 CDs in a week is good enough to land an artist the number #1 slot on the country chart these days. More roster cuts were announced at the major labels. After Sony’s latest purge, that leaves a grand total of 11 country artists on the combined rosters of their various labels. Pretty scary stuff. Artists are being banned from the airwaves over differing political views and personal grudges by radio station owners. On June 11th, the staff at Country Music magazine, a well respected publication that’s been around for more than 30 years, was told that the issue they’d just sent off to press would be the magazine’s final issue, and the doors were closing. That now leaves the tabloid Country Weekly as the only national publication for mainstream country music ‘news.’ Now that’s some very scary news. Country Weekly more resembles it’s sister tabloid, The National Enquirer, heavy on sensationalism and fluff pieces and very short on anything of actual substance. The latest ‘scandal’ (real or imagined)? Check. Kenny Chesney’s mother’s friend’s cousin’s recipe for double chunk brownies? Check. The hottest fashions worn by ‘today’s hottest stars’ who look like they forgot to look in the mirror before walking out in public? Check. Advice for people who don’t seem capable of deciding whether to put on their left or right shoe first? Double check. Features that are nothing more than yet another re-write of some feature or interview they have on file that was done a decade ago? Triple check. Looking for information on the upcoming Johnny Paycheck tribute in the works? Sorry. Want to read about what finally prompted Ray Price to write his autobiography? You’re out of luck. In search of an honest, objective music review? Uh, nope. CMT’s latest offerings? "Video Babes: Secrets Revealed!" and "Video Confessions." Perhaps Viacom got their stations confused and sent the programming for their new men’s ‘Spike’ channel to CMT by accident? The film "Country Music" was just previewed and will be released to IMAX theaters later this summer. The movie is just 37 minutes long, and is supposed to cover 100 years of country music! It happens to be a Gaylord presentation, and 37 minutes sums up their vision of country music. Not a mention of Buck, Merle or Bakersfield. The 70's Outlaw Movement is represented by Jo Dee Messina (huh?) singing "I Wear My Own Kind Of Hat." Roger McGuinn of the Byrds is featured, and the Pete Seeger penned "Turn, Turn, Turn" is heralded as a major country song.

So where is the CMA, you know, that organization that’s supposed to be preserving and promoting country music, amidst all this gloom and doom? Why aren’t they stepping up to the plate to do something about this dire situation? Seems they were off busily doing the genre wrong themselves. Turns out they’re the ones who voted the ranking of the songs CMT picked as the final 100. Mainstream fare has gotten so dull that the ratings are sinking every year for their annual CMA Awards broadcast. It’s a sad statement when their Website touts in it’s history, how the program consistently was the top rated special of a given year. Over the past few years, it’s gone from the highest annually rated special (or ranked minimally in the top 5), to the highest rated special for that given week, and now it barely wins the night’s ratings. So they were also busily off getting the show moved from October (which was previously switched from September because it conflicted with TV series season premiers) to TV’s November sweeps period. Ah yes, and then there’s their latest bombshell that they sprung during this year’s recent Fan Fair. Since moving Fan Fair from the Fairgrounds to downtown Nashville, attendance has been steadily dropping. According to CMA Executive Director, Ed Benson, "Research we’ve got tells us that the word ‘fair’ was a problem because it [describes] how people feel about something that is more rural, more agricultural, more like a state fair." Somehow they interpreted this as a ‘negative,’ so based on their ‘research,’ the CMA decided to do away with ‘Fan Fair’ and in it’s place will be the ‘CMA Music Festival,’ which will include non-country performers along with sports, film, TV and other celebrities and entertainers. This is helping and promoting country music? Ah yes, but then these are the same people that came up with the half baked idea that country music needed a slogan and came up with one so dim witted, that the feedback was so negative it thankfully never saw the light of day..."Country. Admit it. You love it."

Country music is dying due to internal politics and neglect, it’s as simple as that. The structure of the CMA has become so overly bloated and riddled with conflict of interest, it’s finally reached the point where it’s outlived it’s usefulness, and has long lost sight of it’s original ‘vision.’ The CMA claims a membership of 6000 members. It has 7 departments. Why on earth would an organization of that modest a size need 61 people sitting on their board of directors?! Name me a company that employs 6000 people that has a board of directors that size! It’s no wonder that nothing of any importance gets accomplished- it would take a year just for a memo to get around to all of them. Then, look at who sits on the board of directors. Clear Channel is represented. So is Viacom and Gaylord, as are the major labels who have to take orders from and answer to bean counters these days. Seems to me these are the very same people that are the biggest part, if not the direct cause, of the problem today. They’re the ones with the phobias about any kind of ‘country’ stereotype, not the fans/listeners/consumers. With the makeup of the board of directors, it’s obvious that they’re out to promote their own agendas and their own vision of what they want country music to be, as opposed to what the genre’s reality is. People who’s roots are in rural America are moving to the big cities, and small towns are growing into big towns, and the music will always appeal to that sector of people, but country music will never be an ‘urban’ music, no matter how hard they try to make it so. This simple fact seems to be completely incomprehensible to them.

We haven’t heard word one from the CMA on any of the things I’ve so far previously mentioned. Not a word on the lack of real country content on CMT. Not a statement in regard to the demise of a well respected country music magazine. Not a peep uttered in regard to radio owners and the banning issue. Not a sound as Gaylord systematically began dismantling the heritage of Music City piece by piece. Deafening silence at the massive roster cuts and the lack of promoting creativity at the record labels or the utter lack of diversity, ridiculously limited play lists- not to mention the ‘under the table’ payola demands- on the part of radio stations. They blame downloading. They blame the fans, who translate into consumers, on sales and attendance declines. The truth of the matter is they have no one but themselves to blame. They’ve offered the fan/consumer nothing for quite a while now. Indistinguishable, bland generic songs from indistinguishable and questionably talented generic performers, neither of which, far too often these days, even have any kind of remote connection to the genre. Outrageous ticket prices for concerts and other events. Overpriced CDs full of overproduced, shoddy product. And with all the money they spend on their ‘marketing research,’ which they think has us all figured out, the reality is that they don’t even begin to know or understand their consumer. We’re not afraid of ‘country,’ ‘rural,’ ‘agriculture,’ ‘twang’ ‘steel,’ fiddle,’ ‘ lyin’, drinkin’, cheatin’, trains ’ or even the word ‘fair.’ We are however, loyal to the genre and respect (and expect) ‘tradition.’ And now the CMA itself as an organization, is about to dump yet another tradition in pursuit of a profit, instead of fixing the underlying problems which are not going to go away by re-packaging and glossing over it.

So far only one CMA member, country artist Holly Dunn, has stood up and voiced her outrage in a letter to the Tennessean, at the CMA’s plan to dump Fan Fair, and has stated she will not remain a member of an organization who’s actions contradict it’s purpose. She also outlined what some of the reasons for the decline in attendance have been, as did many other writers and industry people. So have the country music fans. Though the scattered move to downtown Nashville did change things, the real truth of the matter is, that over the past few years, even before the move, there wasn’t much there to entice people to shell out that kind of money to travel there from all over, not only the country, but from around the world. The industry (mainstream-wise) hasn’t produced any new artists or music that have sparked any excitement with the fans in quite a long while now. The ‘Nashville community’ has long since stopped supporting it’s legends and long established performers. Which leaves the current crop of ‘superstars.’ Looking at the list of performers that fall into this category, those that even bother showing up at Fan Fair has dwindled over the past few years to an occasional drip. Seems for this new crop of stars, this sort of thing is simply beneath them. They want y’all to buy their music and pay those exorbitant prices for tickets to their concerts where you’re encouraged to buy plenty of their overpriced ‘mementos,’ yet they can’t seem to find the time to sign a few autographs and shake a few hands after their shows, or find a couple of days out of the year to come on down to say not only ‘hi,’ but ‘thanks’ to their fans that have supported them...and their lifestyles. The few who do show up? Well you won’t find them sitting in any booth signing autographs and posing for a picture these days. They’ll make an appearance at ‘fan club parties,’ where only card carrying, dues paying fans are permitted. PAYING to be a fan?! We pay for CDs, DVDs, concert tickets and assorted other fan related merchandise- and then we have to PAY for the ‘privilege’ of being a fan? With more and more of these performers, you can’t even access their Websites (or all areas of it) unless you pay ‘fan club dues.’ Ah, but they say ‘paying’ fan club members get special ‘perks,’ like advance ticket sales or preferred seating. Ok, how about these artists that never seem to come within a 500 mile radius of where I live? In order for this ‘perk’ to be of any use to me, I’d have to buy the ticket, which you figure is going to run somewhere between $50 & $100. Then I’d have to pay travel expenses, pay for a place to stay, meals, etc. These performers expect their fans to do this for them, yet hmmm...they can’t manage to find a mere couple of days out of their year to do anything in return for their fans. We’re not talking about the artists who are struggling to make it, are on the road 350 days a year, selling homemade CDs out of their trunks. We’re talking major label backed multi-millionaires who tour when they feel like it, and take time off when they feel like it. The ones with big fancy houses (many times, more than one), lots of acreage, a half dozen cars, a boat or two, maybe some horses, nannies to take care of the kids that get sent off to private schools...all paid for by the fans who have supported them and have given them the lifestyles they’re leading. Giving up a couple of days out of the year to give something back to the fans as a gesture of ‘thanks’ is that tough an ordeal? This is the very thing that set country music apart from any other genre- the loyalty, the close relationship between artist and fan- the feeling that the ‘stars’ were ‘plain folk,’ just like their fans, only luckier.

It’s these detached, pampered, spoiled, no-show ‘stars’ who have directly impacted the direction that Fan Fair has taken- it’s downhill slide. So why has the CMA not taken steps to correct this situation? Changing the name to the CMA Music Festival isn’t going to make them show up, so therefore no ‘stars,’ no reason for people to spend money to attend. Bringing in artists of other genres and celebrities from other fields of entertainment isn’t going to draw people to Nashville. Nashville is synonymous with ‘country music,’ a reputation that took decades to build and it’s not about to change anytime in the near (or probably even distant) future, despite the questionable ‘music’ coming out of it these days. Nashville cannot compare itself to, or try to be, Austin. Austin built it’s own reputation by being a progressive, open-minded melting pot of many different musical styles. The Austin City Limits Festival is something unto itself- styled after a long running and highly regarded TV show that has spotlighted many different musical styles over the decades. It’s a brand name that ACL has expanded upon, and why it has succeeded. Fan Fair is as much a Nashville brand name as the Grand Ole Opry, and the CMA should be looking to capitalize and expand on that, and should not be trying to copy something entirely different that works on a completely different level. Capitalizing and expanding on Fan Fair means getting the ‘names’ participating again, and not exclusively at ‘fan club’ functions- but back in the booths to meet the fans who’ve given them all they’ve been blessed with. Without their fans they’d be nowhere. It’s the responsibility of the CMA to make that happen as it’s their job to preserve and promote country music- which includes it’s heritage and it’s traditions.

As for the no-shows...take a good hard look at real artists like George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Ralph Stanley, Willie Nelson or the Opry vets, who are all well into their golden years and are still out there meeting and playing to their fans anywhere they feel they need to go- from (eeek!) fairs to small venues- not because they need to, but because they feel they owe it to the fans who have supported them all these years. They even still show up at Fan Fair after all these years. Look at artists like Waylon Jennings who kept performing as long as he was able- even if it meant taking the stage in a wheelchair. Severe pain and illness didn’t keep Tammy Wynette from performing because she never wanted to disappoint a single fan. The difference between those in it for the love of the music and the current crop of pampered cream puffs is glaringly apparent. The latter are obviously in it for nothing else but the fat bankbooks, and where the former group are the true country artists, the latter are nothing but empty acts.

Maybe one day, just one of those 61 directors that sits on the board of the CMA will finally comprehend that the country music industry just simply isn’t delivering what the fans, the listeners, the consumers of the music, really want. They’re not even in the ballpark.

AnnMarie Harrington Take Country Back

What you think? Send us your 2 Cents to info@takecountryback.com

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Created and maintained by Take Country Back™ Copyright 2005 All rights reserved ©



Kind Regards, Walter

www.lloydgreentribute.com
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf

Ray Minich
Member

From: Limestone, New York, USA

posted 05 June 2006 07:33 AM     profile     
Country music isn't dying...
ORGANIZED country music is hurtin' though.

Wonder what Britney would sound like singin' "Your Cheatin' Heart"?

Papa Joe Pollick
Member

From: Pontiac, Michigan, USA

posted 05 June 2006 07:48 AM     profile     
Let the truth be told.. PJ
Dave Mudgett
Member

From: Central Pennsylvania, USA

posted 05 June 2006 08:15 AM     profile     
quote:
According to CMA Executive Director, Ed Benson, "Research we’ve got tells us that the word ‘fair’ was a problem because it [describes] how people feel about something that is more rural, more agricultural, more like a state fair." Somehow they interpreted this as a ‘negative,’ so based on their ‘research,’, ...

This is a typical example of the mis-use of "pseudo science". They pick the demographic they want to try to appeal to (upscale yuppies with lots of money) and of course, the result is a foregone conclusion.

IMO, the upscale yuppie demographic with lots of money that most marketeers seem to aim at are not, for the most part, going to ever like anything that has a rural or country connotation to it. I'm sorry - that is the world I grew up in, and I don't think it will happen.

This is exactly the opposite of the very successful niche marketing approach - find one or more specialized markets and aim products at them. Instead, marketeers are trying to siphon off a piece of that upscale mainstream market pie. It's a huge mistake. IMO, most markets, especially music, are extremely fragmented, with lots of different "loyalist" groups. To get any street cred with these groups, the product has to be aimed directly at them. They are hyper-sensitive to fakery, IMO.

I also think it's absurd to assume that only upwardly mobile economic groups are worth pursuing, as a market. This has never been true, but that's where the glamour is, I guess. How could we realistically expect LA and NY music moguls to see it differently?

I believe this will fail under its own weight. We should stop worrying about it, and find a way to go around the "music mainstream" with our own niches. I think the future will require music producers to be agile - lean, mean, and adaptable. The image of pampered rock and rap stars is bogus, and will probably wane just as the exaagerated big-hair bands of the 80s did. I sincerely hope the days of the pork-barrel music industry are coming to an end. Honest music, directly marketed to fans of that music, would be a much better approach that can work in the internet-dominated world we now live in. But it needs organization to get focused. It also needs to have a realistic set of expectations - I'm not talking about Garth Brooks level sales here. Again, IMO.

Bobby Lee
Sysop

From: Cloverdale, North California, USA

posted 05 June 2006 09:51 AM     profile     
The musical difference between country and rock is so small these days, one has to wonder why country is considered a separate genre. The real difference is the demographics of the audience, not the music.

------------------
Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6)   My Blog

Rick Garrett
Member

From: Tyler, Texas

posted 05 June 2006 10:35 AM     profile     
Good post Bobby Lee. Short, correct, to the point and a fast read. All the things I love in a post.

Rick
P.S. I think classic country music is doing really well in East Texas. The Tom Perryman Legends show is number one in the morning around here. Maybe someday Nashville will get the message.

Kenny Burford
Member

From: Lexington, Missouri USA

posted 05 June 2006 11:07 AM     profile     
Sounds like good news to me, get rid of the crap that the major labels are sending out to the radio stations then all the none-country stations can fold up and it's back to Real Country Music. So what's the problem? Best news I have heard in years.
Brett Anderson
Member

From: Arizona, USA

posted 05 June 2006 12:43 PM     profile     
You need only to have heard a clear channel country station in the last few years to be able to say with absolute authority that the music for the most part blows. Definitely not the best songs or singers. And I know this may strike some nerves but I think it's time to mix some new blood into the A-team. Paul is safe, but too many of the new records sound too much alike. Perhaps a few new producers would be in order as well. And it's high time I got a record deal and a big pile of money. The pretty boy artists aren't cutting it. They need someone like me, over 6 feet tall and 200 pounds who has actually lived some life to straighten up their act. There's alot of us here on the forum. Too many to be ignored and some of us have some connections. Let's get it together.
Brett Anderson
Member

From: Arizona, USA

posted 05 June 2006 12:51 PM     profile     
And Walter, Thank You for posting this article. Any one that wants a cd of my band playing live, e-mail me your address and I'll send you a copy FREE. Hope this doesn't break any forum rules. Its a cd of covers. The great Jimmy Walls on his Mullen steel.
Brett Anderson
Member

From: Arizona, USA

posted 05 June 2006 06:43 PM     profile     
UP PLEASE. Isn't anybody else encouraged or discouraged by this article?
Mark Eaton
Member

From: Windsor, Sonoma County, CA

posted 05 June 2006 07:04 PM     profile     
I'm discouraged by it Brett.

But I am able to find no lack of really good country music out there that is recorded.

That's why, like some of the others here, I don't really care. CMT is owned by MTV. They play most of the same stuff in a rotation that is quite mediocre. Once in awhile there is something good by Alison Krauss & Union Station, or Brad Paisley, Alan Jackson, or Del McCoury.

I buy CD's all the time. I picked up the Hacienda Brothers the other day. I really like those guys and there is some outstanding steel guitar playing.

What discourages me, is that groups like that are just scrapin' by these days.

But there's some great country music being made. Dale Watson, James "Slim" Hand, Buddy Miller, Jon Randall, Patty Loveless, etc.

Good country music isn't dead at all, it's just gone kind've semi- underground these days. But we all know the hard work and dedication it takes to become a good musician, and that's the discouraging part. A lot of those folks are not paid commensurate with the "dues paid" during their career.

Fellow Californian Merle Haggard can't stand the whole Nashville corporate music scene, and chooses not to participate. God bless him!

------------------
Mark

Brett Anderson
Member

From: Arizona, USA

posted 05 June 2006 07:59 PM     profile     
men Mark, And Merle has done pretty well for himself.
Dean Dobbins
Member

From: Rome, Ilinois, U.S.A.

posted 05 June 2006 08:44 PM     profile     
b0b-I definitely dissagree- the difference between country and rock is as great as it has ever been. If you add steel and/or fiddle to a rock song, with a rock beat, it is still ROCK, not country!

------------------
Dino

Gary Atkinson
Member

From: Arkansas, USA

posted 05 June 2006 09:15 PM     profile     
If you milk a cow til it goes dry you don't quit drinking milk you go buy another cow.It seems like once Ray price and Merle Haggard got older everyone thought,well there's no use doing that music anymore they've done it all.There's still a lot of songs to be written and even more to say these days.It ain't over yet,as long as we don't want it to be.This forum is a good place to start to speak out.Some of you know people who can find the right ears to bend about it,let's all do a little bending.
Gary A.
David L. Donald
Member

From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

posted 05 June 2006 09:18 PM     profile     
All this, and Mandy Barnett is still
without a contract since 1999.
One of the best country voices around.

Yet will the brains at the lables
put her with a good producer and do the album
she is totally capable of...
not on your tin-type.

The demographics aren't there..
in some nimrod's opinion.

Even though she could apeal to 3 generations of country fans
at the same time on the same album.

I put on a cd of her for a diehard reggae fan here,
he immeditately said
"WOW!! who's this singer."

Dave Mudgett
Member

From: Central Pennsylvania, USA

posted 06 June 2006 07:29 AM     profile     
IMO - Large, multi-billion dollar companies don't like this kind of market fragmentation - it's expensive and difficult to keep up with all these niches, and hard to predict and keep pace with the changes. They want cash cows - their bottom line is strictly money. In these days of strictly opportunistic capitalism, the money flows strictly into the easiest source for profits.

So I'm not surprised that they're doing what other large, multi-billion dollar companies do - try to mold the market into what they want to sell - it's predictable, and they can go to their stockholders and tell them with a reasonable degree of certainty what the future holds. Of course, they forgot that music isn't microwave ovens or refrigerators. Or is it? All they have to do is stamp out this annoying individuality.

Terry Edwards
Member

From: Layton, UT

posted 06 June 2006 08:11 AM     profile     
The paradigm is shifting.

Nashville suits "think" they have control of the direction of country music via country radio.

Politics aside (please), the Dixie Chicks recent debut at no. 1 on Billboard, Amazon.com, and iTunes without the help of country radio must mean something.

The way people discover music and buy music has changed. With the advent internet sites like Amazon and iTunes and all the various music forums and chat rooms, information and virtual record stores have replaced radio and real stores.

I can play a sample of the songs on a CD on my computer at Amazon.com and read informative reviews by people who bought the CD. That's way better than listening to some DJ on country radio telling you what is hot and what is not.

The Dixie Chicks succeded in selling their new CD without the help of country radio, pop radio, or any kind of radio.

Who really listens to radio anyway? I don't. I play CDs, Sirius satellite, and Direct TV listening channels. Radio doesn't give me any choices - they do the thinking for you.

Corporate Nashville's thinking problem.

The paradigm is shifting and for once it may be in favor of the small independent artists.

Terry

Kevin Hatton
Member

From: Amherst, N.Y.

posted 06 June 2006 08:27 AM     profile     
Ed Bensen seems to be part of the problem. He's NOT country. A new organization needs to be formed like The Country Music Guild representing real country people and music. Ricky Scaggs, George Strait, and Alan Jackson as directors. I'm telling you folks this is PLANNED cultural genocide. Thanks Gaylord.

[This message was edited by Kevin Hatton on 06 June 2006 at 08:28 AM.]

Dave Mudgett
Member

From: Central Pennsylvania, USA

posted 06 June 2006 08:38 AM     profile     
Yes, Kevin - that's the type of thing I alluded to in my first post. It's time to organize now. An independent organization of real country artists would have credibility with that audience. The traditional blues and mainstream jazz folks have been doing that type of thing for a long time. The market for real country is much larger, IMO.
Kevin Hatton
Member

From: Amherst, N.Y.

posted 06 June 2006 09:13 AM     profile     
Does anyone know Ed Bensen's background and what qualifies him to be in charge of the CMA? Also is there a CMA Charter?
James Cann
Member

From: Phoenix, AZ (heart still in Boston)

posted 06 June 2006 10:52 AM     profile     
Excellent article, and my thanks also to Walter S. I wondered at first if it had appeared in the Tennessean; after finding out that it didn't, I wonder if it ever did or would!

[This message was edited by James Cann on 11 June 2006 at 05:09 PM.]

Ray Minich
Member

From: Limestone, New York, USA

posted 06 June 2006 11:29 AM     profile     
Trade organizations have been around for many years. Practically every trade has one, to promote their product, promote product consistency, and provide some "cohesiveness" to the group.
They are supposed to be servants to the group, not commanding officers...
Mike Ester
Member

From: New Braunfels, Texas, USA

posted 06 June 2006 01:36 PM     profile     
quote:
Seems for this new crop of stars, this sort of thing is simply beneath them. They want y’all to buy their music and pay those exorbitant prices for tickets to their concerts where you’re encouraged to buy plenty of their overpriced ‘mementos,’ yet they can’t seem to find the time to sign a few autographs and shake a few hands after their shows, or find a couple of days out of the year to come on down to say not only ‘hi,’ but ‘thanks’ to their fans that have supported them...and their lifestyles.

Ernest Tubb was probably the best example of taking the time to acknowledge and thank his fans. I don't believe he ever forgot the people who were the reason for his success. Remember the "Thanks" on the back of his guitar?

[This message was edited by Mike Ester on 06 June 2006 at 01:44 PM.]

Brett Day
Member

From: Greer, SC, USA

posted 06 June 2006 03:05 PM     profile     
Didn't the "Thanks" on the back of Ernest Tubb's guitar come from his song called "Thanks A Lot"? I've been wonderin' and thinkin' about it for awhile now. Brett, Emmons S-10, Morrell lapsteel, GFI Ultra D-10
Mike Ester
Member

From: New Braunfels, Texas, USA

posted 06 June 2006 03:07 PM     profile     
Brett,

After each performance, Ernest would flash the back of his guitar at the audience. It was one of his ways of acknowledging his fans.

Eric West
Member

From: Portland, Oregon, USA

posted 06 June 2006 06:16 PM     profile     
Yup, and that 6 string guitar with "Thanks" on it was a Sho~Bud.

I gotta admit I didn't read the whole article, but I sure like Brad Paisley's take on country, and there are a few others that aren't going away.

I've always liked the chicks, from Wilma Lee and Dolly Parton to Carlene Carter on to Shania (as long as I don't have to rehearse her songs), but of course the ones that obviously sing horribly and don't look particularly good either...

EJL

EJL

Charlie McDonald
Member

From: Lubbock, Texas, USA

posted 07 June 2006 06:24 AM     profile     
CMA had a big show in Tulsa many years back, the World Music Festival, I believe.
Being the tuner on call, I hung around for many acts from Hungary, Africa, you name it, and was quite pleased that the CMA was hip to the idea that country / native folk music is a global phenomenon. It made sense that extending the content might extend the audience.

I don't know if the fesitval was ever repeated.

I don't know if I qualify to opine here, since I don't listen to radio.
My idea of country is Roy Rogers, Bob Wills, Patsy Cline, and Chet Atkins. Thus it's hard for me to relate....

But I could relate to the Dixie Chicks, bought 'Home', and went back and bought the first two albums (Home is the best of the lot by far).

But here in Lubbock, the ignominy [a new word a day] over them is as big as ever. This Sunday's paper contained no less than three letters and one op-ed piece. (It's a big small town, as the Chicks offer in one new song.)

One letter said the Dixie Chicks don't need Lubbock--the writer's point being that their album sales are doing fine, thank you, and their contribution to country has been huge, sales-wise.
His further point was 'country' turned its back on them, and not the other way around. (My lack of expertise keeps me from having an opinion either way.)

But now they're playing 'rock' (and you're right, b0b, the difference is small, and more about who's buying than who's singing).

Just another example of a style with a wonderful history is struggling to find its place in a changing world.
Who knows where it will go?
But more groups like The Red Elvises (?), stuff that expands the boundaries of what is considered country, would make a difference to me.
Trying to hold on to a past--the country 'theme', or look--while discarding or giving lip service to the players that made it what it is--the Carter family comes to mind--doesn't sound like a solution.

Will the music have to change, or will the audience?

retcop88
unregistered
posted 07 June 2006 08:10 AM           
A lot of it has to be the songwriting. Man where have the good writers gone?
Tommy M
Member

From: Indiana

posted 07 June 2006 08:39 AM     profile     
Jim,
There are several of the "great/good writers" still around. The problem is that A&R people and Producers today shy away from the type/style of songs I believe you are referring too. This being the case, I know more than one award winning songwriter that has tried to adapt their songwriting skills to more closely resemble the current material being recorded and released. It is a sad situation to see these extremely talented individuals force themselves to "under write" for the sake of getting a song recorded and making some money.

Tommy Minniear

Chris LeDrew
Member

From: Newfoundland, Canada

posted 07 June 2006 08:40 AM     profile     
The good writers are still around, but they're not writing "lowest common denominater" lyrics and melodies. Therefore, the publishers and record companies want nothing to do with them. I agree - most of the country songs out now are just plain awful and an insult to the genre they are supposed to be representing. Add a bad auto-tuned singer to the mix, you've got a formula that's destined for the downward spiral.

Does the average listener want deep lyrics, or the Big Mac lyrics they're getting right now? Watching CMT these days is like watching a series of comedy skits, and I don't mean the Dukes or Reba - I'm talking about the videos. They're just as predictable as the tunes themselves - some kind of cheesy mini-drama going on, followed a by a close-up of the singer's face in profile as the camera fades.

WHO IS IN CONTROL HERE?

[This message was edited by Chris LeDrew on 07 June 2006 at 08:41 AM.]

Robert Leaman
Member

From: Murphy, North Carolina, USA

posted 07 June 2006 09:18 AM     profile     
There is always a FIRST error in any anlysis. Here, that error is a statement, and/or stupid assumption, that people who control C&W in Nashville are capable of congitive thinking. All other opinions and derivations of that opinion are based on the supposition that cognitive thinking transpires in the referenced organization. However, if one lacks sufficient money to influence these decisions, nothing will change.
John Bechtel
Member

From: Nashville, Tennessee,U.S.A.

posted 07 June 2006 09:54 AM     profile     
I moved to Nashville in 1967 and the D.J. Convention and later Fan Fair was always played (UP) for weeks ahead of time and everyone knew it was just around the corner! But; here it is 2006 and I didn't know a thing about Fan Fair for ’06 until yesterday! Within a few years, I expect it will be history, before I hear about it! I never was much of a History~Buff!

------------------
“Big John”
a.k.a. {Keoni Nui}
Current Equipment

Gene Jones
Member

From: Oklahoma City, OK USA

posted 07 June 2006 10:19 AM     profile     
The "chicks" tour date in Oklahoma City is being cancelled due to "less than expected" ticket sales.

[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 09 June 2006 at 05:04 AM.]

Frank Parish
Member

From: Nashville,Tn. USA

posted 07 June 2006 10:25 AM     profile     
I said this before on this forum. If some radio stations would play real country from the new guys we never hear, it would be grow and soon have an audience that would buy products that were advertised on the radio stations. You can't rely on just the old stuff. There's plenty of new guys that write and sing real country music and should have some airtime. Enough stations playing this kind of music will make a bigger noise.
Eric Jaeger
Member

From: Oakland, California, USA

posted 07 June 2006 03:24 PM     profile     
I can't resist...

Real country these days? Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Bill Kirchen, Tom Russell, Dave Alvin... heck, you can always play Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark if you run out of songs...

As to radio play, I wouldn't know; I don't listen anymore.

-eric

James Cann
Member

From: Phoenix, AZ (heart still in Boston)

posted 07 June 2006 03:47 PM     profile     
quote:
WHO IS IN CONTROL HERE?

Not we, obviously.

[This message was edited by James Cann on 07 June 2006 at 03:47 PM.]

Bowie Martin
Member

From: Wilson, NC USA 27896

posted 07 June 2006 05:52 PM     profile     
I suggest we nominate Dale Watson's "Real Country Song" as the Country Music Theme song, and not listen to any radio station that doesn't play it on the hour. Make him the president of the Country Music Association for life, then move "Fan Fair" to Austin or Fort Worth. Somewhere in the bylaws a song will have to have a steel guitar break and a fiddle on the record to call it country. Lets make sure Gene Watson finally gets the recognition he deserves, and a lot of others with him!
Rick Johnson
Member

From: Wheelwright, Ky USA

posted 08 June 2006 05:38 AM     profile     
Walter
Thanks for posting that link.
Its a shame where country music
is at today.
www.rickjohnsoncabs.com
Jack Francis
Member

From: Mesa, Arizona, USA

posted 08 June 2006 06:14 AM     profile     
I read that the "Chicks" aren't doing all that great either.

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - Initial ticket sales for the Dixie Chicks' upcoming tour are far below expectations and several dates will likely be canceled or postoned.

Ticket counts for the 20-plus arena shows that went on sale last weekend were averaging 5,000-6,000 per show in major markets and less in secondaries, according to sources contacted by Billboard. Venue capacities on the tour generally top 15,000.

Not to pick on them..what is being put out to the music buying public just plain sucks and people just aren't buying it.

retcop88
unregistered
posted 08 June 2006 06:53 AM           
I was watching Midwest Country on the tube the other night. One thing I noticed is the age of the audience. Most were or are in their late 60s or 70s. These people do not rush out to buy any CDs or Tapes. Nor do they frequent bars where Country bands try to make a living. Its about the dollars. If Country music ever makes a comeback it will take support and Dollars to compete with the teeni boppers who call themselves Country fans.Once the suits start losing money they would look to other means and dump what they push now. Its all about money to the suits. They hate Country music and wouldn't know a Country song if it bit them on the arse.

------------------
Jim.Hall
MSA D12 3&4 several 6 string Guitars,2 Fiddles and a Kazoo.


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