Country Music, Y'all!

[AdorkableSars]

A place to talk about everything country.

[Dejana]

Will country radio let more than 3-4 women be consistently popular at a time again?

[Rick Kitchen]

All of a sudden, my alt-rock radio station has started playing Luke Bryan.  Why, exactly?  They've been playing Florida-Georgia Line ad nauseum.

[ramble]

I grew up on country. Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, Jessi Colter, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Tom T. Hall, etc. A lot of people haven't heard of Tom T. Hall it seems. His music always felt to me like it was much more of a storyteller's tale set to music. My sister & I probably sang "The Little Lady Preacher" a thousand times growing up.

In a more modern list I love Gary Allan. Lots & bunches. I sometimes like Carrie Underwood, like some Toby Keith, some Chris Young & I can't help myself, I like Taylor Swift, although I don't truly think of her as country.

Edited June 20, 2014 by ramble

[photo fox]

Interesting article from Billboard.com: Does Country Music Need an Alcohol Intervention?

I say yes, and have been saying it for some time. It isn't even so much the drinking songs - country has always had drinking songs - but the party songs. It's just so tiresome. Come up with something new! And while we're at it, can we cut down on the number of songs about some girl/young woman's body and the clothing she wears? If I had a dollar for every song I hear on the radio by a middle aged man singing about drinking, partying, and some sexy young thing in cutoffs, I'd be a millionaire. There's just something especially squick to me about a man of a certain age and station in life singing those kinds of songs. (Keith Urban, I'm looking at you.)  Why do 85% of the songs on country radio sound like a teenage boy's fantasy?

That said, I actually like "Drunk on a Plane".  I love Dierks Bentley's voice, and he gives it a little something that keeps it from being a straight-up party song, besides the slightly darker set up of the guy being left at the altar.  But when I first listened to his album, Riser (highly rec, btw), I hoped they wouldn't release "DOAP" as a single.  I knew they would, though, and I knew it would be a big hit.  Which makes me disappointed, because the other "drinking" song on the album, "Bourbon in Kentucky", which was actually released as the first single, went basically nowhere on the charts.  Like, they delayed the album and reworked some stuff nowhere.  And it is a thousand times the song "DOAP" is.

 

I like the old-style "drinking" songs - Gary Allan and Lee Ann Womack are two of my favorites - songs that have meaning and power and emotion, songs that are about pain and loss, where the drinking comes from that.  Not songs about frat boy partying.

[DanaMB]

I've only been listening to country for a couple of months, and I already picked up on all the alcohol references.  I just assumed that is what country music was about since I basically knew nothing about it.  That and mentions of  tan lines, trucks (jacked-up), tailgates just to name a few.

 

And are there really only two female country solo artists? I swear, all I've heard is Miranda Lambert (not impressing me, sorry...) and Carrie Underwood.

[Rick Kitchen]

photo fox I agree with your point, but there are some drinking songs that I absolutely love.  I hate "Red Solo Cup", but Toby Keith's "Hope on the Rocks" always, always gets to me.  And his voice in that song is the best I've ever heard it.

 

[Rick Kitchen]

@DanaMB, there are several groups with female lead singers - The Band Perry, Lady Antebellum, Sugarland (and Jennifer Nettles has gone out on her own now), and Little Big Town come immediately to mind.

 

There's Taylor Swift (yuck) if you stretch your definition of country, and Reba McEntire, whom I adore, and Sara Evans

[DanaMB]

I am familiar with the female lead singers, but was more curious about solo female singers.  I can't stand TS and knew about RMc, but wasn't sure if she had current music released.  I will check out Sara Evans, thanks!

[TheGreenKnight]

Well, there are a lot of women in country, but they get almost zero play if they arent Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, or Taylor Swift. Which is made more sad by the fact that Taylor Swift isn't even making country music anymore. I'm not a huge fan of Carrie, but she's better than most of what's being played right now, and I've never liked Miranda.

 

Reba McEntire hasn't had new music in a while, but Dolly Parton, Kellie Pickler, and Sara Evans all had releases recently that have been ignored. LeAnn Rimes also had one a year or so ago, I think. There's also Kacey Musgraves, who I love and who I was lucky enough to find out about, who also isn't given too much notice by country radio. She got more attention from the Grammy's than her own genre, which is embarrassing. Danielle Bradbery and Cassadee Pope are also struggling, but have done about as much as a new female singer could do, I think. Jennifer Nettles also had a solo album that got no attention. Natalie Maines from Dixie Chicks had a solo album a while back, but I'm not sure if it was country or not. 

 

I'll be honest that I don't listen to country radio anymore for this reason. A lot of things I loved about country growing up in the '90s has disappeared. I remember when there were at least as many female singers as men, a wide variety of song themes, and equal play between newly released songs and songs from decades past.

[suomi]

Bob Wills Is Still The King!

[Rick Kitchen]

Bob Wills Is Still The King!

 

[photo fox]

This song is giving me life right now, and I wanted to share in light of the "too few women in country" discussion above.

[ramble]

Thanks photo fox! :) I haven't seen that & it's great!

[Rick Kitchen]

Taylor Swift is surprisingly unrecognizable in The Giver, and, fortunately, her role is very small.

[ebk57]

Maddie and Tae are going to be on Letterman sometime this week - at least that's what I thought I read although I can't find any evidence of it at the moment.

 

They also did this piece on NPR a couple months back.  They seem like they're pretty together.

 

http://www.npr.org/2014/07/21/333719578/teenage-songwriters-take-on-bro-country

[photo fox]

Regarding the dearth of solo female singers on country radio, my favorite lady of the last decade (maybe ever), Lee Ann Womack, has a new album coming out in a couple of weeks. It remains to be seen if radio will actually play her singles of course. She is blonde and beautiful, but she's also (gasp!) over 30.

Here's the debut single. Seriously trippy video!

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/lee-ann-womack-the-way-im-livin-video-20140909

[photo fox]

Just wanted to say that I started a CMA Awards topic, if anybody's watching...

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/17501-2014-cma-awards/#entry538373

[aradia22]

I'd guess that I probably started listening to country music maybe 8 years ago give or take and I've only listened on and off. Sometimes I'll have periods where I listen to a ton of albums and most of the rest of the time I'm listening to new albums in other genres or just listening to whatever playlists I've made for myself because I'm lazy and I don't always want to think about new music and decide whether or not I like it. 

 

With country, I've heard more singles than full albums. Ever since Taylor Swift's first album, I've always considered her more singer songwriter than country. The spectrum is something like Taylor then Sheryl Crow then Shania Twain then Martina McBride then Faith Hill and then we really make the jump into country and out of pop/singer songwriter crossover. As you may be able to tell, I'm all about the ladies but then I rarely listen to male artists in any genre of music. There's no one artist I know really well. I've heard more Greatest Hits than full albums. But I like what I've heard of Trisha Yearwood and Loretta Lynn and Skeeter Davis and Tammy Wynette. I need to do a deep dive on Reba and Dolly and Patsy. Of the newer stuff, I've listened to more bands... Lady Antebellum, The Band Perry, Eden's Edge, Pistol Annies... though I do like Kacey Musgraves and Caitlin Rose. I've listened to a few Miranda Lambert albums just to form an opinion. I think she has some nice singles but I'm not that impressed with her voice. I'm more forgiving of vocals with country, especially if the songs are great, but I like big voices. I love Jennifer Nettles but her songs are pretty weak. I don't need a country song to be Sondheim but sometimes I feel like I'm losing brain cells listening to a Jennifer Nettles or Kellie Pickler song. I think I should do a deep dive on The Judds as well. Any recommendations for girls with big voices like Leanne Rimes would be appreciated.

[photo fox]

Any recommendations for girls with big voices like Leanne Rimes would be appreciated.

My favorite new female vocalist is Maggie Rose. She has a terrific voice, writes some of her own cuts, and is a little more traditional country in terms of her sound and the themes in her music (murder, sex, alcohol). She's had some play on radio, but hasn't had any big hits yet.

This single is what spurred me to buy her album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1af7vTiRYg

Also a great live performance of one of the songs she wrote, featuring her fantastic band:

And here she is performing John Legend's "All of Me" on Bobby Bones. I got chills when I heard this. (BB does this thing where he assigns his guests a cover to perform with little or no notice. Maggie's been on his show a bunch of times, so if you search her with BB on Youtube, she's done several different songs this way.)

She's not new, and I don't know if she's done anything lately, but I've always loved Shelby Lynne. Another singer-songwriter, with a really distinctive voice. She's collaborated with tons of people, and her career has had some wild swings.

This is probably my favorite song of hers, from several years ago. (Forgive the retro styling on the album cover, but I couldn't find a good recent live version.)

But my all-time favorite female country singer, as I mentioned upthread, is Lee Ann Womack. I'm not sure she'd be your cup of tea, just because she may be more traditional than you'd like, just based on the other singers you mention? And I probably wouldn't describe her voice as "big", as much as precise, fluid, sultry, emotional. But I just love her, so I can't pass up the chance to give her a plug.

Everybody knows her because of "I Hope You Dance", but she's so much more than that. In fact, all of my favorite songs of hers all came after that, when she went back to being a bit less pop. So if I was going to dig into her music, I'd start with her "There's More Where That Came From" album and go from there.

The debut single from her most recent album, the first in four years:

Going back in time a bit, but I just love her voice here:

[magicdog]

If you had asked me when I was a teen if I liked Country music I would have said no.  Looking back, I was listening to it all along and didn't realize it.

 

Much of my early exposure to it were the country/R&R crossovers from the 50s and 60s (my parents were the first generation of R&R lovers) like Elvis, The Everly Brothers, Brenda Lee, etc.  I loved those acts of course, but I tended to think of them as rockers rather than country.  After I heard an infomercial for a classic country collection, I realized, I really like the genre.  Admittedly, the later day country artists are fewer and farther between than the earlier artists, but I realized it's not a bad thing to like country.  I say this because I had a teacher in HS who used to deride it - saying that all the songs were the same - the prevailing theme being, 'My wife left me', rather than the rebellion of R&R.

 

Patsy Cline still moves me (and if she hadn't died so soon, I wonder what "Blue" might have sounded like in HER voice), as does Jim Reeves.  I also fell in love with Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash's hit, "Jackson".  They perform it so well together.  Truly a match in music as well as marriage.

[Rick Kitchen]

I love, love, bluegrass.  And Alison Krauss is just ... wow.

 

[aradia22]

 

This song is giving me life right now, and I wanted to share in light of the "too few women in country" discussion above.

Thanks for the recommendation. This is one of the newer fun country songs I can get behind. It sounds a little like something that would come out of Nashville (the TV show).

[UYI]

Here's a great clip with Dwight Yoakam and Merle Haggard (RIP) from 2002, discussing the difference between the Nashville Sound and the Bakersfield Sound. To see the rest of the interview, you would have to go to the Country Music Association Museum in Nashville, but this is still really good.

And some examples of Bakersfield and Texas country:

Edited April 16, 2017 by UYI

[UYI]

I saw the talk about Lee Ann Womack above--she's wonderful. This predates IHYD, but it's one of my favorites--A Little Past Little Rock.

Edited April 16, 2017 by UYI

[UYI]

On 8/14/2014 at 1:22 AM, TheGreenKnight said:

 

 

 Natalie Maines from Dixie Chicks had a solo album a while back, but I'm not sure if it was country or not. 

 

 

It wasn't. It was rock. Natalie Maines has actually been pretty vocal about never being that big into country, despite not only the Dixie Chicks but that her father, Lloyd Maines, is a legendary steel guitarist/producer in Texas country--she was born and raised in Lubbock. (Sorry, I know this WAY too late a response!)

Guys, go to the website Saving Country Music, you'll find a LOT of articles there about addressing the issue of women on the radio, reviews of a lot of worthy indie/underground country artists (read: anyone struggling for radio airplay these days), and a lot of healthy mainstream country bashing. ;)

http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/

For one of my contributions of a worthy woman artist in country, I give you Margo Price:

Oh, and this is interesting: There are rumors that Taylor Swift is going back to country for her next album. I do think her best instrumentation and lyricism overall took place when she was under the country banner, but I really wish she would stick to pop, realize that's she's pretty much always been pop, and that just because you make pop music doesn't mean it all comes from a computer:

http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/more-chatter-about-taylor-swift-recording-new-country-songs-for-upcoming-album/

[Dejana]

Lauren Alaina just scored a #1 on country radio, "The Road Less Traveled":

One of the co-writers is Meghan Trainor!

[UYI]

Yeah, Meghan started out her career at 17 or 18 (right out of high school) as a songwriter for a Nashville publishing company. Before her first album came out she had already written a hit song for Rascal Flatts.

To be honest, I don't think this song is very country, but I DO think Lauren is talented, and I do like this song a lot. There are more women (not named Miranda, Carrie, or Taylor) getting hit songs now than there were a few years ago, but overall most of them are still not quite as country as a lot of women who should be getting more airplay. But like I said, I do like Lauren, and also Maren Morris. Kelsea Ballerini, on the other hand? Is the worst. (Shallow side note: Her last name sounds like something a six year old girl would say as she was trying to be a ballerina--"I'm a pretty Ballerini!"--right before I fall into a sugar coma and die. But that may just be me.)

That said, I do like "Peter Pan." But "Yeah Boy" is the worst. Blech.

Turning to a classic country woman performer for a second, someone I have really come to love is the late Lynn Anderson. Before Dolly started to crossover more into pop country territory, Lynn really had that crossover queen title down on lock. I've seen "Rose Garden" called the greatest pop country song of all time, and I can't really argue that at all (obviously "9 to 5" is up there too, of course). And on a shallow note, she really did have amazing hair. She was like a Barbie doll in all the RIGHT ways.

Edited April 21, 2017 by UYI

[prican58]

UYI, agreement in regards to Ballerini. Dejana, I did not realize Alaina sang "Road". I have heard it a few times on the radio but never heard the artist's name. It isn't country as far as I can hear but it beats KB's songs by a country mile.

I am very much on the fence about how I feel about the state of the genre in re to women. I am not crazy about the kind of music Carrie puts out there but I respect her immensely for her ability. I happen to be a big Miranda fan and I find her very authentic with a solid country heart. I like Maren and feel she has a lot what Miranda has in terms of being able to sustain country cred as the years/decades go by. 

I do read saving country music every day and while I think the folks there can be very heavy handed about how much they despise popular country music (they just about want to tar and feather Luke and Jason) I do tend to agree with them, generally speaking. It has become so pop oriented and dare I say a bit misogynist that I really hardly ever listen to the local NASH station. I see no appeal in the Thomas Rhetts of the world and, Lord help me, Sam Hunt! Country? Really? In the words of the ever disappointing Chris Young (great country voice), Aw,Naw! 

UYI, hear what you are saying re "Rose Garden". I remember when that was a hit and it was all over pop radio here in NYC. It still is a wonderful song with the strings and all that. Country has always had its pop elements. Just because an artist is of on genre doesn't mean they can't experiment or dabble in another. 

Edited April 22, 2017 by prican58

[UYI]

I had to post this: From 1998, at Tammy Wynette's memorial service, Dolly Parton's speech and tribute to Tammy.

[UYI]

And Lorrie Morgan--who often cited Tammy Wynette as her biggest inspiration in country music--performed "Stand By Your Man" at the same service.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJmWqVFqegw

[Bastet]

Dolly Parton is a national treasure. 

I hadn't thought about it in a very long time until you posted, but I remember watching Tammy Wynette's service.  Her life was a country song, as the joke goes, and the things she suffered are no joke at all.  I love her voice, and still listen to it fairly often.

[Silver Raven]

I don't dislike country music, I listen to it when it's on TV, though I generally listen to pop-rock on the radio, but "Body Like a Back Road" has oozed its way onto the pop-rock stations and the national top ten, and good God, that song is a piece of crap!

[UYI]

15 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

I don't dislike country music, I listen to it when it's on TV, though I generally listen to pop-rock on the radio, but "Body Like a Back Road" has oozed its way onto the pop-rock stations and the national top ten, and good God, that song is a piece of crap!

http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/we-have-a-bigger-problem-now-its-sam-hunts-body-like-a-backroad/

[TaraS1]

On 4/27/2017 at 9:44 PM, UYI said:

And Lorrie Morgan--who often cited Tammy Wynette as her biggest inspiration in country music--performed "Stand By Your Man" at the same service.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJmWqVFqegw

I just saw Lorrie and Pam Tillis in concert together this past weekend.  Really fun show.  Lorrie said she's the only woman in country music who pays alimony lol

[27bored]

I heard "Missing" William Michael Morgan. I like it. It hardens back to Country in the 90s. Simple, slice of life songs. Not the cornpone pop that it's become since FGL. And it's nice to hear a song that isn't just another hey-girl-you-so-purty come on. 

[UYI]

5 hours ago, TaraS1 said:

I just saw Lorrie and Pam Tillis in concert together this past weekend.  Really fun show.  Lorrie said she's the only woman in country music who pays alimony lol

They released an album together a few years ago, and they've supposed to be working on a new one right now.

Lorrie fascinates me--she's been married SIX times! (To be fair, her marriage to Keith Whitley ended with his death, and she's still married to husband no. 6), plus relationships with both Troy Aikman during his Cowboys heyday in the 90's and later Fred Thompson, when he was still a Senator. Just wow. 

I love her too, though. This song is great:

[Jaded]

14 hours ago, TaraS1 said:

Lorrie said she's the only woman in country music who pays alimony lol

Now I'm looking at the list of her ex-husbands wondering if she's still paying it to any of them.  The first one that came to mind was her last  Sammy Kershaw.

[TaraS1]

6 hours ago, Jaded said:

Now I'm looking at the list of her ex-husbands wondering if she's still paying it to any of them.  The first one that came to mind was her last  Sammy Kershaw.

She didn't specify which husband, but when she and Pam first came onstage, Lorrie said they were going to sing all kinds of songs - their own, other people's, even Sammy Kershaw's.  Everybody laughed and she laughed too and said she didn't know why she said that, that the devil must have made her do it lol.

[ennui]

An AM radio station in my area recently changed format to country 'golden oldies.' Unfortunately, the songs are from the 1980s and 1990s. I guess the definition of golden oldie doesn't go past 25 years.

[UYI]

I actually like a lot of country music from the 80's. Sure, the early 80's brought a lot of pop country to the charts, and the only two big superstars to break out that decade were Randy Travis and Dwight Yoakam, but in some ways I think that was actually a blessing, compared to the 90's, which was chock full of country superstars. The 80's by comparison seem to have more interesting--if not necessarily as wildly popular--artists to choose from. (I do agree that a country oldies station primarily playing 80's and 90's music is weird, though, even now.)

This is a favorite of mine. I like to imagine it also being a take that to pop country music, and not just a run of the mill heartbreak song. I like the idea of there being a double meaning here. But that may just be me.

[ennui]

My favorite from the early 1980s is Alabama. Two stories:

Alabama were a guest on a local radio show, chatting with the DJ for an hour or so. "How does it feel to become successful?" "It's a little different. The other night, I had a woman beating on the hotel room door for hours. So, finally, I had to get up and let her out."

We had tickets to see Alabama at the Greek Theatre, which as most know, is outdoors. Well, it poured rain, and we were worried the show would be cancelled, but we went. I think about 1/3 of the crowd were there, sitting under tarps and umbrellas, getting soaked. Alabama came out and said that if we were willing to sit there in the rain, they would play. Best concert memory of all time.

[UYI]

You know, when I said the 80's didn't really have any superstars except two, I meant among the men, because they also had a superstar duo: The Judds! DUH. *smacks forehead*

As for the women back then, the ones who hit it big in the 80's, I guess the big one would be Reba, although I think she actually recorded her first album in the late 70's; it took her awhile to truly break through and become a star.

And the Class of 1989--Clint Black, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, and Travis Tritt chief among them--are borderline, given their greatest success came in the 90's.

And actually, I guess saying they were only two superstar men who broke out in the 80's as a whole is wrong, too--George Strait! My brain is short-circuiting, I swear. :) 

Edited May 12, 2017 by UYI

[ennui]

On 5/12/2017 at 6:32 AM, UYI said:

And the Class of 1989--Clint Black, Garth Brooks

I remember thinking that Clint would be the big star. Good thing I didn't bet money. 

In Texas, they call Strait "King George." 

Edited May 17, 2017 by ennui

[UYI]

3 hours ago, ennui said:

I remember thinking that Clint would be the big star. Good thing I didn't bet money. 

 

I love this song so much.

[Bastet]

I think that's the only Clint Black song I like (although I may be forgetting some; I couldn't even think of one until you posted Killing Time and I thought, "Oh yeah, that's a good song").

I cannot stand Garth Brooks.

[ennui]

36 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I cannot stand Garth Brooks.

"Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)" is my personal anthem. I will always be grateful for being introduced to Chris LeDoux. And "The Dance" brings me to tears.

I watched his tv special, Live from Las Vegas, and thought he was funny.

[UYI]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

 

I cannot stand Garth Brooks.

The best thing about Garth Brooks is his wife. I LOVE Trisha Yearwood. 

[UYI]

Ladies and gentlemen, the best-selling female country artist of all time is back!

Unfortunately, the instrumentation is digitized to hell and back.

Whatever. Welcome back, Shania!

[ennui]

I was thinking about Shania the other day. I discovered that she had appeared on The Voice, and I missed it. 

"Life's About to Get Good"? Seriously? You haven't worked in years.