Why you Have a Problem with Country Music …

Because everyone else does!

As sheep, we love following trends. Before we’ve made up our own opinions about something, we’d be more willing to follow someone else’s view on it. This has never been more true when it comes to the music industry and its subsequent genres. More specifically, country music. The prolific singer-songwriters in the genre that have fitting names for such work – Morgan Wallen, Luke Coombs, Keith Ubran – to the more popularised bands of “Life is a Highway” Rascal Flatts and The Band Perry. You could argue that these artists are not even country artists. Or, that they simply don’t want to link their music to such a word.

Side note: Can anyone believe that PIXARS’ Cars is 15 years old?

Whether it is the vocals that are too twangy to us listeners who are not from the Southern states of America, or if it is the pretence of country music and how emotionally cringing it is – bit like that of a High School dance – as fans who feel that they have a good taste in music, country music is at the bottom of the pile. Due to this hideous stigma, the majority of country artists have pretty much lost their original roots and identity to the genre and created an entirely new sub-genre of pop.

With country music less as dominant as it once was, artists and fans are beginning to distance themselves from such a genre.

Personally, I don’t see the reason. And ever since the rise of the Internet, country music has got the short straw. Punishable by death, country music has been tarnished and dragged through the mud as a genre. Once a trend starts on the Internet, it is less so of an opinion and more of a statement of fact, at that point. So, country music became this big hoo-ha and fans starting distancing themselves from it, too.

So, the reason why you have a problem with country music is because everyone else has a problem. I guarantee that the majority of people who made their minds up about country music had their minds made up for them by somebody else.

The ratio between hating a genre and never actually listening to the same genre I bet, is huge.

What are your thoughts on this one?

14 responses to “Why you Have a Problem with Country Music …”

Clive

Mar 4, 2021 at 3:12 pm

I think you’re right – a lot of people who ‘don’t like country music’ haven’t really tried it. Like most genres it has its good and bad points, but those are defined by our tastes rather than any ‘official’ scale of judgement. I make an exception for (c)rap music, though…

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1. manvmusic
  
  Mar 4, 2021 at 3:13 pm
  
  Haha yeah spot on, our musical taste rules all that much is true. But could your exception to rap be that you haven’t really tried listening to the genre either? 🤔
  
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  1. Clive
    
    Mar 4, 2021 at 3:21 pm
    
    I’ve never chosen to play any rap myself, but my daughters listened to a lot when they were growing up and that was enough for me to decide I didn’t like it! I’m betting a lot of people who like rap don’t listen to country – it’s a shame that we compartmentalise music, but we do. There should really only be two types: music we enjoy, and music we don’t enjoy.
    
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  2. manvmusic
    
    Mar 4, 2021 at 3:23 pm
    
    Yeah, that’s fair enough, Clive. Can you imagine if there is a niche out there who listen to both country and rap? I’d love to get to know those people haha! You’re right with music though, it’s a shame that we often pre-judge genres before going in ourselves but we can’t like EVERYTHING can we?
    
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  3. Clive
    
    Mar 4, 2021 at 3:31 pm
    
    There is a niche: try looking up the band Gangstagrass on YouTube and you’ll see what I mean! I’ll admit to liking them.
    
    It would be boring if we all liked the same things, or everything. What would we debate?
    
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jewishyoungprofessional

Mar 5, 2021 at 4:39 pm

I think country music is underappreciated in my area. But every so often, I come across a fellow fan

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1. manvmusic
  
  Mar 5, 2021 at 4:41 pm
  
  Yeah, it’s like finding a golden nugget with country music fans haha. True that, I feel like country music is under appreciated anywhere you go.
  
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  1. jewishyoungprofessional
    
    Mar 5, 2021 at 4:54 pm
    
    True. That said, I spend an embarrassing amount of time at karaoke (pre-COVID, at least) and you would be surprised by a) the number of people who would select country songs (many are country-pop though) b) the number of people who react enthusiastically when someone sings a country song (although there is alcohol involved) and c) the number of karaoke go-ers who discover, upon hearing a country song, that they like it after all
    
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  2. manvmusic
    
    Mar 5, 2021 at 4:55 pm
    
    Haha so true! Alcohol taints the heart after all; and who can turn down a bit of country, eh? Love that.
    
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johnnylbrewer

Mar 23, 2021 at 12:47 am

You’re right man. People who don’t like country music haven’t tried it. I played drums in so many different bands over 30 years and did about a three year stint touring in a country band. Honestly is was a lot like the majority of rock n roll bands I played with. Now I wound up in some straight up honky tonk joints, but they all turned out fun. The main reason I left the country scene was the direction the music was heading. A lot of your mainstream country today is basically R&B with a white dude with a southern accent singing. I have nothing against R&B. I’ve played in R&B bands. It’s just that current Nashville equation doesn’t appeal to me.

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edsilver426

Jun 16, 2021 at 7:01 pm

country music is doing sort of the opposite of what rock music has in the last twenty years (and now I feel old), with every band wanting to sound different and conforming to “their” “sound”, I can no longer tell the difference between tracks let alone albums, but there are so many “cores” involved that I get confused, country music seems to be anything that comes out of Nashville now arguably it always was, but what is coming out of Nashville has greater variety all being lumped into the country title. Gone are the banjo’s the fiddles and the three chords and the truth motifs, it is now all autotuned and easy reproducible sounds with less meaningful lyrics to avoid causing offense and restricting the possible audience, the only thing is the people who liked the previous definitions are no left without a genre to go and find music in, That said their are exceptions and some people who made quite modern pop country albums have occasionally looked back to make a “retro” back to the routes album.

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1. manvmusic
  
  Jun 16, 2021 at 8:25 pm
  
  Yeah, oh certainly – I think the added use of reproducible work, autotune and this kind of bubblegum-pop approach to production is what makes us have a problem with country music even more than we do so already. But no you’re bang on with what you said, spot on – thanks for dropping in and sharing your insights, my man. I’d be intrigued to let you know on other topical popular music questions and queries .. 🤔🤔🔥🔥✔️
  
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edsilver426

Jun 17, 2021 at 10:37 am

By all means, if you want my opinion on anything else then let me know I will happily throw my two pennies in. I tried writing something called “the circle” about the country music thing, where it is being very selective over the traditions that it wants to keep which typically are only the ones it can shape to maximise the profit margins. I quite like the story of Sue Brewer and them inducting her into the songwriters hall of fame for services to music having never written a song, On a trip to Nashville I went to the Ryman and the Opry, but going and standing outside “the boars nest” meant more to me personally.

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1. manvmusic
  
  Jun 17, 2021 at 10:57 am
  
  Ah fantastic stuff! Haha ah I like it! Interesting points of interests for sure, thanks man.
  
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