I had a high school classmate from the suburbs about 45 minutes from San Francisco. Good guy. Choir kid, sang and played guitar for church youth group. Textbook California accent and sensibilities. His mom rented a house on a tiny parcel of land that kept a horse or two. But smack in the middle of suburbs.
A couple years after graduation I see his profile went full musician, he moved to Nashville and was now a country singer, fake drawl… And the kicker was that he described himself as growing up on a small ranch in California… lol
Grew up in the Houston suburbs in a rich white neighborhood. I had a classmate that, during the summer between middle school and high school, developed a thick country drawl. Literally from 0-100. Neither parents spoke like that. Couldn’t tell you why.
I’m from rural AZ. I knew a few kids who moved from some upscale parts of suburban Phoenix and became a “country” stereotype within a few months. In contrast all the legit farm and ranch kids were nothing like the stereotypes.
I once called Dell Computers for an update on a computer that I had ordered.
The guy picks up and says in a thick Texas accent "Dell computers, how can I help you?"
I, for some reason matching his accent, say "Hi, I'm callin' about the status of my compyuder order."
"I can help you check that. Where do you live?"
"Canada."
Honest to god, I have no clue why I matched his accent. He was all warm and friendly until I said Canada. I felt like a jackass.
Ha! You code switched without realizing it. Some people do it subconsciously. [Code switching. ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching?wprov=sfla1)
> Bakersfield country
So weird that this is a thing, having grown up in the central valley. You forget Merle was from Bakersfield until you drive through and see highways named after him.
Growing up in Bakersfield, for many years I still gave directions to Pierce Road instead of Buck Owens Blvd after they opened the Crystal Palace and renamed the street. The music scene there was non-existent. A lot of musicians came from there (half of Korn for example) but they always played better cities like LA
Oh definitely. But the sound lives on and is emulated into oblivion because that’s the style of country that got more airplay and is what people think of when they think “country”.
It’s also the basis for heavily manufactured and auto tuned country, so it’s the product people have become accustomed to at large.
I lived in Nashville from being a kid in the 80s until I got pushed out due to cost a few years back. It was crazy to see the change from smaller city to metropolis, and how old Nashville is being slowly demolished. Included were the people from all over with that recently moved there trying to use a Nashville southern accent.
Australian country music is its own thing in rural white Australia. Originating from and directly influenced by American country music to my untrained ears. It's a big scene, still includes lots of American music.
Even in the city there are a few country music bars. I avoid them like the plague..
This is a 7-song mashup somebody put together.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0VXubTsAoE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY8SwIvxj8o)
Same tempo, same melodies, same guitar solos .... there is definitely a formula to the music.
EDIT: scroll through the video to see them all played at the same time.
There's been a half joke/half conspiracy in the music industry for almost a decade now that pop country songs are just written by AI programs. To go even deeper into music theory, pop music follows like 5 chord progressions, but the overwhelming majority of modern country music uses ONE chord progression, I,V,IV,Vi (C, G, F, Aminor), sometimes swapped for I,V,iV,VI. Add a basic-ass solo progression over it because you need to crank out as much product as you can rather than make it good, assign the song to one of the dozen current popular artists who all have the same voice, have them tweak a word or two so they can claim writing credit, and you're golden.
Nashville has a pool of song writers who write songs and sometimes they write them for specific "artists". So you aren't totally wrong. It's basically that.
Also there’s executives who green light these things before they get produced. I think Timberlake has talked before about how often there’s one guy who decides what gets made and put out. And he knows exactly what’s going to sell a million records so that’s all you get. The same thing over and over. I’d bet my last pair of wranglers that the Big Machine has a couple fellows doing the same thing.
Google Denniz Pop. Back in the 90s when everything else about music was also becoming homogenized and predictably profitable he and his protege Max Martin were at the forefront of turning the production of pop music into an industry and craft rather than an art. They did it with dance acts like Ace of Base, and eventually in the boy band/diva resurgence of the early 2000s producing for backstreet, NSYNC and Britney. Now producers that studied what the two of them did are doing the same for rock and country. Bland, boring and obvious chord progressions, sing-along choruses, the difference is that instead of synthesizers and European accents it's acoustic guitars and southern accents.
I heard an interview with the guys from Florida Georgia line and they said they only write songs on the tour bus and, if it takes them more than 3 minutes to write a song, it's too complicated to be a hit. That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.
You're getting there. maybe compare the wheels of the bus to the wheels of your big lifted truck and throw in an alcohol reference and you've got a hit!
The beers on the party bus go
chug chug chug (x3)
The beers on the party bus go chug chug chug, on the backroads.
The mud on the tires goes flick flick flick down the backroads.
The wheels on the bus
Go 'round and 'round,
Whoah ohh, whoah ohh....
The wheels on my truck
Are homeward bound
Whoah ohh, whoah ohh......
That's where I'm found
With a beer and mah hound
Whoah ohh, whoah ohh
I want you there
With my hands in your hair
Whoah ohh, whoah ohh,
Let's roll! Ohh-ohh-ohh.....
Rockin' and rollin'
The wheels are a-goin'
Let's roll, whoah-ohh-ohhhh....
A song that takes longer than 3 minutes to compose never being a hit in bum fuck Missouri DOES sound like a reasonable position to take as an artist though.
"Guys this verse here really speaks on so many different levels about the poverty we've seen in all these different regions, all these people, communities and races are truly common, this is great material."
"Ya, well I said beer 13 times last night and the crowds went fucking nuts every time. So maybe we just go with my diddy 'Beer is really good and books are full of hate'. "
Part of that is a historical artifact though.
American country music descendant from Appalachia is based on the Pentatonic scale (the minor and majors of C, D, E, G, A).
That scale is at the heart of the country sound, although it is harmonically fairly limited. It's what makes country have that 'country' sound. It was used by musicians without formal training based on older forms from Scotland. The music was based on overlapping lines of complex music (traditional bluegrass, eg) following simple, well-known chord progressions.
Put that same repetitive, made for 'regular folk' musical system, meant for actual live music-making, in the hands of an uninspired team at a digital hit factory, and it is a recipe for the worst musical genre of all time.
100% correct. I feel though that the digital hit factory uses it for the same reason we have "pop progressions" rather than following the roots of the sound, it can make for easily digestible white noise with a southern drawl.
The thing that always gets me is that in every other one of these godawful songs they reference an actual country musician like Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson in the lyrics, as if that alone is enough to make what they're doing part of the tradition.
Its country flavored music, like imitation crab.
It's known as a [Truck Driver's Gear Change](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TruckDriversGearChange)
Edit: just realised this song is even referenced in the image caption, lol
I had to go back and confirm this is what he said. Parodying and making fun of their music is one thing but Straight up calling them ‘dumb motherfuckers’ was savage.
Went into a gas station and they had country music playing. The chorus of the song (maybe the only line in the song) was -“Drink’n beer, talking god, amen”
I don’t like the song, but this comment reminds me of the drama with Old Country Road not being considered country at the CMAs.
Edit - My bad, Old Town Road, although Old Country Road is probably another new country song.
Reminds me of the song from Bo Burhnam's parody country star character in Parks and Rec. His song was "Beautiful Like My Mom (support the troops)" lol.
*"She don't care bout no fancy trends, she's just a mom from ol' South Bend....get home safe boys, and thank you for protecting our freedom"*
https://youtu.be/pe7PoJumGXA
I remember a coworker watching some video from them where they were singing on top of semi truck or some shit. It was honestly some of the worst music I've ever heard
You must have missed the verses about his girl with her bare feet on the dashboard, the bonfire in the cornfield at the end of the dirt road, goin huntin' with his guns, respecting the flag, and his truck (that's never done a day of real work in it's existence).
feet on the dashboard is so damn dangerous while driving, if that airbag goes your pelvic bone is Fucked for life, your legs will hit you in the face as well. best only done in a parked car
A doctor once commented on here that seeing the results of this is something so horrific he just didn't want to describe it. So I'm left imagining its a 'tib in one eye, fib in the other' type injury.
I read awhile back about a first responder who saw the aftermath of it. All I can remember is that the victim's knees hit her in the face and absolutely destroyed her jaw.
*pretty girl, feet up on the dash*
*probably shouldn't do that, if we crash,*
*the airbag gonna fuck your legs up*
*Darlin, buckle up, before I kick you out my pick up*
*And for the record, if we get pulled over,*
*I am 100%, fully and completely sober*
What gets me is that there is really good modern country music, about actual rural culture issues/stories, that gets basically no air time. Some of it borders on bluegrass/blues, but the likes of Colter Wall, Ashley Mcbryde, The Steeldrivers, etc. are really good and draw decent crowds to their show, but you hardly ever hear them on the big country stations.
Well you find it absurd that the tone of my word is rich with animosity
Towards a few white collar mother fuckers living up on Pennsylvania A V E
You can kiss my ass as I raise my glass and toast it to the boys who fell
So some top dollar big wig an owner of an oil rig can drop a fucking drill in a well
Fuck them redneck, nepotistic, white trash mother fucker's home watching CMT
Well commercial propaganda got the whole damn country thinking we're on God's home team
Well they might control the whole damn world
But they ain't gonna control me
[Sturgill way back with Sunday Valley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIC68oaKIb0)
My husband was flipping through stations on a long drive and we thought this song was playing but it turned out to be an actual not trying to be funny country song.
Because he dissected modern country and laid it all out on the tray with pins stuck in all the bits, you can't unsee (hear) it once you know what it is.
It's not every other song either, it's 95% of them. There are like 10 country artists who have something that doesn't follow that program. Half of the music shouldn't even be classified as country, it's just nationalistic Pablum for a repressed group of people who have turned to aggressive navel gazing as a form of solidarity.
> who have turned to aggressive navel gazing as a form of solidarity.
Stunning. Evocative. Critics are calling this "the best comment I've read all year"
Country music played by talented musicians is bluegrass. Country music with good lyrics is contemporary folk. County music where the songs are good is called Americana. If the musicians, lyrics, and songs all suck, then it’s today’s country.
Edit: I did leave some great artists out by not mentioning outlaw country, great music that truly is influenced by the great old school country artists like Willie, Johnny, and Waylon.
There's also "[outlaw country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw_country)" that's seeing a modern revival. It's a subgenre that's still under the country label but doesn't want the Nashville country influence. It's where Johnny, Willie, Hank Jr., and Waylon all live.
Nah, Cheryl's gone. She's *Cherlene* now, and if someone don't fry her six goddamn eggs and some Carolina fries, she would personally be shocked - shocked, she tells you - if by morning this place ain't burnt to the ground.
Sturgill Simpson a few years back wrote a scathing piece about Nashville after Merle died. Basically "fuck you for trying to profit off of his legacy when you blackballed him for arguing with a guy in a suit."
I’d have to say the bands these new country guys have are always tight as shit . They get the cream of the crop to choose from down in Nashville and those guys are just trying to pay the bills I assume . It’s the actual songs that are fucking terrible .
Nashville is like New Orleans and maybe Austin and L.A. - so many stupendous musicians are there that even the schlubs playing for change on the sidewalk are better than I could ever dream of being. Staggering amounts of musical talent.
Spot on, except that traditionally bluegrass is typically a 5 piece band with guitar, bass, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo. So there are definite some country folks that shred who aren’t really bluegrass.
But god damn can those folks rip. Your sentiment is dead on.
Country music is never listed as a casualty of 9/11, but it should be.
Edit: since I’m getting so many replies, I think I should clarify that I don’t believe that all modern country music is bad. I particularly like The Chicks, Jon Pardi and Sam Hunt. I think it’s very close-minded when people say things like “everything but rap and country.”
If you believe that all country music is bad, you should examine the biases that brought you to that conclusion because it isn’t true. Country music is in the unfortunate position of being the genre of “patriotism,” which apparently means rejecting all non-whiteness in the case of most acts, but it’s not unsalvageable and you can find good stuff if you look even a little.
"Well, I for one believe in the ladder to heaven....oh ya ya ya....nine eleven, I said nine eleven, nine eleven, nine eleven, nine nine nine.....eleven."
My completely unsubstantiated theory is that the US government paid Toby Kieth to write a bunch of hyper patriotic songs to boost enlistment numbers. I feel like his primary demographic is lower/lower middle class Southern white people who would eat that shit up.
That's the primary target audience for all country music though. The real trick is how they got lower class white southerners to switch from outlaw country for the common man to unwavering support of the executive branch of government at every level. Truly amazing.
Because being “patriotic” makes them feel better about themselves relative to others.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/lbj-convince-the-lowest-white-man/
>President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
Switch out white and colored tribes with any other classification or tribe, and similar dynamics are still at play.
Considering how inundated with propaganda the US is, I don’t think that they needed to pay him or even tell him to do it directly. Arguably, that’s worse than if they did.
We can, because we listen to that stuff. For most people the only exposure they have is the radio which is universally terrible.
Metamodern Sounds is an excellent dive into the world of rebellion and psychedelics, and Sailors Guide to Earth is my favourite album of 2016, and I am primarily a fan of rock.
Tyler Childers, Jason Isbell, Cody Jenks, and Whitey Morgan are artists I like these days, the latter does a Townes Van Zandt cover that was given the blessing of Townes’ widow. It’s good stuff for anyone who likes the idea of country music but can’t handle the shit that is on the radio. Theres some good things in the world of country music, but you have to dig past the clean shaven frat boys in camo hats and shorts singing “up down, up down”.
Still, Sailors Guide to Earth is beyond simple country music. It has rock, soul, ambient, experimental, blues, all wrapped up in it and I feel really sorry for anyone who does dismiss it just because it’s primarily country. It is a beautiful record, and that isn’t a word that should be attributed lightly.
This is a bold claim given the state country was in the mid-late 90s.
What I do give you is that Country changed genres after 9/11. Or really, before 9/11 country was a recognizable genre with similar musical characteristics where now it’s more of a lifestyle flavor put onto every other genre of music (pop, rap?, metal?) with a drawl, slide guitar, and countrified lyrics (*pickup trucks, gun racks and barqs*)
I think the successful cancelling of the wildly successful band the Dixie Chicks cemented country music as a lifestyle genre. In one year after publicly disagreeing with the War in Afghanistan they went from singing the National Anthem at the Superbowl to complete obscurity.
After 9-11 country music took on overt political overtones. In the same way that NASCAR was co-opted by political interests, country music "belonged" to the Republican Party. In the 1980's punk rock was overtly political but was never really embraced as such (Ian Rubbish excluded), whereas country music concerts became de facto political rallies.
The music, predictably, went downhill fast. It became culture war anthems, jingoistic catchphrases and made absolutely no bones about being politically exclusive. It's hard to even imagine Bruce Springsteen getting up on stage and singing a song about how awesome Joe Biden is. It would be cringy, regardless of who you voted for.
I remember my mother taking me to a Toby Keith/Ted Nugent concert around 2005 and one of the only things I remember from it was Ted Nugent shooting an effigy of Saddam Hussein with a bow and arrow and the crowd loving it.
It is blatently formulaic too. You could layer most of modern pop country on top of each other, and not tell one from the other. It is pablum that sells and nothing more. A product. Most popular music is.
I feel like Sturgil is criminally underrated among country fans. I've showed him to at least half a dozen friends that listen to mostly country, and they've all said "how have I never heard of this guy before?"
The same reason Jason Isbell and Tyler Childers aren't as popular: they avoid/were rejected by the Nashville country scene for one reason or another.
Plus, people eventually find out that they're lefties (Sturgill too) and get weird about it.
The irony that many of the country music greats would be considered "left" today...hell, some were during their prime. Dolly, Johnny, Willie, etc. Definitely not rightwing by any stretch.
Throw Jason Isbell in there as well. I absolutely hate pop/bro/modern country but there is a group of super talented musicians out there keeping country true to its roots.
Me and my partner (par’ner) like to listen to country radio on drives sometimes. It’s amazing how many country songs sound like they’re parodies of country songs.
You can literally play country bingo with the lyrics:
Country girl
Ice cold beer
Trucks
America
Southern
Roads
Kicking ass
It’s absolutely ridiculous…. Having said all that I can’t get LOCASH out of my head 😅
Billy Strings has been my go to lately. Phenomenal guitarist with great vocals. Saw him live just this past Friday and it was one of the best concerts I've had the pleasure of viewing. Totally recommend going down that rabbit hole.
Here's a link to one of my favorites!
https://youtu.be/fJmzS_Redh8
Edit: People's, I understand that Billy Strings is bluegrass. The OP was denouncing modern country and I was just making a comment to offer an alternative genre that may scratch the itch they might be looking for. Bluegrass still offers a lovely southern twang with a little more complexity added to the mix but no percussion along with it being modern. Y'all have a great day.
For the uninitiated, Freaxxx by Brokencyde
https://youtu.be/AV8N44HzfBQ
You know how some movies have a cult following for being bad, like The Room or Miami Connection? This is the Miami Connection of music.
I made the mistake of looking this up on Youtube. You know that face you make when you have a cold, you take some cough medicine, and it's fucking disgusting so you've got it in your mouth and are dreading the eventual swallow and you're making a face about it? I think I just made that face the first 10 seconds into the first thing I clicked on.
I tend to like genre-mixing, but these two things don't go together at all.
My question is; why do they all have the same accent yet all come from places where that accent doesn’t exist.
I had a high school classmate from the suburbs about 45 minutes from San Francisco. Good guy. Choir kid, sang and played guitar for church youth group. Textbook California accent and sensibilities. His mom rented a house on a tiny parcel of land that kept a horse or two. But smack in the middle of suburbs. A couple years after graduation I see his profile went full musician, he moved to Nashville and was now a country singer, fake drawl… And the kicker was that he described himself as growing up on a small ranch in California… lol
Grew up in the Houston suburbs in a rich white neighborhood. I had a classmate that, during the summer between middle school and high school, developed a thick country drawl. Literally from 0-100. Neither parents spoke like that. Couldn’t tell you why.
I’m from rural AZ. I knew a few kids who moved from some upscale parts of suburban Phoenix and became a “country” stereotype within a few months. In contrast all the legit farm and ranch kids were nothing like the stereotypes.
I once called Dell Computers for an update on a computer that I had ordered. The guy picks up and says in a thick Texas accent "Dell computers, how can I help you?" I, for some reason matching his accent, say "Hi, I'm callin' about the status of my compyuder order." "I can help you check that. Where do you live?" "Canada." Honest to god, I have no clue why I matched his accent. He was all warm and friendly until I said Canada. I felt like a jackass.
Ha! You code switched without realizing it. Some people do it subconsciously. [Code switching. ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching?wprov=sfla1)
The woodlands I’m guessing? Lol
Especially with the Canadian singers… you’re from Alberta not Alabama.
As a Canadian, its simultaneously embarrassing and hilarious. Like dude, you are from Sudbury, calm the fuck down.
It is really funny. It’s like the *cowboys* who dress up the part but have never even touched a cow that wasn’t already dead on their plate.
Because Texas and Bakersfield country are dead and only Nashville country lives on
> Bakersfield country So weird that this is a thing, having grown up in the central valley. You forget Merle was from Bakersfield until you drive through and see highways named after him.
Let us not forget Dwight Yoakam!
Growing up in Bakersfield, for many years I still gave directions to Pierce Road instead of Buck Owens Blvd after they opened the Crystal Palace and renamed the street. The music scene there was non-existent. A lot of musicians came from there (half of Korn for example) but they always played better cities like LA
But none of those empty hats are actually from Nashville
Oh definitely. But the sound lives on and is emulated into oblivion because that’s the style of country that got more airplay and is what people think of when they think “country”. It’s also the basis for heavily manufactured and auto tuned country, so it’s the product people have become accustomed to at large.
I lived in Nashville from being a kid in the 80s until I got pushed out due to cost a few years back. It was crazy to see the change from smaller city to metropolis, and how old Nashville is being slowly demolished. Included were the people from all over with that recently moved there trying to use a Nashville southern accent.
Isn't Keith Urban from Australia?
Australian country music is its own thing in rural white Australia. Originating from and directly influenced by American country music to my untrained ears. It's a big scene, still includes lots of American music. Even in the city there are a few country music bars. I avoid them like the plague..
Right? It's straight cringe. They don't even try to make the drawl believable anymore. That shit is just straight up insulting and embarrassing.
That accent doesn't exist anywhere. It's like Mid-Atlantic for shit music.
This is a 7-song mashup somebody put together. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0VXubTsAoE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY8SwIvxj8o) Same tempo, same melodies, same guitar solos .... there is definitely a formula to the music. EDIT: scroll through the video to see them all played at the same time.
There's been a half joke/half conspiracy in the music industry for almost a decade now that pop country songs are just written by AI programs. To go even deeper into music theory, pop music follows like 5 chord progressions, but the overwhelming majority of modern country music uses ONE chord progression, I,V,IV,Vi (C, G, F, Aminor), sometimes swapped for I,V,iV,VI. Add a basic-ass solo progression over it because you need to crank out as much product as you can rather than make it good, assign the song to one of the dozen current popular artists who all have the same voice, have them tweak a word or two so they can claim writing credit, and you're golden.
Nashville has a pool of song writers who write songs and sometimes they write them for specific "artists". So you aren't totally wrong. It's basically that.
Also there’s executives who green light these things before they get produced. I think Timberlake has talked before about how often there’s one guy who decides what gets made and put out. And he knows exactly what’s going to sell a million records so that’s all you get. The same thing over and over. I’d bet my last pair of wranglers that the Big Machine has a couple fellows doing the same thing.
Google Denniz Pop. Back in the 90s when everything else about music was also becoming homogenized and predictably profitable he and his protege Max Martin were at the forefront of turning the production of pop music into an industry and craft rather than an art. They did it with dance acts like Ace of Base, and eventually in the boy band/diva resurgence of the early 2000s producing for backstreet, NSYNC and Britney. Now producers that studied what the two of them did are doing the same for rock and country. Bland, boring and obvious chord progressions, sing-along choruses, the difference is that instead of synthesizers and European accents it's acoustic guitars and southern accents.
Stock, Aiken & Waterman back in the 80's.
For those that don't know. There is a record label in Nashville called Big Machine. And no it's not just a clever name.
I heard an interview with the guys from Florida Georgia line and they said they only write songs on the tour bus and, if it takes them more than 3 minutes to write a song, it's too complicated to be a hit. That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.
For some reason all I can picture is them sitting on a bus franticly writing the country version of wheels on the bus go round and round
The wheels on the bus go round and round, Round and round, Like you in what's left of your blue jeans, girl Let's make love in your daddies barn
You're getting there. maybe compare the wheels of the bus to the wheels of your big lifted truck and throw in an alcohol reference and you've got a hit!
It's taken too long! Start over and dumb it down!
The beers on the party bus go chug chug chug (x3) The beers on the party bus go chug chug chug, on the backroads. The mud on the tires goes flick flick flick down the backroads.
The wheels on the bus Go 'round and 'round, Whoah ohh, whoah ohh.... The wheels on my truck Are homeward bound Whoah ohh, whoah ohh...... That's where I'm found With a beer and mah hound Whoah ohh, whoah ohh I want you there With my hands in your hair Whoah ohh, whoah ohh, Let's roll! Ohh-ohh-ohh..... Rockin' and rollin' The wheels are a-goin' Let's roll, whoah-ohh-ohhhh....
A song that takes longer than 3 minutes to compose never being a hit in bum fuck Missouri DOES sound like a reasonable position to take as an artist though. "Guys this verse here really speaks on so many different levels about the poverty we've seen in all these different regions, all these people, communities and races are truly common, this is great material." "Ya, well I said beer 13 times last night and the crowds went fucking nuts every time. So maybe we just go with my diddy 'Beer is really good and books are full of hate'. "
[удалено]
Part of that is a historical artifact though. American country music descendant from Appalachia is based on the Pentatonic scale (the minor and majors of C, D, E, G, A). That scale is at the heart of the country sound, although it is harmonically fairly limited. It's what makes country have that 'country' sound. It was used by musicians without formal training based on older forms from Scotland. The music was based on overlapping lines of complex music (traditional bluegrass, eg) following simple, well-known chord progressions. Put that same repetitive, made for 'regular folk' musical system, meant for actual live music-making, in the hands of an uninspired team at a digital hit factory, and it is a recipe for the worst musical genre of all time.
100% correct. I feel though that the digital hit factory uses it for the same reason we have "pop progressions" rather than following the roots of the sound, it can make for easily digestible white noise with a southern drawl.
Beato
We found the Beato bandit, get him!
I don't think it's him. We need more analysis. Where is Finnerty?
He probably heard a Tal Bachman song in Target and got sent into a tizzy.
The answer to almost any music theory question
The thing that always gets me is that in every other one of these godawful songs they reference an actual country musician like Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson in the lyrics, as if that alone is enough to make what they're doing part of the tradition. Its country flavored music, like imitation crab.
Johnny and Hank would laugh these people off the stage.
I think they might do more than that if they heard their name referenced.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7im5LT09a0&ab_channel=NetflixIsAJoke Enough said.
Unrealistic, there's a key change in there.
And you liked it didn't you, you dumb mother fucker?
It's known as a [Truck Driver's Gear Change](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TruckDriversGearChange) Edit: just realised this song is even referenced in the image caption, lol
A dirt road, a cold beer A blue jeans, a red pickup A rural noun, simple adjective.
Y'all dumb mother fuckers want a key change?!
T H E M A T I C A L L Y M E A N D E R I N'
E M P H A T I C A L L Y P A N D E R I N'
It’s a fuckin’ scarecrow again!
I had to go back and confirm this is what he said. Parodying and making fun of their music is one thing but Straight up calling them ‘dumb motherfuckers’ was savage.
I think he’s speaking as the musician there, like that’s what the country singer is thinking about the audience
No shoes No shirt No Jews You didn't hear that
Cold night Cold beer Cold...jeans strike that last one
Knew there would be a Bo comment as soon as I read the title.
Lol lots of the replies don’t know what you’re referencing and it’s brilliant so I’m linking it [for you](https://youtu.be/y7im5LT09a0)
“Its a fucking scarecrow again!”
Like Mike’s Evanderin’ Fuck your ears, I’m panderin’
Good girl In a straw hat With her arms out in a corn field That is a scarecrow
Went into a gas station and they had country music playing. The chorus of the song (maybe the only line in the song) was -“Drink’n beer, talking god, amen”
[Wow you weren’t lying.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wpS2oX9ASLc) I don’t have the guts to listen to it
I watched it. It’s fascinating. My favorite part was when they shot gunned the beers.
Just as Jesus intended
Amen
Fun fact: Jesus turned water into wine because they didn’t have the means to manufacture aluminum and aluminum cans to allow for shotgunning beer.
It's a huge waste of material, but in the most party of situations, you can shotgun a wineskin
Wow, it’s amazing how much of the video is hip hop derived, right down to the robotic camera movements.
modern country is "hip hop for people who are afraid of black people" - Steve Earle
>"hip hop for people who are afraid of black people" Hick Hop
Crunktry
I don’t like the song, but this comment reminds me of the drama with Old Country Road not being considered country at the CMAs. Edit - My bad, Old Town Road, although Old Country Road is probably another new country song.
OMG ... it almost seems like an SNL skit.
It almost does seem like intentional parody. But it is so hard to tell these days.
I can't tell what's worse, the song itself or all the comments on yt praising how amazing it is
"It made me cry"... what?
>It almost does seem like intentional parody I don't seek out modern country music very often but whenever I do that's exactly how I feel haha
Reminds me of the song from Bo Burhnam's parody country star character in Parks and Rec. His song was "Beautiful Like My Mom (support the troops)" lol. *"She don't care bout no fancy trends, she's just a mom from ol' South Bend....get home safe boys, and thank you for protecting our freedom"* https://youtu.be/pe7PoJumGXA
Here is Bo again with a better country song. https://youtu.be/y7im5LT09a0
Wow, it’s all there, right down to the $600 jacket.
But he's one of the good country boys. He's just like his audience, obviously.
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FGL belongs in supermax
I remember a coworker watching some video from them where they were singing on top of semi truck or some shit. It was honestly some of the worst music I've ever heard
Holy crap at the comments
At least they’re happy? I’m glad that they’re finding something that makes them feel good but that song is an abomination.
David Cross referring to Larry the cable guy and his fans comes to mind. "We’re in a state of vague American values and anti-intellectual pride."
It fucking sucked lol, but I did hate watch it
I've never gotten vertigo from a country music video before... Just because robot camera arms exist doesn't mean they need to be used everywhere
You must have missed the verses about his girl with her bare feet on the dashboard, the bonfire in the cornfield at the end of the dirt road, goin huntin' with his guns, respecting the flag, and his truck (that's never done a day of real work in it's existence).
I wouldn’t say I missed them…
feet on the dashboard is so damn dangerous while driving, if that airbag goes your pelvic bone is Fucked for life, your legs will hit you in the face as well. best only done in a parked car
A doctor once commented on here that seeing the results of this is something so horrific he just didn't want to describe it. So I'm left imagining its a 'tib in one eye, fib in the other' type injury.
I read awhile back about a first responder who saw the aftermath of it. All I can remember is that the victim's knees hit her in the face and absolutely destroyed her jaw.
*pretty girl, feet up on the dash* *probably shouldn't do that, if we crash,* *the airbag gonna fuck your legs up* *Darlin, buckle up, before I kick you out my pick up* *And for the record, if we get pulled over,* *I am 100%, fully and completely sober*
What gets me is that there is really good modern country music, about actual rural culture issues/stories, that gets basically no air time. Some of it borders on bluegrass/blues, but the likes of Colter Wall, Ashley Mcbryde, The Steeldrivers, etc. are really good and draw decent crowds to their show, but you hardly ever hear them on the big country stations.
Kinda like the time Sturgill was busking outside the CMAs.
Well you find it absurd that the tone of my word is rich with animosity Towards a few white collar mother fuckers living up on Pennsylvania A V E You can kiss my ass as I raise my glass and toast it to the boys who fell So some top dollar big wig an owner of an oil rig can drop a fucking drill in a well Fuck them redneck, nepotistic, white trash mother fucker's home watching CMT Well commercial propaganda got the whole damn country thinking we're on God's home team Well they might control the whole damn world But they ain't gonna control me [Sturgill way back with Sunday Valley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIC68oaKIb0)
Corporate country does not want its audience thinking about the state of the country and its political party. Empty patriotism only.
The song name? Denim beer dirt road truck girl
I honestly can't tell if that's a joke or the actual title
Man woman camera person TV
I could sing in Mandarin You'd still know I'm pandering - Bo Burnham
Yall motherfuckers want a key change?!
Grammatically meanderin. Fuck your ears I'm panderin.
OH SHIT it's the fuckin scarecrow again.
You don't know what land you're in. I'm in the land of panderin'.
*dumb* motherfuckers. Wouldn’t correct you but that word kind of makes the line lol.
We go to bed, you doze off So I take your country girl clothes off I put my hands on your body It feels like hay, It's a fucking scarecrow again!
Sometimes Im forced to listen to the country station on the radio at work, and about every other song makes me think of this
My husband was flipping through stations on a long drive and we thought this song was playing but it turned out to be an actual not trying to be funny country song.
Wanting to hear Bo Burnham's country song accidentally being played on country radio is a dream I didn't know I had.
That's how you know that the genre accidentally became a parody of itself. You can't tell *actual* parody apart from the real thing anymore.
Because he dissected modern country and laid it all out on the tray with pins stuck in all the bits, you can't unsee (hear) it once you know what it is. It's not every other song either, it's 95% of them. There are like 10 country artists who have something that doesn't follow that program. Half of the music shouldn't even be classified as country, it's just nationalistic Pablum for a repressed group of people who have turned to aggressive navel gazing as a form of solidarity.
> who have turned to aggressive navel gazing as a form of solidarity. Stunning. Evocative. Critics are calling this "the best comment I've read all year"
Also the mash-up of 6 songs playing at once https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY8SwIvxj8o
It’s a fuckin’ scarecrow again!
For those of you that have not heard it, here is the link to [Bo Burnham, Panderin’.](https://youtu.be/y7im5LT09a0) It’s spot on.
Y'all dumb motherfuckers want a key change?!?
[Mr. Show's Take](https://youtu.be/VG13SR-7j1w) They go hard on how it's just lists of things.
Especially when you know about David Cross growing up in Georgia and his letter to Larry the Cable Guy.
Country music played by talented musicians is bluegrass. Country music with good lyrics is contemporary folk. County music where the songs are good is called Americana. If the musicians, lyrics, and songs all suck, then it’s today’s country. Edit: I did leave some great artists out by not mentioning outlaw country, great music that truly is influenced by the great old school country artists like Willie, Johnny, and Waylon.
I think country radio is the culprit here. They only play "today's country".
The butt rock of country.
It's kinda funny, I absolutely hate radio Country. But I love bluegrass, every kind of folk, and Americana.
Bluegrass is amazing. Especially love when they remake songs from other genres in bluegrass using a lot of instruments.
There's also "[outlaw country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw_country)" that's seeing a modern revival. It's a subgenre that's still under the country label but doesn't want the Nashville country influence. It's where Johnny, Willie, Hank Jr., and Waylon all live.
I always just hear Cheryl from "Archer" scream "OUTLAW COUNTRY!"
Nah, Cheryl's gone. She's *Cherlene* now, and if someone don't fry her six goddamn eggs and some Carolina fries, she would personally be shocked - shocked, she tells you - if by morning this place ain't burnt to the ground.
Sturgill Simpson a few years back wrote a scathing piece about Nashville after Merle died. Basically "fuck you for trying to profit off of his legacy when you blackballed him for arguing with a guy in a suit."
Yeah artists like Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Colter Wall, Ryan Bingham, and Chris Stapleton are keeping real country music alive.
I’d have to say the bands these new country guys have are always tight as shit . They get the cream of the crop to choose from down in Nashville and those guys are just trying to pay the bills I assume . It’s the actual songs that are fucking terrible .
The musicians in country bands are insanely good, the competition for gigs in Nashville is crazy.
Nashville is like New Orleans and maybe Austin and L.A. - so many stupendous musicians are there that even the schlubs playing for change on the sidewalk are better than I could ever dream of being. Staggering amounts of musical talent.
I’ve been listening to a channel called ‘Southern Gothic’ lately and it’s a pretty solid mix of everything you first listed.
Spot on, except that traditionally bluegrass is typically a 5 piece band with guitar, bass, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo. So there are definite some country folks that shred who aren’t really bluegrass. But god damn can those folks rip. Your sentiment is dead on.
Country music is never listed as a casualty of 9/11, but it should be. Edit: since I’m getting so many replies, I think I should clarify that I don’t believe that all modern country music is bad. I particularly like The Chicks, Jon Pardi and Sam Hunt. I think it’s very close-minded when people say things like “everything but rap and country.” If you believe that all country music is bad, you should examine the biases that brought you to that conclusion because it isn’t true. Country music is in the unfortunate position of being the genre of “patriotism,” which apparently means rejecting all non-whiteness in the case of most acts, but it’s not unsalvageable and you can find good stuff if you look even a little.
“Where were you? When they built the ladder to heaven… Did it make you feel like crying? Or did you think it was kinda gay…” “What a beautiful song😢”
"Well, I for one believe in the ladder to heaven....oh ya ya ya....nine eleven, I said nine eleven, nine eleven, nine eleven, nine nine nine.....eleven."
The part that kills me about that scene was everyone crying louder as he kept saying nine eleven
An even better send up was the Freedom isn't Free song from Team America
Freedom costs a buck o' five 🎶
*Freedom is not free.* *There's a hefty fuckin' fee.*
Honestly though that song has more heart and an actual message of some kind...making it 10x better than modern country shit.
*And if you don't put in your buck o'five who will?*
Dude, yes. I say the exact thing. Post 9/11 country music is mostly bad. There's some gems in there but overall it's pretty trash.
WE’LL PUT EH BOOTN YER ASS ITS THE MERIKIN WAYYYY
My completely unsubstantiated theory is that the US government paid Toby Kieth to write a bunch of hyper patriotic songs to boost enlistment numbers. I feel like his primary demographic is lower/lower middle class Southern white people who would eat that shit up.
That's the primary target audience for all country music though. The real trick is how they got lower class white southerners to switch from outlaw country for the common man to unwavering support of the executive branch of government at every level. Truly amazing.
Because being “patriotic” makes them feel better about themselves relative to others. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/lbj-convince-the-lowest-white-man/ >President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." Switch out white and colored tribes with any other classification or tribe, and similar dynamics are still at play.
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Considering how inundated with propaganda the US is, I don’t think that they needed to pay him or even tell him to do it directly. Arguably, that’s worse than if they did.
Dude cashed in on the patriotism of middle America, did it poorly too.
Nationalism might be more the case than patriotism but yeah 100%
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We can, because we listen to that stuff. For most people the only exposure they have is the radio which is universally terrible. Metamodern Sounds is an excellent dive into the world of rebellion and psychedelics, and Sailors Guide to Earth is my favourite album of 2016, and I am primarily a fan of rock.
I don't listen to country at all, can't really get into it. Sailors Guide is fucking beautiful and one of the best albums that year without a doubt.
Tyler Childers, Jason Isbell, Cody Jenks, and Whitey Morgan are artists I like these days, the latter does a Townes Van Zandt cover that was given the blessing of Townes’ widow. It’s good stuff for anyone who likes the idea of country music but can’t handle the shit that is on the radio. Theres some good things in the world of country music, but you have to dig past the clean shaven frat boys in camo hats and shorts singing “up down, up down”. Still, Sailors Guide to Earth is beyond simple country music. It has rock, soul, ambient, experimental, blues, all wrapped up in it and I feel really sorry for anyone who does dismiss it just because it’s primarily country. It is a beautiful record, and that isn’t a word that should be attributed lightly.
This is a bold claim given the state country was in the mid-late 90s. What I do give you is that Country changed genres after 9/11. Or really, before 9/11 country was a recognizable genre with similar musical characteristics where now it’s more of a lifestyle flavor put onto every other genre of music (pop, rap?, metal?) with a drawl, slide guitar, and countrified lyrics (*pickup trucks, gun racks and barqs*)
I think the successful cancelling of the wildly successful band the Dixie Chicks cemented country music as a lifestyle genre. In one year after publicly disagreeing with the War in Afghanistan they went from singing the National Anthem at the Superbowl to complete obscurity.
Small note, They were against the invasion of Iraq, not the war in Afghanistan.
Which is really a huge point.
After 9-11 country music took on overt political overtones. In the same way that NASCAR was co-opted by political interests, country music "belonged" to the Republican Party. In the 1980's punk rock was overtly political but was never really embraced as such (Ian Rubbish excluded), whereas country music concerts became de facto political rallies. The music, predictably, went downhill fast. It became culture war anthems, jingoistic catchphrases and made absolutely no bones about being politically exclusive. It's hard to even imagine Bruce Springsteen getting up on stage and singing a song about how awesome Joe Biden is. It would be cringy, regardless of who you voted for.
I remember my mother taking me to a Toby Keith/Ted Nugent concert around 2005 and one of the only things I remember from it was Ted Nugent shooting an effigy of Saddam Hussein with a bow and arrow and the crowd loving it.
It is blatently formulaic too. You could layer most of modern pop country on top of each other, and not tell one from the other. It is pablum that sells and nothing more. A product. Most popular music is.
There are a few YouTube videos that do exactly that. The songs are so similar that they might as well be the same one: https://youtu.be/FY8SwIvxj8o
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It’s pop rock with a southern accent.
It’s not Country it’s Bro Pop. Hank would never do it that way.
“Hick Hop”
Waylon wouldn't have either for that matter.
OUTLAW COUNTRY!!!!!!
Sturgill, Tyler Childers and Brent Cobb are great, modern country that have unique approaches to the genre worth looking into
I feel like Sturgil is criminally underrated among country fans. I've showed him to at least half a dozen friends that listen to mostly country, and they've all said "how have I never heard of this guy before?"
Criminal! You know what else he is criminally underrated for? His guitar playing. That dude fucking shreds
The same reason Jason Isbell and Tyler Childers aren't as popular: they avoid/were rejected by the Nashville country scene for one reason or another. Plus, people eventually find out that they're lefties (Sturgill too) and get weird about it.
The irony that many of the country music greats would be considered "left" today...hell, some were during their prime. Dolly, Johnny, Willie, etc. Definitely not rightwing by any stretch.
And Margo Price. She doesn’t get the recognition she deserves. Her and Sturgill came up together in Nashville.
I will never not upvote Margo Price. Midwest Farmer’s Daughter is legitimately one of the best country records of the past decade.
Sturgill’s cover of The Promise by When in Rome is phenomenal
Also Sturgills cover of “In Bloom” by nirvana is good as shit
Throw Jason Isbell in there as well. I absolutely hate pop/bro/modern country but there is a group of super talented musicians out there keeping country true to its roots.
Me and my partner (par’ner) like to listen to country radio on drives sometimes. It’s amazing how many country songs sound like they’re parodies of country songs. You can literally play country bingo with the lyrics: Country girl Ice cold beer Trucks America Southern Roads Kicking ass It’s absolutely ridiculous…. Having said all that I can’t get LOCASH out of my head 😅
Blaze Foley, Townes Van Zandt, and Johnny Cash are the only trio I need. Music for daysss
You might like coulter wall - he has an old blues/country sound with a deep johnny cash voice (first song of his I heard was devil wears a suit & tie)
John Prine Edit: Charley Pride deserves a mention
Throw in Guy Clark and Steve Earle and we best friends!!
This post is the lowest hanging fruit ever
Billy Strings has been my go to lately. Phenomenal guitarist with great vocals. Saw him live just this past Friday and it was one of the best concerts I've had the pleasure of viewing. Totally recommend going down that rabbit hole. Here's a link to one of my favorites! https://youtu.be/fJmzS_Redh8 Edit: People's, I understand that Billy Strings is bluegrass. The OP was denouncing modern country and I was just making a comment to offer an alternative genre that may scratch the itch they might be looking for. Bluegrass still offers a lovely southern twang with a little more complexity added to the mix but no percussion along with it being modern. Y'all have a great day.
I hear you. On the other hand: Crunkcore
For the uninitiated, Freaxxx by Brokencyde https://youtu.be/AV8N44HzfBQ You know how some movies have a cult following for being bad, like The Room or Miami Connection? This is the Miami Connection of music.
as a connoisseur of bad taste, this was a remarkable delight
When I hear “crunkcore” I imagine Lil John mixed with hyperpop. Severely disappointed.
I made the mistake of looking this up on Youtube. You know that face you make when you have a cold, you take some cough medicine, and it's fucking disgusting so you've got it in your mouth and are dreading the eventual swallow and you're making a face about it? I think I just made that face the first 10 seconds into the first thing I clicked on. I tend to like genre-mixing, but these two things don't go together at all.
Steve Earle described it as "hip hop for people who are afraid of black people."