Oh, and it appears they have done away with auto-tune. (Keepin' it real!) I used to think that would be a good idea. On second thought, they should probably bring it back.

Also, I started the recording late and missed some of the beginning, including LL Cool J introducing Brad Paisley.

Apparently they did not perform their new duet.

(I would link to a video, but they have all been pulled from YouTube.)

This is part of manufactured pop country, in the same vein as Taylor Swift, among others. I was somewhat thankful Swift didn't take home an award. I wouldn't be disappointed to see that star fade. But, there will be others anxious to step into that spotlight.

You need only look at the producer of the ACM's (Dick Clark Productions) to get an idea of why it is the way it is. The ACM's were developed to provide another awards show in addition to the more traditional CMA's, which are still in Nashville. The ACM's are aimed at the non-traditional 'country' audience and the music and presenters are geared that way.

The Band Perry is a new, very young group from Greeneville, TN. A hometown success.

What passes for "country" these days is a pretty broad. But, I guess that was true when the "Nashville Sound" was in vogue in the late 60's and 70's, complete with symphony music playing with Ray Price, George Jones and others. Music execs want a 'big tent' which they hope translates into dollars (and I suspect it does). You get a teen to like the Band Perry and maybe they buy the somewhat more traditional Jason Aldean or Miranda Lambert and at least hear some of the more traditional music. This is no different than other forms of music looking for commercial success.

well, they are awfully goodlooking.

if you're on facebook at all these days, look up Brian Henneman (from the Bottle Rockets - who, btw, wrote a much better song about the rebel flag than LL Cool J & Paisley

(link...)

).

Henneman's initial discussion was how he has been disturbed that a lot of his altC/americana/whatever contemporaries were bagging on the whole New Country thing, and how the Country folk had not ever been so dismissive and nasty about his genre.

It was a jumping off point to discuss his hopes for TBP and how much he really liked certain aspects of them and their music, even going to the extent to proclaim some of the songs were just f'ing awesome. He actually went out and bought the new record as soon as it was available, immediately listened to it whilst driving cars from one place to another (his day job), and for the most part, he loved it, with the exception of a few missteps here and there. His analysis was very entertaining and you could tell he meant every word and he was genuinely happy for the band's success.

But... this performance really did him in.

"The Band Perry's performance on the ACM Awards was completely senseless. 100% nonsense. As misguided as it gets. Choreography, energy, pyrotechnics. For what? Are they tryin' to sell me music? They WERE on a music awards show. I guess that's what they were tryin' to sell me, problem is, I don't have any memory of music..."

the discussion goes further, with others chiming in, but you get the point.

Country isn't what country used to be. When Dolly Parton realized she could make more money being "Pop" than traditional country, Nashville also took notice.

Now you have "singers" like Taylor Swift that have taken it to the extreme. But big money can help sell anything when one has a rich daddy owning a national trucking company that can financially help to get your foot in the door to start recording.

Brings to mind a phrase and perhaps album title from Wammo of the Asylum Street Spankers...
"Faster than the speed of suck".

Dear R Neal,

You owe me 3 minutes and 47 seconds of life.

sincerely,
everyone's tortured sensibilities.

We're doomed. (And I kept the sound off for safety.)

If nothing else, I wish a fat hemorrhoid on the bastard who first defined a scene as ten to twelve frames of video.

They got Junior but they ain't got Hank.

Just sit tight. Country goes all pop, then someone emerges to save traditional country music and it all swings back the other way.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Dallas Wayne nailed this.

(link...)

Country Music Hall of Fame: Orgins of Country Music

Country music is rooted in the folk traditions of the British Isles. In the new world, those roots became entangled with the ethnic musics of other immigrants and African slaves. Many gospel hymns were also popularized in the nineteenth century South, while tent shows and blackface minstrelsy introduced folk-sounding tunes written by northern professionals. Played on fiddles or homemade banjos, all this music would one day sound as if born in the Southern hills.

Performing Arts Encyclopedia, Library of Congress: Appalachian Music

In fact, music of the Appalachian region has never been one thing, but rather another multifaceted force in the creation of twentieth-century music. Its influence has appeared in blues, jazz, bluegrass, honky tonk, country, gospel, and pop, at the very least. These music styles owe to Appalachia much the same debt they owe to cities and rural areas outside Appalachia. The story of Appalachian music is very similar to the story of music in America, where musicians have never cared much for categories or purity of lineage, but have eagerly mined whatever styles and forms felt suitable for the raw material of new adaptations.

Scholarly debate aside, Roy Acuff invented traditional country music and Chet Atkins perfected it.

Traditional country is still alive and kicking in its cradle here in East Tennessee. It's time for a hat tip to Tony and the folks at WDVX for keeping country/hillbilly music alive!

I don't know what to call that stuff they do in Nash/Vegas...