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Modern "Country"

#181
Gab124 said:
I agree with everything you said, but think the reason we put into a classification instead of just "good, bad and weird" is because my idea of good may be no where near yours. Generally speaking, there are few of us that actually like all types of music, some say they do but I would wager that most do not. I consider myself really open minded and listen to a great deal of music spanning many genres, but I can't listen to Rap. I just cannot relate to it on any level whether that be the instrumentation or cultural significance. So therefore, it you said come see this concert with me the music is great and I got there and had to endure 2 hours of rap........Well, let's just say I could have avoided it right from the get go with a little musical classification up front.
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I'm not going to tell you to go find some "good" hip-hop but I will tell you it's there. Complete with lyrical depth and musicality. But I've been right where you are with country radio in the 90's, said I hated the genre and you couldn't drag me to a show. Took some time to get there via some alt-country bands but I'm so happy I found the real stuff. Same with hip-hop, same with bluegrass, same with jazz, same with funk. I agree it's all based on taste, which is why genres are even more ridiculous because there is no way to tell if it's good, bad, or weird based on a designation.

Let's start classifying bands on a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being the poppiest radio hits written just to sell records, and 10 being the most self-absorbed with no regard to an audience. Then we can all say "I like bands that are a (insert number here)" and we all know what records to buy you for christmas.
 
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#182
FatBoutedGirls said:
I'm not going to tell you to go find some "good" hip-hop but I will tell you it's there. Complete with lyrical depth and musicality. But I've been right where you are with country radio in the 90's, said I hated the genre and you couldn't drag me to a show. Took some time to get there via some alt-country bands but I'm so happy I found the real stuff. Same with hip-hop, same with bluegrass, same with jazz, same with funk. I agree it's all based on taste, which is why genres are even more ridiculous because there is no way to tell if it's good, bad, or weird based on a designation.

Let's start classifying bands on a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being the poppiest radio hits written just to sell records, and 10 being the most self-absorbed with no regard to an audience. Then we can all say "I like bands that are a (insert number here)" and we all know what records to buy you for christmas.
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I still don't think it will work cause some want pop new alt country and others want self absorbed metal funk. I guess I'm just trying to say humans need to put things in catagories. I still dig your point though.
 
#184
I just signed on for a project that does some modern country covers, particularly Big&Rich and Zac Brown. I can deal with the ZB, but I feel strangely embarrassed to listen and play to the B&R. There's just something incredibly....'campy' about it. "Modern" Country (not to be confused with "Americana") seems to be one of those rare forms of music that proudly sits smack in the middle of the stereotypes of its genre, and proudly recycles the formula to great success. It is almost identical to modern hip-hop/R&B (pop) in that regard.
 
#185
This reminds me of an interview I read with Jazz Guitarist Barney Kessel. They asked him what he thought about Smooth Jazz and he said something like, I don't know what it is, but it aint jazz. Kind of like new country. Hard rock with a fiddle isn't country.
 
#186
To me, modern country sounds like 80's "hair metal" (we didn't call it that back then) with different instrumentation. It sounds just like Bon Jovi or Poison with a banjo or a steel guitar and the distortion tamed down. Personally, I love it!

Art is self-expression. Music is art. If you have a stick up you butt about being a "purist", you're missing the point.


Sent from my iPhone 5c locked in my cod piece using the TalkBass mobile app with my 11th finger while scaling the cliffs of Mordor. (stay thirsty, my friends)
 
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#187
Crazy_Jake said:
Modern Country is the latest "cross over music" ie people who used to listen to rock now listen to country - think Bon Jovi and the success he's had with his countrified songs. Modern Country lets those who listened to rock in the 70's & 80's still feel young and "hip" even though they never listen to newer rock on the radio. Modern Country - songs that you can sing along to with mindless lyrics about trucks - come to think about it lyrics about trucks are preferable to lyrics about "niggas" and "hoes"...
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Or lyrics about dying, killing, and destroying things - like metal.
 
#189
I've been pretty disappointed with most alt country, and completely disappointed with modern radio country. There don't seem to be many people who play simply to get their songs out. They all want to be the next Gram Parsons or the next Garth Brooks. Not many people really have something to say anymore. But then again, I gave up on the new stuff a long time ago and went back to Willie, Waylon, Gram and David Allen Coe.
But I fully admit that I'm a jerk and that this biases me tremendously. I would still love to be in a good country band.
 
#192
Don't have any current practical use for it, but I started learning the bass parts on some Lady Antebellum tunes. Don't know who played bass on the record but very nice lines. Especially on "Just a Kiss"... even if the *eeeww* factor is a little high.

Hey, if Stevie Nicks can sing it with them, I can play it! :p
 
#193
Bass player for the Need You Now Album and Just a Kiss was Craig Young. A very talented guy, and a crack up if you ever get to talk to him.

Craig told me that he used a EBMM Big Al 5SSS for "Just a Kiss".

Soon after that, they changed bass players, and the bass playing has not been nearly in the same league and the songs sound more alike.
 
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#194
"Need You Now" got pretty good radio airplay in Poland a few years ago. Now the remix of "I Could Drink To That All Night" is showing up on the radio, too. I don't know if it really means anything that a country song made it this far East, but it's interesting which ones do.
 
#195
Holdsg said:
Bass player for the Need You Now Album and Just a Kiss was Craig Young. A very talented guy, and a crack up if you ever get to talk to him.

Craig told me that he used a EBMM Big Al 5SSS for "Just a Kiss".

Soon after that, they changed bass players, and the bass playing has not been nearly in the same league and the songs sound more alike.
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Right on. Every song on those first two albums had some kind of really cool bass thing in it somewhere. Now it's just basic stock bass playing.


Sent from my iPad using TalkBass
 
#196
Holdsg said:
Bass player for the Need You Now Album and Just a Kiss was Craig Young. A very talented guy, and a crack up if you ever get to talk to him...
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Well I surely have enjoyed his playing... interesting little throw-off notes and fills. Solid, and clever, but not in the least distracting. You called it - great player.
 
#197
BassCliff said:
Hi,





I love a song that tells a good story. "Wagon Wheel" doesn't bother me at all. It's turned into a quintessential two-step much like Hal Ketchum's "Past The Point Of Rescue", one of my favorites. Now, most of Darius' other songs are real stinkers, you betch'ya. ;)


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
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I like Wagon Wheel and I like playing it. It's unfortunate that Hootie over-popularized this great Old Crow Medicine Show tune. Doesn't hurt that it has some DNA from Dylan. But then I didn't like Hootie's stuff in the '90s and I don't care for his reinvention as a "country artist".

As for the rest of new country music - I personally like a lot of it, yeah it's formulaic, but in my old age, I like my meat pre chewed! And then there's the sappy stuff. But it's been said: if the chicks dig it and it keeps the dance floor full, I'm good with it!
 
#198
Diamond_Dave said:
You have a flautist in your modern country band? Are you sure? :D

Yeah, I think modern country is just pop rock with some twang and redneck subject matter. (And that's not a derisive comment toward the musicians or rednecks...I'm just sayin'.)

I'm really more of an alt-country guy.
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I remember a country rock band with a flute.
Marshall Tucker Band.
 
#199
nukes_da_bass said:
I remember a country rock band with a flute.
Marshall Tucker Band.
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We have a good time with that song. Fun to build it up, and then the drums and I can play some kicks together to finish off the solos before it goes back down. I am trying to convince her to play some Tull.
 
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#200
yes, but careful on that Tull.

No better way I know of emptying a dance floor by playing "Thick as a Brick". I know, I've been there and watched it happen (after warning the B/L that it would do just that).
 

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