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Modern "Country"

I remember a country rock band with a flute.
Marshall Tucker Band.

On this line of thought... I'd been studying Dire Straits bassist John Illsley recently, and stumbled across this video of Mark Knopfler's band performing "Marbletown"... with a flautist. :cool:

PS - I have no idea who the bassist is here, but he's a monster on the upright. (I don't think it's Illsley... sorta' looks like Glenn Worf) There's a bit of solo work during the extended jam past 5:00.

 
I've never disliked a style of music more than modern country. Lyrically, it's like musical mad libs, only with a set list of approved words. "Girl" "Truck" "Pickup" "Listening to the Radio" "Listening to the radio with my girl in my pickup truck." It's completely uninspired garbage. I was watching the Tonight Show a few months back and some male country singer was on (it literally doesn't matter which one it was) and I turned to my girlfriend and said "I bet the first words out of his mouth are the above mentioned words." The first line of the song "It's just a beat up truck..."

There are plenty of other formulaic musical styles out there, but I really think that modern country is one of the worst.

That's why Nashville trots out a "Tribute to..." every few years, like they did with the "Common Thread Eagles tribute" cd years ago.They tried it with a few others but most failed. Up next a " Motley Crue Outlaw country tribute" NO JOKE !!! Guess those writers in Nashville are all out of ideas[just like Hollywood writers and Spanish language radio doing "Classic rock covers in Spanish ]!!!
 
Country is at the same point that rao is and where 80's hairmetal was. Only, it seems like things have changed. Peoples attention spans are so short and they seem to be fine likinh a song for a few months and then replacing it with more that sound exactly like it. Its liking eating fast food every meal, everyday. What does that lead too? A big pile of crap. You really have to catch peoples attention in 5 seconds and people are starting to not put out full albums. Just singles made for videos. How are you ever supposed to develope as an artist like that? Hank! George! Conway! Cash!
 
I do not agree with many of the posts on this topic.

So, tell me this: what other genre in your area is currently
a) popular in the local clubs
b) puts people on the dance floor
c) has (at least) moderately intelligent song writing going on
d) is (at least) moderately interesting to play

I come out of the R&B / Blues / Jazz / Pop thing from 20/30 years ago. I would have been perfectly happy to play that material forever. But, that stuff is totally dead as far as interest in the clubs at least around PHX goes.

I have been actively looking for the next thing and Modern Country is the closest I have been able to find.

Fusion turned into Smooth Jazz. Sheesh.

Blues has failed to transfer to the younger folks. Major fail.

Motown / Stax always works, but has sadly become an oldies thing.

There are some pretty hip non I-IV-V my dog just got hit by the truck Modern Country tunes for cover bands to work with that are not worn out with the club goers. Here are a couple our band is covering.




Sure, if you are young, dreaming of making it big and disdainful of cover work, you're not going to like any cover anything. You're also probably not playing clubs where there's a dance party going on. Maybe dancing is just going out of fashion. Anyhow, I am old to the extent I still like playing for people who are out dancing and having a good time; and as a bass player, I can put a solid groove out there to keep them on the dance floor. That's my thing.

So, what else is there? Seriously.
 
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
I saw that on Paladia. What amazing vocals. I don't know who the bass player was and they don't list a bass player in their members, but that guy plays some really sweet bass lines. He can growl and punch with the best and plays some seriously sweet lines. Particulary like the intro to "Need You Now".
From a distance he looks like Gene Simmons, but they never got close enough to tell and the credits rolled so fast I couldn't see the names.
 
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.
I checked his picture and he looks like the guy doing the Paladia gig. I like his style.
 
Right, and they use totally different players on tour.
That's more common in country, to use a bunch of Nashville studio cats for the albums and younger guys for touring.
It has always been that way in Nashville. There are session players and road players. The session guys make a ton of money. Don't know the current rates, but in 1975-76, the average for a session player was about $250,000 a year.
 
I do not agree with many of the posts on this topic.

So, tell me this: what other genre in your area is currently
a) popular in the local clubs
b) puts people on the dance floor
c) has (at least) moderately intelligent song writing going on
d) is (at least) moderately interesting to play

I come out of the R&B / Blues / Jazz / Pop thing from 20/30 years ago. I would have been perfectly happy to play that material forever. But, that stuff is totally dead as far as interest in the clubs at least around PHX goes.

I have been actively looking for the next thing and Modern Country is the closest I have been able to find.

Fusion turned into Smooth Jazz. Sheesh.

Blues has failed to transfer to the younger folks. Major fail.

Motown / Stax always works, but has sadly become an oldies thing.

There are some pretty hip non I-IV-V my dog just got hit by the truck Modern Country tunes for cover bands to work with that are not worn out with the club goers. Here are a couple our band is covering.




Sure, if you are young, dreaming of making it big and disdainful of cover work, you're not going to like any cover anything. You're also probably not playing clubs where there's a dance party going on. Maybe dancing is just going out of fashion. Anyhow, I am old to the extent I still like playing for people who are out dancing and having a good time; and as a bass player, I can put a solid groove out there to keep them on the dance floor. That's my thing.

So, what else is there? Seriously.


Americana/ roots rock which is NOT modern country is doing pretty well. And R&B that is not just a Motown clown isn't doing bad either. I guess electronic is fading? But still pretty strong. Totally not taking away that modern country is doing well. But it's pop, and there is always some pop that will be killing it. Your points c and d are very subjective though.
 
Right, and they use totally different players on tour.
That's more common in country, to use a bunch of Nashville studio cats for the albums and younger guys for touring.

Think Lee Skylar,David Hungate etc. Yeah those Nashville studio guys are good. Go in blast out 10-20 songs,pack up go to another studio blast out 10-20 more and DONE ! I was really into country for a while[still am to an extent] and I was reading the liner notes....damn all the same guys were playing on 5-10 different artists cd's.Only thing different was the vocalist/songwriters. Those guys sit at home recording while the touring band goes on the road.
 
Americana/ roots rock which is NOT modern country is doing pretty well. And R&B that is not just a Motown clown isn't doing bad either. I guess electronic is fading? But still pretty strong. Totally not taking away that modern country is doing well. But it's pop, and there is always some pop that will be killing it. Your points c and d are very subjective though.
Could be the case on the East Coast. I wouldn't know. Not a lot of interest in Americana/Roots Rock out here (sadly).
 
I've been pretty disappointed with most alt country,

Some alt. country is really great, like Lydia Loveless and Junior Brown, but some of it is just pretentiousness to cover up a lack of chops and songwriting skill. It's the hipster indie scene for folk, Americana, and country. Even though Shonna Tucker is my current avatar and I think she's great, I'm not much of a Drive-By Truckers fan, especially with respect to anything they've down without Jason Isbell, who's actually a good player, songwriter, and vocalist. I've always thought Patterson Hood was a painfully mediocre songwriter and a hack of a vocalist. Just IMHO, of course. ;)
 
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Think Lee Skylar,David Hungate etc. Yeah those Nashville studio guys are good. Go in blast out 10-20 songs,pack up go to another studio blast out 10-20 more and DONE ! I was really into country for a while[still am to an extent] and I was reading the liner notes....damn all the same guys were playing on 5-10 different artists cd's.Only thing different was the vocalist/songwriters. Those guys sit at home recording while the touring band goes on the road.

In some ways I think it really homogenizes the Nashville sound, though. I understand that producers want someone who can roll in with little prep and bang out a polished arrangement in one or two takes, but when you have everyone playing on the same records, everything is going to start sounding painfully same-old, same-old. Then again, I guess if it keeps the Nashville hit machine rolling, then the old white guys at the top aren't going to change anything. Honestly, that's what I really dig about Jason Aldean. His studio band is his touring band, and his song arrangements, while still being commercial, don't sound like every song on country radio.

With that said, the Nashville session cats are probably some of the best musicians in the world. Michael Rhodes played on a number of my last BL's records, and it was a joy learning his lines to play live. He has such a melodic style that really supports the music while still being interesting. There's a ton of detail in his playing.
 
Some alt. country is really great, like Lydia Loveless and Junior Brown, but some of it is just pretentiousness to cover up a lack of chops and songwriting skill. It's the hipster indie scene for folk, Americana, and country. Even though Shonna Tucker is my current avatar and I think she's great, I'm not much of a Drive-By Truckers fan, especially with respect to anything they've down without Jason Isbell, who's actually a good player, songwriter, and vocalist. I've always thought Patterson Hood was a painfully mediocre songwriter and a hack of a vocalist. Just IMHO, of course. ;)

I really hate to put anybody down. I don't enjoy it. But, I just don't hear substance in a great deal of alt country. A wise man once said that you had to smell a lot of mule **** before you can sing like a hillbilly (or something to that effect), and I don't think there's a lot going on in that regard. But I'm not going to say it isn't there, because I just quit listening when it all started to sound like it was coming from the Nickelodeon Channel. Nor will I say there's no talent there. Anybody who can rock the mandolin has my respect as a musician, for certain. I just don't hear, as Buck Owens put it, the lightning and the thunder.
I am always willing to check out any suggestions anybody tosses my way, though. I try to keep an open mind.
 
It is Worf.

Ha - I thought it might be him! He was a first-call Nashville session guy a few years back... one of my all-time favorite upright players.

Not surprising to see Worf gigging with Knopfler. I was worried I had strayed too far from topic, but though Knopfler isn't generally thought of as a country artist, his music is very country-friendly. (See Ragpicker's Dream) Although he'd probably tell you he just writes the songs and lets them be what they are.
 
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