I am a hard-core-life-long country music fan. That said, I can't tell you the last time I listened to current country radio. I so rarely hear something on there I like. Historically, country music popularity increases with a decrease in the economy. I haven't heard any reports, but I'm not so sure that happened in this recent recession. Maybe it's because today's mainstream country music is so produced and not-relatable. It sells to somebody, but outside of a few exceptions (Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Josh Turner, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley's best moments), it seems to only relate to suburban guys in their 20s with trucks that wish they lived in the country on weekends.
The accusation of being "over-produced" has long haunted country music. That is how the "Nashville-sound" came about in the first place - by Chet Atkins playing around with the sounds he could get in the studio. Rebellion to this sound is what brought us the "outlaws", most often represented by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.
These days, I find the most traditional country music is actually the stuff being labeled as "indie". The irony of this really makes me laugh. Two great examples of this are The Civil Wars (which I've blogged about previously - but not enough) and She & Him.
A few weeks ago, I saw The Civil Wars live. It was amazing. It was one of those shows rarely seen outside of Nashville, where nobody talks but they sit still and stare instead because it's just so good. They may be "indie", but they are straight out of the 1800s. Think of a slightly more modern & happier sounding version of the Alison Krauss/Sting collaborations for the movie Cold Mountain.
The songs of She & Him bring back the Nashville Sound mixed with a touch of most any act on the Ed Sullivan show. There are moments where Zooey Deschanel is totally channeling Kitty Wells and Brenda Lee.
Also, spring and the promise of summer demands fun country music!!
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