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American Country Music


Peter K

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Ok, I´m not very familiar with Country Music and I don´t know many of the bands/singers but what I hear sounds great. Recently I bought a Garth Brooks CD (Thunder Rolls ....). I like it!

What´s your favorite CM band (or singer)?

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I like country because you can usually hear/comprehend the lyrics, you can listen to it with your kids, and because it isn't afraid to be a little corny.

If I had pick a favorite it'd be Johnny Cash, but I love some of the old Statler Brothers, some of the early Randy Travis (seems like country was rejuvenated around that time), Garth, Matraca Berg, etc.

I also appreciate the "My Country, right or wrong" feel of country (ie Lee Greenwood) vs the "Rage against the Machine" of some rock (ie Green Day, etc).

Country can be corny and sappy, but it isn't pretentious, doesn't take itself too seriously. Got to love it! :D

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The BIG names in country music now are: Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Faith Hill, Sarah Evans, Gretchen Wilson, Pat Green, Rascal Flats, and a few more I have overlooked....

It is not the old time country of George Jones, Hank Junior, Walon,

Willie, or Merle, it is mostly over produced, with little resemblance to county music of the 60's much less of the 50's or 40's, but it is passable to listen to, and great to dance to, (you get to actually hold your partner { ...what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this } and enjoy her womanly curves)...

So sit back and listen to it, find the ones you like and practice your two step.... :P:D:lol:

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I stopped listening to country a few years back. I just got bored listening to the same type of lyrics and most of them are pretty damn depressing.

I don't think Dixie Chicks ever recovered from the boycott with what they said about Bush few years ago. The BIG names are doing new country. New country is basic pop music with a twist of country. A lot of them end up getting played on pop stations like Keith Urban.

Country music does have some hot women. Sarah Evans is a definite hottie.

Cletus T. Judd is pretty funny. He's the Weird Al of country music.

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I also like country music. I still like other types of music, but sometimes simple is good.

My wife got us tickets to Wynonna two summers ago. I was not a big fan, but I agreed to go. Wynonna is one of those artists that actually sounds better in concert than she does recorded. It was an excellent concert. I'm now a big fan.

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A history of country music can be found at this link.

Add to that a good listen to Irish and Scottish folk music and you will see where the original influence for American Country music came from.

Take time to listen to the Chieftains. They play traditional Irish music, you can see a lot of similarities.

regards,

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I like David Allen Coe and Vince Gill for two extremes of what I would call "pure country".

There are now three generations of Hank Williams. An excellent microcosm of the history of country music.

I liken the musical group Alabama as the bridge from "old country" to the new.

I think you will like all of the above.

tomB

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John Dunn wrote: "If I had pick a favorite it'd be Johnny Cash,"

Johnny will always be THE man in black and though I do not consider myself a country music fan, I am certainly a Cash fan. Everyone ought to own a Cash collection. And have some whisky on hand to drink while listening to Cash.

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David Allen Coe is a left over from the Outlaw days of Willie and Waylon and Hank Jr...he does some good stuff...Vince Gill has one of the best high tenor voices in the business and can really play about 6 instruments, a great musician and voice...lost some of his appeal for me when he and Amy Grant divorced their mates to marry each other...kind of lame...

As far as groups go, the Stadtler Brothers are old country, Lonestar is New country and there are groups like Alabama in the middle...Country music has never been about groups, but singles and sometimes duets singing about all the things that happen in their lives and how they feel about it..

The Chieftans are certainly country like in their chord progression and approach to music..they are great to listen to..

It started really changing with the likes of Don Williams, Kenny Rogers, and those guys, but the old time country guys like Lefty Frizzel, Hank Sr, and the early Willie Nelson will always have a small place in the scope of things...

Some of the new guys are just rockers with a country band like Keith Urban...he needs a haircut and to get away from the Australian sound he produces to become REAL country....after seeing him at the rodeo, he does know how to work the crowd though...

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Ah yes, David Allen Coe. One of my all time favorites for sure. Along with Merle Haggard, Hank Sr. As for the New Country? It's not Country really. But I'll listen to Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks and maybe George Strait.

Allison Krause (sp) is a fantastice Bluegrass singer and her band it top notch. If you like bluegrass, take a listen to Del McCoury (sp)

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It's amazing how many different musicians are all lumped in as "country" and yet there are so few recognized divisions. Blue grass, old country, new country, western, etc. just don't seem to cover it when you're talking about artists as diverse as Chet Atkins, Hank Sr., Charlie Pride, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kenny Rogers, Charlie Daniels, Vince Gill, John Denver, Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, Keith Urban, Big and Rich, etc. If you could put all these folks in the same room together, I doubt most of them would have anything to say to the others but they're all "country". There are some that I can't help but sing along with, some that I respect for their talent if not their message, and some that I can't stand. I just wonder if some of the stuff that I say "that's not country music" about today will grow on me as time goes by. I sure hope not.

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