# Country music



## tvdxer

Country music is one of those things I (and most likely, many others) tend to think of as "truly American".  Not that I like country music - I don't, but many around me love it (something that wasn't so true 3-4 years ago).  Outside of the U.S., Canada, Australia, and possibly Ireland, it has always seemed to me that country is mostly a "specialist" genre, which doesn't enjoy public acceptance.  Yet recently, I have witnessed Germany getting a country music entry in Eurovision, and I heard that Swedes listen to it too.  Now for those outside the U.S., I'm curious:

1) Do most people where you live even know what "country music" is?

2) Is it played on the radio?  Is it mainstream?

3) What do people think of it?  Is it hickish / redneckish?


----------



## cuchuflete

It might be helpful to describe Country music for those who don't know what it is.  Pointing out differences between country and folk music, in particular, would be helpful.

Some people may suffer from the assumption that country music lyrics require a pickup truck, a dog, and a former lover.


----------



## Etcetera

In Russia, western and especially American music used to be (and still is) very popular. Aerosmith and Elvis Presley were extremely popular among young people in the Soviet Union. Ray Charles is also a well-known artist. 
And now I'll try to answer your questions:
1) Yes, most people know the words 'cpuntry music', and I suppose everyone heard something of it at least once in his life. 
2) I can't say anything about it, 'cause I don't listen to radio at all. 
3) The music of the 1950s-1970s is valued almost as high as classical music. As for the attitude towards most modern artists... Well, modern music in general is treated with contempt by most Russian people of the elder generation. But young people are sometimes really fond of it.


----------



## maxiogee

Isn't everything country? 
Didn't Kris Kristofferson introduce *Me & Bobby McGee* with the words… "If it sounds country, man, that's what it is: It's a country song."

It's known here and (somewhat) appreciated. It's appeal is fading, and there are few Irish interpreters of American artistes, and there are also few performing "Irish country".
Irish Folk music is still hugely popular, and so is Irish Traditional.
But all those vernaculars are losing out to the mass-appeal, mass-produced, bland and ephemeral pop, rock, whatever. I'm no longer aware of the divisions and sub-divisions of music - in my day you were either a Beatles or a Stones fan and that was it!

Airtime, I don't know. I don't listen to much music-oriented radio.

What do I think of it, dirge-ish, maudlin and not exactly insightful.


----------



## emma42

American country music is incredibly popular in England, together with line-dancing and dressing up in stetsons etc. However, those who do not like it, tend to take the p**s* out of those who do. It is not seen as a high-brow taste and it is also popular with many older people (who, of course, are not valued as highly as the young in our society, in my opinion).  I think it is a bit "hidden", ie I don't see many programmes about it on mainstream TV etc.

*mock


----------



## panjabigator

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> Some people may suffer from the assumption that country music lyrics require a pickup truck, a dog, and a former lover.



It doesnt???? 

When I lived in NY (for ten years, albeit my first ten years), I never knew anyone who really liked country music.  But in the South (although Florida arguably isnt the South aside from conservatives), a lot of people listen to it...especially in North Florida.  Country music has its strong hold in the southern states.


----------



## GenJen54

*Mod Note:  *As wonderful and interesting as 60s groups still are, they are not the topic of this thread. Please consider tvdxers original inquiries:




> 1) Do most people where you live even know what "country music" is?
> 
> 2) Is it played on the radio?  Is it mainstream?
> 
> 3) What do people think of it?  Is it hickish / redneckish?



Thank you.


----------



## diegodbs

I'm afraid I don't know what country music is and I think I have never listened to country music, at least that I know of. I mean there was nobody to tell me "this song or this kind of music you're listening to is something called country music". Is it a kind of music different from city music?


----------



## Etcetera

Moderator note:  Please do not ramble far off topic.  Text on other styles of music and non-country performers has been removed. 

Returning to tvdxer's original inquiries, the attitude towards country music, I think, is different in Russia and depends on what we're talking about actually. Towards a 1960s' singer there is one attitude, and towards modern stars of country another.
Am I making any sense?


----------



## GenJen54

Hi Diego, 

Country music is music that has what I would call "rural" sensibilities and concerns.

Instead of hip/hop and rap which often deal with cultural realities of black urban youth, and/or general pop music, country music has always appealed to "the working man," people whose livelihood often comes from the land, such as farmers, ranchers and "cowboys."  This is not to say country music does not have broader appeal in the U.S.

Country music got its roots from folk music.  Some of the earliest U.S. country artists included Bob Wills (1930s/40s) and Hank Williams (1950s/60s) who is still a legend today.  

You can look country music up on the web and find many sites dedicated to its current stars.  I'm afraid any attempt at describing its sound would provide little, if any, help. 

One current country star, Keith Urban, is from Australia.  I'm not sure of any others who are not from the U.S., although I'm sure they exist.


----------



## diegodbs

Thank you, GenJen. I'll try to find one of those sites and listen to it.


----------



## Etcetera

GenJen54 said:
			
		

> Country music is music that has what I would call "rural" sensibilities and concerns.
> 
> Instead of hip/hop and rap which often deal with cultural realities of black urban youth, and/or general pop music, country music has always appealed to "the working man," people whose livelihood often comes from the land, such as farmers, ranchers and "cowboys." This is not to say country music does not have broader appeal in the U.S.


So that's why country music received its name? I wondered. Thank you, GenJen, for the explanation.


----------



## cuchuflete

For those who have a few minutes to read a fine essay about country music, look here.


----------



## aledraka

In Italy country music is perceived as something "truly American"; there are some bands, but they all act as if they were farmers from the south west or something like that =) (Sorry if I seem to be offensive)
As a consequence it is not played on the main radio stations, I think it would be considered old-fashioned music.. 
At university I studied something about the great depression and the decade before WW2, and my teacher kept talking about Woody Guthrie: is he considered a folk or country singer?


----------



## Etcetera

Hi aledraka,
several sites I've found with Google says that Guthrie was a folk singer.


----------



## GenJen54

Yes. Guthrie was a famous folk singer and one of the U.S.'s most prolific songwriters. He happens to be from my state (Oklahoma), and gained much of his inspiration as a child growing up during the "Dust Bowl" years of the Great Depression of the 1930s. He was a political activist, probably due to having grown up in great poverty and found much in common with the "Working Man." There is a "Woody Guthrie Folk Festival" that takes place every summer in Guthrie's hometown in my state. 

 Among other songs, he wrote "This Land Was Made For You And Me."

His son Arlo is also a folk musician and still lives here. 

He is not really a "country" singer, but touches upon many of the same themes as are inherent in country music. Folk and country are fairly similar thematically, although more modern country tends to include traditional themes as well as some of the same themes as "pop" - lots of romance, broken hearts, drugs, etc. In essence, it's just a different means of expression.

Another "father" of country music was Johnny Cash, who influenced many of today's artists.

As a personal aside, I rarely listen to and am not really a fan of Country Music, but since my state is a) rural; and b) has "birthed" many a famous country singer, one generally can gain a basic understanding of it through osmosis.


----------



## danielfranco

Well, hey now, Dallas, Texas, who doesn't listen to country music in these here parts?
Not everybody. But many do like it. Personally I don't, except when it's a ballad, because their approach to common-type folk situations is very engaging and easy to relate to if you're feeling kind of blue, you know? Also, I enjoy sometimes a bit of Dixieland-style because the true prodigy of the country-western musicians shines through! It's so incredibly difficult to play an instrument well and tight, with pentatonic scales going up and down out the wazoo when everyone is going 200 beats per minute!!
I suppose that if people around the world need a primer on country music, we can think about it in this manner:
It's a style of music that sounds a bit like Methodist-(or other fundamentalist protestant groups)-church-hymns, mixed with a dash of Rhythm & Blues, with a peppering of good-ol' rock-n-roll, with a fiddle and a pedal slide guitar and a twang in the singer's voice, singing about a hard working man (or woman) falling into hard times (which would mention at one point or the other the pick-up truck, the dog and the long lost love, quite possibly all of them together driving off in the middle of the night and going to meet the "other" secret lover, to which the only natural response would be to drink whiskey and beer until passing out beneath the bar, brawl around a bit, and look up your high-school sweetheart even if she/he still married and still has your other dog and truck...)
I think...


----------



## brookey86

Country music is unique because of its unique intruments.  Particularly, the steel guitar and the fiddle, but the harmonica is also kin to country.

Country is also characterized by the accents of the singers, who sound "southern", even if they are not from the South.  Those who are not southern natives will often try to immitate the accent to appeal to country listeners.  An example is Keith Urban, who is a huge country star, but actually is Australian.

In my opinion, country is rising in popularity in America because of many pop-country singers like Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban.  I personally switched from listening to rap and hip hop to exclusively country about a year ago.


----------



## GenJen54

Now that we all have it settled what country music IS, let's find out if our non -U.S. forer@s:

a) are familiar with it?
b) understand it to be "mainstream" in their country or culture;
c) think it is "hickish," or "rednecky."

Thank you, everyone.


----------



## Fulano de Tal

What country IS?

hickish music in my country is dispopular


----------



## emma42

Welcome Fulano de Tal!  Could I just point out that it's *"un*popular" - hope you don't mind.

As I have said, in England it is very popular, but sort of "hidden".  Those who do not like it don't really think of it as "hickish/redneck" because we don't really have those concepts.  Perhaps because we don't have the vast tracts of country(side) that Americans have in their country.


----------



## jmx

1) Do most people where you live even know what "country music" is? Most people, no, but anyone with interest in modern music has heard about "música Country" and knows how it sounds. In record shops "Country" is one of the many labels that you can usually find.

2) Is it played on the radio? Is it mainstream? You can hear it in some radio stations from time to time.

3) What do people think of it? Is it hickish / redneckish? It is perceived as just another one of the many cultural exports of the USA.


----------



## aledraka

jmartins said:
			
		

> 1) Do most people where you live even know what "country music" is? Most people, no, but anyone with interest in modern music has heard about "música Country" and knows how it sounds. In record shops "Country" is one of the many labels that you can usually find.
> 
> 2) Is it played on the radio? Is it mainstream? You can hear it in some radio stations from time to time.
> 
> 3) What do people think of it? Is it hickish / redneckish? It is perceived as just another one of the many cultural exports of the USA.


 
It's the same in my country, but I think that many people will learn more about country music by watching the new movie directed by Robert Altman, "Radio America", I've read that it deals with that..


----------



## Joelline

As a citizen of the USA, of course I am familiar with country music. I wonder if people from other countries know that almost every area in the US has at least one country-music radio station.  Country music also has a couple of TV stations now as well.  Most people outside of the South or Southwest of the US claim not to like it and to consider it to be too red-neck.  I'm not ashamed to admit that I like it!  I especially like the songs sung by women--strong, gutsy women: most of Patsy Cline's song back in the early days, Jo Dee Messina (my favorite is "My give a damn's busted"!), Martina McBride's "Independence Day."  I would recommend them (and country music in general) to anyone who wanted to know what the heartland of the US, the silent majority, thinks about various issues.  And above all, I like country because I CAN UNDERSTAND ALL OF THE WORDS--unlike some of the other popular music since the 70's!


----------



## Etcetera

How interesting it is, Joelline. Now I think I'll go and try to find something to listen to.


----------



## Joelline

Etcetera,

If you manage to find something, let us know what you think about it. I'd love to hear your opinion (even if you don't like the songs  ).


----------



## cuchuflete

To Joelline's comments in Post # 24- (Culture mods may decide this deserves its own thread) The idea of a 'heartland' used to be limited to a quadrennial explosion of platitudes by politicians.  Most Americans don't live in the 'heartland', which is geographic if anything, and represents only itself, under a fine banner.  
Silent majority members share viewpoints and economic and many cultural attributes when living in large cities and when resident in the boondocks. They are neither better nor worse than city dwellers, and their silence is a danged shame.


----------



## GenJen54

In my part of the "heartland," (at least that is what the media dubbed us in 1995), the majority is certainly *not* silent. 

Country music is continually gaining popularity in the U.S. because of many "cross-over" artists and songs, that are pop facsimilies of true "country." 

Many artists even record "two" versions of their singles: one for the pop stations, another for the true "country" stations, where the songs are infused with more traditional country sounds such as slide-guitar, etc. 

I remember several years ago that Garth Brooks went on a monumental tour in Ireland, and even filmed a documentary about the event. His concerts (according to the film) were all sold out. 

When I lived in France, I don't remember any country music at all, but then again, I did not seek it out. 

I think in some form or another, each country has their version of "country" music, which would include non-pop traditional styles.


----------



## Joelline

Cuchu and GenJen,

I would agree with you regarding "heartland" and, yes, even "silent majority" as far as familiarity with each of these in this country goes. But I don't believe that many of the viewpoints and values that one often finds in traditional and contemporary American country music gets much press or coverage in the media of other countries; many of those voices are very much silenced, I fear. Dixie Chicks excepted, of course.


----------



## Mariaguadalupe

a) are familiar with it? Yes, I'm familiar with country music. However, I will reply for my son, he's crazy about country music. In fact, he has preset a country station on our truck! 
b) understand it to be "mainstream" in their country or culture; I live very near Texas, right next door, so up here country music is intertwined with tejano music (Selena, Cumbia Kings, etc) and _música norteña_ from México. I personally prefer Barbra Streisand, Lionel Ritchie, Michael Boulton (and others) from Kenny Rogers (I learned to like his songs), Garth Brooks (my son likes his songs) and I have just heard the Dixie Chicks and now _I _like their songs. I liked their new album.
c) think it is "hickish," or "rednecky." My son proudly swears he is a Mexican redneck!  He just asks that no one mess with his truck!


----------



## elyssia

country music is valued highly by those who were born  in 60sor70s, they love the music ,now the young generation of 80sand 90s , they generally like pop etc !


----------

