I don’t know if this happens to everyone as they get older, but my music tastes have gone through a metamorphosis. It’s not that they’ve necessarily “changed”. I still love just about everything I’ve ever loved, with only a few minor exceptions. And I’m still open to interesting, challenging new sounds.
But the interesting & challenging new sounds no longer seem, at least to me, to be coming from the pop-rock genre. Every new group I hear these days does absolutely nothing for me (the extremely notable exception to that rule being Sigur Ros). It’s easy for me to detect every influence that these bands are working. Every band has their influences, true, and this has been the case long before I ever started listening to music. But now the influences are all artists/bands that I grew up with and, to be honest, I’d rather listen to the originals than bands that sound like them.
I’ll concede that there are some decent acts working in the indie circuit, but I’m talking about the stuff that gets played on mainstream radio these days. I can’t site any names without looking at the charts, but trust me, I have heard enough to know that I don’t like ‘em.
Which all leads up to this startling confession: I have come to really like country music. Not just the good old stuff, but something I’ve always despised: Modern Country. Dad always said I would come around to a love for this music, but I think he probably thought I would forsake all the loud music I had grown up with (I didn’t forsake it, but I do turn the volume down a lot these days).
Of course I haven’t come to this unexpected proclivity in any sentimental attempt to fulfill any prophecy. I came around to this music for exactly the reason I stated above…because I’m always open to interesting, challenging new sounds.
Okay, I can hear you saying, “What in the world is challenging about modern country music?”
I’m not saying that there’s anything inherently “challenging” about the music itself. In that respect it’s a nice change from the hard work of appreciating other kinds of music that I enjoy (IDM, classical, free jazz, among others). There is a simplicity to country music that makes it easier to take in the lyrics and the vocal stylings (which are the hallmarks of the genre).
What’s challenging, for me, is overcoming the snarky, anti-country bias I’ve always nurtured. Even when I came to appreciate classic country, there was still the whole mind-set that dismissed modern country as nothing more than soft rock with a steel guitar thrown in the mix. Cowboys with a taste for the Eagles or else, at the other end of the spectrum, rowdy rednecks who grew up with Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers Band, the Marshall Tucker Band, et. al. None of that stuff ever meant much to me, the guy who, as a child, prided himself for liking the Stones more than the Beatles. The man whose enthusiasm for punk & new wave culminated in the dark and depressing soundscapes of Joy Division. There were times, later on, when I veered dangerously toward “jazz & classical snob”. The point being that modern country never gave me what I thought I wanted in music.
I don’t know what made me change my mind. I could may well trace it back to Toby Keith’s “Love Me If You Can”. Which was a strange thing in itself, as I always loathed Toby. But the song made me realize that modern country is, just like the classic country I already enjoyed, driven by 3 things, and very likely in this order: lyrics, melody, vocal stylings.
I guess I always loved the good old rock and roll songs because I could identify with what those guys were singing about. A little rebellion, a bit of mischievousness, an exuberant, free-for-all attitude that the kids emulate and the young at heart fondly recall.
And I am young at heart. I do like to kick back and bask in the comfort of cherished nostalgia. I’ve been known to play “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols” a few times in recent years, and it still sounds good to me. It helps me remember the week it came out in 1977, how I rushed out to buy it (at Wal-Mart of all places) and how I would flip that record over time and time again. I must have played that thing 50 times in the first couple of days I had it. But even more, I remember how the music smashed it’s way into the part of me that was disgusted and fed up with everything I thought was bullshit (and when you’re a teenager, that list is a long one).
But I am an older man now. I’ve seen things, done things, dreamed things, experienced things that cause me to look at life from a different perspective. And the truth is that the majority of modern country, for all it’s attempts to be “hip” to the younger audiences, is very much in touch with this more mature point of view. Maybe it IS music for old folks…well, we all get old. I’m there, if you’re not, well, I’ll keep a light on for you, maybe I’ll see you when you get here.
I’m not saying that everyone is going to like this kind of music when they pass a certain age. I would hope, however, that even those who despise it now would keep an open mind for later, because modern country really does have much to offer.
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Update: 11/28/07
Since writing this piece I have posted it on my MySpace blog. I got a comment from a friend and I responded in a couple of comments. I thought I'd post them here as well, as the exchange is mildly amusing.
Justin: So let me get this straight here...
Songwriting by committee, based on results from focus groups to appeal to the broadest (lowest common denominator) cross section of society, featuring jingoistic bumper sticker philosophy is a good thing?
Gross overproduction utilizing Antares Autotune to stamp out all subtle nuances until every record sounds like a robot singer leading a robot band is good?
Payola is alive and rampant, Clear Channel Communications rules the airwaves with an iron fist and (thanks to pro-corporate policies within the current administration) is able to influence legislation to increase their monopoly while decreasing outlets for music fans to encounter anything new or different.
There are a lot of reasons why I stopped listening to the radio years ago. If there's anything worth listening to, it'll eventually find it's way to my ear.
Did you ever listen to the CD I gave you? Neko Case is incredible and very much worth your time and attention. You'll never hear her on the radio because she refuses to play the corporate game. She turned down HUGE recording contracts from Nashville because she didn't want to be the next Shania Twain.
ME: (firtst comment) I did listen to the cd. I guess I'm a corporate robot because I didn't like it.
"Jingoistic bumper sticker philosophy"? You can't be serious. Love songs? Ruminations on life? A sliver of positivity? God help us all from "bumper sticker philosophy", eh? Sorry, but all the nihilism wasn't working out for me. A genuine sense of humor? No doubt such a feat *requires* a "songwriting committee" in this day and age.
It's best just to agree to disagree on this one, but I think it's sad that you would dismiss very good music just because it doesn't fit into some strict set of guidelines you've constructed to reign in your own musical taste. You're entitled. Still I think your words are a little harsh and hardly fair.
It would seem to me that any music that resonates within a person, makes them laugh, makes them cry, moves them, makes them think...I would think that such music has succeded despite how it was made or promoted. Why the hell would I dismiss ANY music that has that power?
So it does nothing for you. That's great. But don't expect me to buy this bullshit about why I SHOULDN'T like it for all these reasons you give that mean absolutely nothing to me. I suppose I could offer up a bevy of reasons why I don't like Neko Case and/or the Handsome Family (though I do appreciate your generosity in giving me the CD), but there is really only ONE reason that seals the deal: it did nothing for me.
"Letter From Me" by Brad Paisley does something for me.
"Don't Blink" by Kenny Chesney does something for me.
Even the songs I'm not crazy about usually have lyrics that I find interesting.
Jingoistic bumper sticker philosophy? Whatever. I guess I've been consumed by "the machine". I'll have to remember that the next time I play one of my Sonic Youth CDs.
ME: (second comment) Furthermore, Clear Channel Communications' "iron fist" pulls no weight at XM Satellite Radio, which is where I listen to about 99% of the country music I like.
You may have a valid point about "overproduction". I don't think of it as "OVERproduction", it's just part of the genre. You could say the same thing about modern jazz...and I'm not talking about "smooth jazz", which I'd say probably IS 'overproduced', but then again, that's part of what it's all about. Surely you'd agree that there are plenty of bands who CONSCIOUSLY shoot for an "UNDERPRODUCED" sound, right? They do so because that manner of production suits their style. By the same token, modern country's style is elaborate production. No one's doing anything here that they don't want to do, country star or indie noisemaker.
I personally find a lot of depth to the production I hear on these songs. Lots of nice stuff going on that reveals itself with repeated listenings. But even so, as I said in my original post, though the music is good, IMO, it's much more about the singer's voice and style. It's obvious you don't even give this music a chance, because no one with an ear to hear would call these guys "robot singers".
As for Neko Case not wanting to be the next Shania Twain...I don't blame her. Shania Twain sucks. There's a fine line between the music that has substance and the commercial swill. I think I've been listening to music long enough to tell the difference between the two, and I assure you that it's not possible to reign in the whole of modern country and categorize it as the latter.
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