I published several articles and reviews in 2005 in various
places, but, by far, the one that generated the most response was my review of
the telecast of the 39th annual Country Music Association awards
show for National Review Online.
The article generated dozens and dozens of emails, about 95
percent of which were, I’m genuinely amazed to say, positive and even
congratulatory. (I was remiss in checking the LttL mailbox for a couple of weeks
after the piece ran on Nov. 16, and I apologize to everyone who took the time
to write for not responding to your thoughts sooner.)
There were a few common points that kept popping up in the
insightful and passionate responses, so I’ll address those here and hit some of
the specific ones in private correspondence:
Dwight Yoakam
My tagline stating that I was putting on Yoakam’s Blame the Vain to cleanse my palate was
greeted warmly by about half of those who wrote me. I’m glad and not at all
surprised that he has such a strong fan base of people who love not only country
music, but music in general.
Dwight is a very stylish guy with quite a polished public
persona, but unlike many of today’s cookie cutter country stars, you get the
sense that that’s really who Dwight is, and the depth of his self-penned lyrics
and soulful singing confirms that sense.
He’s the perfect example of someone who doesn’t strictly
play by the rules of country music – whether those imposed by the modern Nashville orthodoxy or by
traditionalists like me – but succeeds in being a great country artist, like
Cash, Merle, Willie and others with the same individualist bent. It’s not
surprising then that he has never won a CMA award or that country radio barely
plays him, which leads me to the next point…
Country radio
Many people asked what I thought about country radio. Let’s
face it, over-the-air radio as a venue in which to hear new, exciting essential
music or the true classics that never fade – in any genre of music – is
practically dead.
I’m not blaming that on Rupert Murdoch or Clear Channel or
Newt Gingrich or the FCC, like some people do. I’m more interested in what
comes next, and I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be satellite radio, at least
in the current XM vs. Sirius mode.
Those two companies may succeed, but from what I’ve heard so
far, I think even specialized channels on the satellite networks will soon
become as computer-programmed, bland and commercial-laden as regular radio.
More subscribers will drive the content to the middle of the road or the lowest
common denominator, whichever cliché you prefer.
There are two things that will work for real music fans:
1) Personalized radio programs, like the one here, that use
preference-matching applications to generate a constant stream of new and old
music that each listener might like.
2) Good old-fashioned DJs who will be able to create
playlists with an actual human imagination and be able to broadcast,
narrowcast, podcast or whatever over the Web.
Check out a couple of my favorites at BluegrassCountry.org
and WDVX.
Garth Brooks
Some people stood up for Garth, but more agreed with me that
he is a musical criminal of the first order. The fact that a very modestly
talented musician sold millions of records and became the face of American
country music to the entire world got Nashville to follow the same
style-over-substance marketing credo of mainstream pop, which has in turn
succeeded in selling Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban and the
like as country artists.
Sara Evans and
Martina McBride
I took a swipe at the live performances of these two, and I
stand by it. They both sounded even worse than they normally do that night. I’m
pretty sure that Martina is always a microtone or two flat and I think Sara’s
singing is nasal and overwrought. It’s actually hard for me to say things like
that about these two ladies, not only because I fancy myself a gentleman, but
because I have heard them interviewed and I think that they are both really
great people. I just think that their beauty (especially in the case of the
stunning Miss Evans) and personality in this post-Garth world has carried them
a lot farther than their talent alone.
With all that said, I invite further comment – about this
piece and about the music you love and hate - at the LttL mailbox, which I
promise to check regularly in 2006.
