What has happened to Nashville’s Musicians?

Dave Harmonson · From: Seattle, Wa

Maybe they don't get a lot of ink, but at least these days they are generally credited on the CD inserts. Not many albums from the old days gave any credit to session players.

Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

I think there are probably plenty of people around who would prefer to remain relatively unknown. I know I would.
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Amor vincit omnia

Michael Douchette · From: Gallatin, TN (deceased)

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Record execs found it's far easier to pull the wool over one dude's eyes than to pull it over a bunch of dude's eyes. One guy can be made/convinced to sign anything. With a bunch of guys readin' and signin', there's a far greater chance someone will realize what's really going on!

Bands that get equal or near equal billing want big bucks, almost like the star. So, no. The industry would rather keep the band a faceless entity that's content with a few hundred dollars for each player. Then they can easily replace anyone who doesn't "toe the line", or who starts making his own demands.

Andy Greatrix · From: Edmonton Alberta

Most of the suits think of session musicians or band members as just so much cannon fodder.
It's not about music to them, it's about money and power.
Add a drug or alcohol fueled ego to the mix and it all becomes a big joke!
Great music is being produced every day, just not in Nashville.

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

Very good Donny. Right on the mark. Musicians are being treated as pawns in a sucker's game. The powers only want to control one guy. They look at musicians as a commodity and the stars as products. The funny thing is that the muscians fall for it. Which is why I would NEVER be anyone's backup musician.

Webb Kline · From: Orangeville, PA

Kevin, I think you're partly right, but the fact is that they only want to control that "one" guy until they can find a reasonable clone for him. Then he's out the door and they re-invent the wheel once again. That's why pop-music--country or anything else--all sounds the same any more.

As for the session guys, I feel really badly for them. I mean, how long can one maintain one's sanity or integrity trying to invent new fills for the the same song? There are only so many places to go with it. Is it no wonder they aren't being put in the same heap as all the great session players of yesteryear? The opportunities to stand out get fewer every day. Some of those session guys, and I mean good session guys, must feel like a trucker on a dedicated nightly run--same old, same old.

Pete Finney · From: Nashville Tn.

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Andy Greatrix · From: Edmonton Alberta

Webb, the Nashville musicians do it for the money. Do you really think that they would do it for nothing?
They get paid very well to polish T@$#S!

Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

I'm not sure what you guys are talking about. Session musicians get more credit these days than they used to. Also the pay in top tier road acts is really pretty good. In my personal experience the music industry is changing so much and so quickly there doesn't seem to be that many "suits" left to exploit anybody. Most touring bands I know are basicly mom and pop businesses
where people need to work together to keep things going. I'm seeing a new, independent music management/promotion model growing that is very refreshing.
Most Americans don't even know who won WWII or have even a basic concept of how our constitution functions. Plus with all the news about about where Linsey Lohan puked last night how are they supposed to keep up with backup musicians ?
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Bob

Pete Finney · From: Nashville Tn.

Andy Greatrix · From: Edmonton Alberta

You're right, Pete. I should have worded that a little more carefully. I've bought many of those CDs you are referring to. I was referring to top forty new country, where the video is more important that the over-compressed formula songs.

Webb Kline · From: Orangeville, PA

Yes, Andy, and from what I can see of it so far, it is like two separate worlds co-existing alongside each other, seldom acknowledging each other's existence.

Local musicians make less money here than I made playing when I lived in out in the sticks. Some artist's musicians don't even make minimum wage when you factor in the time they spend out on the road, yet others do quite well. There seems to be little rhyme or reason to it. It's not uncommon, from what I gather, for a bus driver or a tech to get paid twice as much as they pay some musicians--but that's not always the case.

But I think the point of the topic is that since the big label music is so dumbed down, it doesn't really take much talent to perform most of it. A good player might not even be recognized because he doesn't have anything to play on where he can kick butt. Like you said, they do it for the money.

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

Silly me, all this time I thought the phone rang, ( if you were lucky) you answered it, someone asked you to come to a session, you show up, you play, you get paid and then you go home.

I didn't realize my name was supposed to be on the cover of the CD !

Funny, I got two calls to do two session in Feb, they asked me to play Pedal Steel Gitar, they didn't ask me to come with my Country Top 40 licks , they just asked me to come play Pedal Steel Guitar.

Should I call them back and make sure my name is going to be listed in the credits ? Laughing

Bill Hatcher · From: Atlanta Ga. USA

[quote="Bob Hoffnar" Most Americans don't even know who won WWII or have even a basic concept of how our constitution functions. Plus with all the news about about where Linsey Lohan puked last night how are they supposed to keep up with backup musicians ?[/quote]

Wise words Bob.

David Doggett · Posted 22 Jan 2008 8:17 am

Some types of music are mostly about the star, others are about the band. Pop, country, and R&B have mostly been about the star vocalist. The musicians are considered interchangeable sidemen, and they have rarely been listed on albums. Jazz and album rock have mostly been about the band, and all their names are usually listed. It would be difficult to change that. Wouldn't it be nice if the unions and musician contracts insisted on listings?

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Maybe some of you Nashville-based folks know more about this but it appears to be dedicated to recognizing the musicians behind the scenes, rather than the 'stars': http://www.musicianshalloffame.com/

Pete Finney · From: Nashville Tn.

As it's been pointed out above and elsewhere, it is VERY rare to find a current major label country release that doesn't list the players, quite often in detail "track by track". Which doesn't necessarily mean that the music's good of course, but why keep dragging up arguments that are just not true? (There's certainly no shortage of other things to complain about as far as what's marketed as "country music" these days!)

And (again, as has been pointed out already) the situation was much worse in the "good old days", where it WAS unusual to find session credits on country records, or "pop" or "R&B" records that used session players. It seems to me it didn't really start changing until the 70's, when you were more and more likely to find player credits. And now it's much more common to have credits than not...

If you have access to a library or used CD store go look at the booklets to current or recent country CDs and you'll see. I'd actually be interested to hear of any that DIDN'T list the players.

Webb Kline · From: Orangeville, PA

David, you are right about that. But, that is also what I believe has made those genres so lifeless, as well. It's all about the vocalist, and there is little of that signature musical personality left in those bands that make a show truly entertaining.

There is one local artist down here (I won't use his name because I don't want him to take this as offensive, although it's not really) who really isn't that great of a singer and his guitar licks are so, so, but he is a true showman, and he knows how to milk his band for all they're worth for the sake of the show. They are all excellent players and, in the opinion's of many of us, they're one of the best shows in town. Every time I've heard them, it made me imagine what country music could be like today if the artist's musicians were actually asked to play.

You can see it in a lot of the artist players when they play with other bands downtown. While there are exceptions, most of them have that same zombie-like, beaten-down, afraid-to-play-for-fear-of-getting-fired syndrome, no matter how good they are-and some of those boys are fine players. In my experience, when a good musician has the liberty to kick it up, and has the sense to do it tastefully, it's like a swift kick in the butt for the rest of the band and everyone kicks it into high gear, including the artist, and a good is is had by all--audience included. Why artists and management don't get this, escapes me. Too big ego's I guess.

Webb Kline · From: Orangeville, PA

Pete, I agree, but don't you have to admit that you didn't used to have to read who was playing on a track in the old days--you could hear who it was. Now that they have so little to play they mostly all sound the same, therefore a list of credits is needed to tell them apart. Heck, I can barely tell the artists apart any more.

Pete Finney · From: Nashville Tn.

Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

John Steele · From: Renfrew, Ontario, Canada

I think it has more to do with marketing, and the Cult Of Personality.
Batman has no Robin anymore either.

-John

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

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