| Author |
Topic: I'm not a grumpy old man |
Leslie Ehrlich
From:
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
|
Posted 31 Jan 2009 10:42 pm |
|
I was lying in front of the BW (brainwasher) last night and just for the hell of it I watched the televised portion of the Grand Ole Opry. Carrie Underwood, Aaron Tippin and Dierks Bentley were the featured performers.
I tried not to let the 'new country' versus 'old country' debate get in the way of listening to the music, and instead I paid attention to the music itself. Carrie was the host, and she opened with a tune that had a heavy gospel/soul/rhythm and blues feeling to it. She wailed like a gospel singer while the band had a rockin' rhythm guitar and a driving beat. Not country, but Carrie and the band performed well. I'm not into that vocal style, but Carrie's pipes were strong enough to handle it.
Dierks Bentley played two tunes, and both were a meld of country, folk, and Bruce Springsteen style rock.
Aaron Tippen was more of a honky-tonk guy with a modern 'twang'. His style seemed kind of hard-edged (musically, that is), sort of like when Johnny Paycheck sang 'Take This Job And Shove It'.
Carrie did two more tunes which were definitely country compared to the first song. Major key, fiddle and steel, piano, the whole bit.
Now as I was watching all that I noticed that even though the styles of country music were different and were aimed at a younger (and largely female) audience, the instrumentation has not changed. I heard fiddles, steel guitars, acoustic guitars, banjos, a mandolin, and a piano - all instruments that are used in traditional country music.
So the more things change the more things stay the same. The Grand Ole Opry is still the Grand Ole Opry. All I see is a new generation of performers who have have put a different spin on what is called 'country music'. It's not better or worse, it's just different.
_________________
Sho-Bud Pro III + Marshall JMP 2204 half stack = good grind! |
|
|
 |
Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
|
Posted 1 Feb 2009 1:34 am
|
|
And that's just the televised portion, which is more geared to the "targeted demographics". The rest of it is still generally much more traditional country.
| Quote: |
| Dierks Bentley played two tunes, and both were a meld of country, folk, and Bruce Springsteen style rock. |
Yup - when I play out "in town", that's an apt description for what we do also. These are mainly college-age audiences, and if we came out in matched polyester suits and played a mix of slow ballads and medium-tempo shuffles at cocktail volume all night, everyone would leave. This doesn't mean I don't love slow ballads and medium-tempo shuffles - I do.
I may be a grumpy old man, but not about this. |
|
|
|
LJ Eiffert
From:
California, USA
|
Posted 1 Feb 2009 8:39 am
|
|
| Just like Terry Bradshaw he is still look at as a NFL Quarter-Back.But,as a Traditional Country Artist he has been forgotten because he is still an NFL History player. Even with all that rhythmic instruments on The Grand Ole Opry it's still the name," Grand Ole Opry ".But,the real Musicians on the instruments on the Grand Ole Opry are what makes the true rhythm of what is played right that is called, Traditional Country Music. Same as the vocals that fits the sound of what is played. So,it's the name that is misleading just like the artist who are calling themself to what the name that suppose be,not the instruments. That's my story,Leo J.Eiffert,Jr. & I'm jsut a Musician. |
|
|
|
Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
|
Posted 1 Feb 2009 10:19 am
|
|
Last I looked, Bradshaw isn't suited up for today's game.
It is possible - and even necessary - for music, football, or anything to move on without disrespecting the past. When the past is disrespected, I have a problem. But the few times I've seen these particular performers, I never saw the remotest disrespect for traditional country music - quite to the contrary. Hell, Aaron Tippin is hardly a "new country" performer - his main heyday was 15 years ago, +- a few. I thought the late 80s to early 90s was a pretty good period for country music. Sure beat the horrific period of disco-urban-cowboy country music of the late 70s and early 80s, to my tastes.
BTW - Go Steelers.  |
|
|
|
Barry Blackwood
|
Posted 2 Feb 2009 4:16 pm
|
|
Leslie, you heard banjo on a Carrie Underwood tune?  |
|
|
|
