Stripped Down, What Is Country Music ?
A few days ago I was thinking, what is country music when you strip it all down? When you remove the business, the show? For example, maybe when you stripped down Rock n’ Roll it would be a group of guys in a basement or a garage jamming out, or a juke box blaring in the corner, getting people to jump to their feet and dance.
Country music has always been a social media. It brings people together, especially in small towns. Back in the early days of the Grand Ole Opry, Roy Acuff used to open the show saying “Howdy friends and neighbors,” in front of a barnyard backdrop. This is because that is how country music got started, by friends and neighbors gathering together to play music. And even though the Opry was being broadcast to sometimes millions of people, they still wanted to convey the heart of what the music was. This was important, because if you couldn’t do that, the feeling, the soul of the music would not be there.
The bands or artists that really seem to move me are always the ones who can take that essential part of the music and convey it even through a recording, or a live performance in front of thousands of people. When you watch a rock show, if you feel like the performers are really having fun, like they’re just jamming in the basement, you feel that energy; it is conveyed through the music.
And if you’re watching a country or bluegrass show and you feel like your just watching a few people getting together in an old dining hall in a small town, or on the back porch of a cabin to pick and sing, that is where the meat, the nugget of country/bluegrass music is.
In other words, when you strip it all down, THIS is country music:
That was Rachel Brooke on guitar, “Banjer” Dan Mazer (from JB Beverly and the Wayward Drifters) on banjo, and Ziggie Zeitler on mandolin, at the White Crow Conservatory in Saginaw, Michigan.
June 10, 2009 @ 2:57 am
That’s a pretty cool take on it, Triggerman!
Since I am from Europe, I often wondered why I am so attracted to this basically American music. But I guess the soul of country music is universally appealing, no matter where you’re from.
And dammit, I need a back porch!
Cheers,
MLP
June 10, 2009 @ 9:17 am
Europe is a huge base for the REAL country movement, giving it lots of support, and I think this is a great thing. I think the European ear yearns for the twangy sound that just can’t be found in pop country. I’m glad Hank III is making it over there this summer.
June 10, 2009 @ 11:17 am
Oh man, you can’t imagine how much I’m looking forward to see III in concert – and it’s gonna be on my birthday, too!
All this pop country crap is almost completely unknown here. Sure, the name Garth Brooks or Shania Twain might ring a bell, but not necessarily and that’s about it (Dixie Chicks got famous for other reasons…). So, when people here talk about country music they most likely mean the good stuff!
June 10, 2009 @ 4:46 pm
You make some great points Martin – why is REAL country music so popular in Europe, where there is no cultural connection with the music but a genuine affinity exists? I am in New Zealand and it’s the same here. Bands like Calexico come over here annually, play the main centres and SELL out the venues, even though they get nil radio play here (even on the student stations) and nobody has heard of them. Australia has a huge country/rockabilly scene. So that same affinity exists in the Antipodes too. I was amazed when I went to Elvis Week in Memphis and the 70,000 people converging on Memphis were disproportionately foreign. I also picked up a certain ‘distain’ for Mr Presley amongst some locals and alot of Americans in general. I got the impression he is considered a bit of a ‘joke’, more of a caricature than an actual person. It seems he (and infact old school country music) garner more reverance and genuine appreciation from foreigners. It makes no sense.
June 10, 2009 @ 8:33 pm
As always Trigger you are a man who seems to say it… just right… every time. Plus you add in a Rachel Brooke vid and your my fucking hero! What is country music? Well for me its music that makes you feel something.. makes you hurt… makes you think… makes you wanna stab that bitch who has done you wrong! Stripped down is what its all about. Some of the best music I have heard is from a guitar and a guy/girl with a recorder in their basement… it isnt about $$ it isnt about fame… its about feeling… Rachel Brooke, Split Lip Rayfield, Joey Allcorn, I could go on all night… hell Little Lisa Dixie has never even put out an album and the girl has a sweater voice and better writing skills that 95% of the hoes on music row! PS i got your new banner up on our myspace… we comin back man… harder than ever!
February 28, 2010 @ 4:10 pm
I’m from Michigan. Just a little ways north of Midland in Hope.