I think it’s only ‘country-adjacent’ in that ‘mainstream country’ has moved away from this type of song to the now stereotypical “guns/trucks/girls/flag-waving”.
I used to think I didn’t like country music, but I realized that I’d been approaching it the same as people who “don’t like rap”; there’s so much rap and hip hop out there that it’s almost impossible to not eventually find something you like. And there’s… so much country music in the world.
There’s some great stuff nowadays that isn’t just bro country! It’s going to be mostly smaller and all my favorites lean heavily into their bluegrass and folk roots, but there’s some great stuff!
I’d check out Tyler Childers or Zach Bryan for something more mainstream. I might get flamed for calling them country, but Poor Man’s Poison is fantastic as well!
If you don’t love Chris Stapleton after one listen of Tennessee Whiskey, then idk what to tell you
I want to take a moment here to mention Dan Tyminski. I know it’s not his most recent, but specifically the song Southern Gothic really gave me that “this is what country is supposed to be” feeling I hadn’t felt in years.
That and Taylor Swift was the nail in the coffin. Her transition to top 40 pop and sky rocketing popularity showed nothing but dollar signs to country music producers…
She was basically groomed by the industry to be a pretty young white country girl and made into a sex symbol when she was 14.
When she grew up she changed genres, fired her old label when the contract expired, and then re-recorded her old stuff to keep the old labels from making royalties off new sales.
Everything about her change is a big middle-finger to to her old management.
Absolutely, but my point was country producers/management, saw the money she was raking in and immediately started pushing the their own country singers to make more “mainstream/pop/top 40” influenced music to capture the larger audience.
I’m not really surprised that the Dixie Chicks’ careers were destroyed after 9/11. They didn’t just criticize Most Holy President, they also sang about things like domestic violence.
I think some of the greatest song writers of all time are country artists: Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, you know? And if you’re writing honestly, that is art! And I would never bash that! Um, the problem is, with a lot of modern country music, wha- what is called “Stadium Country Music” Sort of Keith Urban Brand of Country music is that it is not honest, it is the exact opposite of honest
You know, it takes a very special blend of technical savvy and social ineptitude to generate a comment like this.
My granddad, who still asks “what’s on TV” because he just can’t wrap his failing dementia addled mind around “Everything. Everything is always on because on-demand video streaming.” wouldn’t think to make this comment because he never learned how digital audio works and has probably forgotten how record players work.
Neither would my niece, who I think hasn’t actually seen a phonograph in person but messes around with audio and video filters on the Tickagram all the time.
Neither would any of my acquaintances who are in audio/video production, because they have meaningful opinions on things like this software with this plugin or that software with that plugin to achieve that effect, possibly choosing methods depending on the source and destination of said audio.
Neither would my actual friends who know everything we’re talking about, but are socially capable enough to be friends with people.
That one really is a banger. But watching that video again, I can’t get over how terrible the vocals would actually sound if she was up on the mic like that.
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