A couple of weeks ago this space discussed comments made by Loretta Lynn on Martina McBride's podcast, where Ms. Lynn stated she believed country music is dead. As alluded to in the article, this is a discussion that has been going on for decades and is not likely to be solved any time soon. A debate that also continues, however, is one that Tyler Childers has brought about, and that is a country music versus Americana music conundrum.
Since his national and international breakthrough, Tyler Childers has been promoted heavily and heartily as an Americana artist, which includes a win as the Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2018 Americana Music Awards. In this Rolling Stone Country article, Childers bristles at the suggestion he's an Americana artist, insisting and identifying only as a country music artist. While I don't agree with Tyler Childers' seemingly hostile attitude to the Americana Music Association and the Americana movement as a musical genre, I do agree with one of his main arguments. That argument is that country music, and I'm talking of pure traditional country music, is now being referenced and referred to as Americana. Which, as Childers rightly points out, is wrong and doesn't solve the current issue with the state of mainstream country music today.
For some music lovers, the state of today's mainstream country music is just fine. I would not agree. In an interview, Marty Stuart stated that, when asked by young aspiring newcomers to Nashville what's the most outlaw thing you can do in country music today, he tells them "play country music." Today's country music bears little to no resemblance of the original artform. Which, it can be argued, is a sign of musical evolution. No genre of music is the same now as it was 50 years ago. But what's happening in country music is head scratching, yet it's nothing new. The genre, or rather those in charge of the business side of the genre, have been chasing their tail for generations in an effort to be liked by the "cool kids" without ever really knowing who the "cool kids" are. They found the right formula in the 1990s with arguably country music's most successful commercial period with hundreds of millions of records being sold during a roughly 15 year timeframe. Now it seems the bottom has fallen out, with country music as a genre struggling to figure out what it is and who they are trying to appeal to. Steel guitars have been replaced with electric drum machines, pop hooks and a pseudo-rap sound that sometimes makes it difficult to discern whether the music belongs on a country station or pop station.
No other genre seems to wrestle with this sort of "identity crisis." For example, it would be hard to imagine Jay-Z saying in the studio while producing a rap song, "You know what this rap record needs more of? It needs more steel guitar to bring in a country sound." And, that's okay. Because it's rap - a different art form. Jay-Z is an amazing rap artist and recognized long ago that rap is his creative outlet and is confident enough in his art that he's not trying to have that art be something it isn't.
With this evolution of mainstream country music to its current state, it's no wonder country music purists are turning to a category/genre where elements of traditional country music can flourish. Enter Americana. Americana is a genre which is a melting pot of blues, country, folk, soul, and rock and roll. Artists are encouraged to experiment and produce the strongest material they can without the restrictions of Music Row contractual obligations. As the aforementioned Marty Stuart has said, Americana is about the heart and the art, not the charts. This blog site is primarily dedicated to the the Americana genre. Americana has experienced an astounding amount of growth over the past three to five years, as I believe people will always gravitate to what is real. Americana provides that real music to the masses.
That said, it does become concerning when traditional country artists are automatically considered Americana. It's concerning for the country music genre. An article I recently read identified The Highwaymen album as an Americana record. That's not an accurate assessment. That 1985 album was a watershed moment for country music in the 1980s, as Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson were very much country music artists. The album was a number one country music album and the title track was a number one song on the country music charts. There was nothing Americana about that album at the time of its release. If the narrative is now going to be delivered that traditional country music is really Americana and this narrative is accepted, then the genre of country music really is on life support. Which will be tragic as I believe country music is as worthy of a musical artform as pop, latin, rhythm and blues, and rap. If country music could just get out of its own way and stop trying to be something its not in a tireless effort to appeal to people that will never support country music, then the genre could get to a point where it could flourish again like it did in the 1990s. Country music doens't need to pretend that it's something else, including Americana.
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