It's been a week since one of the pioneer's of modern American music, Loretta Lynn, voiced her concerns regarding the state of country music. "I think it's dead ..." was the response Ms. Lynn provided when asked by the amazing Martina McBride during an episode of McBride's "Vocal Point" podcast. If anyone has listened to mainstream country music for roughly the last decade, and you're a longtime fan of the genre, it's hard to argue against the point. And I'm not going to argue against a living legend who blazed the trail for so many performers to take up the mantle of country music going forward. Rather, I think country music is, once again, in the middle of a prolonged identity crisis. Such crises are not foreign to country music. As Sammy Kershaw once said - country music is the only genre that hates itself.
For generations, country music has been attracted to "crossover" appeal; the great search for that elusive hit song that cracks not only the top of the country music chart, but the pop chart as well. So much so, that I would argue the genre has allowed itself to be compromised in almost every possible way to chase that dream. As I say, this is nothing new. The 1960s had what's referred to as "the Nashville Sound" where lush string sections and crooning vocals were all the rage. Sometimes it worked beautifully, as was the case with Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold. Other times, it failed miserably, as was the case with the earliest records of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. But that last sentence should raise eyebrows and pose the question ... what the hell were they doing pairing Willie Nelson with string sections? The answer is as true then as it is now. And it's the same miscalculation: if Cline, Reeves and Arnold are making big money with that type of crossover material, then everyone is going to do it.
Record labels and their producers try to make a particular sound the standard as opposed to allowing the artists to set themselves apart with a different sound. It usually takes some renegade artists to move the needle back the other way. When that happens, it's usually a torrent going back to a more traditional sound of country music. The cure for the Case of the Crossover's was two guys that based themselves out of Bakersfield, California named Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. It was their electric guitar-heavy sound mixed with country twang and rockabilly, as well as some killer songwriting, that brought things back around. This in turn allowed Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings the opportunity to sing, write and perform as they always wanted to perform and before anyone on Music Row could see it coming, the Outlaw movement was off and running. This movement altered the country music landscape with a more traditional sound throughout the 1970s. During this time, there were country artists who were still crossing over to the pop charts, but it was with their own sound, not something manufactured by the power brokers on 16th Avenue.
Record labels and their producers try to make a particular sound the standard as opposed to allowing the artists to set themselves apart with a different sound. It usually takes some renegade artists to move the needle back the other way. When that happens, it's usually a torrent going back to a more traditional sound of country music. The cure for the Case of the Crossover's was two guys that based themselves out of Bakersfield, California named Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. It was their electric guitar-heavy sound mixed with country twang and rockabilly, as well as some killer songwriting, that brought things back around. This in turn allowed Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings the opportunity to sing, write and perform as they always wanted to perform and before anyone on Music Row could see it coming, the Outlaw movement was off and running. This movement altered the country music landscape with a more traditional sound throughout the 1970s. During this time, there were country artists who were still crossing over to the pop charts, but it was with their own sound, not something manufactured by the power brokers on 16th Avenue.
Then the 1980s hit. This was a bit of a dark period for a lot of genre's of music. Synthethizers dominated the songscape and country music - once again - couldn't help itself from turning to a more pop-oriented sound. Some country artists were experiencing crossover success and the genre as a whole suffered. But all was not lost in the 1980s. Some guy from Texas named George Strait was just getting started, and another guy from Kentucky named Ricky Skaggs made a point to keep the traditional sound of country music on the airwaves. During that time, Dwight Yoakam was also reminding everyone that Bakersfield was the site for the last revolution in country music in the 1960s.
It wasn't until Music Row placed a bit more focus on the three artists just mentioned that they hit the jackpot with one of the most traditional country vocalists in its history: Randy Travis. Travis blew open the door and brought country music back to its traditional base in the late 1980s, moving it away from the pop-oriented sound that permeated the landscape in the early part of that decade. The way Travis was embraced by fans and, perhaps more importantly, garnered record sales once again caused a major shift in focus. Tradition sells, so they went and found traditional sounding artists. This resulted in the famed Class of '89, which gave the music world Vince Gill, Clint Black, Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt and Garth Brooks. These artists, and several others of this ilk, would dominate country radio for the better part of the next 15 to 20 years. Other artists who were successful in the 1980s, such as Reba McEntire and George Strait, became massive stars in the 1990s. Country music would go on to become the most listened to and most popular genre during this time, not for the way it sounded like pop music, but because it sounded like country music.
It wasn't until Music Row placed a bit more focus on the three artists just mentioned that they hit the jackpot with one of the most traditional country vocalists in its history: Randy Travis. Travis blew open the door and brought country music back to its traditional base in the late 1980s, moving it away from the pop-oriented sound that permeated the landscape in the early part of that decade. The way Travis was embraced by fans and, perhaps more importantly, garnered record sales once again caused a major shift in focus. Tradition sells, so they went and found traditional sounding artists. This resulted in the famed Class of '89, which gave the music world Vince Gill, Clint Black, Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt and Garth Brooks. These artists, and several others of this ilk, would dominate country radio for the better part of the next 15 to 20 years. Other artists who were successful in the 1980s, such as Reba McEntire and George Strait, became massive stars in the 1990s. Country music would go on to become the most listened to and most popular genre during this time, not for the way it sounded like pop music, but because it sounded like country music.
Now here we are in 2020 and for most of the past 10 years it seems country music finds itself in an existential crisis - trying once again to say to its detractors, "Hey, look at me, I really am cool!" The problem is, like with most things, if all you're doing is trying to please your critics by appeasing their every critique then you've already lost your way. The truth is, you will never win those critics over, no matter how many lyrics you rap in your country song, or how many electronic drum beat machines you utilize to record your album. They will just find something else to criticize. These days it's tough to tell if your local country music radio station is playing country music. It sounds the same as your local hit music station, and your local easy listening station, and your local pop station. Where there once was a way to differentiate the art, the lines have been steadily blurred. This change hasn't resulted in any increase in record sales, or even really a bump in radio ratings.
Perhaps Music Row is starting to clue into the fact that what's going on in the genre isn't really working out as hoped. There is a bit of promise in the fact that a straight ahead country singer like Jon Pardi has managed to score a few number one songs over the past couple of years. It's encouraging that the power brokers are at least givng Pardi a chance, considering they blew off the best male country artist they've had in a generation by dismissing Jamey Johnson off radio and all their record labels. Chris Stapleton remains one of the top concert and record sellers in country music, although radio continues to embrace him sporadically. To Ms. Lynn's point and the original question of country music's mortality, I would suggest that it's not necessarily dead, although we've come quite close to witnessing its passing. We're currently in one of the more prolonged flows to the pop-side in recent memory. Much work will need to be done to get it back, but it's not impossible and I believe it will happen. People will always come back to what's real, they will always purchase and consume what's real. And country music is as real as it gets. I close today, with a clip of the talented lady that started this discussion and put McBride's question to you - what do you think about the state of country music today?
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