JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Big & Rich

Very unique sound. Is this the current direction of new country? Basically hard blues rock with banjos and fiddles added in. Would that be a fair characterization?

I'm a huge Big and Rich fan but no, I wouldn't say that's exactly the current direction of new country. They are a little on the fringe with the likes of Miranda Lambert, although Lost in this Moment was a huge hit. Right now "new country" would be stuff that sounds like Taylor Swift, Rascall Flatts, Brad Paisley, etc.

But yes, I think hard blues rock with banjos and fiddles is a fair characterization!

I agree with what Katie said. Well-said, Katie!

Al

I have to say that they blew me away when I saw the video for 'Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy' back when it first came out and when I was still a die-hard, honky-tonk hating northern boy who went around saying he hated country music but never really listened to much of it. I remember thinking 'this is country music; I'm not suppose to like this, but In do.'

There is some great stuff on that album, you should check it out if you haven't.

Ooops, I forgot to say, Horse of a Different Color is the album.

That because it ain't Country Music.
Taylor Swift Ain't Country Music
Rascal Flatts ain't country Music.

It might be what the Radio and the labels are calling Country music
But it ain't Country Music

Maybe that's why you don't hate it

I understand that a lot of people feel that way. Big and Rich incorporate a lot of elements into their music that are not considered traditional country, e.g., rap. I assume that you would consider someone like Alan Jackson to be country music. Right?

Unfortunately, genre names and labels are very problematic in light of the fact that musical style changes constantly. I was always a heavy metal fan back when heavy metal was Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Today, however, neither of the above bands would be considered true metal. I consider what passes for metal today to be mostly un-melodic junk (i.e., lightning speed guitar riffs, screaming and grunting) but there are many young fans who would disagree with me.

The bands you mention above are considered by the vast majority to be some sub-genre of what is called 'country music'. Like 'heavy metal', 'country' has become a more general genre label.

"It aint country music".

I hear this all the time. But you wanna know what I think?

I think that country music is a living, breathing thing. It is ever evolving, ever changing and there are always trends, just like any other genre of music. I grew up in the south, am touched by the traditional country my father listened to and have a great respect for the legends of this industry that I thrive in. I take offense to people who say that the something isnt country because it doesnt have a 3/4 time back beat and a lyric about your mama in it.

Country music consists of songs written about life. Written about how you live, what you love, what moves you and telling stories about things that inspire you. Who gives a crap if it is sung to what some people here as a "pop" melody. I don't. In fact, I think it's great that music row has welcomed fresh sounds.

Taylor Swift is a prime example. She is from Hendersonville, Tennessee grew up country and writes/performs the songs she loves and she writes about her LIFE. She's a freakin teenager, so ofcourse her songs arent going to ooze the depth of Kris or Willie. Why fault her for that and tell her she isn't country. She's not Patsy Cline, but she's not trying to be. She's just being herself and I personally like her album. She cowrote almost all the songs with Liz Rose who is a power-house songwriter that I greatly admire.

Is it TRADITIONAL country? Nope. But neither was Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and DARE I SAY IT... Patsy Cline. Did you kow she was considered "pop" by the industry folk of her time?

I say don't hate. Any success in this industry is to be respected. Most people have NO IDEA how difficult it is to get a song cut, get a record deal and be successful. If they did, they'd be listening to the radio musc differently in my opinion.

I don't deny their talent or success, but count me in with Bill in the disgruntled crumudgeon traditionalist club.{Can't STAND "Save a Horse", it's right up there with "Achy Breaky Heart" as far as inane novelty songs} But I've heard other stuff by them thats pretty good.
I WILL give them points for looking like they're having WAY too much fun, and laughing all the way to the bank.

Wow! Lots of strong opinions on this. I was just watching an interview with Big & Rich and John Rich answered this criticism about their music. He basically said that he hated the fact that there were people out there making all the rules about what you can and can't do in country music and he said it was his goal to change that by the time his career ended. During the interview, he relates a conversation he had with Eddie Arnold who told him that back when he first began, the establishment told him that he was a pop singer, not a country singer, yet Mr. Arnold went on to have hits in seven different decades.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO7OEgc_nN8

I agree with jimichic 100%. Whether we like it or not, things changes and often they get redefined in the process. I prefer being progressive over being conservative because conservative takes colors out of the artist's paint tray. Progressive allows you to use all the colors and even invent more. This is why music artists hate the labels people put on their music, because it leads to criticism from critics and fans every time an artist tries to be innovative. Robert Plant once said that he hates talking about 'Stairway' because he's been there and done that already. Interestingly enough though, when Stairway first came out, it took a while for the fans to warm up to it because they were expecting the sequel to 'Whole Lotta Love'.

Fans tend to define you based on your last album and frequently get unhappy if the that album is too stylistically different that the prior album. To me this is the border that separates the artist/songwriter from the performer/hit-maker. Artists always grow and change; hit-makers only change when they aren't getting hits anymore.

I really LOVE this duo, and with all due respect to Bob, I think 'Save a Horse' is an amazing song for a number of reasons. It seamlessly incorporates a number of different genres (e.g., hard rock with the guitars, country with the lyrical content and banjo/fiddle, and hip hop with the bridge) and makes them work quite well together. I LOVE the way the country instruments blend with the rock instruments on this song. I also love the unique vocal harmony style and phrasing. There are prosodic hooks everywhere and the lyrics have attitude and fit the music perfectly.

I would pay to see these guys live, which is a compliment coming from a AC/DC -head from the north. BTW, John Rich's favorite rock album is Back In Black by AC/DC.

Jimi,

I thought Taylor Swift grew up in Pa. and then moved with her parents to Tennessee.

also, I do believe that Big n Rich are no loger officially a duo....they only perform together when needed.

This thread interests me as someone who's personal "sound" falls kind of in the cracks between country and pop.

I suppose that my songs could be more or less countrified depending on production choices.

I am reminded of the way American Idol does "country" renditions of songs. Remember Kristi Lee's "eight days a week"? I thought that song actually could have worked for her as a country song, but they do what they always do; they inevitably overdo fiddles and other "country" instruments and make every song sound like a weird characeture of the genre.

That is NOT how I want my stuff produced. So, I am reluctant to tell someone "I am hearing this as a country song". What i am hearing is more "crossover". (Eek. I write "sell-out" songs!)

I know this is kind of rambling and not at all about big and rich but that is just how I am feelin' it right now!

You can call it what you want but it is not what I consider Country music.

I am not saying the music isn't good or it isn't Done in Tennessee.
But it is something new. Call it Country Pop call it Pop country call it whatever you want but it ain't country music. I grew up with country music. This ain't it.
George Jones is Country Music...Tammy Wynette is country music. Merle Haggard, Hank Williams.

Now everyone is gonna say they were not. You might be right. But they were a heck of a lot closer than what we are getting today.
The Music did change some in the 50's. they even started using drums. And Bass guitars.
Heck it changed in the 20's when they brought Hawaiian Steel in.

I just wish they would give it a new Genre of it's own and quit calling it country.What they have done is stolen the genre. Country music is now Americana, or traditional.
Take a traditional country song into a publisher in Nashville and see what they say.

Maybelle Carter probably turned over in her grave when she heard Save a horse ride a cowboy.
That doesn't make it bad it just ain't Country.

And yes Taylor Swift is from Pennsylvania. But I don't think that matters. You don't have to be from the south to do country music...but it helps.

I think todays "COUNTRY" music is great. It has brought new life into the music. The only problem I have is with the way it is labeled.
Heck am trying to write it myself. And believe me..it is NOT easy.
Today's Country Music has some subtleties in it that if you don't pay attention you will never know they are there.

I saw a bumper sticker that said "Save a horse ride a cowboy". Did the bumper sticker come first or the song? Ben

Ben, The bumper sticker came first..John Rich admitted as much..
Secondly {and here's the kicker}..A lot of the arrangements and harmonies {at least to MY ears} seem to be inspired by Frank Zappa!

She went to highschool here in Hendersonville... I mean shes 18, it's like splitting hairs I guess...

Point is, country is ever evolving and changing and there are still artists who do traditional country music. Some do pop-country some do stone cold-country some do muscle shoals style country. Doesnt matter, its all country.

Merle was considered VERY progressive in his day and many traditionalists then thought even he wasn't country.

Its all just perspective.

But I'll keep writing my pop-country stuff because I love it, and according to album sales, so does the buying public.

I think acts like Taylor Swift are the direction the New Country is going. It is again evolving.
I don't remember the figures but I think there have only been a few COUNTRY songs that have made the Billboard top 100 in the last 50 years.
I think Taylor Swift has already had 4.
That is a good indicator of her popularity among non-country listeners and fans.
I think years ago Country music had a smaller fan base. They were more die hard country listeners.
What you usually heard was I don't listen to that twangy Hillbilly stuff, LOL. Then along came Buddy Holly, and Elvis, acts like that and things really begin to change.
Crooners like Eddy Arnold put a new face on Country as well.
Kind of like blues is now. You don't hear much blues on the radio but the fans are there.

One question though Jimmi.
If it doesn't matter why won't the radio stations play traditional country?
Why won't the publishers take traditional country songs?

Hey Jimichick,

I've got your website bookmarked and enjoy the observations about the biz. I have a question. I'm in my early 50s no doubt older than you and I got into country in the early 70s. My questions is, as you said you have great respect for the legends, do you find this is a common feeling amongst young musicians in Nashville. I mean, a lot of them know who Johnny Cash is, but do they know how big a star like Hank Snow was?

Now........to the topic........

Back in the 80s Buddy Killen was a very prominent producer. He is the man who made Tree Publishing into a worldwide legendary giant music publishing house. His biggest acts in the 80s as a producer were T.G. Sheppard, Exile, and Ronnie McDowell. Exile was a rock group who had one of the biggest rock hits of the late 70s with "Kiss You All Over." Their country was awful close to rock but it hit number one on the charts. T.G. Sheppard started his career with as country a song as you could record called "Devil In A Bottle" but it wasn't long till he turned more pop than traditional country. Ronnie McDowell started his career with a tribute song to Elvis that many people called "cashing in" but I actually cried the first time I heard it--about six days after Elvis died. McDowell's songs under Buddy weren't exactly traditional country but were probably closer than Exile's and Sheppard's hits.

Billy Sherrill produced some great traditional country sounding hits like "Almost Persuaded" by David Houston, "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" by Tammy Wynette and "The Grand Tour" by George Jones. He also produced non-traditional stuff like Charlie Rich's "Most Beautiful Girl."

I love old country music. There have always been pockets of pop in what many today call traditional country music. But while Sherrill and Killen were producing pop music more than country, you still knew they understood country music and it always ran through their stuff. I think that is what's missing today. Many of these people now act like the pop fans in the old days--they think country is beneath them. But I have to admit, I feel the same way about pop/rock from the 80s and 90s.
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They do and will play traditional country. I live in Nashville and the stations here play a mix of both.

Publishers take songs that they think they can get cut. If artists aren't cutting traditional country songs, it would make no sense for the publisher to take the song to them. Remember, publisher's aren't tastemakers. It is not their job to set trends, thats the artists job. Publishers are just supplying the demand.

Absolutely.

Yes the Stations around Nashville play Traditional Country.
I live in Southwest Michigan and I don't think I have heard a Traditional country song on the radio in 5 years.

At least when I travel to Nashville I can hear it.
And yes the publishers don't set the trends. The labels do.

The young folks around here have never heard of Hank Snow, Conway Twitty, Porter Wagoner, Loretta Lynn, etc.
But they know who Taylor Swift is.
But that is natural.
But they would know who they were if they got played.

What I find interesting is I asked a young person (early twenty's) what a good Country Music station was in Nashville. He said he didn't know...he don't listen to Country, LOL.

The Billboard Hot 100? That just isn't true. Country songs get on that chart all the time. Now, if you were talking about the top 5 or number 1s, then there are many fewer songs in that category. Just about every song that reaches number 1 on the Country chart breaks into the top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100.

They don't play classic rock songs on top 40 rock radio anymore either. That is why there is a new subgenre called Classic Rock. There is absolutely no sense in lamenting what you can't change. When people complain like this, it just makes them look old to those who like the NEW sound.

There are major superstar artists who still cut neo-traditional country songs (e.g., Alan Jackson, George Straight). These artists can and do top the charts with what they cut so there IS a market for it. But it is a tougher market because, I suspect, more people write (bad) traditional country ballads than (good) New Country up-tempo songs.

The one song I ever submitted to TAXI (which I did several times) was not returned because it was a bad song. In fact, almost everyone who has listened to it or critiqued it has said that they think it is a song that would stand a high chance of getting cut by someone looking for a neo-traditional ballad. The problem is that adds looking for this kind of song are rare and when they get posted, there are thousands of equally good songs competing with your song.

I was told by the TAXI reviewers that the lyrics were not conversational enough (too poetic and reflective) and did not tell a story, and, secondly, but less important, it didn't have a contemporary enough feel to it (which was probably due to my arrangement -- no hard guitars and too many fiddles and steel guitars). I was told that a change of lyrics and a more contemporary arrangement could turn this song into a forward and maybe a hold/cut.

Of course, like an idiot, I though 'what do they know' and kept submitting it over and over again, and it kept coming back with almost the exact same critique. I now believe that it is crucial that every song that a writer is thinking about submitting to a major listing get at least one professional paid critique before the final demo is made. I also think that a writer should spend several hours singing the melody and the lyrics so as to perfect both. I do this hundreds of times which each of my songs and frequently I end up making changes that (I feel) make the song better.

You can complain about it until you turn blue in the face or you can adjust your writing to give Nashville what it wants. Far too many writer have too much 'pride' to compromise with their art, which is perfectly respectable, but you should not complain about getting passes and rejections all the time. Brian makes a point about saying this all the time. You might not like it, but those publishers are artists who carry their wheelbarrows full of cash to the bank every week probably couldn't care less what you think.

Again, this ONLY applies to people looking to score cuts on major labels. If you are an artist writing for yourself or you just do it because you love it, that is perfectly fine and you don't need to change.

I don't know how old you guys are but I am 63 years old.
I grew up listening to Porter Wagoner, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, ETC.

Why do you think it is whining or complaining when I say I wish they were still doing that kind of traditional Country music.
I don't have a right to like that kind of music and want to hear it on the radio?

I don't have a problem with today's "Country" music. I listen to it all the time. I just wish the old traditional country music was still being done. Does that make me old fashioned,? Well if it does then I am OK with that.

I would like to see it being cut and called COUNTRY music and they could call today's Country whatever they want.

Yes Alan Jackson is close. But it is billed as Neo Traditional..NEO=NEW. Alan Jackson is one of my favorites.

Taylor Swift is very talented, no one is trying to take that away from her. She is probably the face of things to come.
But listen to a Loretta Lynn Album then listen to a Taylor Swift Album and tell me how they compare. The music is different. Not better or worse, Different.

You guys make it sound like anyone who wants to hear traditional country music is committing a sin.

I was in a club in Nashville last week and was listening to people talk about the music.
It wasn't pretty. And these people were a lot younger than me. The gist of the talk was pretty much "Country music is done" this is what we will get from now on and the people were NOT happy about it.

I think Charlie Rich said it best in 1975 when he burned John Denver's envelope containing his CMA Entertainer of the Year Award rather than present it to him during the ceremony.

You think JOHN DENVER is too un-Country? OMG! You are REALLY old fashioned, but like you said, there is nothing wrong with that and you are certainly entitled to your taste in music. Do you feel the same way about Dolly and Kenny? They both crossed over into top 40 pop often.

All of those people you mentioned are the main reason why I hated country music for so long (the exception was Johnny Cash, who I liked). The sound of those steel pedal guitars make me nuts. Then only reason I ever gave country music a second look is because of innovators like Kenny Rogers, John Denver, and Ronnie Milsap. All that traditional country was way too depressing for me to listen to. Seems like the songs were all about "my woman done left me, so I thinks I'll get to drinking some moonshine and then eat my gun".

Radio stations play what people want to hear so they can maximize their advertising rates. If more people listed to New Country, that is what they will play. I can't believe that there are no radio stations in Nashville you can turn on who will play George Jones, Tammy Wynette, and Loretta Lynn for you. And if you don't live in NAshville, then maybe that is where you should move.

By the way, can anyone explain to me the meaning of the following phrase? - "gigging frogs"

It is a line in the song and I don't know what 'gig' means. We don't use that word where I came from.

Giggin' Frogs.
It is a Country expresssion.
A gig is a barbed spike on the end of a pole.
It is use to jab into a Bullfrog and impale them.
Hence Gigging Frogs
You do that so you can eat their legs.

Kind of like spear fishing, only without the fish? Almost sorry I asked. I hope they at least cook the frogs before eating their legs.

John Denver did NOT cross over from COUNTRY to POP
It was the other way around.
Along with Olivia Newton John and a few other POP singers who wanted to tap into the Country market. And they did. John Denver was a Folk/Pop singer. He wrote great songs and did very well in the country market and was very instrumental in blending the genres.
Oh and By the way
I have bought a house in Nashville.
I commute regularly to Nashville.

Well it's a country thing..kind of like the music.

i used to have a frog gig hanging above my trailer door...never used it on a frog ...i love them ...but I killed my aunt with it ; ) just kiddin!!!! just kiddin

First, folk and country music are very similar in many respects, especially to outsiders like me. John Denver was always referred to as a country artist, wrote and performed songs that were clearly country in nature, some of them even using the word in their titles (e.g., Country Roads, Thank God I'm A Country Boy), used country arrangements (e.g., fiddles, steel guitars), and consistently appeared on the country music charts. For a Northern boy like me, THAT'S COUNTRY. Perception is everything.

You prefer a specific style of country music, which is fine. I don't why it should matter that it is called 'traditional country' instead of 'country'. Take comfort in the fact that 20 years from now the stuff that is today called NEW COUNTRY will probably be reclassified as OLD COUNTRY and something else will take its place, and todays fans will be lamenting the passing of what they call 'real country music'.

Back in about 1975 or so
About the time Charlie Rich was burning Folk/Pop singer John Denver's CMA award for COUNTRY Artist of the Year, me and my cousin Bud, he's dead now, decided to Gig some frogs for supper. We had been duck Hunting and still had our guns with us.
Well we also had a couple beers with us. Well it might have been a couple of six packs, that parts kind of hazy.
Now me and Bud was cousins and good buddies. Fished together, hunted together, Drank a few beers together, we figured we could Gig frogs together.
Well we had about a half dozen decent sized Bullfrogs in the bucket when we spotted this really huge Bullfrog on the Bank, Now this was a really big Bullfrog, like Frogzilla.

Well Bud kept the light on him and we eased the boat in. I leaned out and took a stab at Godzilla. Damn frog was fast, he was off the bank and into the water before my Gig got any where near him.
Well Bud kept a good light on that frog and sure enough he surface about twenty feet away from the boat. So we eased the boat over trying to get another stab at him.
I tried again and missed. Needless to say that ol' Bullfrog took off for the bank. We tried again. Missed him again.
Well we sat there contemplating our situation and havin' another beer. Giggin' Frogs is thirsty work you know.
Bud seen that Bullfrog sneakin' up on the bank again. I got to thinkin' about that frog and wonderin' how I was gonna get him. Did I say that was one sneaky Bullfrog?
Well I got thinkin' on it and then I seen my 12 gauge sitting there. Now I figure what the heck, I shoot ducks with it, whose to say I can't shoot a frog.
So I grabbed up that shotgun and loaded a number 4 into it, took aim and squeezed one off.
Well folks, I got to tell you, you can't shoot Bullfrogs with a 12 gauge shotgun. I mean it just doesn't work.
Now I can't tell you exactly what happened but that frog just disappeared. I mean he was there then he wasn't.
I've thought about that night many times and wondered what happened. I figure that frog either got the hint and moved to another pond or It was a direct hit and he just ....disintegrated.
I like to think he just left.
It was a terrible waste of a good eating frog if it was the latter.

You sound like a fun girl.

And you sound like a fun guy.

Sorry to hear about your cousin.

You are not the only one with a frog story. I never giged one but I use to like to go down to the lake and catch them with my bare hands when we went on vacation. I would usually keep them in a big jar or covered cardboard box and let them go when we had to go home. Mom wouldn't let me have a pet frog and she told me that the long drive home would be too hot for the frog and that it would likely die. So I always let it go.

One summer while at my grandparents' cottage in Thunder Bay, Ontario, I caught a little baby frog while sitting at the dock looking at the lake with my sister. We named him 'Froggy'. It was late morning in early August and grandma was making lunch and told us to go down to the dock so we wouldn't bother her in the kitchen. It was an extremely HOT day.

I brought the frog with me back to the house and was looking for a box or a jar when grandma called us in for lunch. When she called you, you came right away or there would be Hell to Pay (like having to wash or dry the dishes).

She was making her famous cheeseburgers and we were both hungry. I decided to put old 'Froggy' under a small bowel on the picnic table while we ate and find a box for him after lunch. Unfortunately, for Froggy, the picnic table was directly under the HOT sun.

After lunch, me and sis forgot about old 'Froggy' and went on to do other things. She played with her Barbie dolls and I read my 'Ripley's Believe it of Not' comic books (the ones that would come three to a pack).

Before supper I went looking for my sister, who was still playing with her Barbies in the garage. One of us mentioned old Froggy and we both stared at each other like we were convicted murderers.

As we approached the picnic table, I kept asking her 'do you think he's OK?' She never answered me. When I took the bowl off Froggy all that remained was something that looked like a burnt strip of bacon. It was all charred and black. You could barely tell that it use to be a frog. My sister started crying and ran back into the house to tell grandma what I had done.

I was crying too and grandma realized that I didn't do it on purpose so she suggested that we have a funeral for him and pray that God would take him into Heaven, so that's what we decided to do.

Grandma also told me that God would forgive me but that it was important that I learned from what I had done and hopefully I would think the next time I did something like that. She told us that it wasn't really fair to the frogs to confine them that way and that we wouldn't like it if they did that to us.

I told her that I would never do that again and that I would take up smashing blood suckers with rocks instead. There were lots of those in the lake and grandpa told us not to let them get on our skin or they would suck all our blood. Grandma didn't seem to impressed.

The next morning, we had our funeral for Froggy and buried him in grandma's rose garden. We even made up an order of service. My sister told me that I would go to Hell for this and for the rest of the vacation I believed her.

I'm actually old enough to remember the night when {a VERY obviously liquored up Charlie Rich set fire to the envelope proclaiming John Denver "country artist of the year" Now THAT was great television!

"I just wish they would give it a new Genre of it's own and quit calling it country.What they have done is stolen the genre."

DAMN straight, Bill... Oh, and I've learned you can't argue with these "new" country?? fans.. they don't get it and they don't understand.

~~shelia

Hey Shelia
Can you "gig" a cockroach?

The argument over new and old country will go on and on, BUT...it doesn't matter. People will listen if they like it, and won't if they don't...Did anyone notice on the CMAs last night, that without "autotune" how pitchy SO many of the performances were?

Well Herbie
It doesn't matter. It all part of the evolution to the New Country.
Who gives a crap if they can sing...it's NEW COUNTRY.
get over it.

Oh man I saw Cockroaches in Chicago I coulda used my 12 gauge on, LOL.

Actually I am trying to get some of this New Country music attached to some of my Traditional country songs. Got to go with what is selling.

I tried to listen to some a recent country music awards show, about a week ago. It was probably a repeat from earlier in the year. I honestly heard not even one song that I would choose to listen to a second time.

It is an entirely different audience and performers than what I have always known as country and they have a musical style I think of as Pop twang, and drawl. Oh well! It's just not my cuppa tea! (make that a pint)

Hi Shelia
I had a response that was about 2 pages long and turned into a rant.
So I deleted it, LOL.

I don't think the folks that have grown up with the New music and Artist's are wrong. The new music is fine. It's just different. I agree they do not have the same feeling about it as I do.

I kind of think they want to be seen as Country, that's why they get so defensive about it.
That's OK. It is good to be proud of who and what you are. It's good to be passionate about your music.
So I don't mind. If they want to be angry at me for it that's OK. I can take it.

I am hoping to adjust my writing to fit more with todays sound. We will see if I can do that.

And John Denver was ten times the artist that Charlie Pride will ever be.

The metal heads got pissed at the grammies when the very first best metal artist award went to Jethro Tull instead of Metallica.

You people are driving me NUTS. Why are you obsessing over A WORD? A CATEGORY? They are members of two different categories and that is all that should matter. The term COUNTRY has become more general and now includes several sub-genres. Same thing happened to Rock. Same thing happened to R&B. Why must you all obsess so?

That will never work unless you also adjust your attitude. You will be doing nothing but wasting your time and your stuff will not be genuine. So much of the difference is musical arrangement based. If this were not the case, you wouldn't see as many New Country acts covering old traditional country songs and making them into hits again. Just write a good catchy pop melody and story board lyrics and have a demo studio give it a modern interpretation and you will be surprised what you get.

To be honest with you, I think my problem remains that I am still getting too much of a traditional sound in my country stuff. It isn't that I can't do modern sounding songs. I do those kinds of songs all the time when I focus on Rock and Pop/Rock, but I always seem to fiddle and banjo my country stuff into something that might not be as modern sounding as it otherwise could be. Never use a steel pedal guitar, BTW, that will be the kiss of death. That makes for such an old fashioned sound, IMHO. I guess I will see when I get around to posting some stuff for feedback.

From the writer of at least one number one on the country charts:

What's the matter with the crowd I'm seeing?
"Don't you know that they're out of touch?"
Should I try to be a straight `A' student?
"If you are then you think too much.
Don't you know about the new fashion honey?
All you need are looks and a whole lotta money."
It's the next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It's still rock and roll to me

Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound
Funny, but it's still rock and roll to me


From my favorite Moe Bandy song:

Lord I love to hear Hank Williams sing
And there's a lot of Lefty's now with different names
But it'll never be the way it was before
Take me back to yesterday once more

I think you can use a steel guitar and it still be good too.

Thank goodness for CMT
I have it on and they have a good George Jones Video on.
Choices.
AHHHHH that's Country. Steel and all.

Luckily for me {or maybe not!} I'm incapable of adapting my writing style to fit current trends... What comes from my heart and head is what it is, and I can't change it.

Hey, I checked out your website. You've got some really cool songs there.

Thanks bud!