Category Archives: Country Subgenres

by | November 12, 2014 · 8:00 am

#bradblewit

Everyone who tuned into the Country Music Awards last Wednesday night was the first to learn what the sex of Carrie Underwood’s baby is. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood kept the crowd rumbling with laughter as they hosted their 7th straight CMA awards.

Screen Shot 2014-11-11 at 11.33.20 AMThe roast-like jokes started as they came out on the stage to introduce the show. They started with a song they wrote in honor of George Strait and his “Cowboy Rides Away” tour. They then presumed to make fun of Strait when Paisley said, “usually when a cowboy rides away, he goes somewhere.” Then after a couple different jokes made towards Blake Shelton, Taylor Swift and democrats it was time set the stage for the baby sex reveal. The picture shown was Underwood’s immediate reaction after #bradblewit.

Brad started by making the comment “We’re pregnant!” (Which by the way, OMG she is a beautiful pregnant lady!) Then from there Underwood starts making comments asking why he said “we”. And from there Paisley is persistent that he will always be a part of the baby’s life and Underwood can’t keep the baby from him! From there he starts to beg Underwood to tell him what the sex of the baby is and finally she lets in and whispers in his ear what it is. He turns to the audience then and says “I’m so happy, I know something ya’ll don’t know; Suck it TMZ!”

Then a couple minutes later as they’re starting to introduce Garth Brooks’s return to the CMA stage, Paisley lets the cat out of the bag (or better yet, the bun out of the oven). Carrie starts by asking, “Do you think he’ll sign my baby?” And then Paisley replies by announcing,

“Hey, we could name him Garth!”

In which then Underwood acts like she’s angry at Paisley for the public revelation but it’s all apart of the show. The crowd then realizes what just happened and they all start cheering and smiling in happiness for Underwood’s joy.

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Paisley’s Tweet after he revealed the sex

Let me be the first to say, it’s been a beautiful thing to watch Carrie Underwood’s whole celebrity life play out in front of our eyes. We fell in love with her on American Idol and we’ve followed her journey ever since and I believe I speak for the majority when I say we are overjoyed to see her finally play the role as a mother. Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Fisher!!

7 Comments

Filed under Awards, Movies and TV, New Country

by | November 11, 2014 · 8:58 am

Couldn’t Miss the Dance

A while back, MaKayla posted about Scotty McCreery’s charitable contributions. Since that post received a lot of love from y’all, I thought I would share this story about Garth Brooks stopping a concert to recognize a fan who is undergoing treatment for cancer. Also, incredibly, he gave her his guitar. Here’s the video:

I ran across this news this morning on my bus ride to campus and, I’ll be honest, I teared up a bit. Fortunately, I don’t think any of the other passengers noticed. It has to be one of the hardest and most rewarding parts of being a celebrity, this being called on to help people who are hurting or dying. Props to Brooks, though.

2 Comments

Filed under Charity, Live Music, New Country, Reflection

by | November 10, 2014 · 8:00 am

Angaleena Presley Goes Out On Her Own

Angaleena 2Angaleena Presley, a member of the Pistol Annies, recently released a solo album called American Middle Class. In it she establishes herself as an alt country force with smart honest lyrics, and a wide array of musical influences. Her slightly husky voice is at times haunting, and then blunt, confronting life’s tragedies and disappointments without pretense. Each track leaves the listener with the sense that Presley has seen her fair share of hard living, and she wants the rest of America to see it too.

The first song, “Ain’t no Man,” sets the tone for the album, immediately laying on Americana guitar and introducing the electric organ. She uses a series of vivid metaphors to describe a woman who has closed herself off from love. For example she sings, “Sturdy as a trailer in a hurricane, sweet as the smell of turpentine,” and, “mean as a snake in a small town zoo, ain’t nobody who could ever get to her hear.” Ignoring the traditional verse chorus form popular on the radio today in favor of uninterrupted narratives, its clear Presley is a different kind of country artist.\

It’s easy to pick out the gospel and blue grass influences throughout the album, both in instrumentals and the imagery of her lyrics. The steel guitar and banjo can be heard throughout the album alongside acoustic and electric guitars. She also sings about church, the devil, and sin in a way that places those things as symbols of the culture she is representing.

AngaleenaPresley also tackles the problems small middle class communities are facing that are often ignored or pushed under the rug. In “Pain Pills,” and “Dry County Blues,” she confronts boredom as a disease that people are self-treating with alcohol and drugs, and the damage that creates in the community. She subtly draws attention to the fact that much of this is due to the economy, and the loss of middle class jobs, “half the county’s laid off, laid up, or getting high.”

In my opinion, Presley really shines in her ability to root the album in a physical place and time. “All I Ever Wanted” ends with a recording of a drug addicted neighbor reciting scripture, and the title track, “American Middle Class,” features her father, a Kentucky coal miner, talking in an actual mine where he works. Though Presley is not shy about bringing up sensitive issues, she maintains a respect for the people and place she is singing about. She comes across more as if she is sympathizing rather than condemning.

I truly enjoyed American Middle Class and its more traditional country sound. It’s not an album you put on for background noise, but something you really listen to and reflect on. It’s not all serious though. “Knocked up,” and “Drunk,” provide some offbeat humor to contrast with some of the other tracks. Angaleena Presley’s style is somewhat like Kasey Musgraves, so if you like her, and even if you don’t, I highly recommend you give this album a listen.

2 Comments

Filed under Americana, Reviews

by | November 9, 2014 · 8:00 am

Texas vs Pop Country

Growing up in Texas, country music is what  I have listened to just about my whole life. Now by all means, I do not consider myself a complete connoisseur of country music, but, I have been around it enough to distinguish the difference between a Texas country and a Pop country artist.

nutty brownTo begin, in my opinion, country music has evolved over the years into what now could be considered pop country.  This includes upbeat tunes with a band in the background, with a strong emphasis on the instruments and not so much the vocals. To me, artists that fall under this category would be: Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line, Eric Church, Lee Brice, Keith Urban, Carry Underwood, Lady Antebellum, and many more. These are the faces of what the country would consider country music nowadays. In no way, shape, or form am I trying to take anything away from them. I listen to all of them and love all their music. I am actually currently listening to Florida Georgia Line as I write this. But, these artists have a completely different sound then that of Texas Country music. Pop country has taken away the traditional country music and has made it more hip. Which is understandable due to how our culture has attracted to this pop country and taken it as “Country”.  But in my opinion, Texas Country is what keeps the traditional country music and sound alive.

To help you with some Texas country artists heres a few: Aaron Watson, Randy Rogers Band, Josh Abbott, Zane Williams, Turnpike Troubadours, Eli Young Band, Josh Gridder, Wade Bowen, and many others. Although most of these names sound very familiar to those of you from Texas, I could guarantee most country fans outside of Texas have never heard of most of them. One of the main differences between the two types of country is the sound and voices.  Texas country artists, for the most part, have a more rough  and raspy sounding voice. Their music is usually slower paced with less instruments. In Texas country, it usually consists of a drummer, guitar, violin, and banjo. Some songs Texas country songs will just consist of the artist and guitar, as it was in older country. Pop country will have these as well as electric and steel guitars which give it a more upbeat and rock sound.

One main difference between the two types of country is the venue in which they perform.  Texas country artists most of the time perform at outdoor venues in front of a crowd no larger then about 2,000 people. Some venues such as Floore’s Country Store, Nutty Brown Cafe, Gruene Hall, and Midnight Rodeo are popular places for these artists to perform. On the other hand, pop country artists perform at bigger venues such as sports arenas in much bigger crowds. KEITH-URBAN-IN-CONCERT

In retrospect, Pop and Texas country are both great to listen too. Pop country has just taken a little of the traditional sound out of country music but is still pleasant to listen too. Texas country keeps things more simple with lyrics and sound as the country music used to be.

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Filed under Country Pop, New Traditionalism, Texas

by | November 8, 2014 · 8:00 am

Remember the Old “Country” Taylor Swift?

I understand that a lot of people have their own opinions, either good or bad, about how Taylor Swift officially went from country to pop as she just released the new album, 1989. For me personally, I have always loved Taylor Swift and will always love her because I think she’s a real prodigy. Instead of talking about the more recent version of Taylor, I just wanted to remind everyone of how she used to be a big country star in her earlier career, and point out some great songs in her country albums. So here we go:

Taylor_Swift

This was the cover of Taylor Swift’s very first album, Taylor Swift. She had signed her first contract with Big Machine Records as a singer-songwriter when she was 14 years old. Taylor for sure made a big impression to country fans from the beginning, as she became the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number one song on the Hot Country Songs Chart. I was in high school when this album first came out and I remember every single girl at my school obsessing over Taylor Swift, and even some boys, reluctantly. Taylor was 16 years old at the time, and she was already writing narrative love songs about her own experiences. (Yes, because she’s a genius and again, a real prodigy.) My favorite song on this album was “Teardrops on My Guitar.” I liked the song a lot more in my high school days, and now I don’t know how I feel about it. The lyrics are a bit cheesy, but I still like the melody, the guitar sound and her voice.

A few single albums were released right after, including Tim McGraw and Our Song. Both songs are true to the “country-ness” of Taylor Swift, since they have more country-sounding instruments and lyrics. (Listen to those songs and listen to her newer songs. They’re completely different sounding.) Taylor toured all over the country in support of Taylor Swift, and the single albums kept the teenage girls fans excited while she prepared for her second album, Fearless.

Taylor_Swift_-_Fearless

Just like the first album, Taylor continued to write at least a few of her songs by herself, with some help of others, to keep up with the title “country singer-songwriter.” This album was a huge commercial success for Taylor, as it became the best-selling album of the year, and stayed number one on Billboard 200 for 11 weeks. 5 singles spawned from Fearless, and my favorites are, just like many others, “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me.” I can still remember Taylor singing those songs on TV with her guitar and having a baby face.

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Speak Now was released in 2010, and this is the album where I think Taylor Swift started showing signs of being “Pop” instead of country. The instruments sound relatively modern, beats are faster, and she was rarely performing with a guitar and boots on anymore at this point. Some songs had definitely more country feels than others, depends on what the listeners would decide what defines “country.” Her lyrics were still her narratives about boy-centric themes and breakups, but I felt that she was more of a grown up than a young teenage girl. It may have been because I was about to be out of high school myself, or because Taylor was then in her 20s and started talking about college boys. I don’t really know. (If you want to know more about this album, click here.)

As she released her next album, Red, her fans admitted that she wasn’t so country anymore, and I don’t really see any true country songs on it, so we will skip it for now. Here is a list of songs (some of them were mentions above) that I selected in reminiscence of the old “country” Taylor Swift:

  1. “Teardrops on My Guitar” – Taylor Swift
  2. “Our Song” – Taylor Swift
  3. “Fearless” – Taylor Swift
  4. “You Belong with Me” – Taylor Swift
  5. “Love Story” – Taylor Swift
  6. “Speak Now” – Taylor Swift
  7. “Mine” – Taylor Swift
  8. “Back to December” – Taylor Swift

Even after Taylor went pop, her lyrics stayed pretty much the same as before, and she still writes her own songs. Hope everyone enjoyed reading this post and loves Taylor Swift as much as I do!

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Filed under Country Pop, Women