acm cma award shows...country or pop?

[rickm]

hi, maybe its just me being an old timer. when i watch the award shows on tv nowdays im disappointed at what i see. not all, but many newer artists seem to be crossing over to for lack of a better word country pop. if it wasnt for alan, george strait, and a few others i wouldnt watch. i dont think dwight yoakam even attends anymore. is it the record promoters? i remember years ago at an awards show alan sang chattahoochee when it was at the top of the charts. at the end of the last verse he leaned back, raised his custom made cowboy boot off the stage floor, and yelled YEAAHEEEE !.....THATS RIGHT.. the audiance went crazy. thats what i call country music. any comments ?

[HariAJFan]

Rick, Alan is the epitome of what I call country. He has stuck to his traditional music & has done very well with it. I love his songs & videos & he is top notch in my book.
But you are right. There are a lot of pop country crossover acts that are getting the media attention, the record sales & the awards. It's too bad Country Music has swung way back to the pop side but indeed it has. I suppose you've heard George Strait & Alan sing "Murder on Music Row:. I think that song about sums it up.

[BIGHUSKERSRED]

Hi, Rick! Sorry that I just saw this now. I do whole heartedly agree with what Harriet has said. No, it's not just you who has made notice of the direction country music has taken from the last five years or so. To answer your question. . .and just my honest opinion here, the record promoters has just been a factor to it. Others like the major record label companies and the 'forget-the-older-generation-music-artists-and-their-fans-and-focus-on-the-younger-generations-artists-and-satisfying-the-younger-fans'-desire' kind of mentality of organizational and programing bigwigs of country music networks and shows such as CMT, GAC, the Grand Ole Opry show and all of the country music awards has been also big factors in it. Then there's the reality shows like American Idol. . .I won't even touch that one.

I've heard and read some comments back in the late '90s and early 2000s about Garth Brooks having started the Country-Pop trend in country music and I totally disagreed with it. Granted that he took country music to a different style through his concert performances back then, but if you listen to his recordings he really did not venture too far from the country music tradition. What we're seeing and hearing now from these new crop of country music artists, however, is hard to define as country music anymore. Now another 'new' trend has been added in the mix. . .country-rap. What's next? Country hip-hop? Alan was once asked about the country rap trend and he said something like he heard people say that country-rap is spelled CRAP and that was all he's going to say about it. From that, I made my own defining word for the kind of country music being recorded and performed by (I hope I don't get censored here for this) today's crop of young country music artists. . .Country-Pop-Rock-Rap-CRAP (with the emphasis on CRAP). And just like you, if not for Alan, GS and few others who are still carrying the country music tradition, I would not had been watching the awards shows either or be still a fan of country music, for that matter.

Thanks for starting this topic, Rick. Good subject for country music discussion.

BHR

[Canadiangirl]

I agree with you all to much pop in our
country music. Thank goodness for
Alan.
Elaine

[bb2832]

Ditto all of you.