My Country Music History
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
A big Country Universe welcome to Leeann, a familiar face from the comments who will now be contributing for the site. As she’s already demonstrated through her contributions in the comments, she’s well-versed on country music. I’m tremendously excited that she’s chosen to share her talents as a writer here, and I fully expect the site to grow in quality as a result. As Toby Keith once sang, we could really use “A Woman’s Touch” around here! - Kevin
Hi, I am Leeann. I live with my incredible husband, Bill, and my super cool guide dog, Amigo. I work as a Teacher of Children with Visual Impairments (TVI). I am very excited about the opportunity that Kevin has offered me to express my feelings on one of my favorite subjects—country music. I have been enjoying this blog for some time now and really respect the hard and quality work that Kevin has put into it. I am honored to be a part of it. As an introduction, Kevin has asked me to discuss my personal connection to country music and how I feel about today’s offerings.
I can clearly recall the first songs I ever heard on country radio. When I say “heard”, I don’t mean the sounds that my ears transmitted to my brain, but rather the sounds that my ears transmitted to my soul. Of course, I hadn’t been oblivious up until then. I had obviously heard songs like “Achy Breaky Heart” and “Friends In Low Places” due to their crossover appeal. But on one particular Saturday, about 14 years ago, I really paid attention. My radio was tuned to Lon Helton’s Country Countdown USA. As I remember it, coming from my speakers were songs from artists I had heard for the first time—George Strait, Neal McCoy, Mark Chesnutt, John Michael Montgomery, Vince Gill, John Anderson, Joe Diffie, Clint Black, Wynonna, Doug Stone, Clay Walker, Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, Doug Supernaw and even George Jones (High Tech Redneck”). Just to name a few. Although I was so young and couldn’t exactly personally relate to the songs, I was instantly captivated by the music. On an even deeper level, music has helped me through some challenging times in my life.
Country music is what helped me through four eye operations, in the space of two months, that eventually failed. During those difficult times, country music soothed my soul. Because of the operations, I was on some strong medicine that made me very sick and caused me to feel on edge. I can vividly recall that any other genre of music would literally make me feel physically sick. There was a time, while I was on the medicine that my sister, Rachel, was really into Ace of Base’s “The Sign.” She would play it over and over again. I just remember that while that song was playing, my head felt as though it would explode. Fortunately, my music tastes have expanded considerably since then, but country music remains, by far, my very favorite genre.
As I tried to illustrate above, my dedication to country music began in the early to mid-nineties. The sound of country music has changed since then. People like Brad Paisley and Keith Urban have introduced undeniably unique sounds to the country music scene. While the songs of the mid ‘90s will always hold a special significance for me, my taste is certainly not limited to that era. With the exception of the eighties, I have come to embrace the country music of the decades that preceded the’90s as well. Likewise, I embrace the country music sounds of today. This is not to say, of course, that I will not be critical of songs in the genre from time to time. We all know that I will. Just be sure to take my comments as my opinion. Rest assured that I do.
Category News
Once again, it’s ladies first in the world of country music critics. The highly praised Crazy Ex-Girlfriend tops the eighth annual Nashville Scene Critics Poll for Best Country Album of 2007, with Miranda Lambert outpacing Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Brad Paisley, Porter Wagoner and Patty Griffin.
Love it. Intelligent, sincere and just plain well-written. I don’t know that Jewel is going to find that country music is any friendlier to smart women than the pop scene that she left behind, but she sounds more comfortable as a singer here than she ever did as a pop artist.
I’m a sucker for a train song that uses steel guitar to make that lonesome whistle sound. So before Bentley’s vocals even kicked in, I was hooked. I love the rise and fall in intensity, the delicate intertwining of the electric guitar and the steel. There’s a real craftsmanship at work here.
I think this is going to be a crystallizing record for Taylor Swift. It’s been selling briskly as a download long before it was ever released as a single, and it speaks more directly to the teenage audience than anything she’s released so far. That’s going to make it a huge hit for her.
I suppose that the heart is properly placed here, with the older generation warning a young woman to appreciate each stage of her life as she’s experiencing it, rather than pining for what’s still to come. But by always speaking in the voice of the older generation – first mom, then dad, then an older woman fixing the water heater – it’s hard to get a handle on the woman herself here.
I wasn’t aware that Randy Owen was planning on doing any solo recordings, especially since Alabama is still putting out new studio albums. That band’s long-standing association with St. Jude’s Children Hospital makes the subject of “Braid My Hair” less surprising than it normally would be: a young girl with cancer wishing to be strong again, so she can do things that other girls do, including braiding her hair.
Even as an American Idol junkie, I found the sixth season completely underwhelming. Phil Stacey making it as far as he did was more of a reflection of the field’s weakness than anything distinctive or special on his part. Here, he’s matched with material as faceless as his delivery was on Idol, but to his credit, he puts more energy and feeling into his first shot in the studio than he ever did during his stint on the televised competition. It’s just not enough to overcome such a hopelessly generic song.
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