dy156

It would be easy for me to say that I like classic country but don't like the stuff on the radio or CMT now, but that would be an overly broad generalization. Of course I like Willie, Waylon, Johnny Cash, David Allen Coe, Haggard, Marty Robbins, etc.. and dislike Shania, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, etc..

However, some of the really old stuff is not that great, but I like it because I have fond memories of it, and I can sing along in the car.
The best example would be something I heard this morning:
"I'm goonnnna hire a wino
to decorate our home
so you'll feel more at ease dear,
and you won't need to roam

we'll take out the dining room table
and put a bar along the wall
and neon sign will point the way
to our bathroom down the hall."

I like stuff like that, but only sometimes when I'm in the right mood. Some other "classic country" from the 70's they play, like certain Kenny Rogers or Johnny Milsap crossover attempts, is so 1970's it's painful. Same thing with Alabama, some of their songs are great, but I switch stations when a few of them come on.

On the other hand, George Strait, Allan Jackson, the less obnoxious Toby Keith, Tracy Byrd, Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, even newer singers like Joe Nichols and Cherrie Austin are songs I will stop on when scanning the radio.

There's another subgenre that I want to mention as well. I used to really like Robert Earl Keen, Pat Green, and other college country artists, but eventually got tired of the "isn't Texas cool" songs. Now that that subject has been beat to death and it's been awhile since I was in college and overdosed on that kind of thing, I'm starting to listen to those old cds again. By the way, I cringed when I saw Pat Green clumped in the same group of modern country artists as Martina McBride and Shania by djtestudo. He is definitely not a product of the Nashville country music industry, but made it on his own, the old fashioned way by playing tiny college venues over and over until he had enough of a following to play to sold out Billy Bob's in Ft. Worth. before he ever got on the Nashville or national radar.

I guess I'm like any music fan, there is some that I like and some that I don't, but overall I suppose I should be considered a country fan in general, with the only caveat being I really hate everything that CMT (Country Music Television-the channel that plays country music videos) stands for.