The TFP taste-test - Country
 

In my continuing quest to find out what people here in TF like, listen to, and to encourage others to try those groups out, I thought I'd branch to a genre I DON'T listen to..

Country..

I have nothing against country music myself, I just don't listen to it. I know the words to one country song (I got friends in Low Places) and thats only because I've heard it at a hundred weddings..

So.. like it, love it, or loathe it.. here is your chance..

Country is a pretty wide genre.

I love Johnny Cash, and have a strong appreciation for "old school" country, a la Hank Williams Sr., Waylon Jennings, Carl Perkins, etc.

Anything produced by Nashville in the past 20 years is pure unadulterated shit.

That pretty well sums up my feelings about country too.

I agree except for the alt country bands that exist. Such as the Old 97's. I also like people like Alison Krauss... Also This Bike is a Pipe Bomb (if want to consider them country) are great.

Besides, the O Brother! Where Art Thou soundtrack was amazing.

I posted in the ska thread; I don't think there's much overlap between the ska and country communities. :D

I didnt think so either, I wanted to see if indeed we had country fans out there...

I like bluegrass too. That soundtrack was simply awesome.
However I'd choose Iron Maiden or Metallica over it any day.

I like some new and some old country. I dislike the "cat by the balls", "heartache", "crying in your beer" crap. Bluegrass like Nickle Creek and Alison Krause are great if I am in the mood.

I love the Country comedy stuff. Like Rodney Carrington. Funny shit!

I can't stand Rap/Urban/Hip Hop at all.

There is in this case :) I especially like George Strait's and Randy Travis's older stuff. George Jones, Roseanne Cash, Mindy McCready, Tim McGraw...all good stuff :)

Hmm..apparently I'm the only one that really likes a lot of "modern" country.

By that I don't mean the crap that is put out by Shania Twain and Faith Hill, but Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Brroks & Dunn, Martina McBride, Pat Green, etc.

Also, I like George Strait, Alabama, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and a lot of older acts.

Can we count rockabilly/psychobilly?

I listen country... old school... Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and shit like that. If it has that old hillbilly sound to it then it's good. I can't stand all this new pop-country shit. Makes me puke.

Djtestudo, you're not the only one. I went out with a girl a couple of years ago that got me listening to country music. Before her I only really had an appreciation for "classic" country; Cash, Hank, Willie, etc. But, now I'm an all around country music fan.

Newer artists that I like are Kenny Chesney, Lonestar, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith, Brooks & Dunn, Joe Diffie, and Trace Adkins. However, I still don't like country ballads. The more upbeat stuff I can get into, cuz it's really not that far from mainstream "pop" music, but the slow stuff kills me!

I also like to listen to Blugrass--an extension of a lot of the jam bands that I listen to.

I'm not quite sure what that means...

As for me, I like country, old and new!

Mindy and Tim aren't modern enough for you? :) I also like everyone you listed, and I have to admit to liking a lot of Shania and Faith songs too (Shania's Up! album=bleah, but everything before that, I liked.)

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.

I know he made it on his own; it's just he's now starting to get a lot of radio play. I apologize to Pat for any insult ;)

Two more things...

How could I forget Brad Paisley. He's the man.

"I'm Going to Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home" is one of the greatest songs ever.

I like anything by George Strait and Garth Brooks, but I haven't kept up with the country music scene nowadays. I've heard a little bit of the new stuff, and it sounds pretty different.

I cannot stand listening to country. I don't understand how it's possible for someone like Faith Hill or Garth Brooks can have a song be on the "popular radio stations" and they still call themselves country music artists.