The Sorry State of Today’s Country Music

I have always been and always will be a country music fan. I grew up listening to country music when it was considered “uncool” to do so by my peers. Most of my childhood friends were into rap and various forms of pop and rock, and they could not fathom my attraction to a music genre that they considered to be a little “hokey” and “backwards. But I persisted. However, even though my overall love for country music has stayed constant over the years, my love for the “modern” country music that is played on today’s country radio has all but evaporated! In fact, I rarely listen to country radio today. Instead, I am relegated to listening to my favorite country music artists and songs on CD or on Youtube! In my humble opinion, the majority of today’s country music just plain sucks!

I hesitate to even refer to the music that’s played on today’s country radio as country music at all. It sounds more like a watered down version of pop music with a little “country” flavor added in for seasoning. Overall, the music seems to lack the depth and meaning that defined many of the great country songs of the past. Country music of today is heavy on the upbeat, pop-influenced, and heavily-mixed sounds of alternative or pop music. When I think of “real” country music, I think of names like George Jones, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams Jr., and Conway Twitty; country legends who wrote many of their own songs, played various instruments, and never forgot that they were country music singers. Today, it’s rare to actually hear a fiddle or a guitar or even a piano anymore on country radio; and it’s even more rare when a modern country music artist can write their own songs or play their own instrument; two things that were commonplace during country music’s heyday.

I realize that times change and music genre’s tend to change with the times. And, I’m not saying that the current crop of country music singers are talentless. They clearly are not! They are gifted singers with broad appeal. However, most of what these “modern” country artists sing is not real country music. Call it alternative country, or country-pop, or whatever, but it’s not real country music. A few years ago, on a country music awards show, Alan Jackson and George Strait sang a duet called “murder on music row” that turned out to be a surprise hit. The song, which drew attention to the fact that country music’s roots – its heart and soul – have been all but lost and overlooked in favor of the more modern sound and style, stressed that many of country music’s greats – guys like Merle Haggard and George Jones – wouldn’t stand a chance of having their songs played on “today’s” country radio, where the more upbeat, watered-down, and pop-influenced country music permeates the airwaves.

So, as country music continues to change and evolve, there’s always hope for us die-hard country music fans that a new generation of country music artists will evolve that will help to reclaim some of the heart and soul of “real” country music!