Monday, January 20, 2014

Country Music Without Skinny Jeans

There was a time when Country Music stood in its own boots and walked its own path while others followed. Songs where stories from everyday life. Stories of people losing their jobs, their woman, their sobriety, to finding their faith,  the perfect love, fast cars and fast trains. Country Music once was true. It was tangible, you could touch it, smell it and even taste it. When George Jones sang "He Stopped Loving Her Today" we all stopped loving her today. We felt his pain and sorrow. When The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band went "Fishing In The Dark" so did we. We heard the crickets and felt a tug on the line. We traveled to "Luckenbach Texas" with Willie, Waylon & The Boys and we all held the "Good Hearted Woman".  We even rolled down the back roads and Tennessee byways with Alabama and a "Dixieland Delight". Country Music was once true stories and real everyday life for real people who lived those songs. Not because they played dress up or wanted to be something they where not but because its what we where, its how we lived our life in the real world. It was true country. These days when you turn on the radio 90% of what comes thru the speakers is auto tuned, hip hop laced, cookie cutter crap. Gone are the artists with calloused hands who wear jeans & boots worn from real work. They have been replaced by skinny jean wearing, pretty boys that love twerkin as he jumps in his monster truck complete with hot tub in the bed as he sings the same generic song as the next 5 songs that come across the airwaves. Its all made up by the same Nashville cronies whose BMW or Land Rover will never see any mud on their tires but there betting the farm that the public does. They feed it to you everyday until its burnt in your brain that this is what country is these days. I remember when George Strait would put on a show that was sold out and all he did was stand there and sing. No flashing lights, no explosions, no 20 piece band backing him, no hip hop dancers, no props, and no bs. There once was a time when you could here a voice that came on the radio and you knew instantly who it was. Weather it was Waylon, Cash, Loretta, Haggard, Jones, Yoakam, Willie, and so on. My point is once upon a time the music in Country Music stood on its on. The stories the songs told stood high above any hype or props. I miss those days and I sure hope they come back around. I cant bring myself to wear skinny jeans and I cant afford a hot tub in the back of my Tahoe. 

http://www.reverbnation.com/chadtriplett