scriptgirl said:

More so than rap? I mean a big deal is always made of the CMA awards and the other country music awards shows and country performers get their own network specials, but I don't know of anyone who listens to it. And the hoopla and excitement around the country tv awards shows and the whole sections of the Grammys and AMA's carved out for it leave me cold. I mean is it popular outside the midwest and South?

I don't hate country- i love legends like Dolly, Loretta, Tammy, etc, but I don't get it.

And don't forget about my boy Jerry Reed. He was awesome in his time.

Staying on topic, the answer is yes. Country is popular. Traditional country (especially the sub-genre Bluegrass) is closer to its roots as the "white" twin brother of the blues who is "black" so to speak.

But within the last 2+ decades, contemporary country has been getting THE most attention due to the sound that can crossover to mainstream pop culture more.

purplethunder3121 said:

Yeah, what they call "country" these days is very popular. But, the only problem is that, like other musical genres these days, it has been diluted and dulled by untalented pale copies of what the music should be--people like Reba, Winnona, Dolly, Loretta, Charlie Pride, Willie, Waylon, and Johny Cash--just to name a few.

You can either thank OR blame Garth Brooks & Shania Twain for that!

UncleGrandpa said:

If you want a steady career and a decent check, as long as you're not a one hit wonder ( Billy Rae ) or piss off your audience ( Dixie Chicks ) , you can't go wrong with country. It's a sappy pop music at the end.

So true. And even in contemporary country, they're still using real musical instruments that are NOT drum machines & samplers. This genre doesn't even get too carry away with keyboard workstations.

scriptgirl said:

Why are country fans the least likely to download music?

Wal-Mart, Target, & K-Mart.

Militant said:

You go outside of the big cities in the US and it's pretty much ALL they listen to, lol.

There are some country fans from the suburbs that are decent driving distances from the urban areas.

Graycap23 said:

Militant said:

You go outside of the big cities in the US and it's pretty much ALL they listen to, lol.

Lack of choices........maybe?

Like I said: Wal-Mart, Target, & K-Mart.

Harlepolis said:

It always had a loyal audience, gotta give them that credit.

Love country music, esp the old school stuff. They had a knack for storytelling which is what grabbed my attention in the first place.

::Waiting for somebody to tell me to hand them my negro card::

As long as you give mad props to Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, & Jerry Reed, we're cool!

musicjunky318 said:

Country is incredibly popular are you kidding me? Go outside any major city and I bet you'll find a lot of it. Take a trip to the Bible Belt. People have this notion that conservatism is somehow dying in America, well maybe in New York...maybe it's dead in California. But in Tennessee and Arkansas and all the rest of them?

That's why Republicans always win the trash states.

And Louisiana (everywhere outside of New Orleans & Monroe).

NDRU said:

Graycap23 said:

Lack of choices........maybe?

Not really, it's just culture.

Nobody asks the question "are there really rednecks & good ol boys" but they ask the question "is country music really popular?"

Yeah, even in the city, you got things like the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, and Nashville is the country music capitol.

purplethunder3121 said:

I guess Prince fams aren't allowed to like country music.

Still Waiting, Gotta Broken Heart Again, and even freaking Purple Rain is passable for country.

Yes, I said it!!! Purple Rain is a country song under the disguise of Jimi Hendrix-inspired rock.

Everyone is saying that the "country" doesnt have internet access, well according to what Ive researched thats just not right.

http://upload.wikimedia.o...Ch3e3d.png

Now I don't know how many households dont have internet, but its there for the taking.

Plus being a huge true country fan, I blame Garth Brooks for the desctrution of true country. Thank god Hayes Carll is out there making great country tunage.

[Edited 11/29/11 17:54pm]

lazycrockett said:

Everyone is saying that the "country" doesnt have internet access, well according to what Ive researched thats just not right.

There's not internet everywhere, and even if it was, is it free? Many people can't afford to spend money on frivolous things like computers and internet service, especially in a rural area, where there's not many places to work. That's why many move away to the city. Other people don't know how to use a computer. I don't download, and I do have a computer. If I can't buy an actual product, I don't bother with it.

I can't imagine not having or knowing how to use a computer. How do you live without one?

scriptgirl said:

I can't imagine not having or knowing how to use a computer. How do you live without one?

My dad just bought a laptop. He's 50. Before that he knew nothing about a computer.

musicjunky318 said:

scriptgirl said:

I can't imagine not having or knowing how to use a computer. How do you live without one?

My dad just bought a laptop. He's 50. Before that he knew nothing about a computer.

I can beat that--my Dad, in his 70s, just bought his first computer and signed up for computer classes at the community college.

scriptgirl said:

I can't imagine not having or knowing how to use a computer. How do you live without one?

As far as I know, people lived thousands of years without computers. I don't think one was found in King Tut's tomb. The Amish live without electricity, so no computers there. There's tribes in Africa, Austrailia, New Guinea, and other places that still live off the land.

purplethunder3121 said:

musicjunky318 said:

My dad just bought a laptop. He's 50. Before that he knew nothing about a computer.

I can beat that--my Dad, in his 70s, just bought his first computer and signed up for computer classes at the community college.

Oh wowwww LOL

Congrats to him. Haha

musicjunky318 said:

purplethunder3121 said:

I can beat that--my Dad, in his 70s, just bought his first computer and signed up for computer classes at the community college.

Oh wowwww LOL

Congrats to him. Haha

It's never too late.

MickyDolenz said:

scriptgirl said:

I can't imagine not having or knowing how to use a computer. How do you live without one?

As far as I know, people lived thousands of years without computers. I don't think one was found in King Tut's tomb. The Amish live without electricity, so no computers there. There's tribes in Africa, Austrailia, New Guinea, and other places that still live off the land.

My son thinks I'm archaic for still not having a cell phone. He doesn't see how anyone can survive without one. I did get a laptop before he did though.

purplethunder3121 said:

MickyDolenz said:

As far as I know, people lived thousands of years without computers. I don't think one was found in King Tut's tomb. The Amish live without electricity, so no computers there. There's tribes in Africa, Austrailia, New Guinea, and other places that still live off the land.

My son thinks I'm archaic for still not having a cell phone. He doesn't see how anyone can survive without one. I did get a laptop before he did though.

I've never had a cell phone, and don't know how to use it. I've never even owned a beeper when they were in.

TonyVanDam said:

Harlepolis said:

It always had a loyal audience, gotta give them that credit.

Love country music, esp the old school stuff. They had a knack for storytelling which is what grabbed my attention in the first place.

::Waiting for somebody to tell me to hand them my negro card::

As long as you give mad props to Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, & Jerry Reed, we're cool!

And Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, and Randy Travis too.

But a lot of country music these days is just pop music with a fiddle, banjo, or slide guitar attached and sung in a country twang. In fact, a lot of the crossover coutry acts have their songs remixed for pop radio.

musicjunky318 said:

scriptgirl said:

I can't imagine not having or knowing how to use a computer. How do you live without one?

My dad just bought a laptop. He's 50. Before that he knew nothing about a computer.

My sister's ex-husband told her not to sit too close to her computer. He said a woman that works in the head office where he works got a virus.

MickyDolenz said:

purplethunder3121 said:

My son thinks I'm archaic for still not having a cell phone. He doesn't see how anyone can survive without one. I did get a laptop before he did though.

I've never had a cell phone, and don't know how to use it. I've never even owned a beeper when they were in.

Me neither and I don't want one. Hell, I let the answer machine answer most of my calls on my home phone so I don't have to be bothered with people I don't want to be bothered with. If they ask, I can always say that I wasn't home. If you have a cell phone, which you can take with you, you have no excuse for not answering. Plus, those damn cell phones are so little I can barely hear the person on the other end. I just don't see the importance of being able to talk on the phone all the time. I've seen people talk on the phone all day long and talk about absolutely nothing. I only call someone to tell them something important. Other than that, I'm an "talk in person" person. Hell, the only reason I even have a home phone is if I need to call in sick to my job or something. I'm not a phone person at all.

.

.

.

[Edited 11/29/11 20:10pm]

vainandy said:

MickyDolenz said:

I've never had a cell phone, and don't know how to use it. I've never even owned a beeper when they were in.

Me neither and I don't want one. Hell, I let the answer machine answer most of my calls on my home phone so I don't have to be bothered with people I don't want to be bothered with. If they ask, I can always say that I wasn't home. If you have a cell phone, which you can take with you, you have no excuse for not answering. Plus, those damn cell phones are so little I can barely hear the person on the other end. I just don't see the importance of being able to talk on the phone all the time. I've seen people talk on the phone all day long and talk about absolutely nothing. I only call someone to tell them something important. Other than that, I'm an "talk in person" person. Hell, the only reason I even have a home phone is if I need to call in sick to my job or something. I'm not a phone person at all.

I really don't understand that texting thing. Seems like a waste of time to me. People pay hundreds of dollars a month for a tiny phone and type stuff that's probably impossible to read, like a CD booklet. Why use a phone to type messages? Send a telegram or write a letter and mail it.

MickyDolenz said:

vainandy said:

It's certainly got much more rhythm and if the little shit hoppers don't like the fact that country has more rhythm, then they need to get mad and do something about it. Funk it up and get some fucking rhythm.

Country has rap, it's called "square dance". There's also "hick hop" act Cowboy Troy, but I don't know if he caught on.

Here's some country-rap:

lazycrockett said:

Everyone is saying that the "country" doesnt have internet access, well according to what Ive researched thats just not right.

http://upload.wikimedia.o...Ch3e3d.png

Now I don't know how many households dont have internet, but its there for the taking.

[Edited 11/29/11 17:54pm]

If you're referring to me, I said the QUALITY of Internet there isn't great. And this is based on actually having grown up in the sticks and experienced it firsthand. All that graphic shows is which areas do or don't have it, nothing about quality, and it's certainly not detailed at all. For example, it would probably say my parents' area had broadband, when actually more populated areas surrounding their town had it but their area didn't. The surrounding cities that have it, however, would make their area look saturated. Furthermore, I can say with absolute certainty that the first ISP in my parents' area advertised speeds that NO ONE was getting. That's something that this ridiculous graphic will never be able to capture; it's probably based on what's advertised -- I highly doubt they polled every household in these areas and asked them to visit speedtest.net and send in their results.

Here's some country "rap":

Arbwyth said:

lazycrockett said:

Everyone is saying that the "country" doesnt have internet access, well according to what Ive researched thats just not right.

http://upload.wikimedia.o...Ch3e3d.png

Now I don't know how many households dont have internet, but its there for the taking.

[Edited 11/29/11 17:54pm]

If you're referring to me, I said the QUALITY of Internet there isn't great. And this is based on actually having grown up in the sticks and experienced it firsthand. All that graphic shows is which areas do or don't have it, nothing about quality, and it's certainly not detailed at all. For example, it would probably say my parents' area had broadband, when actually more populated areas surrounding their town had it but their area didn't. The surrounding cities that have it, however, would make their area look saturated. Furthermore, I can say with absolute certainty that the first ISP in my parents' area advertised speeds that NO ONE was getting. That's something that this ridiculous graphic will never be able to capture; it's probably based on what's advertised -- I highly doubt they polled every household in these areas and asked them to visit speedtest.net and send in their results.

I wasnt singling anyone out, but even with a crappy 56 k which my rural living ohioan parents had for bout 6 years before I moved them up to DSL, you could still download a disc in bout an hour. I just don't buy that country is popular cause every fan buys the actual discs.

Most of my kin folk live in the hills of eastern kentucky and they have if not satellite they have atleast dial up. Maybe alot of people cant afford internet, but the map shows that it is available through out the country. Its not that hard to download a 100 mb file no matter how slow it takes.

Identity said:

Graycap23 said:

No......but they want u 2 believe that it is.

The numbers don't lie: country music artists sold 43M albums in 2010 compared to rap's 27M, according to data released by Soundscan.

Living in Europe, or any other place on this planet, it´s strange 2 hear in 2011 that country music is still so popular in the US....it seems like music from the past imo.

But hey, in Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany we have "Schlagers-smagers", now that´s really terrible

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvuh41pKR2Y

[Edited 11/29/11 23:23pm]