The Editorials

Where Is Country Music Headed?

Written by Jeff Krasky

Bluegrass and traditional country sounds are making a comeback. This can be seen in the outstanding success of the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack. There have also been a number of non-mainstream albums to garner a lot of critical acclaim. Look no farther than Patty Loveless, Gillian Welch, and others for proof of this. It’s obvious that country music is changing again. It’s a music for that continues to morph into new sounds and styles every day.

Through much of the 90’s we have watched country music turn into pop music. Artists like Shania Twain and Faith Hill have led the way. Releasing heavily produced, slick pop records and having chart success with them. We have even seen artists like Kim Richey drop their Americana/Alt. Country flavoring for a more glossy shine. Crossover became the big buzzword of the industry.

Now in the year 2002 things are looking bleak for female country artists. Radio airplay is getting harder and harder to come by. This is partially because the country music industry is searching for its next big male star. In doing so they throw every recording by a male artist on the air, worthy or not, and leave the female artists without the time of day. The other problem is the male artists are recording more traditionally flavored country music. They always have. The female artists have continued to go more and more pop and now that country is shifting directions they find themselves without a place to go.

It all reached a new level when Sheryl Crow received a Grammy nomination in a country music category. I’ll go out on a limb and say she’s going to win it. Her version of the Hank Williams hit Long Gone Lonesome Blues was one of the best country recordings of the year (in all fairness I must admit I’m a huge Sheryl Crow fan). The bottom line with this is that many of the rock artists out there today are cutting better music than our current batch of country releases. As female country artists continue to veer more and more towards pop music they’re going to find themselves competing with artists like Sheryl Crow and Jewel on their home turf. That will not be pretty. It’s also quite amusing that some of the top level pop/rock stars can do country better than some of the country superstars.

With that said what can the country industry do to turn things around? It would be a shame to see female country artists off of radio again after the leaps and bounds they made in popularity over the last 10 years. I think the answer is simple. Get back in the studio and cut some real country songs. Much of the problem with current country music is that it’s instantly forgettable. It’s a pop mentality but you put a song out there that’s catchy but doesn’t really have any meaning. People run around with it stuck in their heads for a little while, they buy the record, and then they forget about it as soon as the next one is released.

There hasn’t been an unforgettable country record since Kelly Willis released What I Deserve back in 1999. I still play that album all the time. She’s also my pick for the artist who will do it again when her new album releases sometime this year. Artists like Kelly Willis, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, and Kim Richey all know how to do something most of the current batch of artists doesn’t know how to do. They write music that really means something; when you get right down to it that is the power of country music. The power of the music is to effect people through stories about normal people living their lives. When you strip that away from country music we don’t have a whole lot.

Here’s to hoping that our favorite female country artists will get their act together soon and put together some strong country albums. There is nothing wrong with pop and rock music. But the truth is the pop/rock artists who have been performing that style of music their entire lives just plain does it better. The artists need to give fans what they want and give them the return of some traditional elements in the music. It’ll get them back on radio, it will sell more records, and everyone will be happy in the end.

Share your thoughts on to the message board!