O Brother Where Art Thou vs. Faith Hill

[Tonio]

When the soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou" won Grammys, the media went on about how this landmark album was ignored by country radio. Although WKIK played "Man of Constant Sorrow" for a while, maybe there is something to this.

I think country music has spent the last few years trying to become the new pop music. When I was a kid, I could tell a country station from a pop station instantly. It wasn't just the musical style, it was the production. Now I have to listen for a few seconds to be sure. Faith Hill and Shania Twain may be good, but they're a lot closer to pop than they are to country.

So my theory is that Nashville ignores "O Brother Where Art Thou" because the city's music industry is trying to go uptown, and this album is an uncomfortable reminder of where country came from. If this is true, it's really sad, because "O Brother Where Art Thou" has tons of soul and feeling. Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette had that same type of soul. I don't hear that feeling in Faith Hill's music.




(Edited by Tonio at 4:17 pm on Mar. 13, 2002)

[Tonio]

cariblue, you're right that "Man of Constant Sorrow" was originally a bluegrass tune. The other songs on "O Brother Where Art Thou" range from old-time country to folk to country blues. Like you, I'm not a huge country fan. My CD collection spans several genres. "O Brother Where Art Thou" impressed me because there's real soul in the performances.

Country is certainly entitled to grow and evolve. And it has done that. One good example is the "outlaw country" sound pioneered by the late Waylon Jennings. I personnally like Dwight Yoakam, who manages to sound modern and traditional at the same time.

But what I hear in much of modern country is not evolution; it's stagnation. The country labels are trying so hard to attract pop fans, they ditch the soul and authenticity that first attracted people to the genre. Do you know any longtime heavy metal fans? They could tell you about the whole glam-metal era in the 1980s, when many bands went for a more commercial sound. The same thing is happening today in Nashville. Check out the song "Murder on Music Row" by George Strait and Alan Jackson.

[alex]

Tonio,

Alan Jackson's latest CD "Drive" is somewhat better than the Country Pop of Faith Hill and others.  I also like Dwight Yoakam and George Strait for the same reason.  I personally don't have a problem with the Country Pop sound.  At least I can understand the lyrics to those songs which is more that can be said for the artists (I use that term loosely) being played on stations like Z104.