Country Music: The Beat That’s Killing The Genre

[Cybyassociation]

I love when Eric Church fans poop on "bro country". Eric Church is the epitome of "bro country". Every song is about:

Fighting
Drinking
Sex
My life is so hard (sad song)

He is Taylor Swift for men.

 

[cyclonenation5]

Have seen Cody Jinks in concert twice now and both have been great shows, the first one I took my then new girlfriend who hated "country" music to his night fall on the river concert and she fell in love with it, and just went to his Dubuque show end of November for her birthday. Tennessee Jet and The Steel Woods opened for him and were both really good.
Cody Jinks started his music career in metal, and calls out "Nashville country" a lot.

Was at the Dubuque concert as well. Third time seeing Jinks, but ever since that night I've been listening to A LOT of the Steel Woods. They put on a fantastic show. Great southern rock sound.

Bunch of people have named a ton of incredible new music, like Childers, Colter, Troubadours, etc., but for anybody who feels like they've been burning through the same albums from the same people, here are a few more that I haven't seen named yet:

Kendell Marvel (wrote "Either Way" of Stapleton and Lee Ann Womack fame)
Flatland Cavalry (pretty new Texas country band, been listening to them a lot lately)
JP Harris (dude was homeless for like ten years, has a throwback honky tonk sound with modern tweaks)
Sarah Shook (very interesting lady, but a total badass)
Ward Davis (wrote Jinks' "I'm Not the Devil" and "Colorado", and probably a few more)
Jason Eady (very stripped down, acoustic sound, and the guy is an awesome songwriter

There are so many more, but these people are the first that came to mind as far as singers who others may not have heard of yet.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I think I like(d) Bro Country but not douche country. I liked early Aldean, early to mid Blake Shelton, early Dierks Bentley. Guys like that. Eric Church, though not sure he's Bro Country.

I loved me some Brad Paisley and Tim McGraw, but even they've gone douche.

But the Douche Country guys on the FM dial are bad. I always called them Plastic Cowboy Hat guys, but now that don't even wear cowboy hats. I get why the genre is popular. The computer programmers have the recipe to making ear worms. And the Clear Channel / iHeartRadio cartels make it even worse.

 

[0u812]

I find it ironic that George Strait was in Pure Country......pretty overrated performer right there.....basically a stale karaoke singer with a good band....

People who love him don't like hearing this...lol.

 

[bellzisu]

I'm not understanding how Garth can be the start of Bro Country.

Bro country all sounds the same. Sang by baseball cap wearing, non country boys. All their songs have a common theme. Tailgate, beer, 4x4, girl. It's exactly this way in every song.

Garth has a wide variety styles.

Listen to his early stuff.. Things that didn't make the radio.

Cowboy Bill
Alabama Clay
Mr. Blue
In Lonesome Dove

Songs that told a story. Even the stuff that made the radio

The Dance
If Tomorrow Never Comes
Friends in Low Places
Much too Young to Feel This Damn Old

One song might be considered bro country, (Friends in Low Places) but it is one of the most popular songs ever in country music. Everyone knows it.

 

[Brandon]

Have seen Cody Jinks in concert twice now and both have been great shows, the first one I took my then new girlfriend who hated "country" music to his night fall on the river concert and she fell in love with it, and just went to his Dubuque show end of November for her birthday. Tennessee Jet and The Steel Woods opened for him and were both really good.
Cody Jinks started his music career in metal, and calls out "Nashville country" a lot.

Very good live show

 

[FOREVERTRUE]

Give me some Chris Ledoux or his son that sounds just like him Ned Ledoux and I am a happy to just listen for hours.

 

[kingcy]

I'd blame it on Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean long before I'd blame it on Swift.

Jason Aldean is some I will listen to. He is not that over the top poppy stuff. Swift to me is just isn't good, add that to her being played 4 times an hour when she was big made me turn the dial.

 

[CYdTracked]

I'm not understanding how Garth can be the start of Bro Country.

Bro country all sounds the same. Sang by baseball cap wearing, non country boys. All their songs have a common theme. Tailgate, beer, 4x4, girl. It's exactly this way in every song.

Garth has a wide variety styles.

Listen to his early stuff.. Things that didn't make the radio.

Cowboy Bill
Alabama Clay
Mr. Blue
In Lonesome Dove

Songs that told a story. Even the stuff that made the radio

The Dance
If Tomorrow Never Comes
Friends in Low Places
Much too Young to Feel This Damn Old

One song might be considered bro country, (Friends in Low Places) but it is one of the most popular songs ever in country music. Everyone knows it.

One more good song of his that tells a story is "That Summer." I know CW and Ross have had a few conversations on air about that one!

I have a hard time calling Garth Bro country. He's kind of in a category of his own really but he's not douche or bro country IMO.

 

[CubsClones1]

I love when Eric Church fans poop on "bro country". Eric Church is the epitome of "bro country". Every song is about:

Fighting
Drinking
Sex
My life is so hard (sad song)

He is Taylor Swift for men.

Sorry, but I'm going to have to call BS here. Sure, he's got his fair share of fighting/drinking/sex/hard life songs, but this IS country music we are talking about so the entire genre is also about these same things. I'd challenge you to show me an artist that doesn't. Here's a few EC songs off of the top of my head that do not fit your above narrative:

Mr. Misunderstood - About being okay to be unique and 'different'.
Springsteen - About how a song can take back to a moment in time
That's Damn Rock N Roll - Sure it covers drinking/sex/fighting but it does so sounding a heck of a lot more like a rock song than country genre
Talladega - About the memory of a summer trip to a nascar race
Carolina - About a place that relates you to a memory

Eric Church also writes/co-writes all his own songs. Something not too many artists can say now a days.

 

[CYdTracked]

Eric Church is not bro country in my book. He's a modern day outlaw I think. Hank Williams Jr. "Family Tradition" talks about drinking/smoking/hard life stuff too and no one ever called him bro country.

Now if you want to talk about the perfect country western song... LOL



Steve Goodman (same guy that sings "Go Cubs Go") wrote it and always found his performance of it funny:

 

[Al_4_State]

Garth Brooks started the trend of making country music slick and accessible to people who wouldn't normally like it, hence the Waylon quote. There's less pedal steel, honky tonk/Buck Owens style guitar leads, and **** kicking rhythm sections.

But there are some really good songs in his catalog that blow anything in the bro/douche country rap out of the water.

 

[Al_4_State]

Sorry, but I'm going to have to call BS here. Sure, he's got his fair share of fighting/drinking/sex/hard life songs, but this IS country music we are talking about so the entire genre is also about these same things. I'd challenge you to show me an artist that doesn't. Here's a few EC songs off of the top of my head that do not fit your above narrative:

Mr. Misunderstood - About being okay to be unique and 'different'.
Springsteen - About how a song can take back to a moment in time
That's Damn Rock N Roll - Sure it covers drinking/sex/fighting but it does so sounding a heck of a lot more like a rock song than country genre
Talladega - About the memory of a summer trip to a nascar race
Carolina - About a place that relates you to a memory

Eric Church also writes/co-writes all his own songs. Something not too many artists can say now a days.

This is literally almost every artist in the alt-country/Americana scene. Almost a bare minimum sort of thing that you be able to write a good song.

I don't hate Eric Church at all, as he seems sincere, but his music leans closer to pop country to my ears. A lot of people with similar taste to me disagree, but that's how I hear it.

 

[jc4cy]

Me: *posts innocent thread with a YouTube video about the downfall of country music*

Also me, returning hours later to see if anyone commented:

 

[Cybyassociation]

Sorry, but I'm going to have to call BS here. Sure, he's got his fair share of fighting/drinking/sex/hard life songs, but this IS country music we are talking about so the entire genre is also about these same things. I'd challenge you to show me an artist that doesn't. Here's a few EC songs off of the top of my head that do not fit your above narrative:

Mr. Misunderstood - About being okay to be unique and 'different'.
Springsteen - About how a song can take back to a moment in time
That's Damn Rock N Roll - Sure it covers drinking/sex/fighting but it does so sounding a heck of a lot more like a rock song than country genre
Talladega - About the memory of a summer trip to a nascar race
Carolina - About a place that relates you to a memory

Eric Church also writes/co-writes all his own songs. Something not too many artists can say now a days.

You seriously listed "Springsteen" as an example of how Church isn't the male version of Taylor Swift? "When I think about you, I think about 17." Tell me that's not cut from the same cloth as "Tim McGraw" from Taylor Swift.

 

[RotatingColumn]

The irony of my musical taste over the years.

80s – listened almost solely to hip hop.
90s – switched to rock to get away from hip hop.
2000’s – switched to country to get away from rock hip hop.
Today – switched to southern rock/red dirt to get away from country hip hop.

 

[cowgirl836]

Jason Aldean is some I will listen to. He is not that over the top poppy stuff. Swift to me is just isn't good, add that to her being played 4 times an hour when she was big made me turn the dial.

I also think Aldean is a trash person so he's an auto-turn for me. Maybe I'm letting my dislike of him in general toss him into the bro country pile. Songs are not as generic sounding as Bryan's, I will agree.

I won't disagree that Swift was overplayed and isn't a talented vocalist, but she wrote most of her own music and the songs (imo) were different enough. I don't agree with blaming the bro country trend on her.

 

[cowgirl836]

Garth Brooks started the trend of making country music slick and accessible to people who wouldn't normally like it, hence the Waylon quote. There's less pedal steel, honky tonk/Buck Owens style guitar leads, and **** kicking rhythm sections.

But there are some really good songs in his catalog that blow anything in the bro/douche country rap out of the water.

I was trying to reply on some of these but I think you put it nicely. He was bro country compared to the typical male artist of his time (George, Alan, Clint Black, etc.) but still far more diverse and talented compared to the current crop.

 

[cowgirl836]

Me: *posts innocent thread with a YouTube video about the downfall of country music*

Also me, returning hours later to see if anyone commented:

I think it makes for an interesting conversation

 

[TexCyted]

The irony of my musical taste over the years.

80s – listened almost solely to hip hop.
90s – switched to rock to get away from hip hop.
2000’s – switched to country to get away from rock hip hop.
Today – switched to southern rock/red dirt to get away from country hip hop.

Yep, me too.