Curing My Music Snobbery with "AM Country Radio Immersion Therapy"

[Ted]

I have a blog that I update rarely. I got inspired yesterday and wrote this:

AM Country Radio Immersion Therapy: Day One

When I found out that this AM-only radio can only pick up one station, I recognized it as an opportunity to challenge my snobbery on two fronts at once.

The post has been pretty much ignored so far, so I thought I'd ply for some attention here.

[Flash Harry]

I'd stick to your snobbery. That needs handing in at the nearest police station

[cuthbert]

I can't believe they play "Highway Patrol" on AM country radio these days!

We have a couple of FM country stations up here where I live that I generally avoid like the plague. Because I can't listen to most "contemporary country" (and thankfully, Junior Brown doesn't fall into that category) for more than a few seconds before I want to run screaming down the street with my balls in a fruit picker's pail.

But I do like a lot of the more traditional country music, including most of the pantheon listed in your blog post. And I'm liking more of it, lately - especially some of country/old-timey music from the Twenties and Thirties.

btw, that's a perty slick radio you've inherited there...  

[Ted]

This station claims not to play any "cookie-cutter corporate country." But it's not necessarily old-timey or pantheon stuff. And some of it just doesn't sound country to me at all.

Right now they're playing Linda Ronstadt's version of Poor Pitiful Me (written by Warren Zevon). Somehow, I liked this song more once I realized that the first line describes a suicide attempt.

 

I'd stick to your snobbery. That needs handing in at the nearest police station

What would they do with it?

[Hilary]

One of the TV channels in the UK is called Sky Showcase and they play a lot of Country music on it. I find it fascinating to watch, it's so bad it's good and addictive . . . I wonder what's on there now 

[Ted]

Now this is a good song -- discovered on my country station.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjZVaMsGB_M

[IanR]

I love country music as much as any other type of music.  Its like any other genre. 5% is great.  The rest is crap.

[Ted]

I love country music as much as any other type of music.  Its like any other genre. 5% is great.  The rest is crap.

Exactly. I've depended too much on elitist curation though. I'm kind of enjoying having to filter through the crap myself.

Well, I woke up Sunday morning
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad
So I had one more for dessert

[Ted]

Holy crap! Who is this by? Can't find on Google -- which I thought could find the lyrics to any song:

A redneck with a paycheck is a mighty dangerous man.
A redneck with a paycheck is a train wreck with a long neck in his hand.

Those two lines have made this exercise worthwhile.

[IanR]

My advice is that if you see the terms: "country music" and "Grammy award" used to describe any music, then it is automatically crap.

That still leaves a lot left.

Recently, I've been listening to:

Willie Nelson
Lucinda Williams
The Little Willies
Brad Paisly (although he may have a Grammy)
Dixie Chicks
Johnny Cash
Beccy Cole
Kasey Chambers
Guy Clark
kd Lang
Lyle Lovett
Steve Earle
Townes Van Zandt
Chris Smither
Busby Marou