Folsom Prison Blues
I have never been all that interested in country music. Actually, let me rephrase that last sentence using more definitive definitions. I have never been all that interested in this "generic pop shit that they play all over the radio and try to pawn off as country music." Sorry folks I hate to break it to you like this, but if your country band of choice consists of an electric violin, smoke machines, or dancers - then it isn’t country music. Period. End of story. It’s not country music. It’s pop. Which doesn’t necessarily dictate whether pop country music is better or worse than real country music, but lets not kid ourselves with loose definitions.
There is country music, and then there is pop that pretends to be country.
And of course we have to allow music to grow and progress over time. After all that’s life. It’s called evolution. So in a certain sense music is kind of a fluid commodity. It branches off and grows in different directions, bridging gaps and generating new genres. And country music is no different. But there comes a time when I can no longer sit on the sidelines of urban culture and watch a bunch of fake cowboys pawn off pop music as country music. It’s a sacrilege that defies every facet of country music tradition. The closest most of these fake cowboys ever got to a cow was when they stopped to take a piss at their local Arby's.
If you want Real country, go take a listen to Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, Doc Watson, Bob Wills, Bill Monroe, Dwight Yoakam, Tammy Wynette, Randy Travis, Dolly Parton or a hundred and one other country artists that still play country music.
And if you still prefer to listen to that pop music with pretend country overtones, that’s fine with me just as long as you know the difference.