I feel you. It wasnt just a popular song-- it transcended into a cultural phenomenon, like "Happy" and "Harlem Shake." And being a wedding DJ I have never had a song requested more. The title alone is what sold it, and it never went away.
I'm not up on what you kids are listening to these days, but are you serious? Is that supposed to be country music? How so? Why don't I hear steel guitars and a voice roughened by cheap whiskey, unfiltered cigarettes and heartbreak? That is neither Country, nor Western music. edit: OK, I actually watched the Roller Coaster video by Bryan, and while i can't say i liked it, it actually sounded like it was supposed to be country. I assume the music attached to the above video was added as a joke. Help an old man understand what is going on here, please.
It's the new country/pop/rap. You wouldn't understand. Most old people don't. In all seriousness, I saw an interview with him and he seems like a nice guy. He had a brother killed in a car accident at 17 and then his sister mysteriously died at 34 and they still don't know why. I feel like I'd be living on borrowed time I think. I don't begrudge him his success. But that video cracks me up. Even though that song is an ear worm.
I have a name for it: Metrosexual Country. Every singer sounds the same, every sings about the same eight things. They dont look "country", they look like they dressed up like it for Hallowe'en. I can't name you a single Keith Urban tune, but I do know for a fact that his hairdresser is rich. For great country music I'll look to Hank III, thank you. He's just plain awesome.
I was betting myself how long it would take for somebody to post that. John Mayer fans say the same thing. And stacked up against guys who specialize in guitar playing, they aren't impressive. Urban might be a good player for country, but it ends there.
I don't defend him as a fan - At all. I hate his highlights and hair and voice and clothes. And pretty much everything else. But - for the genre - he plays better than most. And i'll give him that.
At the last country music-themed wedding I did I had to play "Get Yer Shine On" four times as demanded by the bride and groom. Every time, it packed the dance floor. It's what people think is the elite of country music around here, they can't tell rabbit turds from Rice Krispies.
As someone who has played the guitar for 20+ years, and worked in the music business with many guitarists, I can tell you straight up that they are both good guitar players, country or not. There can be a big difference between the shit you hear on their album that sells and the stuff that they can play. Having seen him live in a jam-like session, I can tell you flat out that John Mayer is a hell of a guitar player. Are they technicians with the skill of a Steve Vai, or Steve Stevens, or Rik Emmit, or any other people specifically known for being guitar "gods"? No. But to say they aren't great guitar players is just talking out your ass. Case in point... here's some fun riffing by Urban in Toronto:
I'm amused that people still try to shit on Mayer. You don't get invited to every iteration of the Crossroads festival by Clapton himself cause of Your Body is a Wonderland. Or play the New Orleans Jazz Festival. The man can shred. He just cleverly chose to get famous writing cheesy pop songs before using his status to play what he always wanted to. John Mayer Trio is some good shit. I saw him in concert back in 2005 or so, and he broke out of a pop song to lay down a blistering 5 minute noodling jam with his band and the teeny boppers around me were PISSED. Like so impatient and annoyed. I remember discussing with my friends how he probably wouldn't put out more than one more "poppy" album before getting bluesy, and the next year JMT formed. Pretty sure he sat in with the Stones during some shows too.
God Damn It, I really tried to enjoy that clip. I would never have guessed he was that gifted a guitar player had you not posted it. But, fuck if I could tolerate the screaming from the whoo girls just hoping to be hit with his sweat. Growing up, my mother was (still is) a country music fan, but it was the older stuff: Oak Ridge Boys, Alabama, Eddie Rabbit, Conway Twitty, on and on and on. It was during those years that I grew very weary of that genre... and now you have this country-pop bullshit being blared out of every jacked up truck with nuts dangling from the back bumper.
My folks introduced me to Hank Jr. And Nitty Gritty Dirt Band as far as country goes, "Fishing' in the Dark" is an irresistible song. If you want a site that tears pop-country to shreds, check out farcethemusic.com. They especially go after Luke Bryan, saying his song Country Girl is "the worst country song ever made in the history of anything."
More often than not, musicians at a concert play a very regimented set that projects exactly what the album and marketing is trying to sell, because, for the most part, that's what the audience wants to hear. Very rarely in that kind of setting do you get to see a glimpse of the true musicianship that even "mediocre" artists can posses. In essence, odds are you're seeing a dumbed-down, reigned-in, commercialized performance to appeal to the lowest common denominator and align with their marketing. They don't want people to bitch that "it wasn't like the video". Now, head to a Primus or Rush show, or another act where they're not afraid to introduce their audience to their non-album stuff that challenges them as musicians, and you'll get to see them doing what THEY love. Case in point... if I ever won the lottery, and had the chance to hire in a band to celebrate at a party, I'd pick Travis Tritt. I saw him and Kid Rock be the house band at a charity event (Barnstable Brown at the Kentucky Derby a few years ago), and they were, hands down, THE best live band I've ever seen in an intimate setting. Un. Fucking. Believably awesome. Their version of Sweet Home Alabama was like no other I've ever heard. Not at all what I expected after judging them by their commercial releases/successes. Food for thought.
Ok, I am a bit late here, but I'll chime in. This should all be read in Foghorn Leghorn's voice for authenticity's sake. First, Kentucky is simply not The South. It's Southern, but Louisville is not on par with Charleston, Savannah or Memphis. I think Kentucky is just full of things Southerners adore, but if "you didn't fight in our war, you can't be in our club". (Direct quote from toothless hick). All of this is monumentally debatable, but for my South Carolinian purposes, Kentucky is like a delightful cousin by marriage: great to have around, but not really part of the family. Second, there is something to be said for actual rednecks and not the gaggle of idiots that masturbate to trucks and beer. Authentic rednecks are like Darryl from the Walking Dead: Goddamned handy at some uncivilized things. Need a possum skinned? How about a beaver trapped? Weed grown and then hidden? Those are examples of authentic redneckery. If you own an Apple product, can type, had braces as a teenager, or know what BMW stands for then you are likely not an authentic redneck. These are people who wear waders and overalls unironically because, Goddammit, they came here through the swamp not around it. They are staunchly Republican because at the moment, they are the party that offers the least government intervention which is as close to a political ideology as they can muster. They are anti-just-about-Goddamn-everything, and rare is the true redneck who does not spout racism as a method of determining social proximity. If you agree, you are ok. If you don't, you are a Goddamned, lily-livered, Commie, Democrat, beatnik, candy-assed pussy who ain't got no business in these parts. (Again, real quote from toothless hick). My favorite definition of redneck is "the glorified absence of sophistication". I think of it as keeping things as simple and pure to an imagined 1950's ideal as possible. My redneck credentials are as follows: my hometown has less than 500 people within a 20-square mile area, my first car was a Camaro and my second was a Jeep (I might not ever own another 2wd car). I have killed, skinned, slaughtered a deer/hog/turkey and "been bloodied". I have trapped possums. I bowhunt. My state does not have a gun registry, laws against exotic weaponry or any real method of controlling the populace beyond Jesus (Pronounced Jay-ze-us. Remember if a word doesn't take three syllables to pronounce properly, a Yankee sumbitch said it). My closest friends are named Woo, Schmo, Korn Dogg, Juice, Mudd (two D's just like Gawd-dammit), Yank, Turtle and Booger. I know men named Biscuit, Bubba, Tubs, Elroy and Hoyt who were not named ironically. Until 1997, my school allowed hunting rifles (as long as there was a hunting permit) to be carried on school grounds. I know middle school dropouts. The list of things that are not "real" country is stupidly long. Real country does not sell millions and it's things like Lucinda Williams. Any song that contains beer, truck, margaritas and senoritas can go fuck a stump. I despise the series of shit-kicker anthems that are not authentic country. The real shit is actually deep, enjoyable and has elements of blues and folk to it that give it artistic weight. I hope Kenny Chesney catches tumors this week. I think it started with Garth "I look like a giant Gerber baby" Brooks.
Why the fuck do you think guys learn how to play the guitar, if not to get laid? And in the bar-band scene, Sympathy For The Devil is still the ultimate "Hooo-Hooo" girl tune... get the hot, drunk, big-titted chicks up on stage and they are ALL over the "hooo hoooo" section of that song. For 15 minutes. It's a long-running hilarious joke.... but with hot-chick boobs. It's like fishing in a bucket. And by that I mean "FUCKING AWESOME".
I'll second this. I suck at playing guitar, but every time I've played for women I could hear them ovulating. It's like sorcery or something. If I didn't live in bum fuck Egypt where no one has musical talent you can bet your ass I'd be in a band.
Look at Beethoven: he was deaf and still played music. Playing music gets you laid. It's the one and only explanation as to why women could possibly find Perry Ferrell attractive
Gimme a, gimme a redneck girl Focus: All things Redneck Culture. The crazier the better. Speaking of Dixie chicks . . . does anybody watch Party Down South? I've never seen it, but it looks like this girl is going to make the most of her 15 minutes.
Re: Gimme a, gimme a redneck girl The people who live in the town where they film it (its a Jersey Shore-type show, made by the same people) are infuriated, saying the people from the show are completely rude assholes and "Not southerners at all." The show's producers I guess lied to the townspeople saying they were shooting a documentary, and the locals can't stand the "cast members." I doubt many people on this board would like the show.