J C HIGHEAGLE

[CLICK TO GO TO HIS SITE]

IS COUNTRY MUSIC DEAD?

PART 2

To me, the record companies are run by people who don't know or care about pure country music--it's background or historical developments. They may be too young to have ever grown up with real country music, and are the ones controlling the music industry. They seem to cater to the very young and others who also don't know pure country music. Hopefully, one day will find it again and think they discovered something new!

I remember listening to the radio at the kitchen table with my grandmother on the weekends when I went to stay with her. We heard all the good songs. Not so much any more. Although the other day, I heard a familiar country song so I tuned in. . . I thought it was pretty damn cool that some station had the balls to play bluegrass/classic country instead of the new country that everyone is playing and pushing.

The business is sucking the beauty out of it...just like it does with everything, it seems. They just want to bring in the non-country fans otherwise country--or what passes for country these days--wouldn't be doing as well as it's doing right now. The only thing that makes most of these acts country is the fact that there's fiddle player in the band and/orthe singer has a Southern accent. The rest are Southern Rock, not country. They do sometimes have a fiddle player in the band; I guess that makes them a country act??

As Southern Rock bands, they are pretty damn good, though. But if they put themselves out there as a Southern Rock band rock radio wouldn't touch them. So they put themselves out there as country bands. There have always been country-pop though. But it was always still country music.

I think the independent companies may rule the day over the major labels. Independent artists may be the ones in the driver's seat, not them. As I said, there are many who want pure country music to return. Everyone I have talked to says the same things: rock and country don't mix! Like water and oil don't mix. Many folks are unhappy with what they hear on the TV, radio and music awards. One can probably testify to the fact due to a slack seen in CD sales. What makes people think you have to have dazzling light shows, dancing around on stage and yelling at the top of your lungs into the mike for music to be popular? George Strait and George Jones never had to do that, and look at their continued popularity over the years!

Real Country. . . I'm talkin "Meat and taters for supper" type of country is considered a bad thing now days among producers. I try to keep up with the times but when it comes to my country roots and country music, I want to stay true to myself and those before me who really lived that life. People still want to hear and enjoy music that can take people back to there childhood through music. Sittin on the front porch at Grandma and Grandpa's listening to friends makin' music. But its so hard to find people who are willing to listen and appreciate it for what it is: our national Heritage and also our legacy. There's got to be a way to make record label realize that there are still pure country music lovers out there. But I'm afraid there's not enough of us to be profitable for them, or at least, that's what companies think.

So very many people have expressed the concern of keeping country and rock separated. I still know what the heart of country music is all about--music that's timeless and at the same time takes us back through the years to the day when the country greats ruled the radio and the grand ol' opry. It was really nice to hear, and still is . . . I have actually been told several times that I was too "COUNTRY" to be marketable but to keep up the good work. What they should tell singers like us is that we're not writing enough rock-n-roll for country music. Well, in my opinion, country should be country and rock should be rock and so on.

In short, I believe there is room for both: old country and new country (or better still, country rock but don't confuse others by calling it country, it's not!). If we could somehow catch the right ear of those who believe as I do, pure country music can still bring in lots of people who are sick of this new pretend country. It could be amazing. All of us believers and keepers of the country music tradition are separate individuals. Can we return to the original country format we were bred on, but have lost over the years? Is it possible to turn around Nashville's current focus on pseudo-country music? We can . . . if writers, artists and producers let it happen!

"Does Nashville need a change? Definitely. But looks like the traditional country music vigilantes, the pure country possies, and the renegade classic country artists and fans need to ride into Nashville and take over the reigns before the beauty, passion, and part of this nation's heritage is forever lost in the annals and pages of time and the facades of marketing techniques that promote sales--not good country music."

J C HIGH EAGLE

 Editor__

To bring to a close this portion of a look at -

'WHAT REAL COUNTRY MUSIC'

-IS ALL ABOUT?

We simply say, its up to you folks; you can make a difference with the big boys out there, and let them know that the true lovers of REAL Country Music refuse to settle for less than; JUST THAT!

''REAL COUNTRY MUSIC''

What you have heard from this site, and what you have been reading here today is just the tip of the iceberg. believe me; there are many more that have joined the ranks. They truly yearn for the songs of yester-year with sounds from a people who understood and enjoyed the Real Heart and Soul of what "Country Music" is all about.

Come on__Ben--_Eddie Ray__--Chris__and JC.

Let it fly, and show them some more of the real stuff!!!!