> If I recall correctly, the term was coined to identify a
> non-twangy type of country music, in which the steel and fiddle,
> when present-is put way back in the mix. The derision of HNC acts,
> is, I think, based on just this attempt to de-hickify the music
> and make it palatable to the suburban woman demographic (which is not a
slur...
So you've said.
I don't think you recall correctly, though - or, if you do, I think that
what you correctly recall isn't correct, mostly because the steel and
fiddle, which are usually present, aren't especially way back in the mix.
Shania and Mutt, for instance, will beat you to death with the damn
fiddles - in fact, Glen Duncan told me, when I was interviewing for a
Bluegrass Unlimited article on Longview that he considered the stuff of
theirs that he played on to be (or, more accurately, to include) "a
bluegrass/mountain based thing," and said that Lange is into "rootsy" stuff;
I'm a bit dubious of that bluegrass/mountain part, but I'm not willing to
dismiss the first-hand testimony of an extremely knowledgeable guy without
carefully considering it. His take on these matters pointed, first and
foremost (and IMO correctly) to the "really big drums," and he went on to
note that at most sessions, "the only guys from a country background are the
fiddle and steel players," which suggests that important differences reside
in the way that the guitars, drums and keyboards are *played*, not the
presence or absence of steel and fiddle. A lot of those instrumentalists
grew up on the Eagles *and* the Rolling Stones; they may represent polar
opposites to the cognoscenti, but not all of us are fortunate enough to be
in that group.
Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
