Jon Weisberger wrote: If things were like they used to be, the odds
> are pretty good that at least *some* of the more straightforwardly country
> acts and releases that get discussed here - whether it's Myles or the
> Derailers or Dale Watson or whomever - would be in the door, ....The
> gatekeeper role of radio these days (is there any doubt it's more important
> than it used to be?), combined with the Consultants From Hell, has stifled
> the artist development pattern of a couple of decades ago, and the
> Americana/alt.country scene is not a very satisfactory substitute, at least
> not yet.
This observation--the nub of the problem IMO--brings to mind the rise of happy
talk news in the 70s. Actually the consultant from hell comment reminds me of
Frank Magid and Associates, the consulatants from Cedar Rapids Iowa who
pioneered the change in local TV news. It worked and it's been downhill ever
since. Not to make too close an analogy here, but I don't see any change on the
horizon for local TV news, nor for Radio, now heading down similar programmed
channels. And while the Americana/alt secne is indeed not a very satisfactory
subsititue yet, it looks like some sort of alternative institutions will have to
suffice, cause the big money boys are not likely to change,
What to do?
