> >>>>If the labels think any of those "new faces" are gonna cause their
> problems
> to
> >go away, they are more delusional then I thought.
>
> >Why would you think that they think that, and why would you think I care
> >>about whether the labels think their problems are going to be solved
> anyway?
>
> This is a label showcase for radio programmers. The labels are presenting
> these artists to the radio programmers in the hope that they will get
> something out of it (Radio play). My point, which you seemed to have
> missed, is that this is supposed to be a showcase of the best new artists
> that Nashville has to offer, the future country radio superstars, if you
> will, (can we agree on that?) and if that is the case, the labels are in
> serious trouble as the music these acts make, with the exception of one or
> two, is more of the same that has caused country music's current problems.
Jim, there are a couple of assumptions in there that I'm not sure I go along
with; the most important, aside from the one that there must, or should be,
future superstars emerging each and every year, is that it's the music that
has caused country's current problems. It is, in a way, but aside from the
fact that we evidently disagree on the quality of some of these acts' music,
I'm not at all convinced that the general proposition is true. The biggest
part of country's current problems is that it's being abandoned, by and
large, by a growing number of the people who flocked to it in the early 90s;
they're moving along to other things, and the artists they favor are either
moving with them (e.g., Shania), or trying to revamp themselves to take that
into account in some other way (e.g., making more country-sounding records),
or, in some cases, trying to do both.
> >>What are you looking for in the way of a little bit different? Some
> alt-country refugees?
> ya know I went to the Americana chart for this and I was disappointed.
> Alison Moorer is on that chart but most of the others wouldn't qualify as
> "new", or qualify period if you're talking good music, <g> so hows about
> Damnations, Paul Burch and Charlie Robison. Hell Del McCoury might even
> qualify since they ignored him the first couple of times. <g>
I doubt Del'n'em would get on there except in the company of Steve Earle,
and frankly, there are cuts on the Randall, Brock, Moorer, Nesler and
Stockton albums that I find about as enjoyable as anything on The Mountain.
I can't get worked up over the prospect of hearing Damnations TX on country
radio - you might get more agreement from some of those rock-backgrounded
radio types <g> - and I haven't heard Charlie Robison's album yet; as for
Paul Burch, well, we're back to the "new" thing, aren't we? Besides, I just
don't see him as a more likely candidate for future country radio
superstardom <g>.
Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
