>
> After wrappin' up Swingin' Doors last night, I tuned to one of Seattle's
> commercial country stations. They were playin' John Anderson's "Straight
> Tequila Night," one of my favorite country songs of the '90s -- alt. or
> otherwise. While it's true that modern country radio's programming is
> erratic at best, they're still capable of knockin' one outta the park.
> For those interested in hearing actual country music -- as opposed to
> roots-rock, f*lk, etc. -- you're still quite likely to run into it on
> mainstream country radio. And you're certainly gonna hear a lot more of
> it there than you will on your local AAA station.--don
>
Well, yes and no. I don't have an AAA station, so I can't speak to that.
But I do have three country stations pre-set on my car radio, and I can
drive to work -- about 17 minutes -- without hearing one tune worth
listening to on any one of those stations. Bland, formulaic,
non-threatening, slick jingles, with a few cute phrase
formulations, the same guitars, etc.* But then out of nowhere, they'll play
something great -- Lee Ann Womack, Randy Travis, Anderson, Vince Gill
(they've been playing that country shuffle duet lately), Dwight -- etc. So
if you tune in and expect to be blown away, best be prepared to wait a
while. And maybe pre-set nine or ten stations, just to be safe. -- Terry Smith
* of course, this applies to most commercial radio, no matter the genre.
