I've tried to get people my age (35) interested in alt.country. It is
hopeless. They may listen to the radio, but they do not buy CDs; they do
not have the initiative to dig out the good new bands. They are too busy
with careers, children, TeeVee, sports, lawn care. The people I know
stopped buying music once they graduated from college. A few, like my
brothers, held on for a while. Bought the first five REM albums, but lost
interest when Alternative Rock/grunge burnt itself out (seems to have been
about the time of Kurt Cobain's death). Mention country or alt.country and
they look at me like I just fell off the turnip truck. ("You like country
music? Well you deserve to die.")
Go to a Son Volt/Wilco concert and the majority of people there are male
college students, it seems to me anyway.
----------
> From: Diana Quinn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: passenger side <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: old people's music
> Date: Wednesday, January 20, 1999 7:56 PM
>
> kip l wrote:
> "this P2 bag, this Americana/Alt-Country/Roots-Rock thing that gets
> discussed here? It's Old People Music"
>
> Well, isn't the american population getting older? Aren't we (me, anyway
> -- on the tail end) baby boomers the majority? I'm banking on the hope
> that folks my age group -- now that the kids are starting to grow up -
> will start going out to clubs again and start spending money on cds
> again. If they don't -- well there's another phenomenon. The kids -- the
> 15 year olds and 12 years olds etc -- are listening to music that WE
> like to listen to! And they're listening to the Beach Boys and the
> Beatles just as much as Better than Ezra or Fugazi.
> Alternative country/country has a problem, though, and it spans the
> generations. People have built-in prejudices against it. Some folks at
> work bought the HTC cd and a few days later came around to say - gee i
> really like the record, and I don't like country. Well -- doo doo head
> -- it IS country! That's what country sounds like! THey've got it in
> their heads that it's all big beefy sound and look-alikes in big hats
> doing the Achy Breaky Heart or flying around a huge concert stage -- or
> warblers with big hair in turquoise polyester gowns (not that I'm
> dissing big hair!!!! not at all! see:TBouffants).
> So if I were betting on a crossover band to be our nirvana, i'd bet on
> one of the bands playing kind of punky thrashy country. Not that I
> particularly Like that brand of alt country - it's just that attention
> brought on whoever that is will expand to the rest of us, -- kind of a
> trickle down theory of music.
>
> dq
