Re: real country [was re: old 97s in Toronto]

1999-01-31 Thread stuart 



Jon Weisberger wrote:

  let me commend to your attention the fine essay on "Country Music
 As Music" by Bill Evans,
 "So where is the 'country' in country music?  To borrow a well-worn
 advertising phrase, it might be more a state of mind than any specific set
 of unique musical characteristics.  Country musicians seem to share certain
 assumptions about melody, harmony, form, and performance technique that
 together help to shape ideas about the nature of the country sound, its
 boundaries and its possibilities."

Interesting, but it how does one get to be called a country musician?  And how
does one differentiate between specific set of unique musical characteristics on
one hand, and certain shared assumptions about melody, etc., on the other.
Likewise the pairing of boundaries and possibilities is curious.  It all seems
sort of circular to me.



 One thing I like about that is that it nudges the reader in the direction of
 considering not only what those "certain assumptions" are, but how they're
 transmitted.

And who is in authority to name what is and what is not country.  But I don't
quite understand this transmission thing.  Especially in the age of mass media.
Care to elucidate?

RE: real country [was re: old 97s in Toronto]

1999-01-29 Thread Jon Weisberger 

Boy, I'd sure like to take on this thread, and I hope to later on, but I am
just getting my eyebrows over this backlog of work that's piled up... In the
meantime, let me commend to your attention the fine essay on "Country Music
As Music" by Bill Evans, the banjerpicking ethnomusicologist; it appears in
that Country Music Hall Of Fame Encyclopedia Of Country Music that came out
not too long ago.  It's a good starting point for getting a handle on the
stylistic contours of country music (note, please, that I say nothing about
"real" g).  Here's a taste:

"So where is the 'country' in country music?  To borrow a well-worn
advertising phrase, it might be more a state of mind than any specific set
of unique musical characteristics.  Country musicians seem to share certain
assumptions about melody, harmony, form, and performance technique that
together help to shape ideas about the nature of the country sound, its
boundaries and its possibilities."

One thing I like about that is that it nudges the reader in the direction of
considering not only what those "certain assumptions" are, but how they're
transmitted.

Jon Weisberger  Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/