Since everybody always asks, upon finding out that I have a band,
"What kind of music do you play?", I have had to think about genre
definitions way too much for my own good. Still, I don't have a good
answer. Here are a couple of recent incidents that reveal the inadequacy of
prevailing terminology/attitudes:
* a girl from the bluegrass program, working with a tutor in our
center, asks me about my band; as I start to name off bands she might
have heard of that we might have some similarity to, I use the
unfortunate term "alt.country." "Like Shania Twain?" she asks. I try
to hide my disgust ... but do not succeed!
*at a gig last weekend in Bristol (the "birthplace" of country
music) a couple of young ladies enter the club's door while we are
playing our opening number, one of our "countries" tunes. They watch
in amazement for about 30 seconds, shake their heads and leave. Half
an hour later, another set of ladies, a few years older, walk through
the bar door while we're playing one of our hardest-rocking songs;
the watch in amazement for about 30 seconds, shake their heads and
leave. Disturbed at this phenomenon, I asked the doorman during the
break, "Are we THAT ugly?" He said, "Yes, but that's not why the
didn't come in -- the first group hated country, and the second group
didn't want to hear any of that 'acid rock.' So that's us -- Acid
Country!
___
Robert A. Russell
Director, Writing and Communication Center
East Tennessee State University
Box 70602
Johnson City, TN 37614
Phone: (423) 439-8438
Fax: (423) 439-8666
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.etsu.edu/wcc
***
"Objective evidence and certitude are doubtless very fine ideals to play with
but where on this moonlit and dream-visited planet are they found?"
-- William James, 1842-1910, "The Will to Believe"
