CMA=Country my ASS! Toilet

The progression over the past several years has been towards smaller kits with bigger drums. One up, one down and one up, two down with 24 and occasionally 26 kick drums. Musically country has shifted towards a roots rock and straight ahead pop sensibility with a little 'twang' in the vocal. Sometimes even the ubiquitous twang is absent.

A few years ago the 10-12-14-16 tom set-up was pretty standard but things are changing. It's kind of funny but a lot of the west coast soft rock of the 70's would now be categorized as country. Even artists like Bob Seeger and southern rockers would be questionable as to whether they were rock or country. As a guy that lives in Nashville but is not necessarily a traditional country fan I only see that as a good thing.

You are absolutely right. The Eagles and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band come to mind. They'd be marketed as Country now.

Don't meant to veer off the topic, but isn't there a Country Music Awards show on tv at least once a month it seems? It seems like any shall we say has-been artist can always revive their career with doing a Country album. The Hootie & Blowfish guy, for one..

Linda Rondstadt, Jackson Browne, Dan Folgeberg etc. The purists don't like the change in the market, but music is always progressing. There is still plenty of traditional country around for those folks as well. I have often felt it was a shame that we have to categorize music specifically and art in general. It does make it easier to market and that is just a reality. I tend to like a bit of everything. If music is done well, I like it whether it's Chick Corea, George Strait, the Beatles or Avenged Sevenfold.

As to respect for traditional country music, when I first moved to Nashville I was hired as a sideman with a band that was to be the next big thing. Between playing opening act slots and a few headline shows, we played a lot of 4 hour a night clubs. We did about 60% covers. I recall getting a request for Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain and I was amazed at how difficult it wasto play that very simple, slow shuffle with a side stick and make it feel good. 1 and 3 with the right foot, 2 and 4 with the left hand side stick, right hand playing a shuffle. How hard could that possibly be?!?! I found it amazingly difficult to get it to lay in the pocket and swing effortlessly. I had played big band swing, fusion, progressive rock, etc... Somewhat stumped by Hank Williams Jr... really?

I will tell you there are some great drummers out there. Chris McHugh who is the drummer/band leader for Keith Urban is a monster and has been for years.

^^^ I've always said Shania Twain was Def Leppard with steel guitar and fiddles. A lot of modern country sounds an awful lot like 80's hair metal... with a twang.

John Bon Jovi is another huge example of changing genre's and reviving a career!

As I understand it, when Mutt produced her albums, he cut it straight up with guitars and then had specific guitar tracks replaced with fiddles which is where some of those unusual, yet catchy fiddle parts came from.

It is humorous, indeed! One of my daughters is a huge country fan. I got sneaky one evening about ten or so years ago and tossed some early 70's rock on her mp3 player... Grateful Dead, Faces (Mandolin Wind I think), and various others...

I got outed when she asked her mom who they were. She thought a friend of hers had shared some tunes with her.

I knew something was up with country when I saw some guy playing a Bonham set up behind a twangy singer...