You're a braver man than most, I know lots or artists and fellow music lovers who struggle to define exactly what country is! I sat drinking around a table last year with Robert Vincent, his band and Hannah Aldridge and we were all trying to define what country was, each had their own idea and it got quite vocal – not sure the gin helped!

That's the problem with hanging labels on music (which I don't personally like to do), it might have worked 50 years ago, but music is so organic and styles so individual now, it's nigh on impossible. It's rare that my friends have ever heard of any of the new bands I like (not many here have either) and the question always follows 'what type of music is that?'

Hmmm, tough one.

Me, I mostly like Americana, which was only recently defined as "American contemporary music having its roots in folk and country" Bob Harris said that. The official AMA definition is "Contemporary music that incorporates elements of various mostly acoustic American roots music styles, including country, roots-rock, folk, gospel and bluegrass resulting in a distinctive roots-oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw. While acoustic instruments are often present and vital, Americana also often uses a full electric band"

Many people describe what I like as country, so that shows you how hard it is, as I don’t think it is country

All started changing around the times of Uncle Tupelo, The Jayhawks and Ryan Adams who weren't really country, but were slotted in the genre. Music magazines in the states started calling them alt.country, then there were spin off sub-genres from that, so in the late 90s they were grouped together loosely as Americana.

Tricky eh?

I do like country though, some western swing, alt.country, outlaw country, bluegrass, blues, gospel and on and on, ad-infinitum. I don't really like twang or hillbilly music though and I certainly don't like 'new country' or bro country, the new Nashville sound is pop really, nowt to do with real country. Boy bands wearing hats and boots, singing about trucks, their dog, whiskey bottles, break-up songs and all that BS. Trouble is, because that's on the radio and in the charts, people think that that's country. The music from the Nashville TV series encapsulates 'new country' very well and that's definitely not my thing. I like the rootsy side of Americana, rather than big hats, bro country or impassioned swelling country pop sings.

So there's quite a difference (IMO) between Country, Country AND Western, Americana and 'New' Country. So going back to the start and the question 'What is Country Music?'  . . . no idea really, too hard to answer as there isn't really just a single type of country music anymore. This is the closest from your list of definitions though - “Real music about Real stuff. Unlike almost all other stuff.” A good country song is a story about the songwriters life or something experienced. I like real stories.

Modern country music is kind of like professional wrestling, its funny when you meet someone who thinks its real

The one "Country" I do hate, with a passion, is the Nashville "let's drench it in strings and repackage it for Jim Reeves" saccharine period.  I'm also not too keen on what I'd call straight Country with cowboys singing about their horses and so on, but then again "Streets of Laredo" would fall into that category, and that's a great song when performed well.

I like Gram's description of Cosmic Country Music for what he and The Byrds, The Burritos, Poco, NRPS et al were, and would be, turning out.

Are The Handsome Family Country?  Are they Americana, Gothic Country, alt.country, Gothic Americana?  I've heard them called all of those.  The best was "Old, Weird, Americana."  Let's be honest though, they're just bloody brilliant, and like most artists don't actually need to be labelled.  In fact, labelling them Country would probably do them more harm than good as many people are prejudiced against Country.

Keith Urban.  He's Country.  He's from New Zealand.  Hank Snow was from Nova Scotia.  Shania Twain's Canadian, Jim Reeves was Lithuanian.  O.K.  I made the last one up, but you get the picture.  You don't even have to be American so sing Country.  Albert Lee, who is probably the best known and the greatest country guitar player alive, was born in Blackheath.  Emmylou Harris said of Albert “When Saint Peter asks me to chronicle my time down here on earth, I’ll be able to say -with pride if that’s allowed- that for a while I played rhythm guitar in a band with Albert Lee.”  Not bad for a bloke from Sarf London.

There is no one style that is Country, or Western, or Country and Western.  It's just a label that gets more and more tarnished as the years go by, which is, perhaps, why there's this need to invent new labels.  Most artists don't want to be labelled "Country."  Unless they're Country acts,  of course.

It's all just music, that draws from the past, present, and the future.  It may, or may not, have a pedal steel, or a fiddle.  It may have synths.  It can be electrified or acoustic music.  It can be slow or fast, sad or happy, draw from the blues or from ragtime, or any other genre really.

Don't let what other people call something be the reason for you not to give it a chance.

It's all just music.  Some of it's good, some of it's bad, and you shouldn't take somebody else's word for which is which.

It's all just music.  And we like music.

As long as the fuses are the right way round, obviously. 


Talking of labels, though, I consider Robert Wyatt's cover of Elvis's 'Shipbuilding' to be a folk song.

Me too, penny whistles and fiddles - no thanks.