Country is an under-appreciated over mocked genre.
Okay, sure there are a lot of songs with super corny moralizing stories about the wrongs of drinking and driving or about God's mysterious ways. But if there's two things Country know how to do it's make fun of itself and how to lay one mean guitar riff.
Country believes in paying homage to its legends. Everyone that won an award at the CMAs this year thanked the musicians who came before and inspired them. There's something nice about a genre of music that openly acknowledges that it has a past that has shaped its present. I also love the way sooo many country songs today reference the Greats in their lyrics. Here's a handful:
Kid Rock -- All Summer long
Jason Alden -- Johnny Cash
Trace Adkins -- Ladies Love Country Boys
Taylor Swift -- Tim McGraw
Country is a genre that limits the amount of ass-wiggling in its videos. Take Lady Antebellum's "Lookin' for a Good Time." It's a song about a one-night stand but the video is a 1960s, American Bandstand type concert. It's so nice to see people singing in music videos for a change. And then there's Trace Adkins' "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" -- a song about ass wiggling, but one that effectively makes fun of all those rap videos with under-clad gyrating females. It's my favorite answer to Sir Mix Alot's I like Big Butts.
Country is a music of images and of serious guitar. Listen to the lyrics (in songs other than the one's i've linked to): they do more than tell stories, they actually create vivid photograph snapshot scenes.It's actually hard for me to understand Tom Petty and Jimi Hendrix fans who say they hate country. Or old school rock n' roll fans for that matter. As far as I can tell, it's the only popular genre left today that still emphasizes the singer-musician and multilayer instrumentals. Timberland wouldn't survive a minute in Nashville... and I think that's a wondrous thing.
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