Les Paul Moves On; IBMA Awards Announces Nominees; Streaming Reba

Another tidbit from GAC:

Carrie Underwood, Hank Williams Jr. Honor Troops August 13, 2009 — Some of country’s biggest stars are taking part in the Budweiser’s Salute to the Troops concert at the Division Parade Field taking place in Ft. Campbell, Ky. on Friday, August 14. Carrie Underwood, Hank Williams, Jr., Jake Owen and John Rich will perform, paying tribute to the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division, who will be returning from their service in the Middle East.

For a complete schedule of events, visit fortcampbellmwr.com and click on the Week of the Eagles button on the homepage. While honoring veterans, troops and their families, the Week of the Eagles is also free and open to the public. In observance of post protocol, all visitors will be required to present valid photo ID and will need to show current registration and proof of insurance for any vehicle admitted.

“Give me a list of other modern country acts that manly men will own up to actually admiring.”

Uh, let’ see — George Strait, Randy Travis, Jamey Johnson, Alan Jackson, Trace Adkins, and Dwight Yoakam.

If Chet is focusing on the word “admiring”, how many men would admit to admiring Brooks and Dunn nowadays, anyway?

Trailer’s album covers are first rate as usual. I’d have to say the Sugarland album was my favorite. It kind of sounds like Jennifer is in the midst of coughing up a fur ball! (lol)

I still have no idea who Chet Flippo means by that remark of his…

Thanks for the George Jones link. Great stuff.

Rick’s Random Tidbits: CMT has a nice interview with Jace Everett they posted today. Jace’s career has been reignited by having one of his 2005 songs featured during the opening credits of HBO’s highest rated series “True Blood”. Best quote from the article:
“The vampires brought me back from the dead!” (lol)

Article Link: http://www.cmt.com/news/country-music/1617890/jace-everett-owes-his-second-chance-to-vampires-and-true-blood.jhtml

“As terrible as the state of mainstream country is right now… at least the opposite can be said about bluegrass. Anybody who’s even a remote fan of the music should familiarize themselves with the big names right now… you definitely won’t be disappointed.”

True dat – regardless of what one thinks about the state of mainstream country.

What do ardent bluegrass fans think of the mainstream bluegrass acts? Being someone who isnt overly fond of the genre, I always wondered what you think of Allison Krauss, Rhonda Vincent, OCMS etc..?

What’s the difference between assigning boundaries to what’s country versus what’s bluegrass? Why is it okay to do it for bluegrass, but snobbish to do it for country.

I heard someone in the audience before the JT Earle/Felice Brothers/David Rawlings Machine/OCMS show in Nashville explaining to someone on his cell phone that he was about to listen to some bluegrass acts. I’m still wondering what he thought he meant.

“NM-He figured he’d get some “cool points” from his unknowing friends. These are the same people who listened to swing music in the late nineties. Whatever the perceived latest trend is, they are there.”

I think NM’s point is that the guy was using the term inappropriately, so that you’d want to be talking about “the same people who listened to bebop in the late nineties and called it swing.”

Leeann: “What’s the difference between assigning boundaries to what’s country versus what’s bluegrass? Why is it okay to do it for bluegrass, but snobbish to do it for country.”

Well, in the first place, I don’t think I said it was okay to do it for bluegrass; if you will reread my post, you’ll see that I have described other folks’ opinions without evaluating them, and offered none of my own. Furthermore, I’ve not said that it’s snobbish to do it for country, nor have I said that it’s not okay to assign boundaries. Although I think the last of those is probably true – or, more precisely, it’s probably true that it’s a bad idea for any individual to think that he or she can legitimately take on the task, especially when they do it hastily, superficially, on the basis of emotion and/or with a demonstrably limited amount of knowledge. Obviously there are large chunks of music that no one would call country; equally obviously there are large chunks of music that everyone would, in either case with only a minimum of knowledge. But those aren’t the issue, are they? It’s the stuff in between that excites all the controversy, and that’s where analytical skills, along with a supply of knowledge about music and music history (among others things) are more necessary – and often more lacking.

Beyond that, suffice it to say that the history and nature of bluegrass is quite a bit different from those of country music in general. We can call Jimmie Rodgers the Father of Country Music all day long, but at the end of the day, “Father of Country Music” means something different from what’s meant when Bill Monroe is called the “Father of Bluegrass.” Bluegrass is much younger than country music as a whole, it started from a specific set of music made by a specific band, and it’s existed as a niche music, created by and for a fairly small community with a much higher degree of influence (if not outright control) over how it develops. Country music’s history is pretty different.

Even so, my own notion of what falls under the bluegrass umbrella is considerably more inclusive than that of many in the hard-core audience – again, using the same kind of approach that I use with respect to country music – though not inclusive enough to think that Old Crow Medicine Show’s music does. I see you agree that their music isn’t “pure” bluegrass” (a troublesome concept, BTW, but leave it aside for now), which raises the question, why do you think it’s any kind of bluegrass at all?

If we’re being picky, the style that was revived in the 1990s is properly called “jump blues.”

On Chet Flippo’s comments: Alan Jackson is the only one that comes to mind. It isn’t a coincidence that Jackson and Brooks & Dunn are both from the nineties when it was cool to be a REAL man.

At least Jim and Jon are agreeing on something today.

David: The 90’s were way more fem-friendly than the 00’s. The 90’s were when Johnny Depp became a sex symbol. By playing a guy who cuts shrubbery into cool shapes with his scissor shaped hands.

Stewman,
My comparison was that you basically accused Corbin of making up his influences to seem cool or authentic and then you did the same with the guy who mislabeled bluegrass by saying that he was just saying it to seem cool when I’m inclined to think that Jon was right about what was probably actually going on there.

Actually piercings started coming in vogue in the 90’s and considering some of the best new country from that era (Kasey Chambers comes to mind) were pierced that doesn’t really wash. And the 90’s brought us Tim and Kenny.

David: You may have forgotten some of the less macho country males of the 90s, such as Mark Wills and Bryan White.

And BTW, the Bluegrass Blog has a complete list of the nominees along with links to artist and label websites, where a considerable amount of listening awaits. You can find it here: http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/ibma-award-nominees-for-2009/.

I admittedly incorrectly include string bands under the bluegrass tent.

“I admittedly incorrectly include string bands under the bluegrass tent.”

Ah. Thanks for the reply, Leeann – and thanks to Juli, too, for the confirmation. Saves me from having to find the time to watch Bluegrass Journey again right now ;-).