One problem I have with country music is it’s love for anyone from outside country music who wants to show it some attentionl. Hannah montanna hosting CMT awards? Snoop dogg presenting? Whatever.

And just because the Eagles wouldn’t sound out of place on country radio today doesn’t make them a country group. Same with Mellencamp and others. The Eagles charted only one country song during their recording career and that many young artists confuse them with actual country acts is among the reasons why country radio has swung the way it has. If John Mellencamp doesn’t have anything better to offer the genre than the pandering “This is Our Country,” I’d ask that he stay away from country radio.

The consensus seems to be that we’re not concerned with strict and often arbitrary genre boundary lines as far as quality crossover music is concerned. I agree. Indeed, there is a rich history of excellent pop-country (and country-pop) crossovers and, in retrospect we can identify many non-country artists who have had a significant influence upon the genre. However, there’s no need to rewrite the past to suit the present. Ray Charles made an excellent country album but was not a country artist. The Eagles may sound more country than Rascal Flatts but they certainly didn’t get any airplay alongside the country greats of the 70’s.

The country music of today bears little resemblance to early country music including cowboy singers, bluegrass, and “mountain music”. Once country music adopted the electric guitar as it’s standard it became more like rock music than traditional country music. For every country artist that pays “traditional country” there is a dozen that sound just like a rock bands. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

In particular as a fan of Jewel I’m looking forward to Jewel finally releasing a whole album of country music instead of a song here and there. IMHO her voice lends itself nicely to country music.

I guess I don’t mind genre jumping, if the artists are talented! Of course, I am a Willie Nelson fan, and I can’t think of a style of music he hasn’t sung. But after 50 years in the music industry, I guess he can play whatever he wants and enjoy himself.

There can’t be anything more country than ‘Crazy’, sung by Patsy Cline or Willie or anyone. But as you know, Willie loves to play Jazz (just did a show with Wynton Marsalis in NYC last month), he did that reggae album, with Toots Hibbing, Nightlife is one of the greatest blues songs ever, imho, and the Stardust album of classics was on the charts for a long time.

So, maybe it’s my age, but I don’t mind hearing artists dabble in other genres. I’ve lived too long to be a purist about anything. I love the CMT Crossroads shows for that reason. Cheryl Crow and Willie was my favorite pairing, but I have enjoyed them all.

The truth is the aforementioned artists are MORE country then a lot of so called “country” artists currently on radio. Rascal Flatts and Faith Hill are perhaps the furthest thing from country music as it gets. That they’re even classified as such is baffling.

Meanwhile the genre has 3 deeply artistic and satisfying sub-genres in Folk-Rock, Americana and Texas Country that have still yet to be truly tapped. There is no reason Cross Canadian Ragweed shouldn’t be played on Top40 Country radio………or even the band Eels.

There will be many who will give the cliched “country is something different to everyone” but this is a gross misjudgement. A genre of music is such due to the instruments, song styling and historical evolution that brought it to be. Understanding this, we can better know what to expect from the future of country music.

It would probably be too hard to even change the sound of today’s country music back to more traditional sounds since the ball has already been set in motion and the line having already become increasingly blurred.

So should fans of traditional country sounds do like Jack Ingram mentioned in one of his interviews, listen to the old stuff if that’s what you like and not pay attention to the newer stuff?

“My impression is that it’s just not comparable to what it used to be. It never will be. It’s never going to be as segregated … as it was, maybe, back in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. So people who yearn for that can just listen to those records, because you’re not going to find too many artists these days sounding retro. Country music, for me, has always been America’s music. Right now, more than ever, it’s a product of its influences.”