I’m gonna’ go out on a limb here and say that Bluegrass Music holds the key to the future of Country Music.
As today’s “Country” drifts farther and farther away from the traditional definitions and closer every day to the realm of Arena Rock, Bluegrass, or at least some factions of Bluegrass are easing on down the road as well to a more modern sounding, almost commercial pop platform. The result is music that is more Country than “Country Music” is today.
For example, let’s look at this tune from The Grascal’s “Life Finds A Way” CD, a 2012 offering that can be found in the Bluegrass bin at most any recorded music retailer.
The song “Me and John and Paul” was penned by the late great Nashville songwriter Harley Allen, who also wrote tunes that were recorded by the likes of Joe Diffie, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Ty England, and George Jones – just to name a few. To this writer’s ears, ears that have been listening to distorted electric guitars since the ’60′s, the sound of the acoustic instruments and traditional vocal harmonies on this track are a relaxing aural massage that more closely represents Country Music than a lot of offerings today that are classified as such. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with Hootie, Kid Rock, and Brad (van Halen) Paisley’s view of what Country Music is in 2013, nor the quality of product per se coming out of Nashville, there just aint nothin’ like a little traditional front porch pickin’ and singin’ to take it back to the source.
Written by Dan King www.purpleaz.com
