"Through My Father's Eyes" (Official Music Video) - Christian Singer, Holly Starr
Holly Starr - "Through My Father's Eyes" is the official New Christian music video for the radio single "Through My Father's Eyes" from the Christian singer'...
Find Your Spine, Music Row!
Since my wife gave me satellite radio for my car two Christmases ago, I haven’t felt compelled to listen to much country radio. There is a wonderland of new alternative and roots music to discover, as well as comedians to amuse me and informative political talk to get my dander up. However, after dropping my daughter off at work, driving her car (sadly deprived of XM/Sirius), I decided to check in on what’s happening on the country airwaves.
Although I’d recently read about some exciting new country acts making fresh sounds, a brief visit on the FM dial reinforced everything that is sorely wrong with corporate-formatted radio, and the contemporary, hit-country format in particular. As I homed in on the station, the song playing was a veteran act’s rendition of an old pop ditty I’d heard hundreds of times.
The next singer, introduced by the DJ as one of the “fresh new voices” of the genre, proceeded to perform a paint-by-numbers homage to small town life. Every lyric of the song was predictable, trite and third-hand, and the musicianship and production of the record was gutless and safe, safe, safe. It was as if somebody had entered “hit country song” into a computer song-writing program, and this pap regurgitated. Honestly, does the world really need even one more “it was good enough for my daddy, so it’s good enough for me” song? I felt like Dr. Strangelove, as I restrained my finger from punching another radio preset.
The next tune, by a more established artist, was just as same-old, been-there-done-that as the previous one—another cliché-ridden tribute to American family values. The production pushed every button, placing the breakdown of the chorus at the perfect spot, followed by that modulation anyone could have seen coming from 5 miles down the dirt road the song kept praising.
Then, finally I was relieved to hear something that stirred me—a contemporary classic with genuine emotional resonance. Tim McGraw’s "Just To See You Smile" still hits me square in the heart with its honest, vulnerable statement of unabashed devotion. So craftily written by Mark Nessler and Tony Martin, sung simply and honestly by McGraw on top of Byron Gallimore’s understated track (the track that brought back the banjo, BTW), this record proved once again that great songs and timeless themes never grow old. But, hearing this one also drove the truth home—that truly great songs are also extremely rare.
What followed was a new record by a rock-star-turned-country-singer—a pale copy of such fine recent “life’s too short” hits as "You’re Gonna Miss This" and "Don’t Blink." By then, I was pulling up in front of my house, thankful that I could escape my daughter’s car and free my ears from that continual country-radio mediocrity.
So, out of the five songs I heard that morning, only one communicated anything of any real value to me — and that song was almost 10 years old. The three new records were really nothing new at all and, in fact, were stale ideas executed with little or no imagination. Are the major labels and radio conglomerates at all surprised that sales have plummeted and listenership is down across the board? They have lulled the listening public into numbed ennui, feeding us nothing but standards we know by heart and bland new pablum. Is there anything to get us excited? Where do we go to find a fresh, new experience?
Think of some of the artists who have broken over the last 15-plus years with real impact: Montgomery Gentry with “Hillbilly Shoes,” Toby Keith with “Shoulda Been a Cowboy,” Gretchen Wilson with “Red Neck Woman,” Tim McGraw with “Indian Outlaw,” Dixie Chicks with “There’s Your Trouble,” Dierks Bentley with “What Was I Thinkin’,” Trace Adkins with “Every Light In The House Is On,” Blake Shelton with “Old Red,” Miranda Lambert with “Kerosene,” Carrie Underwood with “Jesus Take the Wheel.” Every one of those songs is distinct, and the artist comes through as an individual. While I certainly don’t love all of these compositions, they all make a statement, come from an identifiable voice and paint a unique musical landscape.
When are labels, producers and radio programmers going to learn that copycats don’t establish careers? Formula may get you on the radio, but it will also make you invisible to a public that longs for vibrant personalities with distinctive points of view. Find your spine, Music Row! We had a grip on the largest radio audience in the world. Now we’re fading into the background like so much white noise.
Although I’d recently read about some exciting new country acts making fresh sounds, a brief visit on the FM dial reinforced everything that is sorely wrong with corporate-formatted radio, and the contemporary, hit-country format in particular. As I homed in on the station, the song playing was a veteran act’s rendition of an old pop ditty I’d heard hundreds of times.
The next singer, introduced by the DJ as one of the “fresh new voices” of the genre, proceeded to perform a paint-by-numbers homage to small town life. Every lyric of the song was predictable, trite and third-hand, and the musicianship and production of the record was gutless and safe, safe, safe. It was as if somebody had entered “hit country song” into a computer song-writing program, and this pap regurgitated. Honestly, does the world really need even one more “it was good enough for my daddy, so it’s good enough for me” song? I felt like Dr. Strangelove, as I restrained my finger from punching another radio preset.
The next tune, by a more established artist, was just as same-old, been-there-done-that as the previous one—another cliché-ridden tribute to American family values. The production pushed every button, placing the breakdown of the chorus at the perfect spot, followed by that modulation anyone could have seen coming from 5 miles down the dirt road the song kept praising.
Then, finally I was relieved to hear something that stirred me—a contemporary classic with genuine emotional resonance. Tim McGraw’s "Just To See You Smile" still hits me square in the heart with its honest, vulnerable statement of unabashed devotion. So craftily written by Mark Nessler and Tony Martin, sung simply and honestly by McGraw on top of Byron Gallimore’s understated track (the track that brought back the banjo, BTW), this record proved once again that great songs and timeless themes never grow old. But, hearing this one also drove the truth home—that truly great songs are also extremely rare.
What followed was a new record by a rock-star-turned-country-singer—a pale copy of such fine recent “life’s too short” hits as "You’re Gonna Miss This" and "Don’t Blink." By then, I was pulling up in front of my house, thankful that I could escape my daughter’s car and free my ears from that continual country-radio mediocrity.
So, out of the five songs I heard that morning, only one communicated anything of any real value to me — and that song was almost 10 years old. The three new records were really nothing new at all and, in fact, were stale ideas executed with little or no imagination. Are the major labels and radio conglomerates at all surprised that sales have plummeted and listenership is down across the board? They have lulled the listening public into numbed ennui, feeding us nothing but standards we know by heart and bland new pablum. Is there anything to get us excited? Where do we go to find a fresh, new experience?
Think of some of the artists who have broken over the last 15-plus years with real impact: Montgomery Gentry with “Hillbilly Shoes,” Toby Keith with “Shoulda Been a Cowboy,” Gretchen Wilson with “Red Neck Woman,” Tim McGraw with “Indian Outlaw,” Dixie Chicks with “There’s Your Trouble,” Dierks Bentley with “What Was I Thinkin’,” Trace Adkins with “Every Light In The House Is On,” Blake Shelton with “Old Red,” Miranda Lambert with “Kerosene,” Carrie Underwood with “Jesus Take the Wheel.” Every one of those songs is distinct, and the artist comes through as an individual. While I certainly don’t love all of these compositions, they all make a statement, come from an identifiable voice and paint a unique musical landscape.
When are labels, producers and radio programmers going to learn that copycats don’t establish careers? Formula may get you on the radio, but it will also make you invisible to a public that longs for vibrant personalities with distinctive points of view. Find your spine, Music Row! We had a grip on the largest radio audience in the world. Now we’re fading into the background like so much white noise.
Comment
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Comment by JOURDAN ALLEY on July 28, 2010 at 9:21pm -
WOW How True!!!
Dare to be Different!!!
Thanks sooo much for thinking the way you do and being kind enough to post it!!!!
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Comment by Rand Bishop on January 18, 2010 at 6:00pm -
Okay, Joe. Now I'm scared. (But, then again, I remember when Union contracts asked if the studio you were working at had a mellotron). Songs are emotional. So, if they don't stir the hearts of listeners, people won't respond, regardless of what players (and/or machines) cut the tracks. Now, demo players are having a hard time getting sessions, because master players are doing demos. It's really about writing more than anything else. Any minute now, somebody with balls and vision will come along, break all the rules, and create the next template for the rest of the sheep to chase after. Meantime, as always, we'll have a high percentage of rubber-stamp pap on the radio. That's why I mostly listen to XM alternative channels, so I can discover some new, bold sounds.
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Comment by Joe Pasquale on January 18, 2010 at 5:04pm -
AMEN!!! and for those who haven't yet heard the new Band in a Box with the audiofile version with the 44.1 aiff'a-- its exactly that- a checklist of Cliches'! - "Country music style 24 with fiddle solo"
i got a demo the other day that was recorded for a very successful writer from a friend of mine- and when i called him to find out where he cut the Steel guitars...... i was shocked to hear that the pedal steel, harmonica, and violins were all from the 2010 band in a box-
so besides your lyric check sheet- there is now an audio check sheet of hundreds of licks recorded in all keys at all tempos. For $600- the price of a good demo in town- you can input a midi file or sing a melody into the chord wizard- and it will generate a lead sheet and the demo. Its possible now to cut the majority of cookie cutter demos including real drums bass, acoustics pedal, mandolin, harmonica ect- within a DAW with no real players....... and i defy anyone to know the diff. ie- i sent the track to a friend of mine who has an audio library in Los Angeles, grammys emmys ect- he currently does about 40 hours of TV music a week- with a staff of 10 writers...... he couldn't tell- and when i told him what it was- he went out and bought the program-
And of course lets not forget to mention with Melodyne- which can transpose and time shift with almost imperceptible sonic artifacts- its a brave new world- and if the envelop isn't pushed as you noted- the other shoe to drop with be the ability of demo players to get any work as custom libraries for these DAW's propagate.
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Comment by Rand Bishop on January 18, 2010 at 4:26pm
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Bob:
Tony Arata is a songwriter of infinite integrity and a musician's musician. BTW, your checklist is excellent.
I don't quite understand why the mainstream country music industry keeps recycling these cliches, especially as they see market share decreasing. Sincere, melodic love songs will always work, regardless of the genre. That's why Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum are doing so well -- because they relate truthful emotional stuff directly to a young, active music buying audience. But, these cultural statements that really only speak for (and directly to) a tiny proportion of the population baffle me. I think it's some kinda fantasy that a whole lotta suburbanites have: "Yeah, man! I'm a redneck because I own a cowboy hat, a pair of boots, and drive a pickup." It's as bad as the suburban whites with their flat-brimmed ballcaps and pants drooping down their butts crankin' out the subwoofers. (But, then again, I was a weekend hippie in my late teens. So, how can I criticize those who pretend to be something they're not?)
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Comment by Bob Wooley on January 18, 2010 at 3:09pm -
Rand,
You couldn't have said it better. I, like many others here are songwriters struggling to be heard, and trying not to be lured into writing to the current country "standard"...
It seems like the writers are saying:
Dirt Road - check
Country - check
Backwoods - check
Redneck - check
Farm - check
hard work... patriot... America... tractor.... check
...ok, I've got my words handy... I'm ready to write!
Having said that, by no means do I think I'm the be-all of writers... and I believe you'll be seeing me soon on your coaching web site, but it's nice to hear a successful songwriter put iinto words what so many are thinking. I recently had the pleasure of meeting Tony Arata, who delivered similar words of wisdom to myself and other fledgeling writers..."Don't ever chase the radio in your songwriting" Thanks
-bw
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Comment by Jim Evans on July 3, 2009 at 1:08pm -
Rand -
That was the best "Critical explanation" of the whoring of country music to a contrive sound that I have heard
You waxed eloquently. Rave on - rave on.
America is shaking the shackles of forced feedings of all kind
Joe Q public is not spending his money on what he doesn't like- And that includes the "New Sound of Country Music". Country music was and still should be pure clean and original. There are only about 12 chords to play and it takes talent to switch them up to sound new.
Great Job Rand
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Comment by Rand Bishop on July 1, 2009 at 6:51pm
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While I don't know what an exegesis is, I certainly know "gutty". Thanks, Joe. And yes, as the very clever Michael Penn once said, "The music business is like a bunch of cat breeders -- they find a breed that sells, then inbreed it till it dies off."
Nora Jones, an artist nobody thought had any commercial potential, sold 23 million CDs. Now we have a thousand Nora Jones wannabes, none of whom sell much at all.
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Comment by Joe Pasquale on June 30, 2009 at 1:23pm
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Bravo Rand- a gutty exegesis- and one that is by no means limited to the Country/Southern markets!!
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Comment by Rand Bishop on June 30, 2009 at 11:04am
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And so The Nashville Scene writes a laudatory article about Those Darlin's — supposedly a trio of "go f*ck yourself, Music Row" renegades. Their quasi-hip new single sounds like a bad singalong by a drunken sorority folk group from the early '60s. Out-of-tune vocals, ratty-retro, thrift-store attire and hairstyles — and the press calls this hipness? Those Darlin's ain't my darlin's. Give me Miranda Lambert any day. There's a true renegade — with true talent, and a POV worth listening to.
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Comment by The Lowry Agency on June 30, 2009 at 10:49am -
Amen!
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