New Poll: What Is Country?

[TheBigA]

This is an interesting article. NuVooDoo did a poll asking current country radio listeners to rate songs based on how country those songs are:

‘Is It Country?’ Depends Who You Ask, Says NuVoodoo Research.

What is country music? If you ask folks who’ve been fans of the music for five years or fewer — as NuVoodoo did for Wednesday’s CRS 360 webinar — they’re

www.insideradio.com

The obvious people rank high, such as Jon Pardi or Cody Johnson. We currently have a situation where an artist named Jelly Roll is getting country radio airplay as well as alternative radio airplay. Yet country fans think his song is very country. Same could be said about Ernest, who was once a rapper, and is now country.

Obviously the answers would be different if you asked people who've listened to country for more than 20 years. But that's the typical generational shift of country music. In their time, people thought Garth Brooks was a pop star. Now his music is viewed as very traditional.

 

[Cordelia Chase]

I was recently introduced to a genre called Texas Red Dirt Country. That sounded pretty pure to me. I don't know that much about country music BTW.

 

[TheBigA]

I was recently introduced to a genre called Texas Red Dirt Country. That sounded pretty pure to me. I don't know that much about country music BTW.

That's where Cody Johnson is from. He's a Texas rodeo star who also does music, sort of like George Strait.

The other trend right now in country is referencing 90s country. The Scotty McCreery song about Strait is an example. The new Kane Brown lists a bunch of titles, and even has an appearance by Ronnie Dunn. Then there's the new song by Cole Swindell called "She Had Me At Heads Carolina," based on the JoDee Messina song.

 

[Mediafrog+]

I was recently introduced to a genre called Texas Red Dirt Country. That sounded pretty pure to me. I don't know that much about country music BTW.

Here you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dirt_(music)

Here in Texas you often find it on the third or fourth Country station in mid to large markets. These tend to be exurban signals, like KFWR or KRBL. Google “Red Dirt Country radio stations“ and you’ll get a bunch of info and discussion.

In Houston I wouldn’t mind Cox trying it on KTHT, which is currently a very old skewing Classic Country. Curious how it would do as the rimshot signal covers a large part of southeast Texas. Might result in some younger demos.

 

[TheBigA]

Curious how it would do as the rimshot signal covers a large part of southeast Texas. Might result in some younger demos.

I believe the rimshot in Dallas plays a lot of red dirt country, and it skews pretty old.

The problem with red dirt is it appeals to mostly men, which is not the demo country radio is going for now.

iHeartRadio has a Red Dirt station:

Red Dirt Radio | iHeart

Texas Country, Commercial-Free

www.iheart.com

 

[Mediafrog+]

I believe the rimshot in Dallas plays a lot of red dirt country, and it skews pretty old.

Though we should note that KFWR focuses on Fort Worth, Tarrant County and associated exurbs. The signal in the Dallas end of The Metroplex is wrecked by a translator.

 

[Cordelia Chase]

I stumbled across this young guy named Grady Smith who has a YouTube channel about country music. His observations seemed sensible enough to me, so I watched a few of his videos. It was on his channel that I was introduced to Texas Red Dirt Country.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Did I read that right? Most country songs rated by newbies?

Those look like the least country to me.

I heard this on WESC (not an exact quote): "If you say you're a country fan and you don't know who Willie Nelson is, you ain't."

 

[vchimpanzee]

Speaking of WESC, this isn't really true given that the station plays a lot of newer-sounding stuff, I even heard rap, but (again, not an exact quote) "We're so country that Alexa wears overalls".

 

[Kelly A]

This is an interesting article. NuVooDoo did a poll asking current country radio listeners to rate songs based on how country those songs are:

Simple test: If you play the suspected country song backward: You get your wife back, your trailer back, your dog back, and your job back, it's not a country song.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Another station ID from WESC: "We reserve the right to not play pop-sounding country". Not sure they have quite achieved that.

 

[TheBigA]

Another station ID from WESC: "We reserve the right to not play pop-sounding country". Not sure they have quite achieved that.

It depends. There's not a lot of what could be called "pop" in the country chart now. There's a lot of heartbreak songs. That's traditional country. A lot of songs quoting classic country songs, such as McCreery's Damn Strait or Kane Brown's Like I Love Country Music or McGraw's 7500 OBO. Morgan Wallen has been making some of the most traditional country records we've heard.

 

[CTListener]

Kelsea Ballerini's "Headfirst" is probably the "poppiest" song on the current chart. For a singer with Knoxville roots, she doesn't sing with much of a twang, and the production is very pop.

 

[vchimpanzee]

It depends. There's not a lot of what could be called "pop" in the country chart now. There's a lot of heartbreak songs. That's traditional country. A lot of songs quoting classic country songs, such as McCreery's Damn Strait or Kane Brown's Like I Love Country Music or McGraw's 7500 OBO. Morgan Wallen has been making some of the most traditional country records we've heard.

WESC doesn't play new songs, so none of that counts.

WSSL is the station in that market which would be playing those songs.

 

[TheBigA]

WESC doesn't play new songs, so none of that counts.

I looked at their playlist and they play Waylon & Willie. Maybe some Mel Tillis could be considered pop.

Or Islands In The Stream?

 

[vchimpanzee]

I looked at their playlist and they play Waylon & Willie. Maybe some Mel Tillis could be considered pop.

Or Islands In The Stream?

I'm talking about some newer stuff that I did hear. They're not as classic as you're thinking.

 

[TheBigA]

I'm talking about some newer stuff that I did hear. They're not as classic as you're thinking.

Their most played song is Clint Black Killin' Time.

 

[CTListener]

This is about as generic and shallow a classic country station as I've ever seen. Looking at the past couple of hours, just about all of the songs played are one I routinely hear as gold during the two hourly slots set aside for gold on my favorite local station.

 

[TheBigA]

This is about as generic and shallow a classic country station as I've ever seen. Looking at the past couple of hours, just about all of the songs played are one I routinely hear as gold during the two hourly slots set aside for gold on my favorite local station.

That's probably because they're both owned by iHeart. WESC's playlist is pretty deep, actually. They cover mid-70s to mid-2000s. I think the newest song might be Darius Rucker's Wagon Wheel. That's a much broader range than most classic hits stations.

 

[CTListener]

That's probably because they're both owned by iHeart. WESC's playlist is pretty deep, actually. They cover mid-70s to mid-2000s. I think the newest song might be Darius Rucker's Wagon Wheel. That's a much broader range than most classic hits stations.

I don't even consider "Wagon Wheel" to be gold when I hear it, and I hear it quite often. It's almost a recurrent still, after all these years, same as his "Come Back Song."

And no, actually iHeart has no presence here in the Upper Valley. I'm hearing those titles on Binnie Broadcasting-owned WZLF/WXLF. Although, come to think of it, there are quite a few I recall from iHeart's WWYZ back in Connecticut, too, although they played hardly any gold.