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Cowboy Troy - Any Airplay?

D

DiamondJoe

Guest
So are any country stations playing any of his singles? Particularly his debut single with Big & Rich called "I Play Chicken With The Train"... Does his self-branded "hick hop" style of country music make some programmers do a double take?

I've only heard a grand total of two stations play any of his songs: South 105.7 in Tennessee (online), and WXRK in New York, which of course, isn't even a country station - they once had Troy in studio to promote his album; with that said, I don't think that song's been played as much even on that station.

Which leads me to wonder if he's even getting airplay on alternative stations.<P ID="signature">______________


New York City Radio and TV</P>
 
I think some of the more progressive stations and those outside the south mainly are playing it... I know where I'm at in Louisiana, I don't think any station has played it except for maybe some of the countdown shows.

It made the charts (but most I think heard it from CMT) and fell quicker than anything... When a cd debuts at a discount price at Wal-mart, that tells you either it's a very hot seller or they are trying to get rid of them... My vote is the latter... I don't think country is ready for hick-Hop (even though it seemed in better tastes than what I expected)

RFLA
 
> I think some of the more progressive stations and those
> outside the south mainly are playing it... I know where I'm
> at in Louisiana, I don't think any station has played it
> except for maybe some of the countdown shows.
>
> It made the charts (but most I think heard it from CMT) and
> fell quicker than anything... When a cd debuts at a discount
> price at Wal-mart, that tells you either it's a very hot
> seller or they are trying to get rid of them... My vote is
> the latter... I don't think country is ready for hick-Hop
> (even though it seemed in better tastes than what I
> expected)
>
> RFLA
>

I played it once. Once. As a joke, and out of some listener curiosity. Since they haven't been curious about it anymore, my station hasn't touched it again.
 
> > I think some of the more progressive stations and those
> > outside the south mainly are playing it... I know where
> I'm
> > at in Louisiana, I don't think any station has played it
> > except for maybe some of the countdown shows.
> >
> > It made the charts (but most I think heard it from CMT)
> and
> > fell quicker than anything... When a cd debuts at a
> discount
> > price at Wal-mart, that tells you either it's a very hot
> > seller or they are trying to get rid of them... My vote is
>
> > the latter... I don't think country is ready for hick-Hop
> > (even though it seemed in better tastes than what I
> > expected)
> >
> > RFLA
> >
>
> I played it once. Once. As a joke, and out of some listener
> curiosity. Since they haven't been curious about it anymore,
> my station hasn't touched it again.


Let's get the 900-pound elephant in the living room out of the way: The country format and African-American artists generally don't mesh well. Aside from Charley Pride, the occasional blues crossover, and maybe Darius Rucker, there really haven't been any. The 90s boom was in many ways a reaction to urban music dominating the top 40.

For every person who digs it (I own the album and love it), someone else would flip the dial. I haven't heard him on any Alabama stations aside from the countdown shows.
 
> Let's get the 900-pound elephant in the living room out of
> the way: The country format and African-American artists
> generally don't mesh well. Aside from Charley Pride, the
> occasional blues crossover, and maybe Darius Rucker, there
> really haven't been any. The 90s boom was in many ways a
> reaction to urban music dominating the top 40.
>
> For every person who digs it (I own the album and love it),
> someone else would flip the dial. I haven't heard him on
> any Alabama stations aside from the countdown shows.
>


I've heard the stream samples on the cowboy troy website. For most country fans, I figure they would turn it off quick. Those who listen to pop and other forms of music, it is a pretty good albumn considering the "hick hop" is a lot tamer than I expected.

Yeah Charley Pride was a surprise to country radio espcially in the 70's as racial tensions were still high in the south. Darius Rucker (of Hootie and the Blowfish fame), I haven't heard or at least don't remember any country from him (unless you wanna count the Burger King commercial) but he still has a built in fan base from the pop days....

There has been buzz about occasional african americans trying to make it in Nashville (one is from Louisiana around Natchitoches and some country stations there have played him)... I figure there is still a racial in country music thing going on however (You will only find caucasions and american indians in country music basically).... Cowboy Troy mainly got his contract off of Gretchen and Big and Rich IMO (other than he does do good in his native Dallas,Texas and could make it possibly in the indie country scene IMO) but it may be a time to shake the apple tree with a black singer if he can be the next George,Trace,or either Travis (Randy or Tritt)....

What do you all think?

RFLA
 
The First "Hick Hop" Song?

Not to get off on a tangent, but I once heard a song called "Country Girl" by an artist named DF Dub. I've heard it played at a bar a few times. I'm not sure which format it got airplay on (if at all), but given the layout of the track, I would wonder if that song might be the first "hick hop" song, when compared to Cowboy Troy's body of work.

As far as Troy, I do own his album, and as a previous poster pointed out, I probably like it since I like different kinds of music. I'd give it a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10.<P ID="signature">______________


New York City Radio and TV</P>
 
> > Let's get the 900-pound elephant in the living room out of
>
> > the way: The country format and African-American artists
> > generally don't mesh well. Aside from Charley Pride, the
> > occasional blues crossover, and maybe Darius Rucker, there
>
> > really haven't been any. The 90s boom was in many ways a
> > reaction to urban music dominating the top 40.
> >
> > For every person who digs it (I own the album and love
> it),
> > someone else would flip the dial. I haven't heard him on
> > any Alabama stations aside from the countdown shows.
> >
>
>
> I've heard the stream samples on the cowboy troy website.
> For most country fans, I figure they would turn it off
> quick. Those who listen to pop and other forms of music, it
> is a pretty good albumn considering the "hick hop" is a lot
> tamer than I expected.

Yeah. It works for me because I grew up in the early 90s listening to my fair share of both country and rap. I don't see it as a country record, though. . . It's definitely a hip-hop record with some country touches. If anything, it should be pushed to CHR or Hot AC and allowed to crossover into both country and urban, which would work better than how he's being positioned now. . .

>
> Yeah Charley Pride was a surprise to country radio espcially
> in the 70's as racial tensions were still high in the south.

But he was also very traditional, which worked in his favor. Most people who just heard him on the radio probably didn't think about it . . .

> Darius Rucker (of Hootie and the Blowfish fame), I haven't
> heard or at least don't remember any country from him
> (unless you wanna count the Burger King commercial) but he
> still has a built in fan base from the pop days....

Country stations here in Alabama played the single from his solo album and a few cuts from "Cracked Rear View". I'm guessing he got airplay elsewhere, particularly in the Carolinas where he's from . . .
>
> There has been buzz about occasional african americans
> trying to make it in Nashville (one is from Louisiana around
> Natchitoches and some country stations there have played
> him)... I figure there is still a racial in country music
> thing going on however (You will only find caucasions and
> american indians in country music basically).... Cowboy Troy
> mainly got his contract off of Gretchen and Big and Rich IMO
> (other than he does do good in his native Dallas,Texas and
> could make it possibly in the indie country scene IMO) but
> it may be a time to shake the apple tree with a black singer
> if he can be the next George,Trace,or either Travis (Randy
> or Tritt)....
>
> What do you all think?

If a black singer with a more traditional sound came along, he'd get noticed, IMO. Perhaps if Troy tried some more mainstream stuff on the followup album, it would still be him. As it is, he doesn't really have a cut that can be eased onto the standard country playlist/

>
> RFLA
>
 
RFLA:

What stations would be considered "progressive" in the country format, in your view?
 
> RFLA:
>
> What stations would be considered "progressive" in the
> country format, in your view?
>

I don't know of any personally that I've heard on air in my area considering I live in Louisiana where most country stations lean on the conservative side to their playlist.

But I figure some of the up and coming male oriented country stations could be my idea of progressive. That and some of the Texas music oriented stations that webcast including one I've been webcasting lately called Texas Radio 94.7 (http://texasradio947.com) from Corpus Christi....

I have found however a radio program that I would consider Progressive to it's core... It's a world view of prog country even though most artists are from America ... Bob Harris Country from the UK's BBC Radio2 is very progressive with Bluegrass,texas and other Alt. country artists (as well as an occasional mainstream hit).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/bobharriscountry/playlist.shtml
It streams the show up to one week after air on demand... So anytime you have the hunkering for some...there it is...

Another program on BBC2 by Nick Barraclough does get into the progressive country scene as well as bluegrass but stays more mainstream

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/barraclough/playlist.shtml
It also has the same streaming rules... as I usually only get the time to sit and listen about 2 days after broadcast in the UK

So is this about what you think? I'd be interested to hear...

RFLA
 
Surprisingly every so often I'll get a request for the song and play it on my REQUEST SHOW ONLY. I'm also a music director and would never play it in a rotation. Every so often for Troy isn't a bad thing in my opinion. I think it's a good song but curtainly not a mainstream country song.

Fact of the matter is that there just aren't a lot of african-american singers and never really has been. THAT'S why there hasn't been mainly popular ones. I mean, how many white artist fail?

I've heard people say that he'll never be popular because he's black. I think that's vastly underestimating the intelligence of the country listener.
 
Country = WASP territory?

> Let's get the 900-pound elephant in the living room out of
> the way: The country format and African-American artists
> generally don't mesh well. Aside from Charley Pride, the
> occasional blues crossover, and maybe Darius Rucker, there
> really haven't been any. The 90s boom was in many ways a
> reaction to urban music dominating the top 40.

There's also Ray Charles, Lionel Richie, and Aaron Neville, just to name a few black singers who have been heard on Country stations at one time or another. Lionel Richie even did a duet with Alabama ("Deep River Woman") in the mid-'80s. And there's also a number of Hispanic artists who have had Country hits, although at the moment Freddy Fender is the only one whose name comes to mind (depending whether or not you count Los Lonely Boys as a true Country crossover group).

But it's generally true that Country music is still WASP territory. It's very U.S.-centric, too, with only a few truly successful Country singers & groups from Canada, Australia, and a few other countries (such as the group "Bering Strait" from Russia). If you want to make a list of successful Country artists who are non-white, non-Christian, non-Republican, non-heterosexual, and/or non-American-born (or even non-Southern), you are not going to end up with a very long list!
<P ID="signature">______________
noiboc.jpg
</P>
 
Re: Country = WASP territory?

I feel compelled to mention the name of Stoney Edwards.

While he was not a headliner in the terms of Charley Pride, he had a worthy
career that should not be overlooked.

http://www.countryworks.com/artist_full.asp?KEY=EDWARDSS

http://www.alleged-iguana.com/stoney_edwards.htm<P ID="signature">______________
"Be seeing you..."</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by CrankyYankee on 07/04/05 10:55 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: Country = WASP territory?

<< And there's also a number of Hispanic artists who
> have had Country hits, although at the moment Freddy Fender
> is the only one whose name comes to mind (depending whether
> or not you count Los Lonely Boys as a true Country crossover
> group).>>

You're forgetting the biggest name, Johnny Rodriquez, who had a long string of top 10 hits in the '70's, often with a chourus of the song in Spanish.

If you want to make a list of
> successful Country artists who are...non-Republican...">>

Would guess Mary Chapin Carpenter, Dixie Chicks, Rodney Crowell, Hal Ketchum & others fit in that category from what I know of their political leanings, along with Toby Kieth, who described himself as a "conservative Democrat" according to a recent interview in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
 
Re: Country = WASP territory?

"Would guess Mary Chapin Carpenter, Dixie Chicks, Rodney Crowell, Hal Ketchum & others fit in that category from what I know of their political leanings, along with Toby Kieth, who described himself as a "conservative Democrat" according to a recent interview in the Philadelphia Inquirer."

You can add Emmylou Harris to that list. The interesting thing about all of those artists you mention (besides Toby Keith), is that you don't hear much of those artists on country radio today. However, I don't think politics is the reason (expect for the Dixie Chicks of course).




> have had Country hits, although at the moment Freddy Fender
> > is the only one whose name comes to mind (depending
> whether
> > or not you count Los Lonely Boys as a true Country
> crossover
> > group).>>
>
> You're forgetting the biggest name, Johnny Rodriquez, who
> had a long string of top 10 hits in the '70's, often with a
> chourus of the song in Spanish.
>
> If you want to make a list of
> > successful Country artists who are...non-Republican...">>
>
> Would guess Mary Chapin Carpenter, Dixie Chicks, Rodney
> Crowell, Hal Ketchum & others fit in that category from what
> I know of their political leanings, along with Toby Kieth,
> who described himself as a "conservative Democrat" according
> to a recent interview in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
>
 
Re: Country = WASP territory?

> "Would guess Mary Chapin Carpenter, Dixie Chicks, Rodney
> Crowell, Hal Ketchum & others fit in that category from what
> I know of their political leanings, along with Toby Kieth,
> who described himself as a "conservative Democrat" according
> to a recent interview in the Philadelphia Inquirer."
>
> You can add Emmylou Harris to that list. The interesting
> thing about all of those artists you mention (besides Toby
> Keith), is that you don't hear much of those artists on
> country radio today. However, I don't think politics is the
> reason (expect for the Dixie Chicks of course).


And Toby's "Conservative Democrat" would probably be Called also a "southern Democrat" or one that as of late sides mostly with the Republican side.

RFLA
 
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