Starscream said:
I think, I'm not sure, that one act did use the Confederate Flag as part of their logo (Not sure if it was Brooks and Dunn, it could have been someone else) but I think it's been discontinued.
I know for a fact that Lynyrd Skynyrd has used it over the years, but I'm fairly certain that there's at least one or two Country acts that have done it as well. Of course, I think that The Eagles and Skynyrd were probably a bigger influence on today's Country acts than Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. Thus, the choice to loop "New Kid In Town" by The Eagles prior to the launch of Jersey Kountry was apropos, in my opinion.
You are showing your ignorance bigtime. You are using generalizations (again) of country music. Country lyrics at face value are simple and tell a story, mainly because country music wasn't built around metaphors and allegories. It's an offshoot of simplistic rock and roll.
Comparing the poetry of modern rock and country music is just as insane as comparing the lyrics of modern rock and hip hop. Apples and oranges.
Simplicity is fine. I just wish that complexity was on greater display elsewhere, because while the "I love you woman" stuff has its place, sometimes you just want to hear something with more thought put into it. Even the Alternative format has been dumbed down lately, what with all the pop/punk/emo acts like Dashboard Confessional often favoring plain speak over metaphors and allegory.
Huh wha? "Comin' To Your City" from Big and Rich's Sophomore album was not only a huge country SMASH, but it was a crossover hit too. Their current single, "8th of November" is also doing well.
As for Gretchen Wilson, she's had a couple of modest hits, and her current album went platinum. Apparently, "California Girls" from Wilson is doing better than "Politically Uncorrect".
Do not start about Country Music producing nothing but one-hit wonders. Harvey Danger. Primitive Radio Gods. White Town. Zebrahead. Modern / Alternative rock is just as guilty.
Wait a minute. I didn't call them one hit wonders - I said that Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson peaked in popularity with "Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy" and "Redneck Woman" respectively, not that they were each act's only hit. While they have had somewhat popular songs since then, they haven't ranked at the same level of popularity as those songs. And the albums have not sold as well as the previous efforts either.
Country radio is much like every act's political leaning: Conservative. It's safe and formulaic, and tends to favor acts that could fit in perfectly on AC or CHR formats if it weren't for too much twang in the voice or the use of pedal steel. That said, while Big & Rich are popular, their eclectic approach to country music will keep them from attaining the massive popularity of a more generic act like Keith Urban or Rascal Flatts, both of which have their visual appeal to thank for their popularity and not their music.
Yes, there are tons of one hit wonders on Alternative radio, but all of those acts fell off the face of the earth after their one hit, especially White Town (which was technically a one man band, if I recall correctly). I don't even think White Town released another album after the one with "Your Woman" on it. I do know that Harvey Danger has returned and seems to have the critics in their corner with their latest indie release, but it's highly unlikely they'll have another hit.
On a side note: Remember the uproar over comments that the Dixie Chicks made about President Bush? Geez - I never knew having an opinion could be so dangerous. I think that the world would be a boring place if we all thought and acted exactly alike, but apparently the mindset at Country Radio is different from mine.
Urban, Rascal Flatts, and Underwood are CORE COUNTRY ARTISTS right now. So is Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Toby Keith, and Brad Paisley.
I can't get 98.5 right now, and they aren't showing up on YES, so I can't look at their playlist and analyze what they are playing, but if it is "New Country", they'll have a format similar to XM's "Highway 16".
You've already established you're not a country music fan and you can't appreciate the music. But as PUR as demonstrated, there is a market for the music on the shore. 98.5 is bringing it to the "northern shore" as it were.
I like some Country, at least the older stuff, and some of the less formulaic stuff is alright as well. I'm also a fan of some Americana acts, and I wish today's Country was a ittle less stodgy and would embrace some of these acts. It's just that too much of today's Country has this assembly-line feel to it, and that's because a lot of modern Country acts use the same songwriters and the same producers. I was hoping that acts like the aforementioned Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson would lead to some kind of sea change in the format, but that has yet to happen. If it did, I might actually listen to Country sometimes.
The problem with WKMK ("Real" Jersey Kountry 98.5 - sorry, but pop acts that sing with a twang and wear Stetsons do not constitute "Real Country") and WPUR (Cat Country 107.3) is that they overlap too much, and it's going to be an uphill battle for the former station. While WPUR is technically an Atlantic City/Cape May station, it covers half the Monmouth/Ocean market with a strong signal. WKMK reaches slightly further north, but not enough to justify using a format that we already have. If Press could have purchased a station with a signal that covers Monmouth County and points north well, I would have said that the Country format was a great idea. On 98.5, they face stiff competition in a market they only cover half of. That's the problem with Press - they always focus on Monmouth rather than Ocean, even if it's a station that covers all of Ocean and only part of Monmouth. The acid test will be if they can succeed in luring listeners away from WPUR or if there's enough of a Country following in southern Monmouth County to support this station. I wish them luck, because they're going to need it.
